This weekend’s sixth annual Noosa Logger contest marks the slightly belated start of the competitive longboard season, usually a time for festivities and reunions as much as for fierce rivalry in the water.
Of course, with the uncertainties of Covid-19 still with us, it won’t be quite the same this year, with fewer interstate competitors and almost no internationals, other than those who have seen the light and now live here. But it’s great to see the events back, even in a reduced form.
The last longboard comp held in Noosa was the Noosa Festival of Surfing and the WSL Noosa Open, back in February 2020, just before the pandemic took over our lives. The 2020 Logger had to be cancelled, so the fact that it kicks off our emergence from the big, black hole this year is a bonus for hosts the Noosa Malibu Club. Everyone from groms to grandpas will be rarin’ to go.
The open men’s field, led by defending champ and former world champ Josh Constable, is red hot, with all of Noosa’s high-achieving longboarders in the mix, including Harrison Roach, Zye Norris, Nic Brewer, Dane Wilson and Matt Cuddihy. Other Sunny Coasters include Bowie Pollard, Alex Bullpitt and transplanted internationals Husni Ridwa from Java and Connor Griffiths from Wales.
The local contingent in the open women’s division is led by sisters Emily and Charlotte Lethbridge, alongside Rosie Locke, Kirra Molnar and Jade Gower, with Hawaii’s Mason Schremmer (attending university here) the lone international.
There are hot fields in both girls and boys junior divisions, with the Smales brothers, Landen and Kaiden heading up the boys and pocket rocket Luca Doble looking good in the girls. The full-to-the-brim age divisions are also looking highly competitive, with seasoned local talent like Glenn Gower, Wally Allan and Reid Johnson featuring, while the codger events look like battles to the death, with the two Micks – Corcoran and Vaisnys – lined up against Ian Borland and your humble correspondent in the over 60s mens, and Peppie Simpson, Marnie Morat and Kate Perry flying the local colours in the over 45 women.
No doubt there’ll be time for a brew or two at the Heads of Noosa Tap Room, venue for Friday’s signing on and Sunday’s presentation, with surfboards by locals Creative Army, Classic Malibu, Thomas and Andrew Warhurst to be won. All that’s missing at the time of writing is the surf, but a few prayers might fix that, hopefully allowing the Logger to run at First Point.
Right after the Logger, many of the competitors will be heading straight up to Agnes Water for the longboard classic, this year a five-day event with pro divisions and plenty of social activity enlivening the village. (Life of Brine will be on hand to report.) And mid-May sees the return of the Noosa Festival of Surfing. Now free of the Covid restrictions on major events, the festival is expected to draw big crowds over its nine days of surfing and beach partying.
Knocking the festival back into May, largely due to Covid considerations, may have seemed like a risky move, but the way the autumn surf season has been shaping so far, it might turn out to be very smart. Let’s hope we see a couple of swells flush out the banks at First Point and a long run of consistent east swell for May.
Meanwhile, down south…
While we’re waxing up the longboards in Queensland, the World Surf League’s qualifying series in NSW has been giving the tour pros an opportunity to limber up for the start of the Australian leg of a very different-looking WSL world tour in Newcastle from April 1.
With the first of four Australian events that could well decide the 2021 titles for men and women just weeks away, the homegrown stars were all getting their feet in the wax at the Sisstrevolution and Vissla Central Coast Pro events at Avoca Beach last weekend in heavy, challenging surf.
By finals time many of the big names, including our own Julian Wilson, had been eliminated, but Sally Fitzgibbons made the women’s semis and young star Macy Callaghan finished second to local Molly Picklum in an exciting final. In the men’s WA’s Jacob Willcox went down to former world tour surfer Matt Banting, after the veteran grabbed a keeper in the dying minutes.
The WSL internationals arrived by chartered aircraft this week (minus Kelly Slater and Caroline Marks) to begin their 14-day quarantine in NSW ahead of the Newcastle event. Contests at Sydney’s North Narrabeen and WA’s Margaret River and Rottnest Island will follow over a two-month season that is like no other, with Coolangatta’s Super Bank and Bells Beach out of the mix for the first time since the pro tour began.
For the WSL, this could be a make or break year, so let’s hope that all of the tour events are blessed with good waves.
