Day one of the 2018 Hyundai Australian SUP Titles presented by SAE Group saw round one of the SUP surfing divisions hit the water at Duranbah Beach. Competitors tore apart the clean 2ft (0.6m) waves, in divisions including Open Mens, Open Womens, Over 40 Mens, Over 40 Womens, Over 50 Mens and Junior Mens.
Current International Surfing Association (ISA) Women’s SUP Surfing World Champion Shakira Westdorp (Tugun, QLD) wasted no time blistering through her round one heat with a two-wave heat total of 13.45 – defeating Terrene Black (NSW), Ke’ale Dorries (QLD) and Susannah Wilson (WA) respectively. Westdorp moves through to the Semi Finals with other surfers including Terenne Black, Hannah Finlay (NSW) and Skyla Rayner (NSW).
“It was petty glassy, you just have to pick the right ones,” said Westdorp.
Westdorp will be heading to China later in the month to compete at the ISA World SUP Championships, and is looking to claim her third world title in a row.
“It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to go. I’ve heard the waves can get really good over there – I’m going over there a few days early so I’ll have a chance to test out the conditions.”
The Open Men’s division ran today with standout names progressing. Last year’s runner-up Harry Maskell (NSW) smashed through his heat, scoring one of the highest heat totals of the day with16.25 – defeating Dylan Henry (NSW), Crawford Olney (WA) and Sam Sierakowski (VIC) respectively.
Other names progressing through the open Mens include Justin Holland (NSW), Matt Takle (VIC), James Casey (NSW), Riley Kay (SA) and Joshua Stretton (NSW).
“That was fun, I’m stoked to make it through my heat,” said Stretton.
Steve Morley (Mudgeeraba, QLD) scored the highest heat total of the Over 40 Mens division, with 15.00 – defeating Blair Moore (NSW), Paul Jones (QLD) and Gareth Grant (NSW) respectively.
“We’ve definitely seen beautiful surfing from both the women and the men today,” said Morley. “We’re stoked to be able to surf in the best waves on the Gold Coast today for the Australian Titles. It’s all about the camaraderie. We all ride longboards, shortboards, you name it – Stand Up Paddleboarding is just another element for us.”
The event will see 25 national champions crowned across divisions including SUP surfing, technical racing and marathon racing. Defending champions New South Wales will be looking to go back-to-back after winning the overall victory last year, closely followed by Queensland.
“We’re incredibly excited to be hosting the Australian SUP Titles on the Gold Coast again this year,” said Surfing Queensland CEO Adam Yates. “We’re going to see Australia’s best Stand Up Paddleboarders tearing apart the surf from Saturday through to Tuesday – so we encourage our residents of the Gold Coast to come down and check out the action.”
The 2018 Hyundai Australian SUP Titles presented by SAE group provides the exclusive pathway to the International Surfing Association’s (ISA) 2019 ISA World SUP & Paddleboard Championships.
For more details, head to https://australiansuptitles.com/.
Event Schedule:
- Saturday 10th – Monday 12th: Competition period for all SUP surfing divisions / competition period for all SUP and prone technical racing divisions.
- Tuesday 13th: Competition period for all SUP and prone marathon racing divisions (20km), community marathon racing (20km) divisions.
The 2018 Hyundai Australian SUP titles presented by SAE Group is proudly supported by Hyundai, Gold Coast City Council, SAE Group, Hydralyte Sports, Currumbin RSL, 2XP, Air Asia, The International Surfing Association (ISA), Surfing Queensland and Surfing Australia.