A City On The Sand

Words: Will Hayden-Smith

The scene arriving at Manly. Photo: Ash Witty

It's day one of the Australian Open of Surfing in Manly and Hurley and Billabong have teamed up and built a city on the sand. Athletes, judges, event staff and Manly's many morning walkers couldn't believe the size and scale of this mammoth event site. There's the usual comp site scenes - surfers area, judges booth, media room, but they're all bigger and way better than usual. On top of that there's a massive skatepark, a stage for the bands that will play later in the week, shops, social network plug ins and more.

"A couple of the O'Neill junior team-riders said they wanted to chill at home and come down in the afternoon," Former World Tour Surfer Jarrad Howse said. "I told them to get down here and soak this in, this is unreal. It's a better set-up than some world title events and these kids should make the most of it. Plus, if you came down right before your heat you could easily be intimidated by the size of the site and the massive crowds on the beach."

How about the skate set up! Photo: Oz Open/Munday

People have been talking about the unusual partnering of Hurley and Billabong as event sponsors, industry competitors don't usually play nice with each other, but from all accounts the unlikely bedfellows are making it work. But we wanted to get word from someone on the inside, so we spoke to the 1988 World Champ Barton Lynch, who now works in the Hurley camp.

"They're two of the powerhouse companies in the industry and a collaboration between them is obviously going to have issues," Lynch told ASL. "But so far everything has been amicable and we've been working more for the event's good and the surfer's good rather than our own individual good. This event is for surfing and the surfers themselves and bringing something to Sydney of value. That's the goal and that's what Hurley and Billabong have been working towards, and so far it's been great."

Everyone wanted a spot to watch the action... Photo: Oz Open/Munday.

Seeing Lynch's eyes light up while talking about his home town, we asked what it meant to have an event like this back at Manly.

"It's super exciting for me!" Lynch said. "As a 14-year-old grommet here on the beach in Manly this was a dream of mine. To have an event of this size and magnitude at your home break and to be able to look after the athletes with this level of professionalism is something that I dreamt of as a kid. As founding father of this whole thing this is a dream come true for guys like Luke (Egan) and I."

...But somehow they must have missed the giant beach-side grandstand. Photo: ASP/Hayden-Smith.

The men's juniors ran through the first and all but four heats of the second round. The surf was what you'd expect from Manly at this time of year, small, mushy, but lots of waves coming through. Don't let that put you off though, seeing these guys surf sub-par waves and still be able to do blow-tail snaps, monster carves and big airs is great to watch. That's why these guys are paid to surf, because they do the unexpected, they do what most can't. So if you're the kind of person that thinks that watching mushy Manly won't be entertaining, you shoulda seen Connor Coffin, Wade Carmichael, Tom Woods and Creed McTaggard today, they'd change your mind.

For full results and to see the schedule for the surfing, skating, bands and events go to www.australianopenofsurfing.com

And check back every day for all action from Manly, as seen by the ASL team with support from Reef 30+ Sunscreen.

Fresh off his Billabong World Junior Champs win, Wade Carmichael was confident on day one of the Australian Open Juniors division. Photo: ASP/Dunbar.

Mitch Parkinson sets the fins free in a truly urban beachside setting. Photo: ASP/Dunbar.

Make sure you catch the Reef 30+ Sunscreen girls for a free sample when you're down at Manly. Photo: Oz Open/Munday.