The 2024 Jaffle ShackOceania Youth Wave Titles & Junior Windsurf Camp is ON in Geraldton Western Australia for youth aged under 20.
This event is a combination of two junior windsurf events to make the LARGEST congregation of junior windsurfers & wavesailors and the most important and the most FUN junior windsurfing / wavesailing event in the Southern Hemisphere.
Come and join in - everybody is welcome!!
PWA/IWT 4 Star Jaffle Shack Oceania Youth Wave Titles. This junior wavesailing event will give youth under 20 important youth world wave ranking points and a regional ranking in their specific age / gender division. The event will take place on the best two days of our event window. Younger divisions will compete at Coronation Beach, Geraldton, whilst The Spot (Oakajee River Mouth) and Sunset Beach will open up as locations for older divisions or finals.
Junior Windsurf Camp. This is a fun, social camp where youth of ANY skill level in windsurfing are given coaching over two days. Families hang out and have fun windsurfing together, meeting and windsurfing with other youth windsurfers and families. Coaching is given in beach starts, water starts, harnesses, planing, gybing, tacking, jumping, wave riding and loops - whatever it is that the individual youth needs. This will be at Coronation Beach, Geraldton.
Who
The event is open to any youth aged under 20 from anywhere in the world, but especially those in the Oceania countries (eg, Australia, NZ, Fiji, etc).Everyone is welcome and we'd love a great representation from all the states of Australia.
General Schedule
16-17 January 2024. Reserve or free sailing days. We'll use these for the camp or competition if the forecast for the later days is no good. Otherwise they are simply settling in / free sailing days. No safety boat or jetski is available if these days are run as free sailing days. Parents or guardians are responsible for their own children.
18-21 January 2024. The best two days of the window will be given to run the Jaffle Shack Oceania Youth Wave Titles. The remaining two days will be the junior windsurf camp.
Social Schedule
First morning of camp or competition - Registration & coffee at Jaffle Shack Foreshore Drive, Geraldton (time and day to be announced closer to the event).
Wed 17th January - Coronation Beach Food Trucks - opening meet & greet - from 6pm or anytime after sailing is finished!
Sat 20th January - Saturday Night Jaffle Shack Presentation & Party night (dinner tickets available on registration). From 6pm or anytime after sailing is finished. Staggering the dinners and arrival time helps out Jaffle Shack.
Location
Coronation Beach Geraldton for the junior windsurf camp. For the competition, the U13 division and early rounds of U15 divisions will run at Coronation Beach. Coronation Beach has friendly, flat water in front, which flows into some very easy, small swells that crumble at best. Then out the back can be larger but very soft waves. It's a perfect place for junior windsurfers of all levels.
The Spot(Oakajee River Mouth) and Sunset Beach will also be considered as an option for the more advanced sailors (eg, U20 Pro Junior and U17s, plus potential for the U15s final only) - depending on conditions of course. The Spot suits smaller swell, whilst Sunset Beach suits large swells. A 4WD is required for the Spot but lifts can be arranged for competitors without access to a 4WD for the competition.
Youth in any division can sail the smaller inside break at Coronations which suits those who are just learning to jump and are a little less consistent in their waterstarts. Those who are able to ride waves and consistently waterstart can venture to the outside break if they wish.
Many U13s were just learning to ride waves or jump in the competition and we encourage anybody who can windsurf to enter. A lot of fun was had last year!
Safety
A safety jetski run by Geraldton Surf Lifesaving Club will be present during the two days of the competition.
A safety boat will be available on the four days of the official camp and the competition.
No safety boat or jet ski will be operating on the remaining two free sailing days.
Parents/guardians are still responsible for the safety of their own children during the event.
Competition Divisions
Divisions are only relevant for the competition component of this event. We need a minimum of three youth to make a division. But we will be offering these divisions in the first instance to encourage as many entrants as possible.
Under 13 Girls
Under 13 Boys
Under 15 Girls
Under 15 Boys
Under 17 Girls
Under 17 Boys
Pro Junior Under 20 Girls
Pro Junior Under 20 Boys
If we have insufficient numbers in a division, the entrants will be rolled into the next oldest age group (eg, we may roll Under 13 Girls into one combined Under 15 Girls).
Entry
Entries will open early September 2023 via the Windsurfing WA website. We will share the link here and via our communication channels.
Entry fee is expected to be as follows:
- $75 competition only
- $75 camp only
- $120 competition and camp.
For insurance purposes, you will need to be an affiliated member of an Australian State Windsurfing Association or Junior Windsurfing Club to enter. Anybody can join Windsurfing WA, Geraldton Windsurfing Club or you can join your closest Australian windsurfing club.
