Margaret River in Western Australia is the place to be if you're a water sports fan in the coming weeks, as both the Drug Aware Pro surfing and IBA Box Pro bodyboarding events take place in the region. We discover the finer details about both competitions here...
Margaret River
Situated near the south-west tip of Western Australia, 172 miles (277 km) from Perth and perhaps best known as one of the foremost wine producing areas in the country, Margaret River plays host to the Drug Aware Pro ASP surfing event from April 3-10 and the IBA Box Pro bodyboarding event from April 11-20.
A real challenge
The IBA Box Pro is the second event on the IBA Grand Slam Tour and it's not for the faint-hearted. There was a point in time when The Box was once thought unrideable. Surfers would check Margaret River’s main break, and consider it too quick, too shallow, and too dangerous. It’s another of those waves that was custom- built for performance bodyboarding. A right-hand reef where swells come out of deep water onto a short and shallow shelf, making the wave heave as wide as it is high. There’s a whole lot of ocean behind and the power is not to be underestimated. Check out this video of The Box.
Riders
The format of the IBA Box Pro will see the Top 22 bodyboarders in the world joined by three wildcards and seven trialists. The main event wildcards selected by a committee are Mitch Rawlins (Australia) and Spencer Skipper (Hawaii), whilst Surfing WA has issued Chad Jackson and Lewy Finnegan as the local trials wildcards. The event will offer both GSS (Grand Slam Series) and GQS (Global Qualifying Series) points to the riders. GQS points will start in the trials and carry through to the winner (of trials) with 2000 points up for grabs. In the main event there will be 2000 GSS points available. The GSS riders will surf a 32 man, 3 round series (4 man heats). There will be a leader board (similar to golf) after R1 & R2 and at the conclusion of R3, the top 16 ranked riders will progress into R4 man-on-man heats. From here the event would continue with man-on-man quarter finals, semi-finals and final.
Gas Bay
The Box Pro begins on April 11 with a three-day trial at Gas Bay. This is where unlimited riders will compete for the seven trials spots in the main event. Gas Bay is known as an exceptional tube, going both left and right, and it's very shallow. When the tide starts to change, sand flushes onto the reef and makes it a bit messy, but it clears up when the tide settles. IBA Tour manager, Terry McKenna said: “With 2 of the top 24 riders unavailable, this has opened up two additional spots in the main event. This is a chance of a lifetime for aspiring riders who will get the opportunity to compete against the best riders in the world at one of the best performance waves in front of the global media. These spots will be treasured” McKenna added.
All star line-up
The Drug Aware Pro is an ASP Prime event in which many of the top surfers in the world will be competing, including 10-times world champion, Kelly Slater, and two-times world champion, Mick Fanning. The women's event is equally well represented by the very best talent, with reigning four-time world champion, Stephanie Gilmore, joining contenders for this year's crown such as Sally Fitzgibbons, Carissa Moore and Coco Ho.
Red Bull Web TV
If you can't make it to Western Australia and want to check out all the action from both the Drug Aware Pro and IBA Box Pro, you're in luck because both events will be screened LIVE on Red Bull Web TV. Check out the video below for highlights of the season-opening IBA Pipeline Pro Hawaii.
Enviable location
Margaret River is one of the most well-known spots in world surfing and can boast more than 75 top class surf breaks spread over a range of 130 kilometres of pristine coastline from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin. The powerful ground swells generated in the notorious Roaring Forties, situated 1000 kilometres south of Cape Leeuwin head north-east and clash with the reefs and beaches. The result is some of the most consistent, spectacular, high-quality surf anywhere on earth.
The rewards
The prize money on offer at this year's women's Drug Aware Pro has been vastly increased and the winner will earn considerably more than Chelsea Hedges recieved for winning the title in 2010. This year's winner's cheque will be for $15,000 (AUS), which is an equivalent figure to that received in the top events on the ASP World Tour calendar.
Want more?
- Check out the IBA Box Pro events page
- The official ASP World Tour site
- Sally Fitzgibbons' profile on Redbull.com
- More water sports action from Redbull.com
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