The Human Cronulla Shark Island Challenge

IBA World Bodyboarding Tour
Shark Island, NSW Australia
16 June - 15 July 2007

The Human Cronulla Shark Island Challenge - New IBA rules and regulations favour trialist.

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 17 May, 2007 : - - Under New rules from the IBA the structure of the 2007 Human Cronulla Shark Island Challenge has been revised. Due to the number of wildcards issued the IBA has been swift to enforce a new rule stating that the maximum wildcard entry for any international event will now be set at four. This rule has been set before the commencement of the 2007 IBA Men’s World Tour (MWT)

With this new rule in place the line up for the Human Cronulla Shark Island Challenge has been dramatically change. The new rule will see the end of the traditional 4 local wildcard invites and last years new 4 International wildcard invites.

Riders that now enter the trials will now have a better chance of making the main event with the increase of trialist entering going from 6 to a minimum of 12 (depending on the availability of the top 16).

“The rule is a huge change for the event” Mark Fordham, contest director explains – “For as long as the event has been running there has always been a selected number of Local and International riders invited as wildcards to surf against the worlds best bodyboarders.

The event has had to mould itself around the world tour for a number of years now due to its unique structure – it is definitely not the old Shark Island Challenge we used to know but for it to progress as a IBA MWT event changes had to be made.”

The new changes will see only 1 local wildcard / 1 international wildcard and 2 sponsored wildcards. The local wildcards will be Cronulla’s Dave Ballard and the International will be Dave Hubbard. The sponsor’s wildcards will be announced on the pre event press release.

“It is a definite shock for me to see such a change. The locals have basically had such a huge influence on the event and to see the core local riders, especially guys like Rissole (1999 Champion Christian Riguccini) who doesn’t surf on the tour, it’s guys like him that will not be unable to mix there skills with the world best. 

To see the event loose its ground roots is a real disappointment. This will be my 11th year in the event so I guess I am the lucky one so to say” explains Dave Ballard one of the world’s most influential riders.

“I guess for the contest to progress as one of the worlds most recognized events it has to change with the times. The event has proven itself year after year and with Humans commitment behind it I am sure it will progress and stand as the most prestigious and influential event on tour.

With the trials having more positions available to progress into the main event we should see some new faces and hopefully the locals will be able to step up and fill some of those spots. Half the guys on the tour struggle with the break so it will be interesting as to who makes it into the main event from the trials.”

IBA General manager Terry McKenna – "2007 will see a new era of professionalism with the IBA. A lot of standards will be set and new rules must be followed closely to have an event count towards the championship. It's a shame that some of the locals won't be seeded as wildcards however they have a distinct "Home Court" advantage with the trials at the Cronulla Point.

I am pretty confident we will see a few of them in the top 12. The major plus for the new changes is the increased position available through the trials for riders to progress into the main event. Last year there was a minimum of 6 – with the new rule change a minimum of 12 will now progress into the main event.”

“This is big news as there are a huge number of up and coming young professional riders chopping on the heals of the IBA top 16 riders positions,” explains Fordham. “This year could be the year where we could possible see 4 rookies in a CSIC final and a possible new looking top 16 heading into the next event in Chile - regardless of the new changes the event looks set to be another exciting show down”.

The other change for the event is the prize purse breakdown. In past years the CSIC has been known for its top heavy “winner takes all” first prize cheque. This year the prize purse will be amended to IBA rules and regulation. This brings the prize purse down from $20,000 AUD to $15,000 USD.

“We at Human have always pushed for the prize purse to be top heavy to simply give the rider who wins the event a first prize for what he deserves – that being winning the worlds most prestigious event. “Human representative Iain Stuart explains. “Although the changes to the prize purse are a little late we will commit to the new prize purse structure for 2007 and look into new and exciting possibilities for 2008.”

The dates for the Cronulla Shark Island challenge Trials event are for the 8th thru to the 10th of June. These dates where chosen to take full advantage of the winter wave conditions that prolong through out the month of June. The trials entry form can be downloaded from www.coreactiv.com .Entry will be $180 AUD + $35 IBA membership fee – Total being $215.

For International riders wishing to compete please email Mark Fordham markjfordham@bigpond.com for direct deposit information to secure a position The CSIC trials event will part of the BBA tour – being classed as a 2A rated event with $3,000 AUD up for grabs. The event will only be part of the men’s division, women’s and Drop Knee (DK) events will be stage in between the trials and the main event to encompass a full National event at Avalon beach.

The dates for the Human Cronulla Shark Island Challenge - Main event are for the 15th of June thru to the 15th of July Competitors:

Prize Money breakdown >>> (new break down as per IBA rule book for $15,000 USD)

1st -                  $3,000
2nd -                 $2,100
3rd x 2-             $1,050
5th x 4 -            $500
9th x 8 -            $350
17th x 8 -          $225
25th x 8 -          $150

The Human Cronulla Shark Island Challenge (June 15th · July 15th). Competitors for the Human Cronulla Shark Island Challenge are as follows

Top 16 Competitors that will be invited    

            1          Jeff HUBBARD                
            2          Ryan HARDY                  
            3          Guilherme TAMEGA        
            4          Uri VALADAO            
            5          Dave WINCHESTER       
            6          Damian KING                 
            7          John SHOWELL               
            8          Mike STEWART              
            9          Ben PLAYER                          
            10         Alex BUNTING                
            11         Amaury LAVERHNE        
            12         Yeray MARTINEZ                      
            13         Andrew LESTER              
            14         Hugo PINHEIRO             
            15         Mitch RAWLINS              
            16         Dallas SINGER              

Local Wildcards      

            17         Dave BALLARD             
            18         Alex LEON                      
            19         Chris RICCO                          
            20         Jackson BARTON        

Previous reports:
# 1 : The Human Cronulla Shark Island Challenge gears up
# 2 : Coming soon
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon    

www.cronullasharkislandchallenge.com 

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Mark Fordham

Bodyboarding - Surfersvillage