The state’s best boardriders have converged for a nine-day festival on the Sunshine Coast and local surfers have made their mark.
The Queensland Surf Festival includes shortboard, longboard, bodyboard and paddleboard.
The action started on Saturday with the two-day shortboard event, with local duo Taj Stokes and Georgia Lorentsen showing their potential at Dicky Beach.
They won the open male and female crowns, with impressive performances at Ann Street Reef.
Buddina’s Stokes scored 12.73 in a tight final, ahead of Burleigh Heads’ Hinata Aizawa (12.56), Noosa Heads’ Cooper Davies (11.67) and Little Mountain’s Cameron MacDougall (11.17).
“It was pretty tough out there,” he said.
“We knew there was going to be lots of wind and rain. It was certainly a battle against the elements.”
“This is my first state title so it’s pretty special. I can’t wait until the Australian titles later in the year. It’s actually great to be back doing events again.”
Noosa Heads’ Lorentsen claimed a two wave score of 10.26, to beat Buddina’s Holly Williams (9.46), Coolum Beach’s Ellia Smith (9.40) and Coolangatta’s Raya Campbell (5.80).
“This is my first big win for a while, so it’s great for my confidence.,” Lorentsen said.
“I’ll take this along to other competitions coming up.
“The final was tricky, but fun when you eventually got a wave.”
The masters competitors started their campaign at Alexandra Headland on Monday, when Yaroomba’s Trevor Tripcony impressed in heats on Monday, amid powerful surf and a strong sweeping current.
He went on with it at Kings Beach on Tuesday, to win the Grand Masters Over 40 Shortboard and the Masters Over 35 Shortboard divisions.
“I’m wrapped with my performance,” he said.
“I’m really glad they changed the location to here at Kings Beach. The waves were good all day and there wasn’t as much paddling as previous days. My arms aren’t hurting as much.”
Fifty-two titles are on offer at the festival, along with selection into the Queensland team to compete at the Australian Titles later this year.
Surfing Queensland CEO, Adam Yates, said the action provided plenty of entertainment for spectators.
“The great thing about the 2021 Volkswagen Queensland Surf Festival is that it combines a range of surfing divisions all in the one event.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re a surfer, bodyboarder, longboarder, stand-up-paddleboader or logger.”
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Some new and classic vehicles, including Kombis, vans and campervans, will also be on display, as part of Volskwagen’s affiliation with the event. A Kombi rally will be held on March 27, with classic VW Kombis at the event site at Coolum Beach.
There will also be entertainment, with Coolum Flicks in the Park running free movie evenings in Tickle Park, including Surf’s Up on March 20, and Despicable Me 3 on March 27.
Local musicians Dorah Jacson and Sam Yeoward will provide chilled-out tunes, playing live sets running from 9am to 1.30pm.
There’ll also be market stalls selling a range of products including beach accessories, surf art and jewellery. A VW coffee pod will be serving up the morning’s caffeine.
2021 Volkswagen Queensland Surf Festival Schedule
March 20-21 – Open Shortboard Titles (won by Sunshine Coast’s Taj Stokes and Georgia Lorentsen).
March 22-23 – Masters Shortboard Titles
March 24 – Stand-Up-Paddleboard Titles
March 25 – Bodyboard titles
March 26-28 – Longboard and Logger Titles