Accommodation
Coronation Beach Campground. Camping right at Coronation Beach with long drop toilets and no showers. Suitable for those with full camping gear who want to stay right on the beach. www.chapmanvalley.wa.gov.au/visit-chapman-valley/where-to-stay-and-eat/places-to-stay.aspx
Goodies Eco-Camp. Camping near to Coronation Beach with showers, toilets, communal cooking facilities and covered eating area. This has generally been the preferred site and very sociable base camp for past Junior Windsurf camps and can fit many families. Suitable for camping and caravans.
www.goodiesecocamp.com/
Sunset Beach Holiday Park. Suitable for those who want chalet style accommodation or those who prefer to stay closer to town.
www.big4.com.au/caravan-parks/wa/coral-coast/geraldton-sunset-beach/accommodation
Further Communication
Facebook: www.facebook.com/oceaniayouthtitles
Instagram: www.instagram.com/oceaniayouthtitles/
Email Upon registration you will need to submit an email. We will send important communications to this email group as well.
Whatsapp group. Will will likely also set up a whatsapp group for the event.
Please encourage as many youth as possible to come and join in. it will be amazing to get all our Oceania youth together so they can meet each other and have fun hanging out.
Enquiries: geraldtonwindsurfingclub@gmail.com
Here's a review from last years event.
What an awesome weekend this was!
Thank you so much to Jane Seman, her team of helpers, GWC and WWA for putting on this fantastic event. Amazing to see so many windsurfing youth come together and to see everyone with big smiles on their faces. It was great to see 10 year olds doing some of their first ever bottom turns, urged on by the excitement of the competition and the cheers of the spectators.
It felt really professional but focussed on fun. It was so well organised. The heats ran like a Swiss clock. Then there was Jane's live commentary, her interviews with the competitors, kids interviewing Jaeger Stone, Matt Holder's (Reflex Films) camera work and Paul van Bellen's drone buzzing around to add to the excitement.
The older youth buddying up with the younger competitors and mentoring them was a great idea.
Lots of new friendships were made that will no doubt last many years of windsurfing together
On Friday the youth got to share the waves with Phillip Koster and Justyna Sniady amongst others for inspiration.
I would encourage anyone with windsurfing kids to pencil in the trip to Coronation Beach next season. We'll definitely be back for it.
SPONSOR UPDATE
City of Greater Geraldton
We're thrilled to announce City of Greater Geraldton as our major sponsor for this event. It's fantastic they are supporting our youth and our sport.
We chose Geraldton as it's the ideal location for watersport families, where people of any level can enjoy themselves. Coronation Beach has beautiful flat water on the inside with some small swells running through a shallower section, then bigger waves out the back. For the Junior Windsurf Camp, this means that we can coach entry level people in the flat water, teach people how to jump and wavewride with the inside waves, and then the nore advanced sailors can learn loops and wave riding technique out the back.
Sunset Beach and The Spot also offer fun wave riding and jumping for the more advanced sailor with each offering working in different swells - meaning there's always somewhere to sail.
Not mention that Geraldton also offers perfect conditions for foiling and SUP as well, so there's always something for everyone to do. The surf in Autumn and Winter gets pretty good too!
Jaffle Shack
The Jaffle Shack have again come on board as our name sponsor and will host our registration at their cafe along the beautiful Gerlaldton foreshore, as well as our Saturday night presentation/party at their Marine Terrace venue. Both are beautiful venues with great coffee and food. Owner Christian Watters is a great guy and keen windsurfer as well, so we love having The Jaffle Shack on board.
Windsurfing Western Australia and Australian Windsurfing Association
We're so appreciative that both our State and National windsurfing bodies get behind this event and help support it financially. It's so important that we all support the youth and give them events like this to make friends, progress their skills and enjoy our incredible sport. So thank you to all the windsurf association members all over Australia, as part of this contribution comes from you!
FuelFix
We'll have green power at the event site thanks to FuelFix. They're providing a lithium battery to help power our microphone and drone gear. FuelFix provide green options like solar lighting and batteries to help reduce your carbon emissions.
Severne Windsurfing & Revolution Boardsports
Severne Windsurfing & Revolution Boardsports are again helping us out with great prizes and possibly some t-shirts and advanced coaches this year. They come along to the event, and help out as well. Severne Windsurfing has worked closely with WA junior windsurfers for a long time. They've tested and built better kids masts that withhold most wipeouts and with the Project Scott boards, they provide the BEST custom waveriding boards for kids. Jake Ghiretti is currently riding Project Scott boards and competing in the Cold Hawaii Youth World Grand Final.
Eastcourt & Wormall Civil
Eastcourt and Wormall Civil are helping to fund the event, which means that we can now hire marquees to store windsurf gear at Coronation Beach. No rigging and de-rigging each day!!
