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Image credit NeilPryde/Jerome Houyvet. Rider Steven van Broeckhoven.

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Colin Leonhardt: “There are very few quality sailing spots on this planet that haven’t been explored, so with a forecast that suits this certain offshore reef in Western Australia Ben Proffitt and Peter Volwater decided to make the overnight drive to this location last weekend.  With a jet ski in tow to get us out there we hit the water late morning and spent the rest of the day enjoying some of the best waves this state offers. This is the first time this location has been photographed so here’s a selection of images from that day courtesy of Windsurfaustralia.com.”

The left The left The left The left The left

Peter Volwater: Continuing the challenge to find West Australia’s best surf/windsurf destinations, we ventured to a break on the south coast which we call “the left”. I had heard about this place before, about 10 years ago and in the three times I have visited it has been going off each and every time. As long as there is an easterly sea breeze on the south coast and even just a small 2 meter swell, it’s on.

Mix the roaring 40′s in the southern hemisphere and hot Australian summer weather, and you have the perfect ingredients to fire up some epic wavesailing.

When we woke up there were still a couple hours more to drive, 50kms before arrival we fueled up and took breakfast on the road; we were in a hurry as the swell would be dropping, so there was no time to waste. Driving through town straight to the jetty and the view was just amazing! We could see nice big lumps breaking on the outer reefs and the wind was already honking. We dropped the ski in the water for Col and quickly rigged up and headed out there.

“The left” was peeling and soon Ben joined me to ride one wave after the other, perfect lefts!

We ventured further out to sea, to the next patch of reef where there was a ledge with super hollow waves breaking. When Ben cut back on one he was still very deep and didn’t quite make it around the section and I saw him wipe out right in front of me, which worried me for a bit but when he came up and nothing was broken and he smiled we were just laughing! It was real funny to see as he didn’t get hurt. I did warn him before that this wasn’t really a wave just a dry reef with water sucking off it, a real shallow ledge!

Whilst it was hard to ride this one we went back to “the left” and caught many more waves and good jumping, I saw Ben bust some big airs and even Justyna came sailing out through the reef.

I told her the wave was going to be waist to shoulder high but the swell had amazed me, it was actually quite a lot bigger than expected! Also, it normally looks a lot smaller from the shore until you actually get out there. One thing we never discussed though was that this place is renowned for the big white sharks and at the local pub there are photos of a six meter one that they had caught in the past and had brought in. That’s not something you want to have on your mind when swimming out there!

We saw out on the rocks a massive sea lion resting and apparently it had a calf too. Also, a stingray whilst snorkelling and a brown snake on the road on the way back to Perth.

After taking the photos our happy snapper Col went out there for some waves of his own and enjoyed some of the best WA waves today. It was a fun and adventurous trip getting familiar with the wildlife out here and epic epic waves. And there is many more just waiting to be explored with that much coastline, will it ever get crowded?

Taking into account the abundant sea life, it being a very unpopulated area with only few surfers who even know of these waves, the long paddle out and not ever seeing any windsurfers here, many waves will probably stay unridden…..meanwhile we’ll keep searching for different waves!

It was shortly after this trip the Ben Proffitt injured his shoulder, Boardseeker wishes Ben a speedy recovery and will have more from him very soon. 

Thursday 10^th Jan

The first day of the Lancelin Ocean Classic saw some spectacular windsurfing conditions ideal for the Waves competition with winds up to 25kmph and waves up to 11 foot high.  Windsurfers were in great spirits as they got ready for their heats.

This year there are 4 heats, Masters, Women, Open and Elite the pairs dual to be the champion of the waves.  The competition is judged by the ways in which the riders ride the waves and the quality of the jumps.  A late comer to join in the event was the legendary Peter Volwater which was set to spice things up a little.

During the 4 heats we saw some huge forward loops, back loops and push loops as well as some spectacular wave riding and the event really got exciting when Adam Lewis from the UK did an amazing 2 double forward loops which wowed the judges.

Ben Severne beat Peter Volwater in a spectacular dual to meet Ben Proffitt in the final of the elite competition but Judges are being tight lipped about the winners of the rounds until Saturdays presentations

Peter Volwater in Cowaramup, WA

Location: Cowaramup, West Australia.

Date: Thursday 29th November 2012, epic day!

Words by: Peter Volwater

Images by: Col Leonhardt

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Having come to WA to spend the summer, who would have thought we would a taste of winter from a big front late November. In NW Europe the temperatures associated with this kind of weather would be a typical summer’s day but anyway…

The swell forecast exceeded 8 meters, raw roaring 40′s Indian ocean swell; the spot in the South West of WA that works in these conditions and the unusual WSW wind direction is Grace Town.

Grace Town is bay with legendary surf spots, with North and South points on each side of the bay. The South point is the break that can be ridden in SW-W wind from the side, so this is the spot where went to try and pick up the best waves of this forecast.

Testing out the his new Fanatic boards.

Peter Volwater

This area is also infamous for its many shark attacks, don’t worry about that while you’re planing around on a windsurfer….. although when you end up in the water, you can’t stop your mind from wondering.

The front that came over brought lots of rain and even some hail with, at times, gale force winds. In between the squals the weather would clear up and the sun would shine momentarily and the wind would drop and pick back up.

My new wave sail, the Avanti Fenix certainly had plenty of pressure that day, it was big at 5.2 but still handled well, until this massive 45 knot gust came that sent me to the inside, hiding. I found a nice place in a little corner out of the impact zone, where I would park up and wait. With that big of a sail I just had to find those more sunny and less windy moments, while I could have been easily on a 4.5 or even 4.0 in the gusts.

Peter Volwater, taking a big one.

And on the inside.

Regularly in Margaret River this is the sail I use the most, usually going out for the early and the late sessions and even in the regular sea breezes this size is right. Today it was more then two hands full!

There was a fine crew of sailors: John and Ian Pott, Ivan Zecca, Maciek Rutkowski and Karin Jaggi all getting their wave count high and shredding it up at this unbelievable peeling wave breaking on the rocks but with quite a wide channel. Out the back the waves where huge but not for riding, we had found our little break on the inside along the rocks. It was the first time I ever sailed this spot, although having surfed here several times before, so I knew the break well.

Peter Volwater

I find that this is the best size board for my weight, still floating but not too big to ride aggressively.

Col our windsurfing Australia photographer rode a few waves too after snapping the shots and he showed to know the bay really well, just playing with the waves.

Some places were looking absolutely nasty, like the North point break and around the corner hollow barrels pounding on the rocks and roughed coastline.

It was a different taste of conditions that the WA coast has on offer, a lot of places still to be explored; so we will do just that…..to be continued!

Cowaramup, WA