Riptide Magazine

Get to the Box Beach Pro Today!

Burton Toyota Box Beach Pro Presented by Inverted Port Stephens
Box Beach is situated on the pristine Port Stephens coastline of NSW, three hours North of Sydney and only 30 minutes from Newcastle airport, is perfect for the staging of Round 4 of the Rebel Sport Pro Tour.

This wave is a world-renowned breeding ground of bodyboarding talent due to its heavy and wedging nature. It’s perfect for deep thick barrels and boosting big stylish aerials. As bodyboarding has an emphasis on these key elements Box Beach is the perfect location for such an event to take place.

Kim Burton of Burton Toyota has been a long time patron of surfing events in the Hunter Valley with his major sponsorship of Surfest and support for the local board-riding clubs and his patronage has now extended to bodyboarding with this event. “I’m very proud to be in a position to help put the Bay on the map as a premier bodyboarding destination!” said Kim.

After three rounds the Top 16 on the Australian rankings looks like a who’s who of bodyboarding. South African Mark McCarthy leads the pack after solid performances in NSW and WA with fellow countryman Jared Houston in 7th. Japanese rider Hayoto Enokido is the other international at number 8. Local rider Dallas Singer is currently ranked 2nd and leads a long list of Australia’s best riders into his hometown event. “I’m just happy to see a Pro Tour event finally coming to the Bay” said Dallas. “Boxy is a world-class bodyboarding wave so this will be an awesome event to watch with so many big names coming” he added.

The Rebel Sport Pro Tour Top 16 after event 3
1 Mark McCarthy Sth Africa
2 Dallas Singer NSW
3 Jake Stone QLD
3 Mitchell Rawlins QLD
5 Dave Winchester NSW
6 Michael Novy QLD
7 Jared Houston Sth Africa
8 Hayato Enokido Japan
9 Ryan Hardy WA
10 Thomas Rigby QLD
11 Chase O'Leary NSW
12 Sam Bennett NSW
13 Cade Sharp QLD
14 Sam Strachan NSW
15 Joe Clarke QLD
16 Damian King NSW

The event will be staged over the two best days during June 24-26th and carries a 4 Star ranking that will attract the majority of the best riders.

Local Bodyboard store Inverted are one of the sponsors and have a lot of promotions planned around the event. Store manager Mitch Lees explains. “Inverted will be having a signing on the Thursday before the event with lots of free product for the kids with some of the big names coming in” he said.

Rebel Sport will also support the event and it’s expected that more then 30 bodyboards will be given away during the competition.

IBA Australasian General Manager Terry McKenna is excited about the inaugural event. “This place is pumping out some serious talent with Dallas Singer leading the pack. He has just moved up to number 5 in the world after another great finish in Chile so he will be hard to stop on his home turf” McKenna added.