Willocks Surf
Willocks Surf is a HUGE surf shop in Geraldton with a great range of clothes and surf hardware. Willocks halp us out by providing prizes, and they also employ one of junior windsurfers - Laila Kenyon!
Thanks again to our amazing sponsors for helping out our youth.
Select to expand quoteRegistrations are now open!! Bring your groms to WA in our prime windsurfing time. With the combined camp and competition, it suits youth of all levels.
Visit the Windsurfing WA website to enter www.windsurfingwa.org.au/events/203304/
You'll need to join an Australian windsurfing association to compete (for insurance purposes). Your options are:
- join Windsurfing WA (the youth member fee is low cost)
- join Geraldton Windsurfing Club - a great option if you're planning to stay in Geraldton before or after the competition. This also gives you access to some of the gear that is stored right at Coronation Beach.
- join your local windsurfing club (needs to be Australian for insurance purposes).
Some key changes for the unified IWT/PWA that impact events and rankings for youth.
Junior Divisons
Some ages have changed for junior divisions. For 2024, there will now be these divisions:
- U21 Pro Junior (boys/girls)
- U18 Junior (boys/girls)
- U15 (boys/girls)
- U13 (boys/girls).
We will be adjusting our divisions to match for the 2024 Oceania Youth Wave Titles and will be accepting entries from U21.
Points, Regional Titles & World Titles for Youth
The Oceania Youth Wave Titles will be a 5 star, 100% point event for youth in all age groups.
Regional titles will exist as well as world titles. Australia falls into the Australasian region.
The Oceania Youth Wave Titles will be the Australasian Regional Final for U13s and U15s.
Our understanding at this point is that world championships will only be awarded to U18s and U21s. U13s and U15s will only get regional champion titles to minimise their travelling at a young age.
The 2024 Margaret River event (Feb 1-4) is likely to be the Australasian Regional Final for U18s, but U18s will still earn 5 star, 100% points at the Oceania Youth Wave Titles. U18s will need to compete in multiple events in their region to achieve a good regional ranking. The final regional ranking will include points from the Oceania Youth Wave Titles, the Margaret River Regional Final plus other 2-3 star events with junior divisions (eg, Nationals in Australia/NZ, Lancelin Wave Classic, local 2-3 events in NZ/Australia).
Top ranked U18s in Australasia will then be invited to compete in the youth grand final to determine the overall Junior World Champion. This might be Hawaii in 2024 but will rotate locations/regions each year.
U21s will gain points from 5 star youth events plus major 4 and 5 star international events where it is expected they will compete in both U21 and Pro Men/Women. They will not have a regional title but will have grand final to determine the overall Pro Junior World Champion.
Any questions, just ask....
With current forecasts, we will NOT be using the reserve days of 16-17 January for the camp or competition. You're still welcome to go up early and free sail on those days, but there are no instructors or coaches on those days.
The Junior Windsurf camp will formally start on Thurs 18 January at Coronation Beach. We will announce competition days when the forecast stops changing daily!
Registration is 9am-10am on Thursday at The Jaffle Shack, Foreshore Drive Geraldton. If you're driving up on Thursday but can't get there in time, you will still be able to register when you arrive at Coronation Beach.
Dinner Functions
Thursday Food Trucks @Coronation Beach. Enjoy an easy dinner, when you want, at Coronation Beach on Thursday after sailing. Two food trucks will be there:
- Country Cooks - providing tasty meals like slow cooked lamb/pulled pork trenches, fish, toasties, nachos, and more.
- Amenah's Satay House - providing a range of yummy asian, such as chilli chicken, mee goreng, chicken wings, beef rendang, veg stire fry and more.
All trucks have vegetarian and gluten free options.
Saturday Dinner & Presentations @ Jaffle Shack / Cafe Fleur, Marine Terrace, Geraldton. Dinner anytime from 6pm. Presentations will start well after dark if we've been running the competition until late.
The Jaffle Shack Oceania Youth Wave Titles wrapped up this Sunday after four days of international competition and coaching. Over 50 youth aged from 8 to 20 gathered at Coronation Beach in Geraldton to fight for Australasian Regional Titles and 5 star world ranking points. The event attracted competitors from NSW, Queensland, South Australia and overseas.
Fifteen year-old Sarah Kenyon from Geraldton won both the U18 and U21 Pro Junior Girls division. This was the first time she has beaten last year's winner and current world champion in LT Windsurfer Class , Jaiya Marns-Morris (17, Perth), with third place going to Santina Pillonel (16, Busselton). Judges were particularly impressed with Sarah's bottom turn / top turn combinations, as well as her progression, evidenced by several forwards loop attempts.
