Its not often in life you can have your cake and eat it too, but this Deus trip to Noosa was one of those special times. Now, as much as we love to tell a good story and lay things out nice a slow, this time around we are jumping straight into the deep end, before our excitement and happiness boil over.
Deus family members and team riders Sierra Lerback and Matt Cuddihy ripped through the weeks competition at this years Noosa Festival Of Surfing to emerge champions of the Deus Old Mal and the Logger Pro respectively, and we could not be more stoked!!
In a final stacked full of men, some of whom are previous Old Mal champions & some of whom are current wsl longboard competitors, Sierra rode her vintage Keyo to perfection, sliding to victory and marking her place in the history books as the first woman to defeat a field of professional male surfers in such a prestigious event.
Her final comprised of well respected long boarding legends such as Jared Mell, Jack Norton, Byron Chadwick, Matt Chojnacki and Harrison Roach, and being apart of the party watching Sierra make history, in front of family, friends and hundred of spectators, was simply electrifying. It was a moment which had the entire beach smiling ear to ear, with voices hoarse in happiness.
But still, despite everyones elation about Sierra’s graceful performance on the waves, the scores being with held for the last five minutes of the final did have us all a bit nervous. Had she done enough? Was Harrison’s juicy hang ten enough to dethrone the our queen of the slide?
Well you now know, the nervous jitters were void and any doubts quashed. Upon the stunning backdrop of the Noosa points at sunset Sierra was crowned the very first female champion of the Noosa Festival of Surfing, Old Mal, and boy oh boy did the crowd just love to see it.
Still riding on a high, and dizzy from the bubbles falling from the surf gods above, the afternoon gave us even more to celebrate – as Matt Cuddihy was rung in as the winner of the Logger division.
This is an achievement Matt has been working towards since the divisions inception less than a decade ago. Having won several other divisions over the years the Logger is yet another grand feather in Matts wide brimmed hat. For anyone sitting on the beach, Matts performance in the Logger final left no doubt as to who had won. With no need to wait for the official presentations Cuddles was showered in beer and bubbles right there on the waters edge.
Two from two, and what an absolutely unreal celebration it was.
Our intention with this trip was absolutely simple. Let's get the Deus family back together and have as much fun as humanly possible, and damn – the good times, did they roll, and damn – the trophies, did we win.
An absolutely stellar week could not have been culminated in a more joyous and heartwarming way. To see two of our favourite people surf their way to victories upon the glorious sunshine coast. Goose Bumps. Elation. Euphoria.
Getting involved with the festival as sponsors for the Old Mal division was a no brainer. It is, and has been since its inception regarded as the most prestigious division on the festivals roster. Trends come and go, but the skill, technique and grace required to slide those old archaic foam sculptures is a never changing discipline.
To Sierra and Matt, congratulations. We could honestly not be more proud.
Photos by Kenyon Batterson & Beatriz Ryder.
