Asher Pacey, Josh Kerr, And More To Star in Electric Acid Surfboard Exhibition at Burleigh This Weekend

Roster: stacked. Forecast: fairly pumping.

news // Apr 28, 2021

Words by Michael Ciaramella

Reading Time: 3 minutes

This coming long weekend, the Gold Coast Open will descend on Burleigh Point. There’s a $20,000 purse up for grabs across the primary divisions, previous winners of which include: Taj Burrow, Sally Fitz, O Wright, and Julian Wilson (among esteemed others). If we’re to believe the voodoo vortex charts, the waves will be overhead and the winds mostly favorable.

Could it get any better? Well…

Stab has been gifted exclusive access to the point for two hours on Sunday afternoon.

Will it look like this? Probably not. Do we care? Not really. Photo Juan Medina

Given total creative control, the idea did cross our minds to forsake all those in the audience and spend the 120 minutes bogging across Burleigh’s iconic walls all by ourselves—the best Stab staff lunch session ever. Once that dream reached its necessary conclusion, we asked ourselves: what would surf fans genuinely like to watch for two hours on a Sunday?

Should we set DHD loose on a SeaDoo and see how long he can keep the thing afloat? Park a bouy out the back and have one last attempt at The Dock? Or should we scrap the surfing altogether and set up a cage match on the sand between Mitch Parko and that guy who burnt him?

All great options, but with the amount of talent in the region, we’d be doing the Gold Coast a great disservice not to showcase their best surfers and shapers in a unique light. So, we decided to distill our Electric Acid Surfboard Test concept and apply it to a live format.

How does it work?

There will be two heats of 4-5 surfers, each of which will be riding one of the EAST-approved crafts provided. Around the mid-point of each heat, surfers will be made to swap boards with their mates in the water. The top two surfers (decided however the hell we please) from each heat will advance to the final. Winner takes home the board of their choice.

Who’s in it?

Surfers:
– Asher Pacey
– Josh Kerr
– Lungi Slabb
– Louie Hynd
– Mitch Crews
– Toby Mossop
– Harley Walters – Coby Perkovich
– (and potentially a few last minute inclusions)

Shapers:
– Alex Crews (ACSOD)
– Dale Wilson (Byrning Spears)
– Ian Byrne (House of Byrne Surfboards)
– Thomas Bexon (Thomas Surfboards)
– (and more)

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What else is happening at the Gold Coast Open?

It’s not just surfing. There’s heaps of other stuff on as part of the contest too—both before and after dark.

We’ll be showing Stab in The Dark feat: Taj Burrow on Sunday evening; Dan Scott will be showing his all-female masterpiece Surfing on Saturday; there’s live music (courtesy of Ondre Davis and Jack Botts) Saturday and Sunday night; there are skate and BMX demos; yoga demonstrations; everything you could possibly want from a good old fashioned weekend out, harking back to the days when the Stubbies buzz swarmed Burleigh Point (see below for a comprehensive schedule).