An exhausted Sarah said, "It felt amazing to win, because of all the hard effort I've put in. I just love the sport so much and to train, I just went sailing every time it was windy, no matter what. I sacrificed a lot of social and sports events, but winning meant it was all worth it. I love being in the ocean with my dad and people I love. Being out there is just amazing and so much fun. I feel so free in the water I get to learn something new every time. It makes me really happy."
Last year's world number 5, Oliver Desforges (18, Fremantle) won a very close contest in the U21 Pro Junior Men's division, which featured top wavesailors from interstate and overseas.
"Day 1 was a shocker," he said, acknowledging he was 'surprised' to win. "I was completely out of sync and not really performing. But I did a bit of relaxation breathing before my next heat and also changed up my equipment to give myself a fresh start." "In the final, I landed a pretty great forward loop, and I picked up a couple of nice sets, which gave me good sections to hit. I really just took the opportunities that the ocean gave me when they came about."
Coming in second place by less than one point, and also winning the U18 Boys was Margaret River local and last year's world number 4, 17 year-old Jake Ghiretti.
\"It was one of the most competitive finals I've ever sailed," Jake said. "I didn't find the best waves in the final, but I'm super happy for Ollie, as I train and sail with him often." "My priority going into this competition was to win the U18 division, because it's part of the regional titles," said Jake.
"Due to ATAR, I can't travel overseas this year, so it's really important for me to win that division here.".
Quinn Auricht (19, South Australia) and Valters Videneiks (19, Latvia) finished in third and fourth place respectively in the U21s. Rounding out the u18s in second place was last year's winner, Ben Ilett (17, Perth). Tyler Wallrodt (15, Albany) impressed in third place and also won the wipeout of the event award with a nasty landing on his gear after a loop attempt.
Organiser Jane Seman said,
"The rise in our local competitor's standard from last year's inaugural event to this one has been huge and several show genuine potential to become some of the world's best wavesailors."
A standout in the younger divisions was Isaac Gill, who can now call himself the Australasian Regional Wave Champion in both the U13 and U15 boy divisions. At just 10 years of age and from Attadale, Perth, Isaac showed jumping and waveriding skills that were well beyond his age. Many observers compared his determination and level to a young Jaeger Stone (Geraldton), who is regarded as one of the world's best wavesailors.
"It was such a fun event," said Isaac. "I loved the jumping at Coronation beach and sailing with all the other kids."
Thura Van Essen (14, Perth) won the girls U15 Regional Championship in a good battle with Sophie Brazier, 12, Perth.
Many of the older youth competitors are remaining in Geraldton to enjoy a good week of wind. After that, they will travel down South for the Margaret River Wavesailing Classic in February 1-4, where they will battle it out for final points to decide the U18 Australasian Regional Wave Champion. These two events are the most important Australian events for youth on the Professional Windsurfing International Wave Tour.
Final Results
U21 Boys
1. Oliver Desforges
2. Jake Ghiretti
3. Quinn Auricht
4. Valters Videneiks
5. Ben Ilett / James Fink
7. Adam Pitcher
8. Tyler Wallrodt
9. Jeremy Fox
U21 Girls
1. Sarah Kenyon
2. Jaiya Marns Morris
3. Santina Pillonel
U18 Boys
1. Jake Ghiretti
2. Ben Ilett
3. Tyler Wallrodt
4. Josh Ledger
5. Ben Ryan / Jack Brazier
7. Zac Debenham
8. Max Ghiretti
U18 Girls
1. Sarah Kenyon
2. Jaiya Marns Morris
3. Santina Pillonel
4. Tania Holldack
5. Laila Kenyon / Thura Van Essen
U15 Boys
1. Isaac Gill
2. Igor Panagushin
3. Max Ford
4. Henry Geldermann
5. Phoenix Stiles
U15 Girls
1. Thura Van Essen
2. Sophie Brazier
3. Zara Gill
U13 BOYS
1. Isaac Gill
2. Max Ford
3. Kai Wilson
4. Patrick Holldack
5. Nikiforos Ford
6. Oliver McEvoy
7. Rafael Annee
8. Bailey Gavin
It was amazing and incredible to see the young rippers in action. There's still a bright future in windsurfing in WA with so many kids performing at such a high level!
Thanks for organising it!
from all accounts (social media etc) looked like a great event, so good to see a great number of young ones involved in what I call the sport for life. Congrats to all the winners and those that got amongst it.
Dates have been set for our 2025 Oceania Youth Wave Titles & Junior Windsurf Camp.
it will be on 14-19 January, 2025 in Geraldton and is open to youth of any level aged Under 21 years. The competition is a 5 star event with 100% world ranking points for the U21 Pro Junior and U18 Junior divisions. For the U13 and U15 divisions, this event decides the Oceania Regional Champion.
The event will immediately follow Paul Van Bellen's Wave Rally event so bring the whole family and compete in both.
More information will come and registration will open early September.
