Coffs Harbour surfers out to slay on home breaks
Australian Open and Boardriders Battle come to town in weekend surfing fiesta
Coffs Harbour
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TWO huge surfing competitions will be held in Coffs Harbour over the course of three days with the re-established Australian Open of Surfing and Australian Boardriders Battle coming to town.
The nudie Australian Boardriders Battle Northern NSW regional qualifier begins on Saturday, with Coffs Harbour Boardriders Club vying for a spot in the national final to be held next year.
The event is the biggest grassroots boardriders event in the country, involving more than 60 teams from across Australia.
The Coffs Harbour team features a mix of veterans and next generation surfing talent including former pro-surfer Lee Winkler, Rosie Smart, Creed Smart, Ethan Stocks, Taj Watson, Dane Peel and Jayke Sharpe.
Smart recently took out the Under-16 State and School Surfing Titles on home turf and will be looking to replicate that form on the weekend.
They are competing against eight other Northern NSW clubs with the venue most likely to be Park Beach or Macauleys with backup locations of Diggers, Gallows and Sawtell.
The Coffs Harbour Boardriders are no strangers to success, being recognised in 2018 as the best club in the country - the second time in three years - and came top of the pile at the Straddie Assault in 2019.
They were unlucky to finish just off the pace in the 2020 Boardriders Battle.
In addition to the competition, tucked in the dunes just behind all the on-water action will be the Coffs Coast Eco Surf Fest - a free grassroots, family-friendly event providing the cool on-land vibes and an exciting and engaging array of hands-on activities, creative fun and loads of sustainable living inspiration.
Then on Sunday the battles continue with the newly relaunched Australian Open of Surfing bringing some of the top surfing talent in the country to Coffs breaks.
Around 100 surfers will be competing for a $7000 prize purse with $1500 going to the winner of the men's and women's competitions.
The venue will be confirmed closer to the day, though will most likely be Park Beach and Macauleys.
The nudie Australian Boardriders Battle will run on Saturday, November 28 and the Coffs Harbour Open will run Sunday November 29 to Monday November 30.
For more information visit the Surfing NSW website.
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