In March SurfAid held two special events at wave pools. The first went down in Texas for the inaugural SurfAid Cup at Waco Surf while the second returned to the familiar setup at URBNSURF Melbourne. The fundraising comps invited teams of four surfers from across America and Australia.

The March 22 event in Melbourne had a fundraising goal of $50,000 and surpassed that target with a final tally of $53,529 raised by seven separate teams. One of the surfers, Rupert Partridge, raised $3,113 for the event.

Partridge, a long-time supporter of SurfAid, said it was great to be back in Melbourne for his 4th SurfAid Cup at the park. He noted that the energy in Melbourne at the time was electric, with the event coinciding with the F1 Australian Grand Prix, and the eve of the WSL Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.

Competition

“All teams surfed out of their skin during the qualifying rounds, with competitors enjoying the Turns 3 Advanced wave setting,” said Rupert. “In the one-hour final, teams sampled the competition setting developed for the recent WSL QS3000 event held at the park, which provided a challenging, pitching takeoff and an enhanced coping on the first section.”

Team Mambo claimed the title of event champions for the second time with the help of surfers like Blake Thornton, Nathan Sheahan, and Ronan Ball.

“URBNSURF delivered the perfect wave, and our epic Mambo surf team crushed it,” Thornton told the Surf Coast Times. “We’re proud to support SurfAid’s awesome work, and seeing everyone rocking our Mambo competition merch was the cherry on top.”

Fundraising

While the SurfAid Cup in Texas on March 16th netted nearly $40,000 for the organization, in Melbourne team Rip Curl earned the fundraising top spot with more than $17,000 raised. Rupert was part of Team Aventuur who netted nearly $7,000 for the cause.

“Having competed in Cups since 2016, the event holds a special place in my heart,” added Rupert. “They provide rare opportunities for our surfing community to come together, share great waves, delicious food and tall tales, and give back to the families who welcome us with open arms each Indonesian surf season.”