Surfing Queensland TONIC Magazine - Winter 2014 Winter 2014 | Page 16

TONIC | news Yeppoon HIF Agnes Water Surfing Festival Surfing Festival The 2014 Yeppoon Surfing Festival saw a festive finals day finish with Yeppoon’s beautiful Farnborough Beach setting the scene for an exciting day of surfing. As spectators arrived, the beach began to litter with a quiver of 4x4’s, again adding to the excitement that the event has to offer. Early morning saw competitors negotiate a shifting 1m easterly swell, altering the game plans for some, however conditions improved drastically through the day with the wind dying off and the incoming tide providing waves with lots of scoring potential. Continuing from the action at the HIF Agnes Water Surfing Festival, Surfing Queensland concluded its inaugural Northern region Triple Crown. Both Paul ‘Whitey’ White (Agnes Water, QLD) and Tahlee Taylor (Innes Park, QLD), crowed winners of the three event series that competed in the open men’s and woman’s longboard division. White and Taylor took home a Walden Surfboard, courtesy of Reef to Beach and Global Surf Industries. 16 – Winter IssuE Competitors from all over Queensland were greeted with punchy 2ft waves at Agnes Water Point for the HIF Agnes Water Surfing Festival, setting the stage for fiery showdowns and hot finals. Jay Occhilupo (Coolangatta, QLD) took out both the newly-introduced Under 12 boys parent assist division and the Under 13 boys shortboard division finals. In two hotly-contested bouts, Occhilupo posted the event’s highest single-wave total – 9.33 (out of a possible 10 points) in his Under 13 boys final. It was Zahli Kelly (Wooloowin, QLD) however, that astonished both spectators and event officials with four consecutive finals berths (Under 12 Girls Parent Assist, Under 13 Girls Shortboard, Under 18 Girls Shortboard and Open Womans Shortboard). Only just missing out on a first place finish in the Open Womans Shortboard final (finishing second place), Kelly blitzed her additional three finals finishing in first place in all three. In the talent-stacked blue ribbon division, the Open Men Shortboard final, it was Christoffer Frolich, (South Africa) who won the final defeating Mark ‘Richo’ Richardson (Palm Beach, QLD), Liam Kelly, (Wooloowin, QLD) and Sebastian Rubenheimer (Peregian Beach, QLD) with a considerable heat total of 16.23pts (9.33 + 6.50). your regular dose of Surf News.