Six new Australian shortboard champions were crowned today at the Australian Surf Festival, following an action-packed day of finals in picturesque four-foot waves at Duranbah Beach.
Again, Mitch Dawkins (Port Stephens, NSW) continued his blistering form through the event, claiming the Over-40 Men’s final – only days after taking out the Over-35 Men’s division. Dawkins put on a near perfect performance in the final, posting a 17.00 two-wave total to get the upper hand against fellow event standout and fellow Over-35 Men’s finalist, Mark Richardson (Palm Beach, Qld) who took out the runner-up spot. This is the second time in as many years Dawkins has taken out the same division at the Australian Surf Festival.
Central Coast native Amee Donohoe (Macmasters Beach, NSW) showed why she was a former World Championship Tour competitor, taking out the Over-35 Women’s final. The lightening fast natural-footer posted two near-perfect scores in excess of 9.00 to claim the Australian Title ahead of fellow NSW surfer Melissa Bartz (Pacific Palms, NSW).
After years of unsuccessfully trying to win a coveted Australian Title, NSW surfers Scott Schindler (Sawtell, NSW) and Glen Valaire (Swansea, NSW) both were successful in claiming their maiden win today. Schindler mustered up an impressive 16.40 heat total to claim the Over-45 Men’s division, while Valiare notched up a giant 17.15 total to take out the Over-50 Mens division.
The Over-55 and Over-60 Men’s divisions were dominated by Queensland surfers with Les Aberley (Moolooah Valley, Qld) and David Cousins (Noosaville, Qld) both taking respective titles. Both surfers took the victory over a handful of fancied opponents as they claimed the win and earned the top place on the dais.
All results, heat totals and locations can be found below.
The 2017 Australian Surf Festival continues tomorrow from 7:30am with the beginning of the Australian Longboard Titles.
For all results and more information, please visit: www.australiansurffestival.com
2017 Australian Surf Festival – Tweed Coast, NSW, July 28-August 14
– Opening Ceremony – July 28
– Australian Surfmasters Titles – July 29-August 2
– Australian Longboard Titles – August 2-10
– Australian Logger Titles – August 3-10
– Big 4 North Star Holiday Resort & Caravan Park Australian Bodyboard Titles – August 10-14
The 2017 Australian Surf Festival is proudly supported by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW. The event is also proudly supported by Destination Tweed, Big 4 North Star Holiday Resort & Caravan Park, bcu, Hydralyte Sports, Toyota, Pacific Longboarder, NBN, mySURF.tv, Surfing Australia and Surfing NSW.
Results and Heat Totals:
Over-35 Women
1 – Amee Donohoe (Macmasters Beach, NSW) – 18.90
2 – Melissa Bartz (Pacific Palms, NSW) – 15.00
3 – Jane Tranberg (Qld) – 5.80
4 – Angie Reiter (Torquay, Vic) – 5.05
Over-40 Men
1 – Mitchell Dawkins (Port Stephens, NSW) – 17.00
2 – Mark Richardson (Palm Beach, Qld) – 14.05
3 – Jye Gofton (Coolum, Qld) – 12.80
4 – Paul Snow (Newcastle, NSW) – 12.50
Over-45 Men
1 – Scott Schindler (Sawtell, NSW) – 16.40
2 – Jason Frost (Palm Beach, Qld) – 13.25
3 – Paul Wayland (Coolum, Qld) – 13.25
4 – Gary Howarth (Seaford, SA) – 12.85
Over-50 Men
1 – Glen Valaire (Swansea, NSW) – 17.15
2 – John Schmidenberg (Emerald Beach, NSW) – 11.95
3 – Matt Hucker (Long Jetty, NSW) – 10.00
4 – Robbie Page (Verges Creek, NSW) – 8.25
Over-55 Men
1 – Les Aberley (Moolooah Valley, Qld) – 14.75
2 – Rod Baldwin (Copacabana, NSW) – 13.50
3 – Dean Shaw (Fingal Bay, NSW) – 12.20
4 – Grayme Galbraith (Jan Juc, Vic) – 8.35
Over-60 Men
1 – David Cousins (Noosaville, Qld) – 15.15
2 – Glen Sharrock (Caves Beach, NSW) – 11.50
3 – Peter Buckley (Currumbin, Qld) – 11.00
4 – Neil Cameron (Byron Bay, NSW) 1.65
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