Vodafone Surfest

4* WQS presented by Billabong
Newcastle Beach, NSW
28 March - 9 April 2006

No Dividing Loyalties For the Surfing Fans At The 2006 Vodafone Open at Newcastle Beach

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 1 February, 2006 : - - For the first time in a four-star-rated World Qualifying Series (WQS) event in Australia, the Vodafone Open will make use of the spectator friendly man-on-man format during the contest’s quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. The approach adds a level of excitement for spectators and it really encourages surfing fans to put all their support behind their favourite competitor.

The man-on-man format, which is compulsory in the later rounds of the World Championship Tour (WCT), practically guarantees triumph for the best surfer in prevailing conditions, enabling the eventual winner to etch their name to a list boasting the contest’s rich history of surfing talent from both Australia and around the globe.

“The man-on-man event virtually removes the element of luck that can help determine the winner in four-man heats,” said World Qualifying Series tour manager and Association of Surfing Professional’s (ASP) rules and regulations official Al Hunt. “This will be the first time in Australia that a four-star-rated event will use the man-on-man approach and it’s popular with both the competitors and the spectators.

Fans don’t have to divide their loyalties between four surfers in each heat of the finals,” Mr Hunt added. In yet another first to occur at the Vodafone Surfest Festival presented by Billabong, which runs from March 28 until April 9, the Vodafone Open will be webcast to a worldwide audience. “I think the webcast will prove popular because it is the way that surfing is now presenting itself to fans who can’t make it to the beach because they might not even be in Australia,” said organiser Warren Smith.

“Webcasting provides great leverage to global brand sponsors such as Vodafone and Billabong and at the same time it has the potential to significantly add to Newcastle’s growing international reputation as a great place to visit, work, invest and live,” Mr Smith said. As part of the ASP World Tour, the Vodafone Open will see competitors battle it out for valuable WQS rating points and prize money of around $100,000 AUD.

While entries for the event don’t close for around another month, organisers are already confident that spectators can expect that some of the surfing world’s biggest names from more than 20 countries will again head to Newcastle to try and have their names added to an exclusive inventory of past winners including former world champ Mark Occhilupo (twice) and current world number three Mick Fanning (three times).

About Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a leading mobile communications company – 25 per cent of the world’s mobile phone users are connected to Vodafone.  Vodafone Group has ownership interests in 27 countries, and partner networks in a further 15 countries - leaving an unmatched network footprint. The company provides quality services to 3.45 million Australian customers and has more than 179.3 million proportionate customers worldwide.
© Vodafone Pty Limited 2004:  VODAFONE and the Vodafone logos are trade marks of the Vodafone Group.  Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trade marks of their respective owners.

About Billabong
Billabong International Limited is the holding Company of a global group employing almost 1,500 people, involved in the design, production and distribution of surf and board sports’ apparel and accessories. Billabong’s products are sold in more than 90 countries by its directly controlled operations in Australia, New Zealand, North America, Europe, Japan and Brazil and through licensed operations and distributors in other regions.

Billabong is the leading surf wear apparel brand in Australia and is known for innovation in surf, skate and snow events across all ages and genders worldwide. The international event platform includes three world championship tour events at Teahupoo, Tahiti, Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa and Mundaka, Spain, as well as the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Junior Championships in Sydney, Australia.

About the Vodafone Surfest Present by Billabong
The festival and contest is Australia’s largest surfing event and is the only Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) endorsed surfing competition for men and women in New South Wales. It is Newcastle’s only annual international sporting event and attracts more than 200 surfers, with many coming from around the globe, including the United States, Hawaii, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand and France.

The main event is the  four-star World Qualifying Series Vodafone Open with approximately $100 000AUD up for grabs. Previous winners of the main event include seven-time world champion Kelly Slater and the full list of those to claim the trophy reads like a whose who of professional surfing. In 2006 the event celebrates its 21st birthday and organisers, supporters and the surfers are thrilled that leading international companies with a commitment to surfing, Vodafone and Billabong, will help the festival achieve and celebrate that milestone. The main event is up for grabs.

www.surfest.com

Previous reports:
# 1 : Coming soon
# 2 : Coming soon
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon 

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Paul Scott

WQS Contest - Surfersvillage