The Australian Open Waveski Surfing Championships concluded at Turners Beach on Friday after an exciting week of competition among some of Australia’s best waveski surfers.

The event saw 80 entrants contest 10 divisions covering multiple Age and Qualifications categories. Well supported by the Clarence Valley Council, the calibre of the Australian Open is recognised by the World Waveski Surfing Association as one of only 5 sanctioned events each year. Professional judges and priority surfing with man-on-man rounds determining the Open Men’s and Women’s winners.

Results in the 2 Open divisions count towards rankings for the next World Waveski Championships in Peru, South America. Competitors experienced a variety of surfing conditions over the week from solid 4-foot ground swell at the beginning to a diminishing swell with variable wind conditions each day. The event window ran through to Saturday; however organisers made the decision to push the event to conclusion by Friday in anticipation forecasted conditions significantly deteriorating by Saturday.

The Open Women’s title was won by Perth based Jacqueline Dillon, with consistent surfing throughout the week against Milly Heycott (Wollongong) and Heather Seaton (New Zealand).

A hotly contest Open Men’s division witnessed excellent surfing across the week. The final 4 surfers, comprising man-on-man semi-finals, pitted Darren McIntrye (Coffs Harbour) against

Brett Cronin (Brisbane) and Tony Cherry (Gold Coast) against Michael Feenan (Newcastle). McIntrye and Cherry were relegated to surfing for 3rd and 4th places whilst Cronin and Feenan advanced to the Open Final. Michael Feenan led for most of the final until Brett Cronin emerged in the dying minutes to consolidate his highest scoring waves to claim victory as the Australian Open Champion for 2024.

The Australian Open event also capped off the 2024 Australian Championship tour with very close championship points for both for Cherry and McIntrye. This ultimately saw Tony Cherry close out the lead in the 2024 tour overall.

Division winners’ results

Open Men: Brett Cronin

Open Women: Jackie Dillon

Challengers: Milly Heycott

Qualifiers: Ben Baxter

Champions: Graham Roberts

Grand Legends: Jeff Gary

Grand Masters: Stephen Blatchford

Legends: Franciso Nascimento

Masters: Michael Feenan

Seniors: Oliver Burgess Buxton