Port Macquarie 7,000 delivers perfect surf sport racing at Bonny Hills

THE Wauchope Bonny Hills Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC) played host to two World Ocean Series surf sports events at Rainbow Beach from Friday 31 October to Sunday 2 November.

The Port Macquarie 7000 was contested on Saturday, delivering a day of elite racing in picture-perfect surf conditions.

The event attracted thousands of spectators lining the beach to witness Australia’s top surf sport athletes go head-to-head across the Iron, Swim, Board, and Ski disciplines.

With clean four-foot waves rolling through and blue skies overhead, athletes were treated to some of the best conditions of the summer so far.

In the Open Ironman, Ethan Callaghan (Burleigh Heads Mowbray Park) claimed an emphatic victory ahead of Finn Askew (Surfers Paradise) and Jackson Borg (Newport) in a tightly contested finish that had the crowd roaring.

Callaghan’s win solidifies his reputation as one of the rising stars of the series.

The Open Ironwoman final saw Hannah Sculley (Northcliffe) at her brilliant best, mastering the tricky shore break to claim gold ahead of Kaitlin Rees (Swansea Belmont) and Naomi Scott (Northcliffe).

Northcliffe continued their dominance across multiple disciplines, with Riley Fitzsimmons taking out the Open Men’s Ski, and Lana Rogers doing the double in both the Open Women’s Swim and Board races.

The Race One World Youth Championships followed on Sunday, with the world’s next generation of surf sport talent taking centre stage.

The Wauchope Bonny Hills SLSC offered support to the event throughout.

All weekend long, the club was the centre of the event, with surf club volunteers from our club and others assisting with running it in every possible way – from first aid to water safety, canteen and BBQ, as well as general event support and working behind the bar,” said the club’s Anna Murrell.

“The club was also the lucky recipient of a Race Mal board donated by Race 1 Surfcraft.”