Sunday March 7th is the date for the Northside vs Southside Vs Kalbarri Surftag!
$500 cash up for grabs thanks to Great Western Insurance Brokers.
5 to a team with a max of 8 teams so first in best dressed!!
Entry fee $50 per team. Presentation BBQ on after event with food and refreshments
provided by GBR. Click the logo on the home-page to download entry form, rules and eligibility.

Entries close Wednesday March 3rd 5pm Corner Surf

Local WA surfers Jack Robinson and Mikaela Greene Win  Billabong Taj’s Small Fries

 (Yallingup, Western Australia) Many of Australia’s best young under 16 surfers were treated to three days of Taj Burrow’s world  in the far south west of Western Australia with the event moving to its third location in three days to score near perfect 1.5m (3 to 4 feet) surf at Injidjup Car Reef on today’s final day.

It was a day of sensational action with young 12 year old Margaret River surfer Jack Robinson taking on and beating the best of WA and Australia’s under 16 surfers.

In a closely fought out final Robinson defeated talented Gold Coast Queensland surfer Noa Deane on a score-line for each surfers top two scoring rides of 13.25 for Robinson to Deane on 12.75.

“ It’s a great feeling to win such a close final” said Robinson.

“The waves have been fantastic here , especially early today with heaps of tube rides and to win the 16 Boy’s division at Taj’s event is special to me because I won the 12’s and 14’s last year!”

Local Yallingup surfer Mikaela Greene took a convincing win in the 16 Girls division defeating Bronte Macaulay.

Greene’s win was just reward for the talented and determined natural foot surfer who broke her leg surfing in this event two years ago but since then has gone on to become one of the state’s top young surfers and recently represented  the state at national titles.

“I’m so happy to win this event, it’s Taj’s event and everybody wants to win it – I came really close last year when I finished second and to win today means a lot to me – I’m stoked!”

The 14’s Boy’s division saw another great result for the locals with Jacob Wilcox (Margaret River) winning the 14 Boys final when he scored an excellent 8.2 ride in the final seconds of the final to defeat Jack Robinson with Sunshine Coast surfer Kai Hing coming in third place.

 The only interstate surfer to take a win today was Victoria’s Zoe Clarke who won the 14 Girls division.

Talented young local Shaun Manners (Margaret River) capped off a great event for the locals by winning a high quality 12 Boys final in the last heat of the day.

Taj Burrow made his appearance at mid day coming into the break by jet ski for an amazing jet ski tow in expression session to motivate all the youngsters before they surfed their finals.

Burrow’s was partnered by fellow ASP World Tour competitor Luke Stedman and their aerial moves and powerful on-face turns  excited the large beach.

The Billabong Taj’s Small Fries is supported by Sony, VW, Honda Aquatrax, Virgin Blue, VonZipper , Stab Surfing Magazine, Billabong and Surfing West Australia.

TAJ BURROW TO LEAD POWERFUL YALLINGUP SURFTAG SQUAD

World Championship Tour contender Taj Burrow will headline a powerful Yallingup team in their title defence on their home beach when the Western Australian round of the Jim Beam Surftag is contested this Saturday.

Burrow, who ended the 2009 season ranked number four in the world after a stunning victory in the last event at Pipeline in Hawaii when he beat legend Kelly Slater in the final, will be joined in his club’s ‘A’ team by former pro Jake Paterson, classy aerial exponent Jay Davies, two-time reigning club champion Zak Ogram and rising teenager Sammy Tucker.

Margaret River won the Western Australian title the first four times it was contested but Yallingup have won the last three on the trot and according to team manager Shaun Wright the defending champions are not only looking to make it four in a row but are confident their ‘B’ team can finish second.

“The aim is definitely to win a fourth straight WA title on our home beach,” Wright said.

“All our key guys are back at home and surfing locally and we are ready. We are pretty confident we won’t lose.

“Our ideal aim is to go one-two. Last year we were first and fourth but we now have more overall depth including some more experienced older heads in our second team like Paul ‘Antman’ Paterson and big wave charger Damian ‘Taco’ Warr.”

The Surftag format sees five-member teams square off in a relay style event with the top three teams from the Western Australian round progressing through to face the country’s best clubs in the Jim Beam Surftag Australian final.

