Jet skis on cards for next Battle
Surfing Australia will seek to introduce jet skis to next year’s Australian Boardriders Battle grand final to further bolster an event that drew the attention of Brazil’s three-time world champion Gabriel Medina.
Tens of thousands of spectators swarmed the hill at Burleigh Heads to watch the event across Saturday and Sunday, with organisers hailing it a huge success.
It drew global attention with the likes of Medina commenting on social media posts of Snapper Rocks surfer and exworld champion Joel Parkinson attempting the long run up the hill. As part of the event, surfers competed in teams, and on exiting the water had to sprint to the top of Burleigh Hill to tag team mates or beat a heat timer.
Surfing Australia’s chief of sport Luke Madden revealed the governing body would seek permission from Gold Coast City Council to have jet skis for the surfers to use in order to quickly get back to where the waves are breaking in 2025.
It would mean surfers have more time to catch waves, enabling teams to score higher totals and give fans a chance to see even more action.
Surfing Australia didn’t have exclusivity of the area for the 2024 event from Gold Coast City Council, restricting them from using skis. It meant surfers had to paddle back against a sweep running to the north.
“The more surfing we can get the better,” Madden said.
“It just comes down to that relationship we can build with Gold Coast City Council. We can’t fully answer it right now but we will chat to them about doing anything we can to make it an even more exciting event.”
Surfing Australia CEO Chris Mater has already indicated a willingness to explore keeping it on the Gold Coast after the existing three-year deal ends.
The success of the Boardriders Battle has inspired the creation of another innovative competition, the Australian Interschool Surfing Championships.
One hundred schools will compete in the championships at Surfers Paradise from May 22-24, with teams of three competing in four divisions including the junior girls and boys and senior girls and boys.
Australia leads the way when it comes to boardriders clubs, with 250 associations around the country all helping to produce the next wave of young guns who could one day reach the world tour.
Madden said it is something other countries had started to try and replicate, with some clubs popping up in the US.
But Madden said more had to be done to provide better infrastructure to Australian clubs who often work out of houses or sheds.
“It isn’t good enough right now but there is a huge community of boardriders and we want to keep working with councils to get space on the beach for them,” Madden said.