Australia's best longboarders have been crowned in Port Macquarie, during the Australian Surf Festival.
All eyes were on the juniors, local Danny Schouten, William Crowe, Myles Fletcher and current Australian junior shortboard champion, Eli Steele got busy in the Junior Boys final.
Leaving no wave unridden, Steele and Schouten racked up their wave count with nose rides and manoeuvres that impressed spectators. Injecting the shortboard style with classic longboarding is here to stay and Crowe demonstrated the combination surfing of a champion to win the Junior Boys final.
Starting early with a 6.75 and quickly backing it up with a 6.80, Crowe seemed to have it in the bag. Steele wasn’t letting it go easily and a 7.00 followed by a strong 6.25 pushed him close but just fell short, giving him second place behind Crowe with Fletcher in third and Schouten in fourth.
The day wasn’t just about the individual surfers. The Teams Challenge brought all states together in a tag team format. Defending their title with a solid track record, the Queenslanders were victorious yet again and team manager Dave Lamin was happy with the team’s performance over the week-long event.
"We had a bit of a strategy in place from the get-go, we were obviously conscious of time and our order of surfers in the water and it worked well for us. Jackson won the opens and Eli did really well in the juniors, so it’s been a good year for the Queenslanders," said Lamin who accepted the VB Slab of the Day for the Queensland team.
New South Wales took home a number of titles today: Junior Women, Kirra Perry; Over 35 Women, Debbie Alan; Over 55 men, Rick Chalmers; Over 60 men, Alan Atkins and Danny Bond, took the Over 65 Men’s crown.
The Australian Surf Festival supported by Essential Energy, is halfway through its mammoth two-week event. Sunday 19th August will see the beginning of the Stand Up Paddleboard titles and next week Surfmasters, Single Fin and Alaia divisions will get underway.
Junior Boys
1st: William Crowe (Collaroy, NSW)
2nd: Eli Steele (Moffat Beach, QLD)
3rd: Myles Fletcher (Ocean Grove, VIC)
Junior Women
1st: Kirra Perry (Scotts Head, NSW)
2nd: Roisin Carolan (Binna Burra, NSW)
3rd: Lucy Walsh (Fitzroy, VIC)
Over 35 Women
1st: Debbie Alan (Canton Beach, NSW)
2nd: Samantha Vanderford (Scarborough, WA)
3rd: Leanne Gilkes (Buderim, QLD)
Over 50 Men
1st: Chris Meier (Barwon Heads, VIC)
2nd: Ron Schneider (Sawtell, NSW)
3rd: John Skinner (Mt Warrigal, NSW)
Over 55 Men
1st: Rick Chalmers (Pottsville Beach, NSW)
2nd: Peter Becker (Palmvale, NSW)
3rd: Garry Taylor (Bonny Hills, NSW)
Over 60 Men
1st: Alan Atkins (Suffolk Park, NSW)
2nd: Peter Hudson (Port Macquarie, NSW)
3rd: Nigel Coote (Yallingup, WA)
Over 65
1st: Danny Bond (Blue Bay, NSW)
2nd: Neville Smith (Coolangatta, QLD)
3rd: Phil Nicol (North Curl Curl, (NSW)