Burke collects twin State longboard titles

Thirteen champions were crowned in Denmark this week at the 2024 West Coast Suspensions WA Longboard Championships – from the fearless Under-18 Juniors to the seasoned Over-70 Grand Kahunas.

Competitors from across WA headed to the south coast to ride the waves and secure their spot in the Australian Longboard Titles, set to run later this year.

Parry’s Beach provided two days of near-perfect surf, before finals day served up challenging conditions, with a large and powerful swell making life difficult for competitors across all divisions.

Anthony Spencer (Trigg) captured the Open Men’s State Title, putting on a show in the 25-minute final.

Spencer scored the event’s only perfect 10 point ride for a deep tube ride and powerful reentry, before backing it up with an excellent 8.17, to finish on an impressive combined total of 18.17.

The competition was fierce, with Scott Trew (Gabbadah), Ryan Clark (Dunsborough) and Sam Williams (Nedlands) pushing Spencer to his limits.

The battle kept spectators on the edge of their seats, culminating in Trew finishing second, Clark third and Williams fourth.

Maddie Barrett (Cottesloe) claimed her maiden State Title in her WA Longboard Championships debut, overcoming challengers Georgia Young (Perth), Yomi Chen (Scarborough) and Shae Sheridan (Dunsborough).

Dane Quirk of Exmouth defended his State Title from 2023 with a buzzer beating ride that moved him into first place ahead of Scott Trew (Gabbadah), Andrew Bland (Dunsborough), and Paul Burke (Dunsborough).

Paul Burke (Dunsborough), was the only surfer to claim multiple State Titles, with victory in the Over-45 Men’s and Over-50 Men’s divisions. Burke competed in four divisions and was able to manage his energy levels throughout the event to defend his Over-45’s title and take out the hotly contested Over-50’s division.

“The waves on Friday and Saturday were amazing, but today has definitely been challenging with a lot of water moving around,” he said. “It’s nice to qualify for the National Titles and the WA Team is such fun and hopefully we can get a strong team together again this year.”

Shae Sheridan (Dunsborough) was victorious in the Over-40 Women’s final, Samantha Vanderford (Green Head) took out the Over 50 Women’s division, with Judy Dann (Two Rocks) successful in the Over-60 Women’s.

Dave Smith (Osborne Park) won the Over-55 Men’s final, Brent Moss (Esperance) was the best of the Over-60 Men’s competitors, Barrie McKinnon (Dunsborough) was dominant in the Over-65’s, Stan Davies (Daglish) won the Over-70 Men’s, while Kai Flynn was best of the Under-18 surfers.