MAJOR surf sporting action this weekend centres on Redhead in the State's Hunter region where the third and final round of the NSW Surf Premiership gets under way early on Saturday morning.
The premiership series sees athletes striving for consistent excellence over three rounds which are held between November and January, at three of the best surfing beaches between Newcastle and the South Coast.
With the major carnivals including the country, branch, State and Australian Championships just around the corner, athletes will be looking for a strong test of their fitness and form, and with the extra incentive of a share in $11,000 in prize money of offer there is sure to be some exciting racing on the day.
Athletes are divided into male and female divisions in the under 13, 14, 15, 17, 19 and open categories, and will contest all the traditional individual events including the ironman, surf race, board, ski, sprint and beach flags, plus for the first time there will also be a number of team based events will be contested including the surf teams, double ski, and ski, board, beach sprint, taplin and cameron relays.
Some of the top competitors will have a crack at pretty much all of those events, entering into as many as 18 different races making for a very busy day at the office for them.
The way the series works is that points are allocated in each event in each round, and at the end of the three rounds the athlete with the highest points haul in each event is crowned the Premiership Champion. It's worth noting that two of the former champions from recent years are former local competitors. Ethan Whiteman has previously won the open male surf race, while Lee Davidson is a former champ for the open male board. Whiteman is a former Forster Surf Club member, but now competes for Hunter powerhouses Swansea Belmont, while Davidson is formerly from Pacific Palms, but he now competes for Manly.
The first round of the premiership series was held on November 1 at Towradgi on the State's south coast, while the second round was held on November 29 at Wanda in Sydney's Sutherland Shire region, just north of Cronulla.
Following these two rounds, the race for the champion club honors looks set to be a two horse race, with the Cronulla and Terrigal clubs set to fight it out top spot. Cronulla have established a veritable surf sports dynasty over the past decade, winning close to everything on offer. Their success is built on an enviable coaching program which sees their athletes handled by some of the state's best and most experienced surf mentors. Terrigal meanwhile boast a very strong record at their branch and State Championships, and the Central Coast heavyweight will put up a very strong challenge at this weekend's finale.
There are a number of contenders vying for the final podium place, with hosts Redhead, neighbours Swansea-Belmont and Bulli from the Illawarra region all claiming top 10 finishes in the opening two rounds. However Redhead look to have the form on the board, claiming the outright win in round two and with the home beach advantage they look set to round out the major placings overall.
Manly have been the big disappointment so far in the series. The reigning NSW champions have barely been seen so far in the series, finishing well off the pace in 35th and 29th places.
Surf safety tip of the week:
Blue flags are often seen on patrolled beaches on either side of the swimming area marked by the red and yellow flags.
These blue flags advise of the boundaries of the surfing area and create a buffer zone between the surfing area and the swimming area.
Many swimmers get injured each year following collisions with surf craft, so to keep the beach safe, surfboards and other surfcraft (like wave skis) are not permitted inside the blue flags.