Eumundi surfer Sierra Lerback put through Burleigh ‘ringer’ for toughest of wins

Being put through the surf “ringer” on Saturday in the Gold Coast Open longboard event has been the perfect preparation for Coast import Sierra Lerback.

Eumundi longboarder Sierra Lerback is looking forward to taking her winning Gold Coast form into the Noosa Festival of Surfing which runs this month.

Being put through the Burleigh Beach surf "ringer" on Saturday in the Gold Coast Open longboard event has been the perfect preparation for Sunshine Coast import Sierra Lerback ahead of the Noosa Festival of Surfing in May.

The 24-year-old, who two years ago traded Maui's chilled Hawaiian beach vibe for the feel-good First Point sets, overcame exhaustion to take out Surfing Queensland's invitational in whipping winds that had surf and the finalists all in a lather.

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"It was pretty much the hardest conditions I've ever dealt with," the Eumundi-based Lerback said.

"The current was ripping, it was crazy and you really had to time things perfectly to even get a wave.

"It was very easy to be ripped around in the wrong place,  it was being in the right place," she said.

After jumping off Burleigh rocks Lerback spotted a cleaner wall and "just went for that" and nailed it for a 7.17.

Sierra Lerback in action in cleaner sets than she encountered on the Gold Coast last Saturday.

Her nearest rival, Noosa's Kirra Molnar, had ridden a 5.35 and Lerback was desperate to post one half-decent scoring wave before her arms gave out.

"I got one more and I went in just exhausted," Lerback said.

Her 3.27 was good enough to see off runner-up Molnar's second-effort 3.87.

"It feels good to get a bit of a win coming up to the Noosa Festival to get some confidence under my belt," Lerback said.

Cheering her on will be husband Zye Norris, a Noosa local she met at the festival back in 2014.

"We did the back and forth thing (between countries) for about four years and it was hard and expensive, so two years ago we decided I would come here," she said.

"It just worked out pretty well.

"It's awesome here, it's pretty much like home," she said.

Lerback works at Thomas Surfboards in Noosaville when she is not chasing waves. The Noosa festival of Surfing runs May 15-23.

Originally published as Eumundi surfer put through 'ringer' for toughest wins