Cairns talent breezes homeward
TRINITY Beach windsurfer Ben Newsom is leading the pack ahead of the final leg of the national slalom racing championships set to conclude today.
More than 40 competitors are taking part in the Green Island National Windsurfing Championships east of Cairns this week, vying for the highly coveted Free Race, Freestyle and Slalom titles.
Fellow Cairns surfer Kelly Morgan remains in contention in seventh place with entrants reaching speeds of up to 70km/ h.
Morgan said the slalom event tested surfers’ skill and competitive spirit.
“It’s downwind racing,” he said. “There are five marks and then you race to a finish gate.
“Everyone leaves across the start mark at the same time.
“There’s a complete whitewash of water as you attack the mark. There’s a little bit of argy-bargy but you try not to hit anyone because you crash almost straight away.”
Despite heavy rain on Wednesday, Morgan said strong gusty 25-knot winds had aided riders throughout the event.
“This is probably the best place in Australia to windsurf,” he said.
“Nowhere else down south gets this kind of consistent wind and even water. “It’s a great place to race. “Plus we have amazing weather.”
Newsom, one of four Far North Queenslanders surfing in the event, moved to Western Australia in 2013 to compete more regularly in the extreme sport.
He’s expected to be challenged today by a number of competitors both from Australia and overseas.
“It’s pretty close, there are only six or seven points in it between the top three or four competitors,” Morgan said.
The championship wraps up today.