Back in December 1978, Robert Ironside, Roger Marshall, and a bunch of locals who were obsessed with surfing the unique banks, channels, angles and swell directions of Queenscliff, ran a surfing contest. It was the start of our boardrider’s club, and from all accounts, it was a pretty loose arrangement. But if you look at the old newspapers, the preserved lists, Rob’s meticulous spreadsheeting, the memorabilia and the memories that are cobbled together by the people who were around at the time, you can start to understand the vast legend of our beginnings.
There were exactly 100 surfers who competed in that first year. 31 surfed in the first contest in December 1978. Rob won. He also won the first year A grade title. Roger was 2nd, and the late great Lewis ‘Lewboy’ Tyndall was 3rd.
Many of those fellas went on to achieve recognition as surfers, winning big contests and competing at all the different levels of competition. Some of those competitions are legendary, as are the antics surrounding them. Many of those early members moved on and are scattered around the globe. Many also have come back, and lots are still central to QBC. Rob surfed every contest this year for a 3rd. We also lost a few of our first members too, including Lewboy and Steve ‘Teary’ Garth.
At our 45th Anniversary in November, we got to see a lot of those original members, dressed up and telling stories from those days and the days since. And that was something special.
But where I’m going with this is that all of those original members hold a piece of the legend that is QBC.
Having that history of people is something we cherish with pride through all the good times and bad. It’s something that always brings us back to ourselves, and it brings a lot of meaning to our being through this life of surfing. We get to experience something of pride as a community of people – being unique and fun and having a connection to an area and a people that goes beyond our age or our gender or our ability. We just go surfing together and it’s unbelievable!
I won’t pretend to know what that QBC essence is. We all get to feel it sometimes, and maybe it’s different for each of us. Maybe Rob and Roger and Reggae and Doug and Spuddo and Gordo and Ank and a few Scott’s know what makes that happen. But I don’t. It’s everything, or it’s a feeling. Maybe Gumby knows.
But I’ll tell you what…. In 2023, year number forty-five for QBC – I felt it. It’s been a year of glowing sunshine on our headland heart, and pink boardies in our lineup. I’m so thankful for being a part of everything that QBC is.
Participation
This year we grew up to be over 260 individual competing members.
A normal comp is around 160 surfers running most of the day on 2 banks. We range in age from 5 years old to nearly 70. We are 95 grommets under 18 years old. We are 50 women and girl surfers. We’re a whole community inside the Manly beach community.
Performances
This year we had some huge individual performances outside the club. We competed at state and national level through all the ages in both girls and boys. A lot of our groms excelled making regional finals, state finals and a special mention to Hunter Sutcliffe for placing 3rd in the U14 Aussie Titles. We have a NSW over 55’s champ. A women and girls team went over and above competing at huge Dbah. And we’re represented on the main stage by Winter, Alysse and Sampy. I wouldn’t say that we absolutely nailed all the club results this year, but we are massively in the build phase – there’s so much to look forward to.
We can thank the training regimes for a lot of our junior success. Gezza’s high-performance training is seeing huge progression and results in the mid-to-older groms, and the Mac’s junior training is giving the younger kids a pathway to water confidence, strong friendships and high-performance surfing. Thanks parents for facilitating the training and participation at all the different levels.
In the Community
This year we also raised a lot of money and good vibes through our surfing-focused community engagement program, which helped with addressing poverty, mental health, cancer research, environment and more. We’ve also cut down our footprint by minimising plastic packaging and moving to a solar-powered battery pack to run the events.
This year we built our epic new trailer thanks to a government grant and coordination from our members.
The Girls
The demographic of surfing in our area has changed, with more families, women and girls taking up and sticking with surfing. And so in 2023 we re-introduced the U18 girls division with nearly 20 competitors battling it out in one of the most fiercely contested divisions of the 2023 season.
And because of the strong participation in the younger groups, in 2024 we’ll introduce an U14 girls division for the first time. It’s exciting.
Keeping the wheels turning
Our sponsors this year have been so integral to the running of the club. They’ve made the difference with us being able to financially run some of the programs, events, getaways, free BBQs, giveaways, prizes and afternoon drinks that makes QBC such a thriving community experience. There’s a lot of thanks for them, and I really do encourage you to support them like they support us.
Your membership also funds the running of the club, and whether it’s a social or a competing membership, being a part of that means you’re helping make us stronger as a community.
Gumby says thanks!
On behalf of the QBC committee, our founders, and our supporters, we’d like to thank all our members for making this year so unbelievable. YOU are what makes The Best Boardriders Club in the World and we have a lot to be proud of.
2023 was the 45th year of Queenscliff Boardriders Club.
Have a great Christmas and New Year, and we’ll see you for 2024 rego in late January.
Tim and Blaise
QBC Co-presidents
QBC 💗 You
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Thanks to our sponsors and companies that have contributed to the QBC community this year.
Check out our Member benefits & consider using these businesses over the Christmas Season.
Stone and Wood
Harbord Hotel
Surfection Mosman
Cunninghams Real Estate
FCS
Yeti
Hayden Shapes
Nixon
Allan Hall
Big Hill Beach Cottages
Sofitel Darling Harbour
Cactus House
Okanui
Smoothstar
Recoverie