The first big south swell of the season was the first opportunity for local surfers and photographers to get a crack at the inaugural M.O.B surf store Big Wave Awards.
Initiated by NSW surf coach and Cronulla Surfing Academy owner Blake Johnston the competition window is from April 1 until September 30.
“The concept is to embrace and showcase the local big wave community and the world class waves in the Cronulla region. By doing so we will create camaraderie between the surfers who share a passion for big heavy waves and make it a safer environment by doing so,” Johnston said.
There are seven categories headed by the ‘Ride of the Year’ which can be with paddling or towing in. The surfer has to complete the drop to at least the bottom of the wave to qualify. Awards including tube of the year, best wipeout, performer of the year, rookie performer of the year, move of the year and photo of the year will all be voted on by the CBWA panel and selected surfers.
Cash and prizes will be awarded for the surfer and photographer of each winning category. The event will culminate with the M.O.B store hosting Sydney’s biggest ever surfboard demonstration day held at Dunningham Park. The public will also be able to trial a huge range of the world’s best gear.
These big surf pics were taken last Wednesday on a massive South swell and weren't for the faint hearted-my other pics were shot at Wanda,Elouera and the Alley on the weekend where conditions were ideal
Cronulla surfers were blessed with a weekend of awesome surf with a 4ft clean ,offshore south swell doing its best on both days-things arn’t so good now with Swellnet predicting options should hold in the 3ft+ range on Wednesday, before pulsing slightly on Thursday to the 4ft range at south facing beaches.
Winds look to tend west/southwesterly once again on Thursday morning and Friday morning, before eventually swinging southeasterly leading to a drop in quality.
The weekend could be anything with an elongated northeasterly fetch and the resultant swell is due to build steadily throughout Saturday to4-6ft late in the day, becoming larger and stormy by Sunday afternoon.
They may have called the Redbull Cape Fear comp on so keep your ears peeled!
Johanne Defay (FRA) has claimed victory on Tuesday at The Fiji Women’s Pro, Stop No. 5 of 10 on the 2016 Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour (CT), besting reigning three-time WSL Champion Carissa Moore (HAW) in six-to-eight foot surf at Cloudbreak.
“I’ve never beat Carissa before,” Defay said. “She is such an amazing surfer and she took 9-point rides in every heat. It is crazy and I am so happy. I want to thank my family because they have been up all night watching.”
Today is the second elite CT win for Defay, who claimed her first CT victory at the Vans US Open last year. The 2015 Fiji Women’s Pro semifinalist dispatched Courtney Conlogue (USA) in the Quarterfinals and Bethany Hamilton (HAW) in the Semifinals before facing Moore. Previously at 7th place on the Jeep Leaderboard, the result moves her to 4th place.
The world’s best male surfers, the WSL Top 34, will take on Cloudbreak and Restaurants this coming week for the Fiji Pro, commencing Sunday, June 5, 2016.
The next stop on the 2016 Samsung Galaxy WSL Women’s Championship Tour will be the Vans US Open of Surfing from July 25 - 31, 2016.
Ichinomiya, Chiba Japan (Sunday, May 29 2016): After suffering a near death wipeout at Pipeline last December, Floridian Evan Geisalman has comeback to take out the 2016 Ichinomiya Chiba Open in clean one-to-two foot waves at Shida Point. Geisalman came up against Italian Leonardo Fioravanti In final. The small conditions didn’t stop the pair from putting on an entertaining show for the huge Sunday Crowds who came out to watch the biggest Surfing event Japan has seen in over eight years.
Connor O’:Leary was once again our best result but finished up short in the fourth round-he really needs a good quarter final to get some points.
In one for the old guys-Danny Wills (Byron Bay) and Sophia Fulton (Cabarita) are the 2016 NSW Open Shortboard Champions following a series of high-scoring and exciting battles in picturesque three-foot waves at the inaugural HIF Yamba Surfing Festival at Turners Beach.
As former world number three, Wills was always considered a solid threat going into the event. Over the duration of the competition, the Byron Bay natural-footer posted a handful of excellent scoring waves and was considered the man to beat going into the final rounds. However, he had to put up a solid fight when he came up against an in-form Blake Levett (Manly) who dominated the majority of his earlier heats. When the final hooter blew, Wills posted an admirable 16.07 heat total (out of a possible 20 points) to take the title from Levett by a 3.27 point margin.
Harrison Martin was our best result after a quick trip back from Japan-stay tuned for the weekends big surf!