Shane Holmes and Sarah Baum have taken out the 2018 Vissla Central Coast Pro presVissla Central Coast Pro pres by Slimes Boardstore, following a day of exciting action in clean three-to-four foot waves at Avoca Beach.
Line Up on Finals Day. - WSL / Ethan Smith
Central Coast native Shane Holmes fulfilled his goal of winning an elite Qualifying Series event, taking out the men's final. Holmes seemed to hit his peak over the duration of the final notching up two excellent scoring waves - 8.50 and 9.15 to amass an impressive 17.65 heat total. Holmes executed a barrage of giant backside snaps to get the win over Jordin Watson who was left chasing a two-wave combination to take away Holmes' lead. After finishing in second position in multiple QS events over the years, Holmes is stoked to finally get the monkey off his back.
"This is the best feeling," said Holmes. "I've been doing the QS for a few years now and have come second in events in the past, but I haven't been able to get myself a win. To claim a victory at a beach that's only 20 minutes away from where I live feels insane. Hopefully, I can get a few more decent results in the next six months or so to help my seed going into the back end of the year."
Shane Holmes - WSL / Ethan Smith
Following a several year hiatus from competition, Jordin Watson made his mark on the 2018 Vissla Central Coast Pro pres. by Slimes Boardstore. Having got the backing of his local Culburra Beach Boardriders following their victory at the nudie Australian Boardriders Battle, Watson returned to competing at Avoca and proceeded to turn heads with his lightning-fast snaps and carves, which he used to positive effect over the course of the entire event. Enroute to the final, Jordin even shared a semi-final with older brother Ty to seal a position into the final.
"This event really was a bit of a dream," said Watson. "It was originally going to be a bit of a comeback event, but I ended up sharing some pretty special moments like having a semi-final with my brother and making the final. I'm definitely pretty stoked with how it all went."
Jordin Watson - WSL / Ethan Smith
After impressing the judges and spectators with powerful forehand snaps, Sarah Baum proceeded to go from strength-to-strength as she attacked the final with a combination of technical snaps and carves. Baum was able to gain the upper hand against local surfer Kirra-Belle Olsson thanks to a decent 7.25 wave score for a chain of strong forehand snaps. The victory has been Baum's biggest win to date.
"I'm feeling so stoked right now," said Baum. "We had such good waves over the course of the event and I felt like I was surfing pretty well in most of my heats. This is definitely one of my biggest results to date for sure and to have pretty good waves for the final day was definitely the cherry on top of an awesome week."
Sarah Baum - WSL / Ethan Smith
Being able to sleep in her own bed and ride a bike to the event each day proved to pay dividends for Avoca local Kirra-Belle Olsson as she worked her way into her first QS final. Olsson remained busy over the course of the final exchange with Baum, catching 11 waves, but struggled to find the required 6.51 needed to knock her opposition from the top spot.
"This is my first final in a QS event, so I'm pretty happy right now," said Olsson. "It's nice to be able to have an event like this so close to where I live and I think I was able to keep a good routine over the course of the event. My parents were here supporting me over the week as well which makes the result so much better."
Kirra-Belle Olsson - WSL / Tom Bennett
Shane Holmes and Sarah Baum Win at Avoca
WSL
Shane Holmes and Sarah Baum have taken out the 2018 Vissla Central Coast Pro presVissla Central Coast Pro pres by Slimes Boardstore, following a day of exciting action in clean three-to-four foot waves at Avoca Beach.
Central Coast native Shane Holmes fulfilled his goal of winning an elite Qualifying Series event, taking out the men's final. Holmes seemed to hit his peak over the duration of the final notching up two excellent scoring waves - 8.50 and 9.15 to amass an impressive 17.65 heat total. Holmes executed a barrage of giant backside snaps to get the win over Jordin Watson who was left chasing a two-wave combination to take away Holmes' lead. After finishing in second position in multiple QS events over the years, Holmes is stoked to finally get the monkey off his back.
"This is the best feeling," said Holmes. "I've been doing the QS for a few years now and have come second in events in the past, but I haven't been able to get myself a win. To claim a victory at a beach that's only 20 minutes away from where I live feels insane. Hopefully, I can get a few more decent results in the next six months or so to help my seed going into the back end of the year."
Following a several year hiatus from competition, Jordin Watson made his mark on the 2018 Vissla Central Coast Pro pres. by Slimes Boardstore. Having got the backing of his local Culburra Beach Boardriders following their victory at the nudie Australian Boardriders Battle, Watson returned to competing at Avoca and proceeded to turn heads with his lightning-fast snaps and carves, which he used to positive effect over the course of the entire event. Enroute to the final, Jordin even shared a semi-final with older brother Ty to seal a position into the final.
"This event really was a bit of a dream," said Watson. "It was originally going to be a bit of a comeback event, but I ended up sharing some pretty special moments like having a semi-final with my brother and making the final. I'm definitely pretty stoked with how it all went."
After impressing the judges and spectators with powerful forehand snaps, Sarah Baum proceeded to go from strength-to-strength as she attacked the final with a combination of technical snaps and carves. Baum was able to gain the upper hand against local surfer Kirra-Belle Olsson thanks to a decent 7.25 wave score for a chain of strong forehand snaps. The victory has been Baum's biggest win to date.
"I'm feeling so stoked right now," said Baum. "We had such good waves over the course of the event and I felt like I was surfing pretty well in most of my heats. This is definitely one of my biggest results to date for sure and to have pretty good waves for the final day was definitely the cherry on top of an awesome week."
Being able to sleep in her own bed and ride a bike to the event each day proved to pay dividends for Avoca local Kirra-Belle Olsson as she worked her way into her first QS final. Olsson remained busy over the course of the final exchange with Baum, catching 11 waves, but struggled to find the required 6.51 needed to knock her opposition from the top spot.
"This is my first final in a QS event, so I'm pretty happy right now," said Olsson. "It's nice to be able to have an event like this so close to where I live and I think I was able to keep a good routine over the course of the event. My parents were here supporting me over the week as well which makes the result so much better."
Sarah Baum
The wildcard Sarah Baum felt right at home and overtook 5x World Champion Carissa Moore and CT veteran Lakey Peterson to earn a spot
Two South Africans will be making their Championship Tour debuts at the Corona Open J-Bay. As the highest-rated Africans on the Challenger
Baum continues her charge into quarterfinal matchups with a strong showing over Ellie Harrsion. Sarah is set to clash with former CTer
Sarah Baum drops near-excellent 7.67 single-wave score to push into the Round of 16 at the top seed. Baum looks to build on her Ballito
Featuring Ramzi Boukhiam, Alejo Muniz, Kade Matson, Jorgann Couzinet, Luana Silva, Moana Jones Wong, Molly Picklum, Nikki Van Dijk, Keely
Vissla Central Coast Pro pres by Slimes
Holmes and Baum Take The Win
All the action form the Third day at Avoca
All the action form the opening day at Avoca
The Vissla Central Coast Pro presented by Slimes has continued on Day 3 in tough conditions.
Avoca turns it on for the women's early Rounds.