National shot on cards in boardriders battle
A SPOT at Newcastle’s national finals will be on the line on Saturday at the Queensland leg of the Nudie Australian Boardriders Battle.
Gold Coast will host some of the nation’s best, with former WSL World Championship Tour surfer Bede Durbidge (North Stradbroke) competing for Point Lookout Boardriders in the event. “The event should be really good. I haven’t competed since Pipe so I’m looking forward to it,” Durbidge said. “I love surfing for my club and I think the new format is great.”
Reigning Queensland champions Burleigh Boardriders are looking to take their third consecutive win.
“The format’s great, we really like the team surfing,” head coach Kyle Robinson said.
“We have a similar team to last year but we’re changing the names up a little. We’re definitely excited.”
The format of the event runs differently to the average surfing competition.
It involves teams of five surfers – two open men, one open woman, one over-35 and one junior.
Surfers compete in tag team-style heats, surfing one at a time and combining their wave scores into a team total.
The Nudie Australian Boardriders Battle is the biggest grassroots boardriders event in Australian surfing history. It will involve more than 100 of Australia’s best boardriders clubs in eight state qualifying rounds and will culminate in a two-day national final at a date to be confirmed for 24 clubs at Newcastle Beach in NSW.
Prizemoney includes $2000 for first place, $1500 for second and $1000 for third.