Watersports blog

The Fantastic Noodles Intense Wave Invitational ’09, which was held late last month in South Australia’s West Coast, has reportedly caused controversy with local residents protesting the development of this area as a global surfing destination.

The locals reasoned that they have spent so much effort through the years to prevent the location from becoming crowded. However, the presence of these surfing competitions ignited interest from surfers all over the world and fans of the sport starting flocking in the area.

One of the local organizers reportedly stated that his postal box had been blown up by an unidentified citizen, an indication that threats are being sent to those who are affiliated with the aforementioned competition.

Authorities stated that there are increasing incidents of pranks in the area and they believe that the culprits are those who don’t want the area to be developed as a surfing capital. The event does boost trade in the area especially the sale of related items for example swimwear, surfboards and equipment.

At the last World Surfing Games held in Portugal, New Zealand finished 10th, 2 places higher than its rank in the 2006 event.

The best finish was contributed by Daryn McBride of Mt. Maunganui, who ranked ninth in the overall longboard division. However, he was eliminated from the said division by Miguel Ruivo and Briton Ben Skinner of Portugal in the repechage.

McBride ranked third as he scored 9.36 points out of 20. He had to score 4.52 point but managed to score 3.53 on his final wave.

Earlier, Luke Cederman and Zennor Wernham and Maz Quinn were eliminated from the men’s division.

Quinn had the best score of the three; however, he could not succeed in the repechage placing him only in the third. The fickle condition of the water and the small waves made life a bit difficult for Quinn, who finished with a total score of 7.01 and 10.16 point ride.

Quinn was the highest finisher representing New Zealand in the open men’s team placing him on the 17th. Wernham ranked 25th. It was a notable improvement in his performance in 2006 where he placed 41st.
Cederman was also victimized by the small waves. Well-known for his fiery forehand surfing but still, he could not find that fiery forehand with the smaller waves on his backhand thereby placing him only on the 33rd.