The final is expected to witness elite ASP World Tour surfers including current World Champion Mick Fanning, Kai Otton, Burrow and numerous other elite competitors line up for their beloved clubs at Sydney’s North Narrabeen beach on February 13/14.

Wright said his club wasn’t going to be content with just taking the state title this year either with their eyes well and truly set on the National finals.

“The overall goal is to make an impact in the final at Narrabeen and I’d like to think we can,” Wright said.

“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves and are definitely focussed on doing well this weekend but then it’s the final we’ll look at.”

Margaret River will also enter a second team and will face tough competition from Trigg Point, Contacio, Cottesloe and City Beach. Yallingup and Margaret River are the only Western Australian clubs that have ever progressed through to the final in Sydney but with organisers granting another finals position to WA clubs this year, competition is sure to be hot amongst the four Perth based clubs.The dark horses of the evnt could be the teams from Geraldton. GBR have never competed in this event before and have put together 2 teams for the challenge but little is know about who the surfers will be. Rye Craike was keen to do the event but had obligations in Papua. 2 surfers rumoured to be stepping up are Kerby Brown and Shaun Howe combining with a blend of Kalbarri and Geraldton talent.

The event sees five-member teams given an hour in which each individual must catch three waves, with the second being a “powerwave” worth double points. All three waves for each surfer count in the scoring and bonus points are awarded for teams that finish before the 60 minute mark.

Another event on Saturday’s program will be the FCS Manufacturers Cup.

A competition for surfboard manufacturers, the event is run to a similar format to the Surftag series. Four man teams, made up of two factory employees and two team riders, will compete for the right to contest the national Manufacturers Cup final. The winning team will progress from the Western Australian event.

Saturday’s surfing will get underway at 9am and is expected to wind up around 3pm

WA Surfer of the Year Awards 2009, Champions recognised for their achievements in 2009

As the 2009 competitive year winds down in Hawaii, the Western Australian Surfers of the Year Awards were held to celebrate not only the most elite surfers of 2009, but also the most influential and innovative industry contributions to Western Australian surfing.
 
The WA surfer of the Year Awards are based on the philosophy “appreciating the past while recognising current performances and encouraging the surfers of tomorrow”. This year’s awards night hosted a bevy of West Australian Surfing Talent and Surf Industry guests.
 
Kerby and Cortney Brown were in fine form receiving the Mike McAuliffe Award for Exceptional Performances for their continual search for unchartered shallow slabs and big waves in tow surfing. Dave Macaulay also cracked a mention for his outstanding year at both State and National competitive levels. At 45 years of age Dave won the WA open state title and placed 4th in the Australian National Titles.
 
Eight recipients came from all over the globe to receive their award for the Len Dibben Award for Service to the WA surfing industry. Ric Gath made an appearance after he cut a research and design trip to China short. Ric invented the Gath helmet, he also won the Margaret River Classic twice and has been Western Australian state surfing champion.

Originating from California, Tom Hoye came out to Western Australia in the early 70s and set up Precision Surf Equip in Margaret River and continues to produce surfboards to this day.

Dave Ellis was recognised for the 40 years he has spent as a surfboard glasser and sander in the metro area of Perth.

Perry Hatchett was awarded recognition for his lengthy position as ASP Head Judge.

Mark Lane is the current CEO of Surfing Western Australia. Mark built up Surf Coaching to record numbers and turned SWA into a prosperous association. He was also CEO of Surfing Australia at one point.

Doug White was one of the first surf journalist’s in WA and had Doug White’s Wavelength column in the Sunday Times in the 1970s.

Mick Button was the founder of Santosha Surfboards and Rusty Surfboards in Australia.

Leon Norris founded Corner Surf Shop in Geraldton and has had a large influence through administration of surfing over many years.

Three recipients of this year’s Len Dibben Award; Ric Gath (1990), Perry Hatchett (2006) and Leon Norris (2008) are also part of the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame.
 
The Murray Smith WA Junior Surfer of the Year was hotly contested with a number of fresh faces displaying their talent throughout the year. Laura Macaulay, David Delroy Carr and Creed McTaggart all from Margaret River received nominations. Despite their exceptional year they couldn’t match Felicity Palmateer‘s Pro Junior win and Jack Robinson’s cadet division domination and innovative surfing. Murray Smith proudly presented Jack and Felicity with their awards.
 
