Stand-up paddleboards (SUP’s) are the new hotness. Whether it’s flat, waste high, or bombing off the coast of Australia, SUP’s find a home in all water conditions. Australia is hosting its inaugural nation-wide SUP championship in a couple weeks. As a sport relatively new to the pop-scene, there will be lots of room to show off some creative abilities.
I constantly think back to how amazed I was to see Laird Hamilton dropping in at Teahupoo, while digging the paddle into the face of the monster wave.
Surfing New South Wales Port Macquarie New South Wales 16 - 29 August 2009
History made at the Country Energy Australian Surf Festival
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 5 August, 2009 : - - Maroubra Beach, NSW -- This years Country Energy Australian Surf Festival will see history created as 2009 ushers in the inaugural Australian Stand-Up Paddleboard Titles. Taking place on Sunday, August 23 2009, the Australian Stand-Up Paddleboard Titles will see competitors from across the country battling it out for a piece of history – the first ever National Stand-Up Paddleboard Title.
Having ridden a wave of popularity, across the globe, over the past decade, Stand Up Paddleboarding has etched its way firmly into the sphere of competitive and recreational surfing, culminating with its inaugural national event. Andrew Stark, CEO of Surfing Australia, is just one of many surfing enthusiasts eagerly anticipating the first heat of competition.
“This year’s Festival will see history created,” Stark said. “With the first ever Stand-Up Paddleboard “SUP” Australian Titles we are very much excited at sharing the spectacle of SUP at the highest level in Australia,” he continued.
Mark Windon, Surfing NSW CEO, echoes the exact sentiments, as surfing's administrators look to the future of competitive surfing. “It is great to have Stand-Up Paddle Boarding featured for the first time in 2009,” Windon stated. “Known in surfing circles as a discipline that is increasing in popularity every day, we are looking forward to seeing it as a steadfast feature of the Country Energy Australian Surf Festival in years to come.”
The prestigious, one-day event, which will be run according to the current ISA Stand-Up Paddleboard competition rules, is scheduled to run as a part of the Australian Surfmasters Titles. With the best watermen in Australia showcasing the emerging sport, spectators will be treated to the hybrid discipline which takes inspiration from surfing, skiing, wakeboarding and skateboarding.
“Stand-Up Paddleboarding at this level will provide some high-quality action.... Seeing these amazing athletes manoeuvre their boards about is something to be seen, I can’t wait to see the competition transpire and the reaction of all spectators,” Windon admitted.
In 2009, with an expanded festival program, The Country Energy Australian Surf Festival also boasts live music, surf art and photography, retro surfboard displays, surf film screenings and surfing education courses to appease the palates of all cultural enthusiasts, or just the humble surfer.
The Country Energy Australian Surf Festival will take place from August 15 – 29 2009 at Port Macquarie.
The Country Energy Australian Surf Festival is presented by Surfing Australia and Surfing NSW and is proudly supported by Country Energy, Events NSW, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Mercure Centro Hotel, Port Macquarie Hastings Council, Port Macquarie Tourism, Tourism NSW, Australian Sports Commission , Ocean & Earth, Coastalwatch, Sydney Weekender, Port Macquarie News, NBN TV, Star FM, Macquarie Hotel, Australia’s Surfing Life Magazine and Australian Longboarding Magazine.
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