Blake Wilson : photo Steve Robertson

Arrive Alive Central Coast Pro

Men's 4 Star WQS Event
Women's 4 Star WQS Event
Soldiers Beach, Norah Head NSW
11 - 16 March 2008

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Arrive Alive Central Coast Pro round two top seeds dominate in great small waves

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 11 March, 2008 : - - Day two of the Arrive alive Central Coast Pro heralded the uprising of the tournament’s top seeds - annihilating all that Soldiers Beach had to offer. With Soldiers Beach producing some very contestable one metre peaks, the bar was raised considerably by the competitions draw-card contestants.

None was more impressive than former world number two and current ASP world touring surfer Michael Campbell (Port Macquarie), who was his usual dominating best.  “There are some really fun waves out there. I’m just stoked to be out amongst it,” he said.  “This contest is really important for me as it gives me good heat practice going into Bells, after a slight hiccup in the first WCT (World Championship Tour) event of the year.

“It’s also really important to be out here supporting the Central Coast and their local competition,” he said. Also in outstanding form was his WCT counterpart, Roy Powers (Hawaii) who like Campbell is looking at building his competitive edge going into the Rip Curl at Bells Beach.

“Doing this competition is about building my confidence and time in the water,” he said.  “I could’ve free-surfed for the two weeks between now and Bells, but I need to keep focused and build-up my competitive state of mind.”

Mick Campbell : photo Steve Robertson

Local Central Coast surfer Beau Atchison (Copacabana) took out arguably the heat of the day, progressing to the round of 48 with some stylish, forehand surfing. He along with fellow Copacabana resident and 2006 Arrive alive Central Coast Pro champion Matt Wilkinson got his 2008 campaign off to a flourishing start.

“I’m so stoked to have got through that heat. It’s even better that Matty scraped through in the dying stages with me,” he said  New Zealand surfer Bobby Hansen also won through to the next round with a commanding display in a very tightly contested second round heat, narrowly edging Blake Wilson.

For Hansen, the hotly contested Arrive alive Central Coast Pro is about building consistency for the upcoming year. “It’s my first event of the year so I’m looking toward getting back into a rhythm. It’s a really tough event; any one of 20 guys could end up taking it out.”

With a move to the contests northern bank surfers were rewarded with some high scores, Stuart Kennedy (Lennox Head) threw down the highest competition wave score of the event with a blistering 9.0 (out of a possible 10). Continuing on from his red-hot junior series form, Kennedy is leading the young Australian contingent and his form here in round one and two indicate he’s more than capable of a serious assault on the ASP World Qualifying Series.

Michael Spencer : photo Steve Robertson

The Opening four heats of the Arrive alive Central Coast Women’s round one were also run today with South American surfers Marina Wernick (Brazil) and Ornella Pellizzari from Argentina dominant with both girls posting high scoring heat wins. Seeded girls are likely to enter the water tomorrow along with round three of the Men’s and each day begins around 8:00am running through to 5pm, with finals at this stage set for Saturday and Sunday.

The Arrive alive Central Coast Pro will see 144 male and 64 female surfers compete for total divisional prize money purses of US$80,000 and US$25,000 respectively, plus valuable early season WQS ratings points.

The event will be webcast live at the event website arrivealivepro.com. The event website will feature live scores, heat by heat results, daily news as well as photo and video galleries updated daily.

The Arrive alive Central Coast Pro is proudly supported by the NSW Motor Accidents Authority, Wyong Shire Council, The Beachcomber Hotel, Ocean & Earth, ASP Australasia, Surfing NSW, NBN Television, Central Coast Sun Weekly, Star FM, Australia’s Surfing Life and Greater Toukley Vision.

About Arrive alive
Arrive alive is the NSW Motor Accidents Authority’s (MAA) youth road safety program. The MAA regulates the Compulsory Third Party (CTP) personal injury insurance scheme in NSW (known as Greenslips). The MAA is concerned about the over-representation of young people aged 17 to 25 in road crashes. Young drivers in this age group are at a higher risk of crashing than drivers of older ages for lots of reasons, including their inexperience, attitudes to driving and a tendency towards risk taking behaviour.

The MAA has a major commitment to improving road safety in NSW, and recognises that achieving this requires effective communication with young people about risk taking on the roads. This is where Arrive alive comes in. Arrive alive includes a range of programs that reflect common interest areas for young people. These programs aim to involve young people in activities they enjoy while positively influencing attitudes and behaviours on the roads.  The MAA wants to see young people stay safe on the roads and Arrive alive!

Previous reports:
# 1 : Arrive Alive Central Coast Pro readies for March 11 launch
# 2 : Arrive Alive Central Coast Pro rolls out with opening party
# 3 : Soldiers Beach turns on for Arrive Alive Pro opening day
# 4 : Coming soon  

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Arrive Alive Media
Steve Robertson
stever@surfingaustralia.com

Michael Tyrpenou
michael.tyrpenou@gmail.com

WQS Contests - Surfersvillage