Mr Annesley said: “The NSW Government is proud to support the Malfunction Surf Festival, which has grown from a 3-day amateur event to a 5-day international surf festival attracting thousands of spectators and over 300 participants and officials.”

Malfunction promotes the sport of longboard surfing and provides a world-class experience for local competitors and officials.

As part of the ASP Longboard Qualifying Series for men and women, it provides opportunities for our local athletes to shine on the world stage

As well as showcasing outstanding sporting talent, the Malfunction Surf Festival features a range of surf culture activities including a vehicle rally, live music, movies, learn-to-surf lessons and a high-performance coaching clinic.

Mr Annesley said the $5000 grant was awarded through the NSW Government’s International Sporting Events Program. 

For more information visit www.malfunction.com.au

More information on the International Sporting Events Program can be viewed at www.dsr.nsw.gov.au/grants

After 18 months planning and research for the exhibition, 100 professional and amateur surfing photographs from every state and decade from 1911 showcase a diverse range of skill, content and creativity while at all times showing some technical merit.

The 100 photographs exemplify the legacy of Osric Notley, the first person accredited with taking a surfing photograph back in the summer season of 1911/12 at Main Beach, Yamba, in northern NSW.

Priceless gems at the exhibition include the cover photos from two 1962 surfing bibles of the day, the first Surfing World and Surf About magazines.

Female surfer Isabel Letham and friends with the Duke swim at Freshwater in Sydney in 1915 is an absolute rare find, as to are Ma and Pa Bendall from the Sunshine Coast.

A number of the masters of the lens in their era have contributed their favourite masterpieces including John Witzig’s ‘Headless McTavish’, Alby Falzon’s Bobby Brown at Angourie, Jack McCoy at Gnaraloo Station and Christo Reid at Wanna Beach, South Australia.

Some surf photographers look like they simply have a death wish when they paddle out at Cyclops in SA and Shipsterns in Tasmania, with two massive waves caught on camera in 2006 and 2003 and submitted by Russell Ord and Sean Davey.

South Coast photographer Dave Milnes has generously contributed a previously unpublished photo of surfing legend Bobby Brown taken at Port Kembla.

Angourie veterans Albert Fox and John Batcheldor relive their 1963 road trip to Byron Bay from Warilla captured on a Box Brownie while surfing at Blood and Guts (Belongil).

Like the turn of the century in 1900, there was a massive shift in photographic equipment, enabling photography to be picked up by the masses, not unlike today.  An example of this new technology comes in the form of 11-year-old Pheonix Short, who submitted an image he took of himself with his ‘Go Pro’.

Some of the international surf names – Andy Irons, Layne Beachley and Kelly Slater – are also immortalised in the exhibition.

Organisers may have also inadvertently found Australia’s first female surf photographer – a Yamba woman, Sharmian Maxwell, instead of lying on the beach in her polka dot bikini, was out and about with her father’s camera snapping Angourie in 1964.

A vintage display of retro camera gear will also be feature of the exhibition.

The exhibition is on for two months – 3rd December to 3rd February 2012.

Entry fee is $5 (children free), and funds raised go to the disability surfers and Yamba Museum, which will be gifted the collection at the end of the exhibition.

No photographs are for sale. The exhibition will become a permanent collection for the community of Yamba, the birthplace of Australian Surfing Photography.

Video Links:

1.      One Click in Time http://vimeo.com/32725491

2.      Blood and Guts http://vimeo.com/32733262

Venue Link

Yamba Museum http://www.pyhsmuseum.org.au/

PICTURES (from top): A shot by an unknown photographer, dated 1917; David Milnes, 1964; Frank Pithers, 1973; Russell Ord, 2003.

The restaurant seated 103 sports fans, eager to hear of the successes and challenges faced by some of Australia’s most loved sports icons.

Trevor Hendy, Wayne Bennett, Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew, Karla Gilbert, Peter Jacobs and Ben Ikin all told their individual stories to host Brad McEwan and the lunch guests, then relaxed with guests during the afternoon.

“We are so grateful to these generous people for sharing their time and their stories,” said Scott O’Neile, Assistant General Manager at The Byron at Byron.

