Billabong Coolum Classic
Presented by Printpoint

Billabong Queensland Championship Circuit
Sunshine Coast Australia
17 - 18 May 2008

Reigning Queensland Surfing Champion Trevor Tripcony Out To Make Amends At Billabong Coolum Classic

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 13 May, 2008 : - - Coolum surfing star Trevor Tripcony is out to make amends to a slow start to the 2008 season by taking out the next round of the prestigious Billabong Queensland Championship Circuit (QCC) presented by Printpoint on the Sunshine Coast this weekend.

Tripcony, highly ranked World Qualifying Series (WQS) campaigner Shaun Gossmann, multiple QCC champion Dave Reardon-Smith (Yaroomba) and former world tour surfer Shane Wehner (Byron Bay) will compete in the $5,000 Billabong Coolum Classic from May 17-18.

It’s a golden opportunity for the state’s premier open-aged surfers to showcase their dazzling surf skills along with earning crucial rating points as the halfway mark of the 6-event, $30,000 circuit rears its head.

Reigning QCC champion Tricpony, who is currently sitting 10th on the QCC ratings after the opening two events of the 2008 season, has not won an elusive QCC title since trumping the state’s best surfers to win the season-ending Billabong Queensland Open in 2007 and is eager to brush the proverbial monkey off his back when competition begins on Saturday.

“I’ve had a pretty slow start to my title defence, so I really need to pull out a big result,” said Tripcony. “I was feeling really good heading into this year’s series but the results have eluded me so far. Fortunately there have only been two events completed this year, so the series is definitely up for grabs still.”

This time last year Tripcony was flying high after posting a runner-up finish in round one of the 2007 series before winning round two. “My strong start last year gave me plenty of confidence which led to more big results in 2007 and me taking out the Queensland title,” he said. “I’m fit, I’m surfing well and I’ve got great equipment at the moment so I know I’m capable of reclaiming my top form. I would love to take out the event in front of all the boys.”

But the 28-year-old local will have to be on his toes with a formidable contingent of the state’s hottest surfers fired up for victory. Snapper Rocks ace and former Coolum Classic champion Gossmann will be Tripcony’s main challenger after running into career best form.

The former Durbanite, who will return from Scotland this week to line-up in this weekend’s event, has been firing on all cylinders in 2008 and is currently sitting 9th on the World Qualifying Series (WQS). “ I’ve started the year with a bang, so I’ll be trying to continue my good form into this weekend’s event,” said Gossmann.

“The QCC is a great building block for my ‘QS campaign this year. They’re a lot of good surfers in it and its good to be competing in Queensland again. Gossmann has started the 2008 QCC season with a runner-up finish behind fellow Snapper Rock Surfriders member and QCC ratings leader Luke Dorrington (Coolangatta) in the opening round at Currumbin Alley, before missing out on round two at Palm Beach due to his commitments on the WQS.

“My main goal in 2008 is to qualify for the world tour, so I’ll only be able to compete in four of the six QCC events this year,” he said. “I haven’t won a QCC since my Coolum victory in 2005, so a win would mean a lot to me. The waves at Coolum are generally pretty tough to surf but hopefully I can notch up a win.”

Joining Gossmann in the tournament includes Dale Lovelock (Maroochydore), Samba Mann (Tweed Heads), Scott Wildin (Tweed Heads South), Dane Hamilton (Coolangatta, formerly Coolum) and Mark Richardson (Palm Beach).

Also up for grabs will be the Toohey’s Extra Dry ‘Wave of the Weekend'. The surfer who notches the event’s highest wave score will be awarded four cartons of the clean crisp taste of Toohey’s Extra Dry. Not a bad score for a single wave!

The Billabong Coolum Classic is the third event of the 2008 Billabong Queensland Championship Circuit (QCC), a six event - $30,000 series, that continues to set the benchmark for surfers aspiring towards a professional surfing career.

The 2008 Billabong QCC title will be decided from a surfer’s best four results from the six event series. The series winner will also score a wildcard into the trials of the 2009 Billabong Pro Tahiti and a second wildcard into the trials of the World Championship Tour (WCT) on the Gold Coast in early March, 2009.

The 2008 Billabong QCC is proudly presented by Printpoint.

Glory List:

Sasha Stocker (01)
Jamie Thompson (02)
Dave Reardon-Smith (03)
Mitch Semple (04)
Shaun Gossmann (05)
Julian Wilson (06)
Lincoln Taylor (07)

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