BURLEIGH HEADS, QUEENSLAND
Wow. What a long weekend. If you were one of the thousands of surf-crazed fans who lined Burleigh Point over the past few days, you must certainly agree.
Where to begin.
The first two days of the event saw a strong swell pulse along the Point. It wasn’t easy going, but there were waves, and that’s always a good thing.
The weather didn’t always cooperate, but it didn’t stop the stacked line-up of activities that took place over the three-day event. The Mt Elephant sunrise yoga sessions delivered the morning zen, Level Up Skatepark clinics polished the ramp skills of tomorrow’s heroes, Hit 90.9 provided the beats, STAB Electric Acid Surfboard Test dialled up the action in-and-out of the water…….
…….just taking a breath.
…….Ondre Davis and Jack Botts lit up the hill with music of an afternoon, and Dan Scott’s new film ‘Surfing’ and STAB In the Dark with Taj Burrow kept cinema buffs glued to the screen during the evening cinema. And let’s not forget Tourism and Events Queensland and Major Events Gold Coast for keeping the event at iconic Burleigh Heads.
Now to the surfing.
Saturday afternoon’s longboard invitational provided a stylish dose of logging talent from far and wide. Not the easiest conditions for those carrying larger planks, but they showed why they were the chosen few who were specifically selected to bring down the curtain on day one. Well done Harley Ingleby (EMERALD BEACH) and Sierra Lerback (EUMUNDI) for taking home the cash.
Anyone there on Sunday would have noticed STAB waltz onto the Gold Coast Open site in preparation for its famed Electric Acid Surfboard Test. We saw weird and wonderful sleds, big names (Josh Kerr, Asher Pacey, Louie Hynd, etc), poor judging and lots of laughs. Mitch Crews won the contest…….we think!?
There were some big names at this year’s main event, including an enthusiastic but comp-starved WQS bunch, some young and upcoming champions, and even a few pros of the past. Molly Picklum, Dakota Walters, Kehu Butler, Nathan Hedge, Liam O’Brien and Sophie McCulloch just to name a few.
There were also some famous surnames that spent time in the water, including Sierra Kerr, Jaggar Bartholomew, Summa Longbottom, Micah Margieson and Jay Occhilupo.
The Women’s division was won by Gold Coast local Kobie Enright (COOLANGATTA) with a combined two wave score of 12.26. She beat Ellie Harrison (BARWON HEADS) (10.77), Sasha Baker (MUDJIMBA) (9.90) and Sierra Kerr (BILINGA) (6.63).
Enright said she was excited with the win, despite her being somewhat of a Burleigh Point rookie.
“Even though I’m from Coolangatta, I actually don’t get up here very much to surf, because when the surf’s good here, the surf’s also usually pretty good at Cooly. The only times I really surf Burleigh is during contests, so I should maybe come up here more.”
“I think I’ll use my five thousand dollars to pay off my World Qualifying Series debt. Surfing can be an expensive sport so it’s nice to score some surprise cash from time-to-time,” she said.
In the Men’s division, Curtis Ewing (POINT LOOKOUT) took out the final with a score of 16.53. He beat Kyuss King (BYRON BAY) (15.90), Dakota Waters (ANGOURIE) (12.50) and Nathan Hedge (POTTSVILLE) (5.70).
Ewing said that he was happy to win an event with such a high calibre of world-class surfers.
“It was such a difficult final to win. It was a really stacked field as a lot of the World Qualifying Series surfed this event. These are the events that you want to perform your best at.”
“It’s been a really cool three days. I’ve had the chance to watch a lot of surfing, plus other things going on like skateboarding, live music and BMX. It’s been fantastic to be at Burleigh,” he said.
The 2021 Gold Coast Open was proudly supported by Tourism and Events Queensland, Major Events Gold Coast, Mt Elephant, Hit 90.9, Level Up Skatepark and Training Facility, STAB Mag and QMS Media.
Mitchell Shepherd | Communications Manager | 0418 201 700 | mitchell@surfingqueensland.com.au
