Noosa Festival of Surfing a mixed bag for SUP entrants
Dog Surfing stole the show this week in Noosa
With the festival drawing to a close, the surfers are stoked as usual. Good conditions graced the sunshine coast all week with small swell, only a little rain and stacks of competitors. Despite the Stand up paddling events only taking place on the first three days of the event - the SUP divisions were full with quite a few on the waiting lists and many more keen to make the drive up the coast to participate.
Despite the overall impression of the event being positive, several competitors complained about the lengthy running legs of the Battle of the Paddle Style Race, and the one heat guarantee for the surfing competitions. Many reported that for the money, lengthy travel and slim chance of making it through the first heat, it wasn't worth the effort for only 20 minutes of surfing. Paul Jackson left a report in the forums about the battle of the paddle event, saying:
"Overall it was a fun race but as with the year before it was more of a running race than a paddling race and with them posting the run leg would be shorter this year it was a little disappointing that it ended up like it did!!! I take nothing away from Lincoln as he was the best paddler on the day and a well deserved the win, I did not race but the feeling after the race was pretty clear!!! fun but too long of a run!!"
The Seabreeze.com.au forums were a buzz with comments all week about the event, with many stating that the dog surfing event was by far the most popular event when it came to the crowd. Disappointing for the surfing legends division who thought all the fuss was about them! According to those who were there, the beach was absolutely packed with spectators all trying to get a look at the dogs. Mark Perissinotto, Director of the dog surfing event sponsors Vetshop Australia was totally stoked with the event:
“The event was an Australian first, which means we really didn’t know how the public would react. Judging from the massive crowd and positive feedback on the day, it seems our hunch was correct and everybody loves surfing dogs!"
Chris De Aboitiz and his pup Lani took the win as everyone expected. With such an experienced dog on the front of his board, Chris handled the conditions well and Lani showed everyone a thing or two about how to stand up paddle. With the size of the crowd and media surrounding the dog surfing contest, you can be sure that there will be more dog surfing contests popping up all over Australia this year, and it will definitely be back for Noosa 2013.
All in all, everyone was still pretty stoked with the event as they are every year. You can be sure that the Noosa festival of surfing will be back next year, hopefully with a slightly modified Stand up paddling event - and a dog surfing event with even more entrants than this year. Check out the short video below of the dog stand up paddle surfing highlights, and you'll see what all the fuss was about!
GLASS HOUSE MOUNTAINS, QLD