On requalifying for the 2010 Women’s World Championship Tour, Claire Bevilacqua received the Jodie Cooper Medal for WA Female Surfer of the Year. Claire made a statement on the women’s World Tour early in the year, winning the women’s WQS event at Pipeline in Hawaii and finishing 6th overall on the WQS. As a dual winner Felicity Palmateer also won the award for her Pro Junior win at Trigg Point, her National Rip Curl Grom Search win and her State and National title performances.
 
Eleven years after first winning the Ian Cairns Medal, Taj Burrow claimed his 9th Ian Cairns Medal for WA Male Surfer of the Year 2009. After another stellar year on the World Championship Tour, Taj goes into the final event at Pipeline, Hawaii rated 6th in the World. As the sole Western Australian surfer on the WCT in 2009, Taj is solidifying his name in the history books as the best surfer of all time to come out of WA.

The awards ceremony was held at the Indi Bar Scarborough and was backed up by three great bands that kicked the night on. WA Surfer of the Year honour boards reside at the Yelo Café - West Coast Drive - Trigg

GBR want you to contribute to our photo gallery! The gallery is growing with lots of local surf shot and photos from surf trips.

Just e-mail your photos to gbr@gerosurf.com.au with a short description and we will let you know when they are on the site.

Welcome to the GBR Special Events page.

Here you'll find information about the special events that Geraldton Board Riders have been involved in. Don't forget, you can also view our online events calendar to see what events will be coming in the next few months. Our annual Sunshine Surfmasters has a dedicated page if you are looking for information on past or upcoming events.

P.S. Visit the GBR guestbook and post your comments for all to see!!

MORE than 150 West Australian surfers formed a huge sea circle off Geraldton on Sunday in an emotional tribute to one of their own, former AFL star Chris Mainwaring.

Mainwaring's parents Hub and Leah watched from the beach as their second son, Glenn, former Eagle Craig Turley and an army of Mainwaring's surfing mates paddled out behind the break at Back Beach this morning.

Mainwaring grew up in the mid west town before moving to Perth where he became a dual premiership star with the Eagles and later a presenter on commercial television.

The 41-year-old Mainwaring died early on Monday morning after collapsing at his home in the upmarket Perth beachside suburb of Cottesloe.

Hundreds of people are expected at a public memorial service for him at Christ Church Grammar School's chapel tomorrow morning, with giant television screens being set up outside to cope with the huge numbers.

Geraldton Board Riders Club president Sam Salmond spoke movingly of Mainwaring's love for the surf.

"He just always went surfing, that was one of his other passions,'' Mr Salmond said.

"It's fitting to send off a surfer with a paddle out tribute because the ocean was the other playing field that Chris really loved.''

As the soundtrack of the 1970s surf film classic Morning of the Earth drifted across the water, Mainwaring's brother threw a wreath into the middle of the ring of surfies.

After a minute's silence, 41 balloons were released, each representing a year of Mainwaring's life.

"Chris' parents loved it, they were just beaming,'' Mr Salmond said.

"There were tears for sure, but at the same time there was a lot of grinning and shouting and punching of the air and yelling out 'Mainy' and 'Go Eagles'.''

The GBR Tribute to Mainy by Leon Norris: View the photos of the day here.

Chris Mainwaring made a big difference in a lot of people’s lives. His indomitable spirit, love for life and caring nature ran hand in hand with his personal achievements.

Mainy had two strong passions…. his football and surfing but above all he was a genuine person who always made you feel welcome and happy whenever he was around.

We are all so proud of Chris’s achievements and so saddened by his sudden departure from our lives.

Our heartfelt thoughts go to Leah, Hub, Wendy, Glen, Brett, Rani, Maddy and Zac and all of Chris’s extended family and many many friends….and we hope that this tribute will help in easing the pain you all must feel… When you look into the night-sky above Geraldton search for the brightest star and think of Mainy as he truly is a star.......and a hero who we will always remember with happy thoughts.Mainy we miss you mate and thankyou for the happiness you have brought to so many people’s lives.Over the years we’ve lost a few.........but Mainy.......none so great as you……............

Chris Mainwaring accepts the 1981 Junior Rising Star award from Keith Wright