“The Byron at Byron has raised over $15,000 for Movember so far this month and we’re still going. We’re pretty happy with that because our goal was $10,000 and the month is far from over.”

Harvey Norman donated $5000 to the appeal, and $1600 was raised from the auctioning of 2012 Splendour in the Grass and Bluesfest tickets.

The 2012 Movember Sports Charity Lunch will be held at The Byron at Byron on November 30.

PICTURES (from top): Karla Gilbert and Trevor Hendy;  Wayne Barth0lomew and Russell Mills (Northern Rivers Tourism); Ben Ikin and Glen Joynson, of Skennars Head; Karla Gilbert and Christine Batson; Justin North and Peter Jacobs.

“This event has been so much fun. It’s great to surf with my school friends and compete against other schools throughout NSW,” said Audrey Styme-Lane (pictured above) after Audrey and her twin sister Grace won the U/19 Girls MR Shield event.

Steve Watts (pictured), the President of  School Surfing NSW, is pleased at how the School and Junior Titles had run together for the first time in 31 years, creating a 7-day event filled with top school and  junior talent.

School Surfing NSW and Surfing NSW have formulated a successful plan for future state titles.

“The level of surfing continues to improve every year and this year the surfing was epic, with two fantastic days of  School Surfing,”Steve said.

“Thank you to everyone who volunteered throughout the year to make this event happen, the teachers, parents/carers and  principals have been amazing and many thanks to Surfing NSW who we have joined with us for the first time in 31 years.

“It has been a huge success.”

The winners from this event will respresent NSW in the Australian School Surfing Championships being held a Coffs Harbour in late November 2011.
 
2011  NSW School Surfing Team for the National Championships:

Allstars Teams

• U/19 Boys Josh Hay, Kincumber High  and Chris Robertson, De la Salle Carringbah
• U/19 Girls Lauren McAleer, Freshwater High and Alice Kelly, Barrenjoey High
• U/16 Boys Jeames Young, Maclean High and Teague Robinson, Kincumber
• U/16 Girls Ashlee Spence, St Joseph’s Banora Pt and Cali McDonough, Byron Bay High.

Mark Richards Shield Teams

• U/19 Boys Matt King and Sean Mawson, Ulladulla High
• U/19 Girls Audrey and Grace Styme-Lane, Kingscliff High
• U/16 Boys Teague Robinson and Brendan Hay, Kincumber High.

The ‘Going Vertical in Byron Bay Sweepstakes’ was promoted throughout October and November through online advertising on TripAdvisor.com and supporting publicity in surf and outdoor adventure magazines and a range of online travel, surf and lifestyle blogs in the US.

“While not quite on the scale of Oprah Winfrey’s audience, the publicity had an impressive reach of over 54 million unique visitors to those sites,” said  CEO of Northern Rivers Tourism, Russell Mills.

“We heard that Oprah Winfrey’s entourage were blown away by their visit to the Northern Rivers region.

“There is obviously some momentum of interest building in the US, as we too were blown away by receiving over 13,500 entries to the competition to win a trip to Byron Bay with Northern Rivers Tourism and V Australia.”

The prize of a trip for two flying Premium Economy with V Australia from the US to Byron Bay and Beyond has been won by Mr Trevor Benner from Huntington Beach, California. 

“Huntington Beach is a famous surf location in the US, so it’s quite fitting that Mr Brenner has won. We’ve heard he’s over the moon about the trip and look forward to welcoming him to the region in 2011,” Mr Mills said.

Going Vertical is a documentary film about the transition from longboard to shortboard surfing during the late sixties and early seventies. It tells the story of the rivalry between Bob McTavish (from Australia) and Dick Brewer (from the US) who both lay claim to having kicked off the shortboard revolution.

Produced by Lennox Head-based producer Robert Raymond and narrated by actor Simon Baker (The Mentalist), it had great reviews at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

“We saw the potential in leveraging the film to create publicity and a consumer database with partners in the film and surf industries. This was supported by promoting packages to our region as part of our broader ‘Byron Bay and Beyond’ marketing program,” Mr Mills said.

