Rip Curl MP Classic

Gold Coast Queensland Australia
2 - 3 February 2008

Who will be the next King of Cooly?

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 1 February, 2008 : - - Michael Peterson, surfing’s most enigmatic character, will once again be honoured with the seventh-annual Rip Curl ‘MP’ Classic set to roll out on the southern end of the Gold Coast in classic barreling waves at Kirra Point tomorrow. A low-pressure system in the Coral Sea is expected to deliver a pulsating easterly swell to the illusive point break for the duration of the prestigious tournament.

A strong contingent of Queensland, Australian and international surfing talent will don competition rash vests to pay tribute to MP, who took surfing beyond reality on Queensland’s celebrated right-hand point breaks in the 1970s. The two-day $5000 tournament is the perfect way to expose today's best young surfers to the iconic history of MP and surfing in Queensland.

This year’s entry list is again crammed with talent with the likes of defending champion Luke Dorrington (Coolangatta), three-times winner Shaun Gossmann (Burleigh Heads), ’07 winner Dave Reardon-Smith (Yaroomba), Yamba ripper Matt Jones, QCC runner-up Corey Ziems (Currumbin) and Trials for Trials winner Jay Phillips (Fingal) confirmed to compete.

Dorrington, who used last year’s victory as a competitive springboard for his tilt on the Queensland Championship Circuit (QCC) and the World Qualifying Series (WQS), will be looking to retain his place as the ‘King of Cooly’ when competition begins on Saturday.

“It would be a real honour to win back-to-back events,” said Dorrington. “It was such a buzz winning last year’s event. It really set up a good year for me.” The 22-year-old natural foot will have to be on his ‘A-Game’ with a host of talent surfers geared up to knock him off his throne.

Meanwhile, Gold Coast surfing legend and  former world champion Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew will revive his surfing career by entering in this weekend’s event, whilst newly crowned world champion Mick Fanning (Coolangatta) will make a guest appearance along with ‘MP’ himself at the tournament on Sunday afternoon.

The event will again host the best junior surfers in the country as part of the Surfing Australia High Performance Centre selection process to choose the next Australian junior team. 14 young hopefuls, spearheaded by World Junior Trials winner Owen Wright (Culburra), will be entered into the Rip Curl MP Classic as part of the analysis process to pick the team.

Now in its seventh year, the MP Classic is one of the highlights of the Gold Coast surfing calendar. The main event site for the Rip Curl MP Classic will be Kirra Point, but the tournament does have the option of going mobile to the best surf on the southern end of the Gold Coast.

www.ripcurl.com
www.surfingqueensland.com

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Jake White

Contests - Surfersvillage