Gold Coast officials racing clock to have Snapper Rocks ready to host World Surf League’s Championship Tour
The Gold Coast is in a race against the clock to ensure the famous Snapper Rocks super bank is ready for its return to the world surfing tour in the aftermath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. Go inside the plans to save the event here.
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The Gold Coast is in a race against the clock to ensure the famous Snapper Rocks super bank is ready for its return to the world surfing tour in the aftermath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The weather event has stripped the surf break of sand and left officials scrambling to determine how to help it recover for the Gold Coast Pro, set to be held between May 3 and 13.
It’s been five years since the World Surf League’s Championship Tour held an event on the Gold Coast and the impacts of the cyclone threaten to detract from a historic return that will be broadcast around the globe.
Former world surfing champion Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew is on the advisory committee of the Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypass Project that pumps sand from Fingal to beaches between Kirra and Duranbah.
Bartholomew said he felt hopeless before meeting with the group in recent days and said Snapper Rocks would only be ready if multiple elements aligned.
“It can be done but the elements need to work with it,” Bartholomew said.
“After a cyclone or big swell it washes the sand out every time. By our calculations we need about 45,000 cubic metres of sand to be put into Froggies Beach, just around the corner from Snapper.
“Then we need some nice southerly winds and south-east swells to help it along. We are coming into April and those are the conditions we usually see at this time of the year. It will be touch and go.
“We are racing the clock and we need to start from scratch and we don’t need another big swell to come through. But there are a few things in our favour.
“In the past when a big storm has come through we have had to clean out debris from inside the pipes but now they have screens and can filter it all out. There have been some lessons learnt over the years.”
The other challenge officials have is the presence of sand at Fingal.
“We need sand at the source to supply the cones and pipes so hopefully the cyclone hasn’t affected it too much,” Bartholomew said.
Originally published as Gold Coast officials racing clock to have Snapper Rocks ready to host World Surf League’s Championship Tour
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