Australian Open Of Surfing To Launch In 2012

Today it was announced that in February of 2012 Australia is going to hold the first ever Australian Open Of Surfing at Manly, New South Wales.

The event was launched today by Bob Hurley the founder of Weezer’s brand of choice Hurley and Billabong CEO Derek O’Neill, as well as Penrith-born dual world champ Mick Fanning and former champs Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew, Barton Lynch and Mark Occhilupo.

The Australian Open is an extension of the US Open, a massive annual comp held at California’s Huntington Beach that also encompasses a program of skating, fashion, art and live music. Last year Weezer played before a crowd of 15,000 stoked fans…

The Australian Open of Surfing will be a nine day event held from 11 – 19 February 2012. It will include Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) six-star events for men and women and the season-ending World Junior Championships for boys and girls.

Bob Hurley said “After the incredible success of the US Open of Surfing, our next thought was that it would be amazing to do an event at the ground zero of modern surfing, Manly Beach in Sydney. We desire to work with ‘Best in Class’ partners and brands when we do things, hence the alliance with Billabong. Collaboration for the benefit of consumers is what we enjoy. We seek to be inclusive and innovative. The opportunity to work on the Australian Open of Surfing is not only a personal pleasure, but will clearly be a career highlight.”

Bob told us a little more about the Australian Open, cleared the air about the relationships between various surfing sponsors and dropped his pick for the 2011 world championship. Read the full interview on Pedestrian tomorrow.

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