Sunday was the final day of the 2014 Australian Longboard Surfing Open. The event saw the sport’s top-rated surfers do battle in the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Longboard Qualifying Series (LQS) divisions with Taylor Jensen (USA) winning the Legendary Pacific Coast Men’s Pro and Jen Smith taking out the Pretty Shady Women’s Pro.
Jen Smith, 2007 and 2009 ASP Women’s World Longboard Champion was dominant in the final against Rosie Locke (Sunshine Coast). Smith clocked 17.83 out of a possible 20 while Locke struggled to find the better waves in the final.
‘This is the first ASP event I’ve done this year so to win it is really good, it’s a good set up for the rest of the year’, said Smith. ‘It’s a confidence booster – it makes me feel good about riding my single fin as I’ve never surfed an ASP event on a single fin before.
‘To bring it out here and win this event is promising. The surf today was really fun, the tide was low and it was pretty ideal for longboarding.’
The Legendary Pacific Coast LQS Open Pro final was fiercely contested between two former ASP World Longboard Champions Taylor Jensen (2011 and 2012) and 2009 winner Harley Ingleby (Coffs Harbour). The American surfer came out on top even though he only pulled three waves during the 30-minute final for a combined two wave total of 16.10 (out of a possible 20). Current title holder Ingleby, pushed hard all the way through the final and only just failed to secure the win with his last wave falling 2.4 short of what he needed, giving him a total of 13.74.
‘It’s my first serious event this year so it has got the ball rolling’, said Jensen. ‘I feel good and I’m in command. There’s some big events later in the year so I’ll just stay focused. I love the surf here, the water and the people are super nice and it’s just fun.’
