HOBART/TASMANIA (Tuesday, December 12th/2023): The best surfers from Tasmania and around Australia will be out to get a slice of the $6000 cash PLUS over $5,000 in prizes in the state’s richest contest – The Red Herring Pro-Am kick starts the 2024 Tasmanian Championship Circuit, getting underway on Friday, January 26th.
Event Manager Luke Johannesen said ” After an epic inaugural event last year we are excited to see the calibre of surfing rise again in 2024. With such a good variety of waves on offer in zones we have at our disposal, it’s pretty exciting to start looking at the forecast in early January. $2000 for first prize in both Open Men and Women’s divisions always gets the competitive juices flowing as well. The crew from Red Herring and Surfing Tasmania are pumped to be able to offer such a great event!”
Last year’s winners Rudy Davis and Dara Penfold will be hell-bent on defending their titles whilst getting off to the best possible start to the Tasmanian Championship Circuit season at the same time.
“Being able to go back to back would be a great. There’s plenty of talented young women coming through the ranks now though so it won’t be easy. And there’s always the mainland talent like Leila Salt who was ripping last year,” said Penfold.
With license to roam in Tasmania’s South East region, possible locations include the likes of the South Arm Peninsula, Roaring Beach and Eaglehawk Neck
Surfing Tasmania’s newest event on the annual Calendar will include:
Open Men’s – 48 athletes
Open Women’s – 16 athletes
Junior Men’s – 16 athletes
Junior Women’s – 8 athletes
The Junior divisions are sure to be hotly contested with only sixteen Men’s and eight Women’s spots available. The quarter finals onwards will activate the women on women and man on man format, allowing athletes the best opportunity to excel.
Athletes entering the event must be a currently registered member of their state association (Surfing Australia’s Go Membership platform won’t allow an athlete to enter without current membership).
The Red Herring Pro-Am is supported by Rip Curl, Yeti, JS Industries, FCS, Dragon Alliance and Surfing Tasmania.
