Another great day of surfing on the NSW Central Coast as the Sisstrevolution Central Coast Pro and the Vissla Central Coast Pro completed eight heats of the round of 32 and eight heats of the round of 64 respectively.
Early clean offshore winds and prime surf conditions saw the Sisstrevolution Central Coast Pro surfers notching up many excellent wave scores with emerging local Molly Picklum the standout. Picklum’s impressive two-wave winning heat tally of 16.75 included the event’s highest scoring ride to-date of 9.10.
“The surf is amazing out there for us girls,” said Picklum. “I can’t remember scoring waves this good for an event for quite some time and it looks like the swell will continue until finals day. Hopefully I’ll be there to enjoy it.”
Other impressive winners from the round of 32 included South African born Sarah Baum, India Robinson and number-one seed Sally Fitzgibbons who also posted an impressive 9 point ride early in the day.
The appearance of Avoca’s favourite son Adrian Buchan was the day’s highlight and the 16 year Championship Tour veteran didn’t disappoint the strong local crowd by taking a solid win in what was his first hit out in the jersey in about a year. Buchan progressed through the heat alongside Jaggar Bartholomew, son of 1978 World Champion Wayne Bartholomew.
“It was this event last year when I last competed and it feels great to be back” said Buchan. “Reflecting on the past year, I appreciate the opportunity to step back and have a breather, spend way more quality time here at home with family and right now I’m super refreshed and it’s just fantastic to be preparing for Newcastle and Narrabeen and then WA – These locations mean a lot to me and I’m excited.”
Ethan Ewing was another CT surfer who many anticipate will have a great season this year and he looked sharp and focused winning his round of 64 heat today.
“This is a great event for me to put the jersey back on and get my mind focused on competition” said Ewing. “I was surprised to see Australia organise the upcoming four Championship Tour events and the new locations at Newcastle and Narrabeen add some intrigue to our tour – It’s exciting and I’m ready and looking forward to the heats ahead here, especially with the waves pumping.”
The final heat of the day saw the best wave of the event so far posted by Lliam Mortensen. The powerful natural footer took advantage of the great running waves along with the cross shore winds to post a massive full reverse aerial which scored a near perfect 9.9 and Mortensen took the win. Mortensen was joined by Caleb Tancred who also progressed through the heat after nearly two years of not competing. Tancred posted a gigantic 15.00 two-wave total for some mammoth air-reverses to progress through in the runner-up spot.
The waves for this event have been great and the outlook ahead is also looking amazing as the Autumn prime surf season slowly takes effect. The weekend should see peak clean conditions and great crowds for finals on Sunday morning.
The live broadcast of the Vissla Central Coast Pro and Sisstrevolution Central Coast Pro will begin on Thursday, 4 March 2021 and will be streamed live on Surfing NSW website and Facebook.
The elite six-day World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) 3000 rated event formed the final of four stops on the Vissla NSW Pro Surf Series and will take place in Avoca from Tuesday, 2 March 2021 until Sunday, 7 March 2021.
The four-event series will see three QS1000 rated events (Maroubra, Great Lakes and Port Stephens) and one men’s and women’s QS3000 (Central Coast).
In 2020, the WSL revealed a new format for 2021, which included creating distinct seasons between the QS (the regionalised development tier), the Challenger Series (the global battleground for Championship Tour qualification) and the Championship Tour (the world’s best surfers competing for the World Title).
The new tour structure will provide a more streamlined and affordable career pathway for WSL athletes by allowing up-and-coming surfers to develop closer to home without financially overleveraging themselves. Athletes will compete on their regional QS tour in hopes of qualifying for the Challenger Series (CS), and ultimately the Championship Tour, which will reduce the economic pressure on surfers and their sponsors, as well as provide increased opportunities to celebrate local stars.
The QS will run from January through to July 2021 and determine who has qualified for the CS, which will run from August through to December 2021. Each region will have an allocation of surfers that can qualify for the CS through their regional tour. Athletes will be able to roll over points from 2020 QS events into the current season. Australia/Oceania will receive an allocation of ten men’s and eight women’s spots onto the Challenger Series based on the regional QS rankings.
All events will be webcast through worldsurfleague.com, surfingnsw.com.au and the WSL App.
For more information on these events head to worldsurfleague.com or check the free WSL App.
2021 Vissla NSW Pro Surf Series Event Schedule
Event 1: Great Lakes Pro, Boomerang Beach, Tuesday 16 – Friday 19 February 2021.
Event 2: Port Stephens Pro, Birubi Beach, Sunday 21 – Tuesday 23 February 2021.
Event 3: Mad Mex Maroubra Pro, Maroubra Beach, Friday 26 – Sunday 28 February 2021.
Event 4: Vissla Central Coast Pro, Avoca Beach, Tuesday 2 – Sunday 7 March 2021.
The 2021 Vissla NSW Pro Surf Series will be proudly supported by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW. The series will also be proudly supported by Vissla, Randwick City Council, Central Coast Council, Mid Coast Council, Port Stephens Council, Mad Mex, Sisstrevolution, Middle Rock Holiday Park, Moby’s Beachside Retreat, Avoca Beach Hotel, WSL and Surfing NSW.
