Excitement is building amongst Western Australia’s vibrant and diverse longboard community, who are set to converge on Yallingup this weekend to compete in the opening event of the 2021 Volte Wetsuits WA Longboard & Logger Titles presented by SunSmart.
A favourable surf forecast has attracted competitors from right around WA, with a total of 17 seperate divisions to be contested this weekend, catering for both men and women, ranging from Under-18 Juniors through to Over-70 Grand Legends.
Local south-west surfers will go toe-to-toe with those travelling from as far afield as Esperance, Denmark, Mandurah and Perth for the chance to represent WA at the Australian Surf Championships, which are scheduled to be held in Port Macquarie, NSW in August.
In one of the best turnouts of talent in recent years, the Open Men’s longboard division is dripping with talent. This division should create fireworks as a field of notable surfers including; Ryan Clark (Dunsborough), Mark Matisons (Cottesloe), Evan Ledger (Cottesloe), Scott Trew (Gabbadah), Karl Leavy (Yallingup) and Anthony Spencer (Margaret River) who are all capable of capturing victory.
“Yallingup is such a fun wave to surf on a bigger board,” said Mark Matisons. “You need to be able to cover a lot of ground out there as it’s a big playing field. This is a great warm up for an event in Byron Bay that myself and a bunch of the guys are heading to next week.”
The Open Women’s divisions is also stacked with 2021 marking the return of former State and National Champion Georgia Young (Perth), along with Michaela Ross (Denmark), and Chelsea Bedford (Vasse) preparing to mark their return to the waves of Yallingup.
The inclusive nature of longboarding will be on display in Yallingup this weekend with plenty of new and old faces set to line up against each other with the event starting on Saturday and concluding on Sunday.
“Yallingup is a much loved location, rich in surf history and culture, so we’re thrilled to once again be hosting our first longboard State Title of the year here,” said Surfing WA Events Manager Justin Majeks. “We’ve got the option to go mobile to find the best waves and seek some shelter from Sunday’s larger swell, it looks unreal and I’m sure the surfers are already waxing up their boards in anticipation.”
Non-elimination round one heats will commence early on Saturday morning with Sunday set to be action-packed, as a large groundswell brings an increase the wave heights for the all important finals.
Surfing WA acknowledges the State Government’s support through the Road Safety Commission and reminds all our traveling competitors and families of the dangers of sending a text message or using a mobile phone while behind the wheel – Remember #NoTxtNoWrecks.
Surfing WA will be streaming live scores and results for people to follow via: www.surfingwalive.com.au
Stay tuned to www.surfingwa.com.au for news, photos and updates relating to the 2020 Volte WA Longboard and Logger Titles presented by SunSmart.
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