Tow-ins ‘deadly’
A BOARDRIDER fears towin surfing rules won’t be enforced at the city’s breaks until someone is maimed or killed.
Tempers are fraying, with Tugun surfer Sam Yoon telling the Bulletin: “Someone’s life is not worth a six foot wave.”
Concerns mounted this week after an unprecedented number of jetski tow-in surfers powered perilously close to paddle-surfers in 2m waves.
They appeared to flout Maritime Safety Queensland’s code of conduct which states tow-in surfers must not operate jetskis faster than six knots within 200m of paddle-surfers.
The rules state that unless there is no one else in the water, tow-in surfing, jetski freestyling and wave-jumping is not allowed near the Currumbin bar and Tallebudgera Creek.
In March Mr Yoon filed a report to police claiming high profile professional surfers on jetskis threatened him while he paddle-surfed at the Tweed Bar in NSW where similar tow-in rules apply.
Mr Yoon decided not to press charges.
Mr Yoon said authorities would not enforce the rules until someone was seriously injured.
He said jetskis should only be close to surf zones off Gold Coast beaches for safety reasons and tow-in surfing should take place at offshore breaks or during “historical swells”.
“They should be there for safety issues, not for the ego of getting all the waves,” Mr Yoon said.
“There’s no problem using them away from people at bombies (reefs) offshore or off Kirra in historical swells.”