NRT hosted a private screening of Going Vertical in California in October to launch the competition, with the support of Tourism NSW’s North American office. The event, with special guest Bob McTavish and surfing luminaries from California, attracted 100 people and the online competition received 13,593 entries.
 
“This gives us a great surge of interest on which to continue to promote the region through our Byron Bay and Beyond international marketing program in 2011.”

PICTURE: (From left) Robin Byrne, Tourism NSW North America; Russell Mills, NRT; Bob McTavish; Gary Sehagan, International Surfing Museum; and Irene Morgan, Tourism NSW.

Southern Cross University is undertaking a study to investigate the prevalence of injuries in Australian surfers.

The research is being conducted in conjunction with Surfing Australia and with funding received from the New South Wales (NSW) Sporting Injuries Committee.

The research team is led by Dr Rudi Meir and involves other staff from the University’s School of Health and Human Sciences.

“Surfing is an iconic Australian sport and yet very little research has been conducted into it as a pastime. This project will examine one aspect of participation in the form of injury prevalence and we certainly hope to ultimately conduct more research in this sport,” Dr Meir said.

As part of the study, surfers are being invited to participate in an online survey which will provide valuable information on injury rates, types and severity of injury, skin cancer and general surf safety.

Sport development manager for Surfing Australia Chris Symington said surfing was a great sport and enormously popular, with some 2.5 million participants in Australia and many more millions from around the world.

“Surfing Australia is hoping that this project will be the first of many that will shed more light on the sport and its participants,” Mr Symington said.

“Ultimately it may well allow bodies such as Surfing Australia and the NSW Sport Injuries Committee to develop policies and guidelines that can work to further enhance the experience of surfers.”

The survey is available via the link below. Anyone who would like to participate should read the ‘Welcome’ page first, which outlines the nature of the research and participation in the survey.

www.surveymonkey.com/s/surfinginjuryproject2010

Participation is completely anonymous and the project has been approved by the Southern Cross University Human Research Ethics Committee.

This survey will only be available to access for approximately four weeks and will be removed from the website on November 7.

To find the answer to this question the festival organising committee is seeking the help of the Australian surfing community.

Driving the quest for the answer is the festival chairperson and professional photographer Debrah Novak.

Ms Novak said: “Our committee’s sudden interest in surfing photography stems from the fact we have included a ‘Soul Surfing’ event in this year’s festival.

“The cultural contribution surfing gives to our community through music, art, graphics and film is huge and we want to acknowledge and honour that by involving and including the surfing fraternity in our community festival.

“Pioneer surf photographer John Witzig and award-winning travel photographer Mike Larder have both accepted our invitation to be our inaugural exhibitors.

“John’s surfing images are world-renowned for capturing the essence of freedom in Australian counter culture’s early days; while Mike’s contemporary digital style lends itself to ethereal reflective imagery.”

Ms Novak’s interest in the origins of surfing photography came when a friend recently showed her an old newspaper clipping of a guy standing on a surfboard at Main Beach Yamba.

“There was nothing overtly special about the surf photo until you noticed the date when it was taken. The photo is named and dated: ‘Tommy Walker 1912–13 season’ and taken by O B Notley at Main Beach Yamba,” she said.

As a press photographer, the first thing Ms Novak thought of when she first looked at the photo was, is this the first surfing photo taken in Australia?

Ms Novak’s investigations began as soon as she was home and looked in a local historical book that placed the photographer, O B Notley, as living in nearby Maclean where he had a professional studio.

The next person she spoke with was the original custodian of the Tommy Walker photo, Manly Surf Life Saving Club life member and historian Ray Moran.

Ms Novak had spoken with Mr Moran at length in his Sydney home and he told her Tommy Walker was the person now accredited with introducing surfboard riding to Australia, five years before the famous visit/tour of Hawaii’s Olympic swimming champion, Duke Kahanamoku.

Mr Moran believes this photo, and a couple of others taken of Mr Walker at Yamba around the same time, could possibly be Australia’s first surfboard riding photos. Tommy Walker was a member of both the (short-lived) Manly Seagulls Surf Club and Yamba Life Saving Brigade at the time.

