The predicted swell finally came up on Monday night, rolling in from the Nor East and breaking into the normally protected Southern corners.
Today its pumping and the swell direction has moved around to the East.
Swellnet predicted this swell to peak today at around 6ft with the low pressure remaining slow moving through the first half of this week, we’ll see a better fetch develop along its eastern flank and this is expected to generate a better Easterly groundswell that’s expected to fill in from Wednesday and hold into Friday.
Being straight out of the east, this swell will favour most surf spots evenly and we are seeing some decent size sets at times.
Surface conditions are clean with light winds as the low pressure moves off the coast so make the most of it.
I took todays pics at the on the beach and the Point where the low tide (11am) made it the go to spot.
After last weeks massive result by Connor the contest news swings back to the North where the HIF NSW Surfmasters Titles presented by Moby's Beachside Retreat saw half a dozen new NSW shortboard champions crowned after a week of difficult windswept conditions at North Boomerang Beach.
In what was a tight final between multi-division finalists, Scott Schindler (Sawtell) found form in the junky conditions to claim the Over-45 Men’s title. Schindler took a solid portion of the final to find form, only posting small scores until the final minutes when he found a much needed 7.17 wave score to give him an edge against fellow event standout ex pro Robbie Page who finished second.
For the locals Cronulla Boardriders pointscore leader Ricky Marshall finished 4th keeping his hot club form going into next months Aussie titles.
Page claimed a title in the Over-50 Mens, dominating the lineup with an impressive 16.33 heat total. Page was on-song over the duration of the event, rarely falling and making light work of tricky sections.
Ex Cronulla surfer and shaper Matty Hurwurth also finished 4th in his over 40 age group with past Elouera legend Rod Baldwin taking out his 100th title in the over 55’s.
In South Africa Jared Hickel had a red hot go at the 3000 pt Volkswagen SA Open of Surfing making the 4th round but not getting him enough points to crack the top 100-his club mate Shane Campbell is out highest ranked surfer at 35th but he is slowly dropping down the rankings after not surfing in these events.
In just a few weeks the surfing world’s attention will focus squarely on the island of Bali when the Rip Curl Cup returns to the famous barrels of Padang Padang. The opening ceremony kicks off on July 9.
With an unbelievable barrage of swell lighting up Indonesia’s world-class reefs this May and June, it appears the Indian Ocean is kicking things into high gear just in time for the year’s most anticipated barrel riding showdown.
Another funny showdown is looming between the International Surfing Association (ISA) and the International Canoe Federation (ICF) who have requested the Court of Arbitration for Sport to mediate new discussions over the control of StandUp Paddle boarding (SUP).
ISA President, Fernando Aguerre, said "Under the guidance of the ISA, both SUP Surfing and Racing disciplines have grown in popularity and professionalism - becoming one of the fastest growing water sports in the world."
So let the battle begin!
