Noosa! Big Fun Down Under

Bonga ripping
Michi Schweiger From Naish International attended the Noosa Surf Festival which ran from March 2 to March 9, 2008. He sent us this photojournal story:

Noosa Town is located north of Brisbane and is the home of the legendary Noosa Point which offers surfers and now also stand up surfers epic long rides in prestine clear water. Noosa is a typical tidy surf town where you can feel that the locals live to be close to the ocean. The warm and clear water in combination with a perfect infrastructure makes Noosa a longboard and SUP board jewel.

Noosa First Point; Noosa heads is a stretch of point breaks starting with first point which is the most convenient to town–it’s well within walking distance to town. The “outer points” require a bit more walking through the local national reserve, but this can be a rewarding activity on its own. It’s really a treat to discover one point after the other while walking through the tea tree forest. With a SUP board it’s even more enjoyable–we paddled from point to point, which gives it a different perspective. The waves hug the points and deliver one long ride after another.

After turning out of a wave you rarely have to cross whitewater because the way the waves set up you can alway paddle around the break. With just a little politeness and respect there are always plenty of waves to share.

Noosa Lagoon is situated behind Noosa town and includes several waterways lined with beautiful and expensive houses. It is a blast to ride along the houses and boatdocks just to sightsee and get a workout. We also found the lagoon system was perfect for introducing people to stand up boards on the smooth flatwater.

Event site: River Mouth

The point is not the only surfbreak in town. The endless beach at Noosa offers various beach breaks that carry on to River Mouth and beyond.

Noosa First point Crowd

As you can see Noosa is not a secret spot anymore. First point gets especially crowded. The further you paddle the more privacy and less crowded waves you will find. People are friendly here and are stoked to surf together. So as everywhere else in the world it pays not be a wave hog and to show as much respect as you would expect for yourself.

Kai Lenny at River Mouth

Kai and I have done quite a few trips together. Coming to Australia was a first for both of us. What strikes me most about Kai is the enthusiasm that he has. The passion to get in the water no matter what and to make it the best session every time he goes out. It is contagious–it makes me appreciate being able to be out in the water. Taking pictures of him is another story. I still have to get over wanting to be surfing myself instead of shooting pictures.

Naish Down Under rider JB

JB and Adam were our hosts in Australia. They combined typical australian humor with unparalleled hospitality to make this trip one to remember. In general Australians are the most hospitable people you can imagine. The have a wide open country so they all understand the feeling of wanting somebody to rely on in an unknown territory. JB rips on the stand up and is one of the most progressive riders in the Sydney area.

Kai Lenny River Mouth

Kai is riding his Naish/Harold Iggy custom 7′6”. We keep telling him that he is growing out of it, but then he charges on the thing like there’s no tomorrow. Maybe its just jealousy on our side as we wish we could ride something that small and loose.

Naish Down Under rider Adam Quinn

Adam Quinn is our man in Australia and runs the show for Naish. He has a few Windsurfing Olympic campaigns under his hat. Now you can find him stand up surfing around Sydney whenever there is a good swell. He is also into distance paddling which already has a big paddle board following in Australia and which is catching on strong for Stand up paddling as well.

Tom Carrol–a legend

What more can you say about him. It is amazing to see how much muscle density can be compiled in this energy bundle. More and more you can see him riding various styles of stand up boards displaying a style that makes you realize that there is no right or wrong in regards to how to ride and turn a board.

Tom Carrol

Bonga Perkins

Ihe undisputed winner of the Noosa surf festival in the stand up division. Already a longboard world champion he takes stand up surfing to a new level.

Bonga Perkins

There was an amazing tendency towards shorter and shorter boards for stand up paddling in Australia. Bonga’s performance ran counter to this trend, riding a production board. Quads and thrusters far under 10 feet are very comon and the competitive riding style goes away from classic longboarding. Vertical turns and agressive use of the paddle dictate the style in most cases. It is great to see that the use of the paddle is highly scored.

Kai Lenny

Kai just rips and rips

Stand Up Event winner Bonga Perkins–he makes everything he does look relaxed and easy

Tandem Event

Here’s a way to pick up beautiful girls.

Tandem Event

Tandem events are still amazing to me and have a level of grace that is not displayed in any other part of the sport. And off course it is always nice to see beautiful women in the water. Brain Keaulana and Kathy Herade are masters of this craft.

Naish Booth

Noosa also featured a trade show where we were able to display our products. The concept is great as the show only opened at 2 in the afternoon which gave everybody the chance to be at the beach and ride the products

Naish Booth

We flew in our newest boards including a new 9′6” Quad which hit the nerve of the shorter trend pretty much straight on.

Naish Booth

Oldtimer Car show

Trade Show concert

The trade show also had a lot of evening action going on. People enjoyed the combination of being able to still cruise through the booths and party. Australia has an interesting drinking culture. Pretty much every drink is available already canned which makes thing so much easier.

Dave Rastovitch, Tom Curren and several other surf musicians provided a chune during the trade show.

Tom Carrol historic

Lagoon Cruising

Michi Schweiger is Windsurfing Product and Team Manager for Naish International. Michi is an enthusiastic SUP surfer and has been deeply involved in the production of the Naish stand up boards.