The Rip Curl MP Classic presented by Air Asia X will again this year be held in reverence to Queensland icon and undisputed ‘King of Kirra’ Michael “MP” Peterson this weekend (January 31-February 1).

The event will run for its eighth consecutive year and has grown to be the most prestigious regional event in Queensland.

For the first time since the event’s conception in February 2002, the MP Classic is part of the Queensland Championship Circuit (QCC). The MP Classic is the second event of a total of five on the QCC and is the highest rated competition.

Shaun Gossman (Burleigh Heads, QLD) who won the MP Classic for three consecutive years (2003, 2004 and 2005) has his sights set on another title. . Gossman recently claimed first place in event number one of the QCC at Currumbin Alley (QLD) and is keen to clinch the Queensland Championship trophy.

The full list of competitors is yet to be confirmed, but those who have already put their name down include Rip Curl’s 2008 ASP Australasia Pro Junior Champion Stuart Kennedy, former World Tour surfer Nathan Hedge and Rip Curl freesurfer Dean Brady.

“It’s an honour to be competing in an event that’s held in tribute of such an awesome competitor like MP (Michael Peterson). In his time MP was one of the world’s best surfers, he’s become a piece of surfing history,” commented Kennedy.

“The MP Classic is a big event in Queensland and is widely respected amongst the surfing community. It’d be pretty cool to see one of us younger guys win it!” said Kennedy.

The Kirra Surfriders Club (KSC) in conjunction with the Kirra Surf Club are hosting a Public Paddle Out on Australia Day 09 at Kirra (Monday 26th of January) to mark the loss of Kirra Point regarded as one of the best Point Breaks in the World. The Australia Day Paddle Out will meet at 10am QLD time and paddle off Kirra Point to shape the map of Australia which will be seen visibly from on top of the Kirra Hill.

In 2001 the Tweed Sand By-Pass system was established by NSW and QLD State Governments, a unique joint agreement to replenish sand onto Gold Coast beaches that were robbed of natural sand flow due to the NSW Tweed training walls of the Tweed River and to dredge the entrance of the Tweed River for a safe boating passage. Initially the sand pumping was hailed as a success with the evolution of the Super Bank at Snapper Rocks creating a whole new sandbar from Snapper through to Coolangatta with up to 800 metre rides.

The only problem was that over the last 6 years, 10 million cubic metres valued over $60,000 million dollars was pumped into Coolangatta which was the death knoll of Kirra Point and has not broken properly since 2001.The last pro event held at Kirra was the Brothers Neilsen Pro Junior in 2002 won by Luke Munro from Bede Durbidge.

Interestingly Kirra Point still holds the highest competitive score in ASP World history when Shane Beschen of California scored three perfect 10’s (30 out of 30) at the Billabong Pro in 1996, a surfing statistic that will never be broken now that the judging format is based on the best of two scores than 3. The eventual winner of the 96 Billabong Pro was Hawaii’s Kaipo Jaquias who named his newly born daughter Kirra.

Apart from Kirra Point losing it’s famous barreling double keg section and the deepest tube rides on the Gold Coast, the reefs that created the Kirra Point wave namely the inside reef Butterbox and the Miles Street Outside reef were also buried with an over supply of sand completely wrecking the marine habitat once popular with divers and fisherman.  Currently the sand flow has moved slowly from Coolangatta Bay and into Kirra Beach which resembles a deserted oasis and a 400 metre walk to the waters edge. After 6 years of sand pumping only 1/8 of the volume has moved north along Gold Coast beaches with the majority of sand volume lodged at Coolangatta  and more so at Kirra and especially North Kirra. It’s the biggest pile-up of sand ever seen from Kirra to North Kirra, yet the sand continues to pump from the main outlet at Lovers Rock, Point Danger.

The idea behind the Australia Day Paddle Out is to demonstrate that the community at large care about their public amenity and will endeavor to convince the State Governments and Local Council Authorities that something needs to be done. Ironically both State Governments are facing the polls this year and the Kirra Point situation is now developing into a red hot political State election issue. At the core of that matter is the 25 year contract between NSW and QLD to continue pumping irregardless of future damage to the surf and reefs although the latest word is that the NSW Department of Lands are privately conceding that too much sand has been pumped and are trying to assess the operation with possible changes for the future, yet the Sand Contractor continues to pump sand into Snapper, Coolangatta and Kirra.