“As Manly club historian I have had numerous opportunities to look at hundreds of old photos and I can’t find anything that pre-dates this one of Tommy Walker surfing at Main Beach Yamba. However, there is a 1909 photo taken of Tommy Walker at Manly standing alongside his surfboard on the beach – it’s a nice portrait but he’s not surfing. If there is one that is older I would definitely be interested in seeing it,” Mr Moran said.

South Coast surfing historian Geoff Cater also believes these early Yamba photos are possibly Australia’s earliest known surfboard riding photos. Mr Cater last year celebrated Tommy Walker’s achievements with a ‘100 years of Australian Surfboard Riding Exhibition’ at Gerringong.

Mr Cater’s website surfresearch.com.au has extensive information about surfing history and notes that Tommy Walker purchased his board at Waikiki in 1909 for $2, and these images confirm contemporary written accounts of his surfing skills.

Ms Novak did further investigations with the Port of Yamba Historical Society and turned up another two photos that look like they were taken earlier in 1910 and 1911.

The photos were also taken by O B  Notley, but the actual photos don’t identify the location like the one of Tommy Walker at Main Beach Yamba. However, one of them does have a hand-written inscription.

Tommy Walker was a seaman and worked extensively on the SS Kyogle which travelled between Yamba and Sydney regularly. He would spend the winter months in Yamba and in summer head back to Manly.

Meanwhile, professional photographer O B Notley served as a surf instructor and treasurer at the Yamba Surf Life Saving Club (Brigade in 1910) and he would have had numerous opportunities to photograph Mr Walker in the surf.

Ms Novak is hoping to claim the title ‘Yamba is the birthplace of Australia’s surfing photography’ before August for a number of reasons.

“If we can claim that particular cultural sporting crown, it means our committee can start planning to celebrate ‘100 years of Surfing Photography’ and the ‘Tommy Walker Long board Classic’ for next year’s festival,” she said.

“We will also have a framed triptych of the Tommy Walker’s historic collection on display during the festival in August so we can auction it to raise funds for next year’s event.

“However, what is really exciting for our committee is a living relative of the Father of Australian Surfboard Riding Tommy Walker has agreed to open our very first ‘Soul Surfing’ exhibition.

“She has accepted our invitation to open the exhibition and in doing so remarked ‘this family member was always regarded as the black sheep of the family because he liked to surf and travel’.

“Well, it appears some things never change!”

The two other historic Tommy Walker photos can be viewed on line at www.weloveyamba.com

And for those who are interested in surf photography here is your chance to be part of surfing history. On Sunday morning 22nd August at Main Beach Yamba a photograph will be taken by Debrah Novak on the steps of the Yamba Surf Club of anyone who is part of the local surfing community.

The intention of this photograph is to capture the Lower Clarence surfing community of 2010, surfboards and all! The photo will be then framed and a copy will also be sent to the Australian National Archives.

If you have any Australian stand-up surf board riding photos pre-dating 1911, please contact Debrah Novak (0266461174) or Ray Moran (0299776667), they would love to hear from you.

Those words came from Shorty’s dad Cyril at the opening of the Ron ‘Shorty’ Connors Memorial Stairs at Lennox Point on Saturday.

The stairs’ construction was a collaborative effort by the Department of Lands, Ballina Shire Council and the Lennox National Surfing Reserve Association.

They were named in memory of a legendary surfer whose life was cut short by a brain tumour. Shorty, born in 1950, died in 1976.

“Unfortunately Ron’s life was cut short,” Cyril told a crowd of about 150.

“It is now more than 30 years since he passed away. I feel very proud and honoured that his mates, together with Lennox Head-Ballina (Le-Ba) Boardriders, wish to still remember him by naming this stairway in his memory.

“Shorty got his first surfboard not at a surf shop, but at a sports store where they sold more cricket bats and tennis racquets than surfboards.

“I think it was paid off on time-payment – there were no credit cards in those days.”

Surfing Reserve Association chairman Phil Myers remembered Shorty as being a surfer who everyone aspired to be like.

