• Day Two off 'n running at the Observation Platform at Park Beach.
• 22 Heats today.
• Divisions in the water today ...
  • Over 40
  • Over 50
  • Over 55
  • Over 35 Men
  • Over 60
  • Over 45.
• Another great swell associated with virtually no wind at all.
• A 10-minute paddle out was instituted due to the long walk to the island to take advantage of the flatter water and a bit of a rip which was basically sucking the surfers out the back, leaving them with a reasonably easy paddle across to the take-off zone.
• Wind started up a bit in the late morning, but was initially only a reasonably light onshore and did nothing to mess up the conditions.
• By early afternoon the wind was starting to freshen, causing a few bumps to appear on an otherwise classic day.
• By the end of the day the wind was starting to make a real mess of things. The last couple of heats were the Over-60, and they had to work hard for their waves / points.
• The waves were not breaking as hard as yesterday, so the paddle back out after a wave was a lot easier.

Contributing Photographer - Isaac Tinker

• Day Three - Park Beach
• Just as a bit of a side light - some low-life broke into one of the competitor's cabins during the night and knocked off his camera gear. Good one, you cretin. Hope you've heard of Karma!!!!
• On a more pleasant note - much smaller conditions than the last couple of days, but still some excellent walls and a light to non-existent breeze
• 21 heats today
• Divisions ...
  • Over 60
  • Over 35 Men
  • Over 45
  • Over 50
  • Over 55
  • Over 40
• Light wind started up in the mid morning.
• Still some good-looking 2-4 foot faces to work with.
• Waves were starting to come through in fairly inconsistent sets of 2 - 4.

• Day Four
• Observation Platform Park Beach
• What a difference a night can make
• Shipsterns in Tassie breaking at 25-foot
• Huge swells in Vicco
• Bonnie Hills "out of control" according to a local
• Massive low pressure area down south is pushing a large swell up the coast
• At present Park Beach is being graced by some nice overhead sets feathered by a light off-shore breeze
• Today marks the end of the first half of the split competition with Finals in the following divisions ...
  • Over 35 Men
  • Over 40
  • Over 45
  • Over 50
  • Over 55
  • Over 60
  • Over 35 Ladies
• The second half of the comp commenced this afternoon with the heats of the Open 9s.
• By that time though, the wind had changed direction to be nearly straight on-shore, but fortunately only still fairly light, so wasn't making too much difference to the wave surface.
• With the exception of the occasional sneaky boomers, the waves were reduced in height from the earlier heats.
• Some of the free surfers were making life a little difficult by insisting on surfing through the competition area.

• Ground Hog Day
• Same set-up as yesterday
• Same classic waves to play on
• 22 Heats today
• Divisions ...
  • Open 9-Foot
  • Junior Girls
  • Open Ladies
  • Junior Boys
  • Cadets
  • Open 8-Foot
• The Open 9s were out first, and with some long walls to work with, that's exactly what they did
• One broken board in the Junior Girls Division.
• By mid-morning the swell was starting to decrease slightly and the on-shore wind started up.
• The Angry Ants (Cadets) hit the water in the early afternoon in slowly deteriorating conditions, but still managed to catch 25 waves in a 20-minute heat.
• The final heats for the day were the semis for the State 8-Foot Championships.

• Penultimate Day
• Observation Platform Park Beach
• 7am start
• Beautiful smooth ocean with some great 2-5 foot faces to work on
• No wind early
• 24 Heats today
• Divisions ...
  • Open 9
  • Junior Boys
  • Junior Girls
  • Open Ladies
  • Cadets
• The Open 9s hit the water first with a few 8.5+ wave scores
• The day produced some great waves, and fortunately the conditions remained pretty constant right throughout, with some sneaky overhead boomers keeping everyone on their toes.

• Final Day and FINALS DAY
• Observation Platform Park Beach
• The swell has been gradually decreasing over the week, but there were still some very competitive waves for the remainder of the Heats and the Finals
• 10 Qualifying Heats were completed first
• Followed by the 6 Finals
  • 9 Foot Open
  • Open Ladies
  • Junior Boys
  • Junior Girls
  • Cadets
  • 8 Foot
• By the end of the day, competitors were struggling to get some decent waves to perform on
• Fortunately though, the swell did hang around long enough for the comp to be completed without the need for any postponements
• From the interest shown by the sponsors of the event, it looks as though we will be back here for one more year at least.
• The whole event went with the Aloha Spirit, with not one drop-in or interference call throughout the whole week.
• If free surfers could just work out what a contest area was, it'd be perfect.