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Former world number three Danny Wills (Byron Bay, NSW) will be competing in the open shortboard division at the inaugural HIF Yamba Surfing Festival from May 28 to 31. Pic: Ethan Smith / Surfing NSW

Surfing festival heads to Yamba

Former world number three Danny Wills (Byron Bay, NSW) will be competing in the open shortboard division at the inaugural HIF Yamba Surfing Festival from May 28 to 31. Pic: Ethan Smith / Surfing NSW
Former world number three Danny Wills (Byron Bay, NSW) will be competing in the open shortboard division at the inaugural HIF Yamba Surfing Festival from May 28 to 31. Pic: Ethan Smith / Surfing NSW
  Longboard and shortboard surfers from all over NSW will venture to Yamba May to compete in the inaugural HIF Yamba Surfing Festival from May 28 to 31. Over 150 surfers will compete in the four-day event, which will decide the male and female NSW Open Surfmasters Team and NSW open longboard team for the 2016 bcu Australian Surf Festival in Coffs Harbour in August. Surfing NSW CEO Mark Windon is delighted to see both disciplines combined in Yamba’s quality waves. “The open longboard and shortboard titles always draw a quality field of surfers, filled with ex-World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) competitors as well as a handful of surfers who are regulars in Qualifying Series (QS) events, so we can’t wait to see them amongst some decent waves when the event kicks off,” he said. Clarence Valley’s mayor, Richie Williamson, said the successful pitch for a surfing festival in Yamba showed council’s strategy to attract sports tourism events to the area was paying off. “Yamba is the perfect place for a surfing festival, especially with its reputation to be one of the first places surfing actually happened in Australia,” he said. “For us that live here, we all know how beautiful our beaches are and the quality of the surf, so it’s great to have Surfing NSW acknowledge this by organising a festival of surfing. “We look forward to the economic benefits that the event’s visitors will bring to our businesses and the increased exposure of our area nationally and internationally.” Surfing NSW intends to mix up locations for the events depending on conditions and will seek the most appropriate waves for each discipline. Competition will commence each day at 7:30am, with the call for the day’s schedule and location confirmed via the event hotline at 6:45am. The event hotline is 0458 247 212. Yamba Golf and Country Club will serve as the official social hub of the 2016 Yamba Surfing Festival. Please see surfingnsw.com.au for more information or clarencetourism.com for accommodation options. The Yamba Surfing Festival is proudly supported by HIF (Health Insurance Fund of Australia), Australian Skin Cancer Clinics, Clarence Valley Council, Toyota, Coastalwatch Plus, Solar D, Yamba Golf and Country Club, Carve, Ohana Ocean Athletics and Surfing NSW.