He said Shorty ‘was the life-blood of surfing around the Ballina – Lennox Head area in the 1960s and 1970s’.

He was born in Lismore on March 4, 1950, and attended school at Marist Brothers in Lismore before moving to Ballina.

Cyril Connors made special mention of the time and effort put into organising the opening by Phil Myers, and thanked the Department of Lands, Ballina Shire Council and council employee James Brideson.

Among the guests attending were other members of Shorty’s family – siblings Greg Connors, Sandra Hancock, Carolyn Ellison, Pamela Aboody and Louise Pursey and their partners, and his wife Debbie (nee Reardon, now Pearce) – as well as Ballina Shire Mayor Phillip Silver and representatives from the Department of Lands – Warwick Watkins, Graham Harding and Dave McPherson.

Shorty’s nephew Marcus Aboody, who is a champion surfer with the Le-Ba Boardriders, joined with his grandfather, Cr Silver and Mr Watkins to cut a legrope to officially open the stairs.

The Connors family donated a large framed photo of Shorty, taken at the Point, to Le-Ba and it will be a perpetual trophy. 

PICTURES: At the opening ceremony are (from left) Marcus Aboody, Mayor Phillip Silver, Cyril Connors and Warwick Watkins from the Department of Lands.

Ron ‘Shorty’ Connors.

Marcus Aboody and Le-Ba president Rod Steeles with the trophy donated to Le-Ba by the Connors family.

Friends of Shorty Connors gathered to honour their surfing mate.

Twenty-year-old Kennedy is on his first serious year as an ASP World Qualifying Series competitor and the former Australasian Pro Junior Champion of 2008 could not have dreamed of such a win so early in his season.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to win an event like this in waves that have been so good – it won’t sink in for some time but I feel amazing right now,” said Kennedy.

“The waves really suited me and every heat I’d simply say to myself to forget about competing and just go out and surf these great waves which is what I did.

“When I scored that 9.5 ride early in the final I became really nervous knowing I was in such a winning situation and then I just opened up and surfed that next wave and I felt on top of the world when I heard the 8.5 score.”

Kennedy’s two-wave final total of 18 out of a possible 20 was the highest of the event and he won the final emphatically, with Brazilian Wigolly Dantas a distant second on 12.57.

Kennedy now goes to Bells Beach having been allocated a sponsor wild card for the ASP World Tour event which begins on Tuesday and runs right through Easter.

“I’ll go to Bells full of confidence and it’s a chance of a life-time to take on the very best surfers in the world,” he said.

Wigolly Dantas had been in superb form all week but in the final today simply couldn’t find the right waves to match with the in-form and confident Kennedy.

“It’s been a fantastic week here in Tasmania and I’m very pleased with the result today – Stuart surfed a great final today and he deserved to win for sure,” said Dantas.

Equal third placed surfers today were Chris Davidson (Sydney ) who went down to Wigolly Dantas in his semi-final  and Marco Giorgi (Uraguay) who was eliminated by Kennedy.

Kennedy received $US20 000 for his win today along with valuable rating points on the ASP World Qualifying Series and he now leads the ratings in the chase for the $50,000 prize pool allocated to the Cold Water Classic Series for the season.

The O’Neill Cold Water Classic Series of events  is a series of five events each year running as part of the ASP World Qualifying Series beginning here in Tasmania and followed by events in Scotland, South Africa, Canada and USA.

PICTURE: Stuart Kennedy raises the trophy after winning the O’Neill Cold Water Classic in Tasmania (Photo: ASP/Robertson)

It will be a fundraiser for the Lennox National Surfing Reserve Association, which in turn donates any money it raises to groups such as Australian Seabird Rescue and landcare and dunecare groups.

The featured surfers are Adam Melling, Stuart Kennedy and James Wood.

Marcus said he filmed the surfers over the past 12 years as they made their journeys to the pro ranks.

He said he also filmed the Billabong Pro at Jeffreys Bay in South Africa last year, and included in the footage is Byron Bay star Danny Wills.

Marcus has made seven movies of the past seven years under the banner of his production company, On Rail Video productions.

The screening of the hour-long movie starts at 7.30. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children and $10 for a family.