Inexperienced surfers on ‘logs’ with no leg ropes causing havoc on Gold Coast’s surfing breaks

A flagrant disregard of surfing etiquette has been blamed for causing a rogue longboard smash over the weekend.

A LACK of respect and a flagrant disregard of surfing etiquette is causing havoc at popular Gold Coast surfing breaks - with a mother smashed by a rogue longboard at Snapper Rocks over the weekend.

Later that day a young girl hit in the face by a long boarder was rushed to hospital with stitches to her face, a broken nose and possible bruising on the brain.

But according to Terranora local Leesa Laug, surfing accidents involving people on longboards are becoming commonplace and she fears for the safety of her children in the ocean.

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Surfer Leesa Laug and her son’s Tai, 7, and Kade, 9, at Snapper Rocks. Mrs Laug is worried about her sons’ safety because some inexperienced longboarders are showing no respect for fellow surfers. Picture Glenn Hampson

The mother of two said over the weekend she was paddling to help her seven-year-old son close to a sweep at Snapper when she came across a man on a longboard (log) not wearing a leg rope on the shoulder of a wave “clearly not looking where he was going”.

She yelled to warn the man she couldn’t paddle out behind him into the whitewash because she needed to reach her son quickly - but he still hit her.

“Why didn’t he pull off to avoid a collision? Was it because he was on a big heavy log (like a big truck) and has not learned how to turn it. Or was it because he didn’t have a leg rope and didn’t want to lose his board,” she said.

“On the same day I was on a wave and another log rider dropped in on me and then fell, I had to grab her board so it didn’t hit me, this happens all the time these days. She didn’t even know she’d dropped in on me or that her board nearly hit me.”

“Later that day a young girl was hit by a long boarder in the face. She was in hospital with stitches on the face, broken nose, unconscious and possibly memory loss.”

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Surfer Leesa Laug has been hit by a longboarder not wearing a leg rope at Snapper Rocks. She is pictured with son Tai, 7, and Kade, 9. Picture Glenn Hampson.

Mrs Laug said she knew logs had become “fashionable” with beginners and intermediates who wanted to look good and catch waves easier, but people on big boards not wearing leg ropes posed a serious risk to other surfers, especially younger surfers.

“They don’t know how to turn the boards, stop them or even pull off. Little do they know that in the meantime kids have been run over, people have been snaked or dropped in on and in the case of the weekend, people are going to hospital due to them not learning the basics of surfing,” she said.

“If you can’t turn your board at the drop of a pin or duck dive your longboard then you should probably wear a leg rope.”

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An experienced longboarder carving it up at Snapper Rocks. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

Inexperienced surfers who have no control of their equipment is a serious problem across all the city’s breaks, says well-respected surf reporter and commentator Terry “Tappa” Teece.

“Mainly it’s inexperienced surfers; people that have all the gear but no idea. The other day at Burleigh Point there was a young girl who had no control of her craft. So when you’ve got a 9ft board and an 11ft of rope that’s a 20ft radius of destruction for someone who can’t control their equipment,” he said.

“People without experience think they can get into the line-up and charge. While it’s a free ocean, I often wish it was like ski resorts where certain breaks were black runs and only for those with a high level of experience.”

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Mr Teece said he’d felt genuinely worried for his safety in the surf, with too many surfers not in control of their craft. He suggested newbies avoid Snapper Rocks and Burleigh when it was really crowded.

He’s also keen for a wave pool similar to URBNSURF in Melbourne, a surf park capable of kicking up more than 100 waves an hour for up to 30 surfers. “Once they’ve learned they can take their skills to the real game at the big breaks”.

Surf’s up at Snapper Rocks. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

“Unfortunately I think it’s going to get worse and worse as more people are learning to surf. We need to ensure surf schools are educating learners that it’s best to avoid line-ups when you’re inexperienced,” he said.

“This is particularly the case at Snapper when there’s thousands of surfers in the water and you can walk across the ocean from head-to-head from the point to the break – it’s like a human soup.”

Mrs Laug, who also liked the idea of a wave pool for newbies to learn in, said the onus was on all surfers to do the right thing, especially when it came to respecting the unspoken rules of surfing.

“Back in the day if you were a learner you’d never go to a popular break until you were at a certain level, now everyone wants to be seen there and to project that cool image,” she said.

“Everyone needs to wait their turn in line and if you muck it up well back to the end of the line for you, these days there’s no such thing as getting in line.

“There’s no respect, it’s gone out of the window.”