Written by Terry McKenna

Some of the best bodyboarders from Australia and the world were on hand to compete in round one of the Pro tour to compete for early valued points. The competition ran over three days with the final day dishing up some classic Duranbah wedges. It was also doubled up with the 1st round of the amateur QAB(Queensland Association of Bodyboarding) state championship series.

In the Pro Men’s final it ended up being an all QLD affair with local knowledge proving a major advantage on testing Duranbah conditions. Mitch Rawlins had a slow start with Jake Stone slamming a massive backflip of a solid 6 footer landing hard to finish off with a spin and a roll and being the main man to catch. Only to have Joe Clarke quickly fight back whipping a nice stylish ARS(Air Roll Spin). Corey McLeon was next to notch a high scoring wave smashing a full vertical inverted air to land hard in the flats. Mitch showing his long knowledge of the Duranbah waves waited patiently getting bread and butter moves in until the dying moments of the heat when a 6 foot wedge popped up, Mitch was quick to pounce and flew down the face and wacked it hard flying into a full rotation air reverse landing smoothly and pulling off to solute to the screaming spectators who were applauding the fantastic final. Eventually it was Mitch Rawlins from Gold Coast/Western Australia 1st, Jake Stone from Sunshine Coast 2nd, Joe Clarke from Gold Coast 3rd, Corey McClean from Gold Coast 4th

As Mitch Rawlins stated “Duranbah is one of the best suited waves for bodyboarding around Australia! I love coming home every year to compete at Duranbah. But the level of competition is getting so much better and if you’re not on your game you’ll be knocked out.” At the end of the contest it was also confirmed that the last leg of the Pro Tour will wrap-up at Duranbah in November in conjunction with the Australian National Titles of Bodyboarding. Mitch also has to say this “I am also stoked to hear the National Titles and last leg of the Pro Tour will be held here as there is a fantastic arena here(Duranbah) for spectators as you can see by the large amounts that have been around to watch over the weekend. I’ll definitely be back again to compete here!!”

In the Pro Drop Knee final it again proved to be an advantage to have local knowledge with Dane Pope from Gold Coast showing a stylish but powerful approach to the powerful Duranbah waves. South African Sacha Specker was the early leader in the final landing a heavy floater and getting some nice smooth cutbacks. But Nathan and Dane were quick to fight back with Nathan getting a great sized wave and digging the rail deep to slam a nice sized cutback. Over half way through the final Dane used his local knowledge to get shacked in the Duranbah green room showing full style as he cruised through the barrel to come out and smash the oncoming section with a nice wack.

The next round of the Rebel Sport IBA Australasian Pro Tour will be held at Soldiers Beach NSW next weekend.

The next event is the Soldiers Beach Pro which starts on Thursday on the NSW Central Coast.

Late entries for this event are still being accepted by calling Terry McKenna on 0401023661