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(Friday
16th February: Gold Coast): Queensland bodyboarders Jake Stone (Maroochydore),
Mark Quinlan (Holland Park) and Kira Llewellyn (Coolangatta) have carved a name
for themselves after taking out their respective divisions at the inaugural Hydro
/ BSC Flowrider Fiesta held at Dreamworld last night. 
The 1A Bodyboarding Australasia (BBA) event kick started the
’07 Human Pro Bodyboard Tour and attracted competitors from throughout Australia
and as far a field as South Africa. Adding to the
event’s already high stakes was the fact that it was the first time an Australian
Bodyboarding Pro Tour event took place in a pool! In
the 1A rated BBA men’s division, Maroochydore bodyboarding sensation Jake
Stone upset some of the biggest names in the sport to walk away with the inaugural
title. 
“It’s a dream come true to win an event against
some of the world’s best bodyboarders,” said Stone. “I
didn’t place any expectations on myself before the event. I just went out
there and did what I do best.” Utilising a smooth
yet stylish approach, 17-year-old Stone cut loose on the Flowrider, executing
a skilled display of controlled carves, radical 360’s manoeuvres and crowd
pleasing back flips on his way to pushing the sport to new limits. Stone
opened with a strong 7.17 point ride in the four man final to leave his opponents;
Sascha Specker (South Africa), Mark Quinlan (Holland Park) and Tom Robinson (Noosa)
playing catch-up. He sealed the deal with a 9.76 to finish
with a heat total of 16.93 to Specker's 11.53. Each
heat consisted of 4 riders, with each competitor given 3 x 30 second rides to
display their routine to a panel of judges who entered their scores into the computer
scoring system for an instant result. The top two riders then progressed to the
next round, until the 4 finalists were reached. Current
BBA Tour champion and World no.2 bodyboarder Ryan Hardy (Gold Coast) fell victim
to the flowrider’s rushing water, bowing out in his opening round heat.
Although falling short in his quest for glory in the men’s
division, Holland Park’s Mark Quinlan lead the charge for the Drop knee crew,
defeating more fancied riders in a tightly fought final. Meanwhile,
2005 world bodyboarding champion Kira Llewellyn continued her white-hot run of
results, clinching the open women’s title in fine style. On
top of all the action in the water was a bunch of entertainment including live
music and fantastic giveaways. The ’07 Human
Pro Bodyboard Tour continues this weekend with the 5A Harbourtown Digital Mobile
Pro presented by Unknown being held on the beach breaks of Surfers Paradise.
Flowrider Facts: Flowrider,
born from the roots of surfing, skateboarding and bodyboarding was opened exclusively
to Dreamworld. Flowrider generates a thin sheet of
rushing water that flows over a stationary form allowing riders to drop in on
their own unbroken wave, slide down, carve a turn, cut back and ride up the padded
surface. Results - Men's Final:
1st Jake
Stone - 16.93
2nd Sascha Specker - 11.53
3rd Mark Quinlan - 10.33
4th
Tom Robinson - 8.37 Women's Final:
1st Kira
Llewllyn - 12.13
2nd Megan Humphries - 10.57
3rd Lily Pollard - 7.07
4th
Kaitlyn Murphy - 5.53 Drop Knee:
1st Mark
Quinlan - 14.50
2nd Mick Parkhill - 12.97
3rd Greg Sullivan - 11.00
4th
Mitch Rawlins - 9.77 | 
