Certainly the 2014 Australian Longboard Surfing Open was an interesting event with a number of challenges ranging from extreme weather and the need to cancel a full day of surfing through to two major events scheduled in the same location which saw shared infrastructure and road closures presenting themselves as obstacles that had to be overcome. Far more positives outweighed these issues and although competitor numbers were affected by these problems, we had far more spectators  from non surfing lifestyles showing an interest in the world class surfing on display.

Another notable achievement was the live streaming of the event onto the internet for the first time. This live streaming was picked up by Turner Cable Network who broadcast each days surfing into Hawaii and the finals day into the USA. They are producing a highlights package to be shown in June as well.

Competitors in the ASP LQS divisions were the first to hit the surf and we ran both the Legendary Pacific Coast LQS Men's and  the Pretty Shady LQS Women's divisions all day Wednesday and Thursday until lunchtime in 4ft surf. We were again fortunate to attract 2 x ASP World Champion Taylor Jensen from California, former World Champion Harley Ingleby, Chelsea Williams, Jen Smith and Rachel Tilley, who set the bench mark from the start. In the ASP divisions we surfed the non elimination man on man format so there were no first round losers. All the competitors loved it as it guaranteed two surfs at least and for competitors like the Chinese champion Tie Zhuang it gave them a second chance to impress the judges.

Thursday afternoon saw the Noserider in action and although conditions were trying, the best nose riding surfing was progressive and exciting as competitors still managed high scores from maneuvers performed on the nose.

A huge weather bomb struck over Thursday night and continued into Friday morning and the conditions were assessed to be too dangerous to surf the amateur divisions. A re-jigged program was drawn up that allowed us to continue with competition on the Saturday.

Saturday produced clean 3-5ft conditions which allowed saw all those that Fridays postponed surfing conducted. That afternoon 5 bands entertained us on the lawn in front of the Cudgen SLSC along with the Beach Girl Bikini Contest.

Super clean 3-4ft conditions greeted us on Sunday morning with the semifinals of both pro divisions first up before we went into the finals. The surf continued to pump and the bank in front of the SLSC provided finalists with an excellent platform on which to impress the judges and the crowds. The Legendary Pacific Coast LQS Open saw Harley Ingleby face off against Taylor Jensen for the 4th year in a row with Taylor getting the nod from the judges this time. Harley went on to defend his Noserider title from the Sunshine Coast's Nic Jones while in the Pretty Shady LQS Women's final former World Champion Jen Smith defeated Noosa's Rosie Locke.

 www.australianlongboardopen.com/