It was as near as it’s been for decades – thanks to Covid – to a locals only event, but that didn’t stop two Sydneysiders from grabbing the glittering prizes at the 30th annual Noosa Festival of Surfing.
Tully White and Matt Chojnacki, both from Sydney’s northern beaches, won the headline Open Log women’s and men’s divisions, with Tully also taking out the Open Women’s and Matt the prestigious Old Mal. But Noosa and Sunny Coast locals dominated the junior and age divisions and produced some stand-out performances despite some below par surf during the nine-day festival.
New event the GemLife Twin Fin proved to be a huge hit, and lucked out with some of the best waves of the festival last Saturday at Noosa West, giving the star-studded competitor list plenty of opportunity to shine on their pre-1985 shortboards. A cross-over event featuring some of the best shortboarders and longboarders in the country, the retro twin was won by 20-year-old retro wizard Kyuss King. Based in Byron Bay, Kyuss is a true citizen of the world, surfing and skating his way around the planet’s surf capitals for his sponsors, when not held back by Covid.
At the other end of the spectrum, seven-times world champ Layne Beachley, 49 this week, raised the flag for both the women and the seniors, with a solid performance in the twinnie, and also featured in several off-beach events, including the Black and White Charity Ball, where she appeared alongside festival special guest Ray Gleave, who won the first Noosa Malibu Classic in 1992, and competed in the open men’s again this year, aged 62. Although he didn’t make the final in that event, Ray competed with distinction in the stand-up paddle, finishing second.
The hotly-contested junior divisions enjoyed great conditions at Castaways Beach over the first weekend of the festival, with Noosa Malibu Club’s junior training programs again putting the club on the podium, with great performances by the likes of Mia Waite and the Smales brothers, Kaiden and Landen (see page ??).
For the third year in a row, Huey, the god of surf, failed to produce Noosa’s fabled point waves for the festival, but contest director Tully St John made some good calls on relocation to milk the best of the conditions on offer, and the competitors were happy to surf the variety of breaks.
And the spirit remained high, with huge crowds for the surfing dogs again, and great support for innovations like the temporary skate park in Noosa Woods, and Owen Cavanagh’s spectacular curation of the surf art exhibition at the Sofitel.
It might not be remembered as one of the great years for surf, but the 2021 festival will be remembered for its courage in really having a go in the face of pandemic restrictions.
RESULTS
U15 boys – Landen Smales
U15 girls – Mia Waite
U18 men – Kaiden Smales
U18 women – Luca Doble
O35 women – Wano Liao
O50 women – Kate Perry
O60 women – Peppie Simpson
O40 men – Josh Constable
O50 men – Damien Coulter
O55 men – Noel Woods
O60 men – Mick Corcoran
O65 men – Albie Curtis
070 men – Danny Bond
Open men – Ben Considine
Open women – Tully White
Old Mal – Matt Chojnacki
Open SUPS – Paul Jones
Open log men – Matt Chojnacki
Open log women – Tully White
Twin fin – Kyuss King
