Words and Photos by Daniel Resnik.
Last time I covered a SurfAid event at Manly Beach 2020 it was impacted by Covid 19 and the Australia wide border closures. Thankfully, twelve months later life appears to be resuming some kind of normality and hopefully the pandemic will soon just be a dark chapter of history we’d rather forget – hopefully.Â
Before the start of this year’s Manly event CEO of SurfAid Doug Lees addressed the competitors and crew to thank all the teams for their monumental efforts in raising a remarkable $126,000 to ensure SurfAid continues working to improve the lives of woman and children in remote areas with surfing links.
Partnering with Surfing NSW, SurfAid invites teams of four surfers, of all ages and abilities to raise funds and compete for two awards:
1.The top fundraising team
2.The champion surfing team. 


The Beecroft team, who have also sponsored the event for the last seven years, were the top fundraisers with a hefty $26,000.
This is the tenth year the contest has run as a tag team style format with each surfer in every team catching two waves each with the second wave offering double points. Each team is made up of four amateurs and one professional surfer that’s provided by SurfAid on the day of the event. The team that raises the most money gets the first pick from an impressive line-up of pros and local legends that are available on the day.
What makes this event so popular is that mates put together teams and through hard work fundraising on the day of competition can have one of the world’s best professional surfer as a teammate.
This year’s BEECRAFT SURFAID CUP Manly 2021 pro list:
Ace Buchan, Baxter Hurt, Ben Short, Christo Hall, Duke Kelleher, Fletch Kelleher, George Pittar, Gerard, McCallum, Glenn Pringle, Kobi Clements, Koda Killorn, Luke Egan, Matt Wilkinson, Sage Gubbay, Saxon Reber and Sol Gruendling.
Teams competing this year in no particular order were:
4 Pines, Asquire, Australian Surfing Lawyers Association, SurfDaddies, Beecraft, Blackrock, Altis Property Group, The Grommets, Allan Hall/Big Hill Beach Cottages, Macquarie Inloop, Belle Property Manly, GPT Group, Wisemans Surf Lodge, Misfits 2.0, Seven Miles Coffee Roasters and Notox/Wavechanger
9:30am, Friday, November 26th under an ominous sky surfers and their teams hit the water for the first heat in one of surfing’s greatest fundraising events, the SurfAid Cup.
Every surfer that competed throughout the day excelled in at times tricky and inconsistent conditions with highlights provided by Matt Wilkinson, Saxon Reber and former touring professionals Ace Buchan, Rob Bain, Luke Egan and Layne Beachley.
The damp, cold and blustery conditions did nothing to inhibit the zeal of competitors. Their spirits were lifted by the colourful commentary provided by Reggae Ellis and Dimmy from North Steyne Boardriders.
The final was held in windswept conditions and won by Wisemans Surf Lodges with their team pro surfer George Pittman leading the charge. Team Beecraft were a close second, represented by local North Steyne pro Saxon Reber, and Allan Hall was third with the dynamic Matt Wilkinson as their pro surfer.
The day was a huge success and a huge thank you to all the volunteers who gave up their time with special thanks to Girdlers Cafe who supplied breakfast, Seven Miles for their all-day caffeine therapy and Fishbowl for lunch.
