LAUNCHING this year’s Crick’s Noosa Festival of Surfing, Waterman Weekend will celebrate all things oceanic, with three divisions of stand-up paddling joining the previously-announced body surfing and multi-discipline events.
“We want all beach users to join in the festivities over our opening weekend,” said festival director Phil Jarratt.
After a resoundingly successful first year in 2014, the Deus Womp Comp returns – an open body-surfing division that is attracting an international contingent of the world’s finest.
Always fiercely contested, the SUP disciplines will include both surf and race categories.
Last year’s dynamic final of the Ocean Addicts SUP Men’s Open saw Justin Holland emerge victorious in a challenging heat, which included Geoff Breen, Matt Roach, Roger Saunders, Tully St. John and the always impressive Beau Nixon.
Last year’s Men’s Open semi-finalist, Paul Jones will lead a team of volunteers from Sunshine Coast SUP Club, coming on board to organise and oversee the SUP divisions.
Jonesy has developed two courses for the SUP race, utilising his local knowledge to devise routes that incorporate both open ocean and surf components.
The amateur race features a 3.5 kilometre, triangular course, beginning offshore and concluding on the beach at First Point, while the pro race, a 5.7 kilometre, square route, will comprise a beach run section on each of its four laps. Part SUP, part ironman challenge, this gruelling event has attracted an international field of professional athletes.
The weekend’s festivities will also include the festival’s official opening ceremony and paddle out, as well as a star-studded Legends Exhibition, with some of the world’s finest surfers of the past four decades taking to the waves in a display of their exceptional talents.
Join the fun at the Cricks Noosa Festival of Surfing for “8 Days of Pure Stoke” from 7 to 14 March, and bring the family.
Free live music every night on the Zinc Stage, and cold beer at the XXXX Summer Bar, all part of the PJ Burns Festival Village on the sand at First Point.
Course and SUP division info will be added to the website in coming days and announced through social media, so please join in on Facebook – NoosaFestSurf – for regular updates and further announcements. A handful of places are still available for all SUP divisions. To register, visit our website now at www.noosafestivalofsurfing.com and select the Competitors option from the menu.
Join the Cricks Noosa Festival of Surfing on social media:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NoosaFestSurf
Instagram: @noosa_festival_of_surfing
