Discovery Coast Turns It On For Inaugural Agnes Water Longboard Festival

Clinton Farlow : photo Jake White

The Discovery Coast turned it on for the inaugural Agnes Water Longboard Festival today with excellent waves on the smorgasbord at Agnes Point for day one of competition. As the northern most point break on the East Coast of Australia, Agnes Water is a Mecca for boardriders and has flourished with the steady arrival of surfers who have been drawn by the waves surrounding 1770.

A southeasterly pulse served up a clean 3-4ft of swell for a 100-strong field of competitors who lined-up across eight respective divisions. With swell lines stacked to the horizon, a talented field of surfers from all over the Discovery Coast to as far south as the Sunshine Coast went to town in pristine point break conditions, blazing their way through round one heats.

Rising star Clinton Farlow (Tannum Sands) established himself as the surfer to beat in the U/18 boys, top scoring with an 18.10 two-wave combination to beat Keanu Bayne (Agnes Water) and David Warne (Emu Park). “The waves were so good out their today,” said Farlow.

“The waves have been pretty flat over the past few months, so it was good to get a few in the bag. Agnes is a perfect right-hand point break, so I always enjoy traveling here. I can’t wait to surf again tomorrow.” The stylish natural footer went from strength-to-strength, setting up his win with an excellent-scoring 9.00 before sealing the deal with a 9.10 to breeze through to round two.

Ed Cunningham : photo Jake White

Farlow continued to set the example in blue ribbon open men’s division, accounting for Joseph Kertesz (Parkhurst), Mario Apas (Agnes Water) and Owen Richards (Gladstone) to secure a round two berth. But he won’t be able to rest on his opening day form with a formidable line-up of the Discovery Coast’s hottest longboarders set to pounce.

Bundaberg ace Ed Cunningham made his intentions clear from the onset, mixing the full spectrum of longboard moves en route to netting the day’s highest individual wave score. Clearly in rhythm with the peeling right-handers, Cunningham jagged a heat-high 9.33 and a 7.67 to accrue a 17.00 combination. Ed’s brother, George, was another big winner, accumulating a 13.17 total.

Other round one winners today included Brad Evans (Yeppoon), Dean Burgess (Bundaberg) and Ashley O’Neal (Bundaberg) in the open men’s, Kara D’Arcy (Gladstone), Tahlee Taylor (Bundaberg) and Kate Dwyer (Caloundra) in the open women’s along with Daniel Coombes (Bargara) in the U/18 boys.

Competition will continue tomorrow with finals being wrapped up by 4pm. However, the foundational event is not all about fierce competition. The longboard festival is designed to be a really social affair and is a perfect event for Discovery Coast locals to have their first crack at competition surfing.

Divisions include Open men & women, U/18 boys & girls, O/35 men & women, O/50 men and Stand Up Paddle Board. The festival will culminate with a team’s competition between the three northern region clubs (Tide N Turn, Pacifique and Sea Q).