The HIF NSW Surfmasters Titles, presented by Moby's Beachside Retreat, saw four new NSW champions crowned after a day of tricky surfing conditions at North Boomerang Beach on Sunday.
Elouera Boardriders stalwart Glenn Pringle made a late charge to claim the over-45 men’s title, taking the title from fellow former NSW champion Justin Lee (Redhead).
With only minutes remaining in the final, Lee looked destined to claim another NSW title, but Pringle found two diamonds in the rough which were rewarded with an 8.5 and a 6.77.
The victory was made even sweeter, with Pringle also winning a surf trip to the Maldives in a raffle run by event sponsors Surf, Dive N Fish.
Pringle has won Multiple Australian and NSW Shortboard titles over the years and ominously posted the first perfect ten-point ride in the first round of the event.
Cronulla Sharks Boardrider’s club surfer Ricky Marshall almost made it a double win for local Cronulla surfers in the over-35 men’s division but was left needing an 8.4 to take the title from Marcus Davidson (Shelly Beach) and had to settle for second.
Divisions for the event included: over-35 men, over-35 women, over-40 men, over-45 men, over-50 men, over-55 men, over-60 men and open single fin.
Cronulla surfers have had a funny week of waves with plenty of swell but average sand bank conditions-Wanda is the only stretch that had swell and banks so its been the go to surf spot except for a sneaky bank at Elouera-Yesterday it started off at 2 ft but by 10 am it was pushing 5ft from the south with strong offshore sou-westers.
Swellnet has somewhat missed this swell in its prediction saying it was 1-2 ft and not knowing if the swell would make it in-”this is highly dependent on the alighnment and position of the fetch, just a few degrees more west or positioned slightly further west could see no swell at all”.
“South facing beaches may continue to pick up flukey southerly options ebbing and pulsing from 2-3ft on Thursday, fading into Friday”.
If I was you I would get up and check the beach,it was a pumping 5ft yesterday afternoon as my pics taken at Wanda show!
They do predict a solid south swell for Saturday”Leading into the weekend a strong cold front looks to cut off as it squeezes through Bass Strait, steering a small but intense southerly fetch up the coast of NSW. Core winds have the potential to peak over 50 knots, which would result in a strong kick in southerly swell”.
South facing beaches have the potential to build to around 6-8ft on Saturday, larger across the Hunter under a gusty southwesterly breeze.
On the world tour-Gabriel Medina (BRA), 2014 WSL Champion, claimed an emphatic victory at the Fiji Pro, besting current Jeep WSL Frontrunner Matt Wilkinson (AUS) in solid 10-to-12 foot surf at the world-renowned Cloudbreak.
Following a slow start, with both Finalists finding themselves out of position in the building swell, Medina struck with two back-to-back scores for impeccably-navigated tube rides, posting a 7.33 and a 8.27 to place Wilkinson into a combination situation. The Australian was unable to find a rhythm in the challenging conditions and Medina posted his first elite tour win since last October.
“It feels amazing and I am so stoked,” Medina said. “I just want to thank God and my family. That was a crazy week. We have been waiting for these waves and they finally came through. They were big and we got so many sets on the head. We got a lot of barrels and it was a sick event. I am just so happy.”
Today’s victory rockets the Brazilian to second on the WSL Jeep Leaderboard heading into the back half of the season.
The World Surf League Big Wave Tour (BWT) is placing the Puerto Escondido Challenge in Puerto Escondido, Mexico on Yellow Alert with a projected 30-foot-plus swell heading toward the region. Event organizers will monitor conditions closely and declare a Green Alert 72 hours prior to the commencement of the event, conditions permitting.
“We anticipate a lot of activity in the South Pacific later this week,” said WSL BWT Commissioner, Peter Mel. “The swell is moving under Rapa Nui and expected to land in the region around June 24th."
Cronulla charger Gary Hughes has been going there for 20 years and is sitting there waiting and anyone who knows “Gary will go!”
The WSL BWT spans six unique potential venues, all anticipating waves in excess of 25-feet to run. The Southern Hemisphere window runs from April 27 through August 31, 216 with three potential venues, Chile, Peru and Mexico, that can commence if conditions allow.
The 24-man field for the Puerto Escondido Challenge will be comprised of the Top 10 finishers on the 2015/2016 BWT season, led by reigning BWT Champion Greg Long (USA), 6 event wildcards, 3 BWT wildcards, 1 injury wildcard and the Top 4 Surfline Overall Performance of the Year Performance Award recipients.
Closer to home the Australian Skin Cancer Clinics NSW Longboard Titles presented by HIF will call Wollongong home this weekend from the 24 – 26 June.
Over 100 longboarders will compete in the three-day event, which will decide NSW Longboard Champions in all senior age divisions and determine the NSW Team for the upcoming Australian Surfing Festival in Coffs Harbour in August.
2016 is the first year Surfing NSW has split apart the longboard divisions with the elder divisions running at the Australian Skin Cancer Clinics NSW Longboard Titles presented by HIF.
After all that competition I am a bit tired-see you next week.
