In a howling southerly and sizable swell compliments of Cyclone Winston belting in to Newcastle’s Dixon Park surfbreak, a whopping field of 18 corporate teams raised more than $81,000 for humanitarian organisation SurfAid and set a new fundraising record for the event.
Held at Dixon Park Beach, Newcastle, as part of the Surfest Newcastle Australia event, the team from Sanbah Surf emerged victorious in the fourth annual SurfAid Cup sponsored by Newcastle’s Evolution Business and Personal Advisors.
Team newcomers from Australian Rail Track Corporation – Kegan Lacey, Steve Ormerod, Jamie Graham and Tristan Rossiter – raised over $14,000 more than any team in the history of the event. ARTC were followed very closely in second place by the team from Momentum Build with Paul Boyd, Matt Anderson, Nick Cook and Mitch Warren raising over $12,600.
Surfaid CEO Andrew Judge says all funds raised contribute to SurfAid’s mother and child programs in remote areas of Indonesia including Nias, the Mentawai islands, Sumbawa and Sumba.
“The funds raised by the Evolution SurfAid Cup in Newcastle, the ongoing support of Surfest, Hunter Business Boardriders and the community of Newcastle saves lives in Indonesia,” Mr Judge said.
“SurfAid works in places where hardly anyone but surfers go – but where there are high rates of infant and maternal mortality. Days like today show that surfers can make a real difference and give back to the places they love.
“We are enormously grateful to Evolution Business and Personal advisors for their sponsorship of the event,” Mr Judge said.
The surfers paddled out into some chunky, dredging waves with a building swell throughout the day. A five-man tag team format sees all teams pick a pro surfer or legend to join their fundraising team.
The judges were impressed with the level of surfing by all the competitors. Toby Martin kept the competitors and onlookers updated and entertained in the commentary box as well as surfing with the team from ARTC. Pro surfers and those with legend status included Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew, Jarrod Morrell, Matt Bemrose and Jackson Baker.
During the final, the crowd was treated to some exceptional surfing including amazing rides by Jesse Adam (Sanbah), Rhys Smith (Sanbah) and Jaxon Brent (KCE) who all scored over 19 points for their teams in the final. Sanbah (78.10) came out ahead of Bilbie Dan Lawyers in second (67.93) followed by KCE (44.33) and the team from Evolution in fourth (42.17).
The Sanbah team included Jesse Adam, Tom Reilly, Rhys Smith and Jebb Lane. Sanbah selected former pro surfer and Merewether local Travis Lynch as their fifth team member.
Daniel Mason (CSRIO) took out the prize for the best wipeout of the day.
The event was sponsored by Evolution Business and Personal Advisors. The supporting sponsors for the Evolution SurfAid Cup in Newcastle were: Surfest, Hunter Business Boardriders, Beach Hotel Merewether, Coastalwatch and Surfing World.
Evolution SurfAid Cup results
1. Sanbah (78.10)
2. Bilbie Dan Lawyers (67.93)
3. KCE (44.33)
4. Evolution (42.17)
5. Hunter Business Boardriders
6. Shaw Gidley
7. 360 Water
8. CSIRO
9. PKF
10. ARTC
11. Haines Brothers
12. Momentum
13. Team Doyle
14. EJE
15. Mullane
16. Sessions
17. Slimes
18. Musical Surfers