The Australian Boardriders Battle, or the ABB, once again proved why team surfing events are at the core of the community last weekend at Burleigh Heads. Boardriders club’s battled it out in our sport’s answer to a biathlon as teams of five surf in a 70 minute heat. Each surfer’s top score counts to the team’s overall and each member must complete the course by running up the Burleigh hill and across the finish line before the horn sounds.
Despite the bipolar weather throughout the weekend, the hill had a carnival like atmosphere as spectators and other clubs roared surfers on, and soaked them in beer and Jim Beam, as they dragged their tired legs across the line to tag the next surfer.
North Shore Boardriders made up of Alister Reginato, Sophie McCulloch, Landen Smales, Blake Wilson and Luke Brumby, were the eventual winners in a final that featured former CT surfers, Challenger Series hopefuls and Boardriders Clubs core lords.
While it’s obvious that each team takes the event seriously and wants to win for each other, there’s a shared sense of comradery amongst the clubs that creates some form of harmony amongst the chaos of the event. Those knocked out first round are happy to sit there all day on the beers and cheer others on.
The running element adds a unique storyline to each heat, it creates panic, or excitement, depending on the time on the clock. It causes elation or heartache. Some standout moments included Mikey Wright’s six minute Burleigh lap, Hughie Vaughan’s hill heat break and Sheldon Simkus’ love affair with Vaughan Blakey as they walked hand in hand up the boardwalk.
Resident Gold Coast photographer Swilly was on hand to capture some of the action, check out some of our favourite shots below:
