Sophie McCulloch appeared to feel zero pressure in her attempt to bag her local North Shore Boardriders their second title in as many years. The light-footed natural footer nailed her Hyundai Open Women’s heat, posting a near-perfect 9.85 wave score with a mix of searing frontside snaps and carves. McCulloch will represent her club in the Teams event tomorrow alongside some of the best surfers from her local Sunshine Coast beach.
“I’m really happy with the way that heat went and it was like everything fell into place,” said McCulloch. “I think the club is riding on the confidence it built last year when it took the event out. There’s definitely a bit of pressure on the club to perform and I think we all want to prove that we’re not a one-hit-wonder.”
Joel Vaughan sent the crowd into a frenzy in the junior division with a massive backhand rotation to nail down a 9.6 point single wave score, his club mates from North Shelly Boardriders chairing him up the beach CT victory style post heat.
Caleb Tancred made a welcome return to competition surfing, competing for his local Avoca Boardriders Club in the Oakley Open Men’s division. Tancred found a lengthy tube in his heat to post an excellent 8.58 wave score and take a win for his club.
“That wave was a perfect size and it opened perfectly,” said Tancred. “There weren’t really any barrels out there over the course of the morning, so I knew I’d have to make the most of it when that wave popped up and thankfully it worked in my favour.”
Other standout performers on day one included Bede Durbidge (Point Lookout Master’s competitor ) and Tru Starling ( North Narrabeen Women’s competitor) who put on dominant displays for their clubs.
With a promising rising south swell forecast to fill in overnight, event organisers expect 4-6ft pumping waves for the start of finals day tomorrow. Tune in again on mySURFtv’s YouTube channel from 7 am!
Full results available after at www.australianboardridersbattle.com
nudie AustralianBoardriders Battle Series Eight Schedule:
ABB – EVENT 1 – Gold Coast, QLD – August 22, 2020
ABB – EVENT 2 – Fleurieu Peninsula, SA – Sept 5, 2020
ABB – EVENT 3 – Trigg, WA – Sept 19, 2020
ABB – EVENT 4 – Clifton Beach TAS – Oct 3, 2020
ABB – EVENT 5 – NSW Sth – Kiama, NSW – Nov 21, 2020
ABB – EVENT 6 – NSW Nth – Coffs Harbour, NSW – Nov 28, 2020
ABB – EVENT 7 – NSW Central – North Narrabeen, NSW – Dec 12, 2020
ABB – EVENT 8 – Phillip Island, VIC – Jan 30, 2021
ABB – National Final – Newcastle, NSW – May 15th-16th, 2021
Now in its eighth season, the nudie Australian Boardriders Battle is the country’s biggest grassroots boardriders event, involving more than 60 of Australia’s best boardrider clubs and $112,700 in prize money.
Adding to the high stakes at the State qualifying events will be two speciality awards. The Oakley Prizm Performer will be awarded to the standout surfer, while the Surfing Australia Innovation Award ($1000) will be presented to the surfer who performs the most innovative manoeuvre.
Other Awards at the National Final include:
Hyundai Electric Air Show – $1000
Surfing Australia Club Spirit Award – $1500
Woolworths Fresh Wave Award – $500
Hyundai ‘She’s Electric’ Award
Layne Beachley Medal
Wayne Rabbit Batholomew Medal
NOTE: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation and Surfing Australia’s commitment to comply with all State and Federal regulations, series dates are subject to change at any time.
The nudie Australian Boardriders Battle is proudly supported by Destination NSW.
The 2020/21 nudie Australian Boardriders Battle series is proudly supported by nudie, Oakley, Woolworths, Hyundai, City of Newcastle, ACCIONA 2XP, Surfrider Foundation, mySURFtv and Surfing Australia.
