Sneaky waves at Wanda for the smart surfers this morning. Although you could sit there waiting, when the 2-3ft sets did arrive the faces were pretty nice for the frothers sitting on the only bank breaking.
With the tide low at 1pm and a small swell increase during the day you should be able to sneak in a few before the Nor Easter has its way.
Swellnet predicts a new south swell on Friday, peaking on Saturday at about 3/4ft–so it appears we will have waves for Easter!
I took today's pics at first light (7.30am) at Wanda where there was only the one bank but the rest of the beach does seem to have some potential. So when the swell comes it should be all good - especially when the dreaded daylight saving ends next week (thank God).
Speaking of all things good: the second stop on the 2015 Samsung Galaxy World Surf League Championship Tour the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, (live feed) gets underway today. The world’s best male and female surfers will hit the water for Men's Round 1 starting at 8:15 a.m. local time followed by Women's Round 1.
"Bells Beach is an awesome place and incredible part of the Australian coastline," said WSL Commissioner, Kieren Perrow. "Ringing the bell at the end of this event is something very special and all the surfers are passionate about this event. We are on today and we're going to start at 8:15 a.m. with Men's Round 1. We're going to run straight through into Women's Round 1 so we've got a big day today."
Watch the “unparalleled adventure, competitive drama and athleticism of professional surfing” live at WorldSurfLeague.com. “Unparalleled adventure” -big call I know, they are only paddling out and catching a few waves!
Local competitors in the upcoming NRMA NSW Open State Titles presented by HIF can look forward to battling it out on the far north coast when the prestigious event kicks off in the Tweed region from the 29th - 31st May, 2015.
The Open Men division will be open to a round of 64, while the Open Female will be open to a round of 32, with all competitors fighting for a chunk of a $3500.00 prize purse. he primary location for the NRMA NSW Open State Titles presented by HIF will be Cabarita with a range of backup locations in the Tweed region.
Jared Hickel is the defending champion and the NRMA NSW Open State Titles presented by HIF will see a straight knock out format with 50 percent progression across both event divisions.
North Narrabeen Boardriders have won the Isuzu D-MAX Surftag Australian Championships dominating the four-team final on their home break. Mid way thru the sixty minute final North Narrabeen had scored double their closest rival Coffs Harbour and never looked like being beaten.
Cronulla made it through one heat on Friday but both Elouera and Cronulla bit the dust first heat on Saturday.
At the Australian longboard titles, American surfers did the victory dance in small waves with two-time Longboard World Champion Taylor Jensen and Karina Rozunko taking top honours in the Australian Longboard Surfing Open World Surf League Longboard Qualifying Series divisions at Kingscliff, NSW-great, we can’t even win our own surf titles!
The nominees for the 2015 World Surf League (WSL) Big Wave Awards have been announced. With hundreds of entries for this year’s awards from all over the world the standard is incredibly high. From a winter session at Jaws, Maui to a huge day in Nazaré, Portugal, the extraordinary weather conditions over the last year have generated some outstanding nominees from the world’s best big wave surfers.
Shortlisted surfers include past winners like Shane Dorian of Hawaii and Grant Baker of South Africa, as well as emerging stars like Tahiti’s Matahi Drollet. The 15th annual Big Wave Awards are a truly global event with Portugal, Germany, Australia, South Africa, USA, Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Tahiti all represented, either by surfer nationality or wave location.
“It was another spectacular year of big wave surfing, all around the globe and might even be the most international season ever in the fifteen years since I started the Big Wave Awards,” said Bill Sharp, Event Director of the Big Wave Awards.
There is over $120,000 in prize money up for grabs and nominees in four of the categories are announced today, leaving the Wipeout of the Year and two performance categories to be announced in the coming weeks. Photographs and video of all the nominated rides can be viewed at WorldSurfLeague.com/BigWave.
So after you look at that - paddle out and surf some 1 footers, you know you want to!
