Dane Henry (Kingscliff) and Local Rosie Smart (Coffs Harbour) have taken out the first qualifying event of the Australian Open of Surfing Tour – The Volkswagen Coffs Harbour Open, – today following a giant day of action in picturesque 3-4 foot Macauleys Beach conditions.
Henry (Kingscliff) took down Benny Wilson (Narrabeen) in the final, securing the win with a 8.17. Henry had a great campaign across the entire day posting great scores in each of his four heats.
Wilson surfed great throughout the event however just fell short of the victory today at Macauley’s. Henry was beyond stoked to get the win today saying “it feels great! Boys have been putting on a clinic, waves have been super tricky but so stoked to get it done.”
Henry walks away with $2,000 and top qualifying points heading into the second stop on the Australian Open of Surfing Tour Presented By Volkswagen.
In the Open Women it was local Rosie Smart who kept control of the competition and dominated the event. Smart was a stand-out over the whole day as she rose to the conditions on offer. The conditions in the final started to worsen with the wind, however, Smart stayed busy catching seven waves in total. It was her 6th wave that got her the lead and the overall win posting a 7 point ride.
The local was stoked to take out the event for her second year in a row, and aims to sharpen her skills heading into the Bondi Grand Final. Isla Huppatz (Burleigh) finished the event runner up to Smart and showed a lot of great surfing ability throughout the competition. Huppatz will still walk away from the event with $1,500 prize money.
“I’m super happy. It was a really close final. The level of surfing in the girls has definitely improved since last year an everyone’s ripping, I’m glad I got that one good turn.
“It feels pretty good to win twice in a row. It’s nice winning at home as well with all the support.”
The prime location for the Coffs Harbour Open was Macauleys with backup locations of Park Beach, Diggers, Gallows and Sawtell beaches.
The entire Australian Open of Surfing Tour will feature three events. Having kicked off in Coffs Harbour this weekend, Surfing Queensland will host the second qualifier event in two weeks time – The Sunshine Coast Open – with the Tour coming down to the top 16 competitors battling it out at the Bondi Grand Final Open.
The prize pool for the AOS Tour is $50,000, a significant amount incentivising our future champions taking part in the Tour. It includes $10,000 equal prize money for the men’s and women’s winners at each qualifier and then $15,000 equal prize money for the men’s and women’s winners at the Bondi Grand Final.
The 2023 Australian Open of Surfing is proudly supported by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Coffs Harbour Council, Better Beer, Mad Mex, and Mambo.
RESULTS:
Open Men
1 – Dane Henry (Kingscliff)
2 – Benny Wilson (Narrabeen)
3 – Will Martin (Coffs Harbour)
4 – Brock Cooper (Stradbroke Island)
Open Women
1 – Rosie Smart (Coffs Harbour)
2 – Isla Huppatz (Burleigh)
3 – Keira Buckpitt (Ulladulla)
4 – Leihani Kaloha Zoric (Le-Ba)
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Australian Open of Surfing Tour, presented by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
Qualifier One
Coffs Harbour Open – complete
Qualifier Two
Sunshine Coast Open, 27-28 October 2023
Prize Money Breakdown: Equal Men and Women
1st Place $2,000.00
2nd Place $1,500.00
3rd Place $1,000.00
4th Place $500.00
