It was a weekend that could be classed as a hometown victory for Redhead with local competitors taking out a number of events at the 2017 Lake Mac Festival of Surfing.
Held on Saturday and Sunday 28th & 29th January at Redhead beach, the event launched Surfest 2017 and featured some great surfing talent from both Newcastle and further afield.
With heats including short board, longboard and stand-up paddle board, the event saw surfers from across the Hunter region, Queensland and even one from Peru demonstrate excellent surfing abilities to compete for the title of Lake Mac Festival of Surfing champion.
But the standout surfer over the both days of competition in two different disciplines was the Central Coast’s Harry Maskell.
Maskell, a previous Lake Mac Festival of Surfing SUP champion, dominated both the SUP’s and the Open Men’s short board division surfing through two rounds and a final in each division.
Maskell described the surf as challenging at times, but a good break.
“There were plenty of opportunities for good points. I’m over the moon and want to thank Lake Macquarie Council and Surfest. This is a really fun event,” he told Surfest organisers.
Local Over 30s Shortboard winner Justin Lee also described the conditions as ‘testing’, but said having the right attitude helped him find success.
“It was a meshy small beach break waves and you just had to try and find a wave with a bit of wall and power to get moving. The most critical part was wave selection and being confident to surf well when you found the right wave,” he said.
WINNERS
LONGBOARD: 1st Matt Rawson (Redhead); 2nd Aaron Howe (Newcastle); 3rd Glenn Turner (Merewether); 4th Sam Conrick (Redhead)
OVER 30 SHORTBOARD: 1st Justin Lee (Redhead); 2nd Paul Snow (Bar Beach); 3rd Kane O’Neill (Redhead); 4th Simon Hasson (Redhead)
SHORTBOARD: 1st Harry Maskell (Wamberal); 2nd Kaine Watts (Redhead); 3rd Rohan Watts (Redhead); 4th Kane O’Neill (Redhead)
OPEN SUP: 1st Harry Maskell (Wamberal); 2nd Glenn Turner (Merewether); 3rd Josh Stretton (Anna Bay); 4th Steve Rainford (Helensburgh)
WOMEN SUP: 1st Brissa Malaga (Peru); 2nd Roxanne Masters (Newcastle)
BOARD RIDERS CHALLENGE: 1st Redhead Boardriders – earn a wildcard into the 2017 Orica Team Challenge Feb. 4-5, 2017 Stockton Beach.
The Lake Mac Festival of Surfing is supported by Lake Macquarie City Council, Jewells Tavern and the Redhead Surf Club.
PHOTO GALLERY
FEATURE IMAGE: Local Redhead surfer Justin Lee takes out the Overs 30s Shortboard comp.
