HOBART/TASMANIA (Friday, 17th May,2024): This weekend’s Southern Challenge in memory of Paul Johannesen is set to get quality waves with the South Arm Peninsula the most likely venue.
Surfing Tasmania’s Event Manager Luke Johannesen was excited about the forecast heading into tomorrow’s competition day, run in honour of his late father Paul.
” There’s one hundred percent going to be solid waves wherever we lock in for tomorrow. A call will be made on Surfing Tasmania’s social media channels early in the morning on location. We are pumped for another cracking PJM Southern Challenge!” said Johannesen.
With the competition having run for the past eighteen years, there has only been nine winners of both the Men’s and Women’s Open Divisions. Jy Johannesen has taken the Men’s title four times and Dara Penfold nailing the Women’s title a massive seven times.
Johannesen won’t be in the draw to defend his title from in 2024 and Penfold is still recovering from an injury, leaving the door open for the likes of Ethan Turner and Henry Hutchins in the men’s draw and Josie McCann, Sienna Lawrence, Ava Carlton and Amelie Brown in the women’s side of the draw.
A host of talented juniors like Sammy ‘Fish’ de Salis and Duke Armstrong are in the draw to keep the older generation on their toes.
One of the key differences between the Southern Challenge and the rest of the Tasmanian Championship Series is the competition format.Tomorrow, each competitor will surf two heats with their best two combined scores from each heat giving you your total on a leaderboard format.Then top four Men and top four Women will surf off in a Final.
The 2024 Southern Challenge in Memory of Paul Johannesen is proudly brought to you by Red Herring Surf Co, Woodhams Builders, Zambrero Rosny and Shoreline Plaza stores, Stu Gibson Photography, The Foreshore Hotel, SINeyewear, We Are Feel Good Inc, South Arm Boardriders and Dometic.
