Damien Taco Warr : photo Adam Kennedy - Oakley/ASL BWA

Oakley/ASL Big Wave Awards 08/09

Challenge for biggest waves ridden in Australasian waters. 
1  June, 2008 -  1 February, 2009

First entry: 08/09 Oakley/ASL Big Wave Awards, Damien Taco Warr. Pic: Adam Kennedy

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 10 August, 2008 : - - Here's what Taco had to say about it: Woke at 2.45am frothing, had the beard on, couldn't sleep, swell reports from the afternoon before were 5.5m swell at 15secs, therefore pretty solid waves!  

By the time day break comes it was a bit of a let down: nowhere near as big as predicted but still quite solid. Inconsistent waves at the usual spot, therefore we had a quick tow-in morning at Margies bombie. The swell seemed to peak at lunch time, direction had changed into the west & a dropping tide. Decided to go and have a look at a bombie which we'd had our eye on over the years but had never surfed. Watched it for about 40 minutes and saw some amazing waves. Was hard to tell the size as no one was on it and it was a little way off the shore. Eventually got hold of some of the boys, Damon, Ant ad my mate Northy, we got out there around 3pm. The swell had dropped a little by then, but still the odd bomb coming through.

It felt good to surf a new spot without the circus attached. The wave above was towards the end of the session & getting late in the day. Conditions were perfect, don't want to make a call on the size, but pretty solid. - Taco.

Chargers‚ alert! 
Our premier megawave duel has begun yet again! Boasting a massive swag of prizes for Biggest Wave, Biggest Paddle-in, Best Overall and associated photo/video evidence, the Oakley Surfing Life Big Wave Awards waiting period kicked off on June 1 this year and will run to February 1 2009, giving registered surfers plenty of time to blow our minds.

Last time round it was Alfy Cater and Marti Paradisis taking the gold at a glittering and rambunctious Bondi Pavilion awards night: Alfy for a 40-footer off southwest Oz, Marti for his sustained efforts in hell slabs from one side of the continent to the other. Alfy won $20,000 plus a custom Seadoo PWC, in the process coming clean with the deathless acceptance speech: "It'll be my shout now for sure!" And it was.

We've little doubt that this winter and spring will swing the hammer on most Aussie and NZ coasts, with the storm track generally a little further south and opening up the chances of good conditions more frequently along the hell-coasts of the south-west, southern Tassie and south island NZ.

Oakley Surfing Life Big Wave Awards information:
*Even if you reckon 40 feet is a bit out of your league, you can still sign up as a BWA special spectator, for email alerts, voting rights, and chances at rather tremendous Oakley prize packs.
*Want to register for the 2008/2009 event? Download a registration form here.
*PRIZES: The prizepool for this year has not yet been finalised but will be a minimum of $25,000 courtesy of Oakley.

http://surfinglife.com.au/bigwaveawards

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