The CINEads team has won the inaugural BlackBerry SurfAid Corporate Cup in Margaret River, Western Australia.
In good four-foot surf at Southside, CINEads defeated the Salty Lawyers and the Allens Arthur Robinson Surf Team in a closely fought final, securing victory only on their last ride.
The team (John Blake, Tony Farris, Byron Winburn-Clarke, Wes Stanfield and pro surfer Jay Thompson) scored 54.28, ahead of the Salty Lawyers on 51.70 and Allens Arthur Robinson on 48.96.
CINEads managing director Wes Stanfield said their team was very happy to be able to support SurfAid.
“We’ve all been to the Mentawai Islands so we’ve seen firsthand what SurfAid is doing up there and we’re totally stoked to be part of the SurfAid community,” Stanfield said. “And as for beating Tom Carroll (who surfed with the Salty Lawyers) in a surfing competition – that is pure gold.”
By raising the most money - $16,774 - the Salty Lawyers (Kyle Edwards, Sam Dundas, Justin Dyson and Marcus Gracey) had first pick of the pro surfers to join their team, and they chose Tom Carroll. Tom yelled himself hoarse in the channel supporting his team.
Tom also competed in the BlackBerry Corporate Cup in Sydney last November.
“It’s a refreshing experience. They’re competitive guys by nature, high-achieving guys. They’re put into an arena and they’re naturally competitive. They’re having fun but they do want to walk away with that cup so it’s great to be part of that. I can see the guys who need encouragement too, which is good.”
Two other teams, Team Enviro and the Weekend Wigglers, were knocked out in the first round in WA. Marc Wohling from Team Enviro won the prestigious BlackBerry Wipeout Award after he was pitched from the peak on the first wave of the event.
The five teams raised more than $45,000 for SurfAid. Besides Tom Carroll and Jay Thompson, Damien Hobgood, Chris Gallagher, Dayyan Neve and Col Bernasconi also competed with the fundraising teams.
The Corporate Cup was held as part of the Telstra Drug Aware Pro, Margaret River. Another $6,000 was raised for SurfAid at the official event dinner attended by sponsors, stakeholders and top surfers including 11-time world champion Kelly Slater and four-time world champion Steph Gilmore.
SurfAid founder Dr Dave Jenkins thanked all the teams for their huge effort. “You have raised more money for the Mentawai children than the first place prizemoney in the main event and we are very grateful,” he said.
SurfAid supporter Tony van Merwyk, a partner with Freehills law firm and part of the Salty Lawyers, gave huge thanks to all the people who donated to the teams.
“Every $10 has a direct impact on the lives of those in need in Indonesia. So every donation, no matter how small, helps and is significant," he said.
You can see the teams and still donate HERE >
The CEO of Surfing WA, Mark Lane, said the newly formed partnership with SurfAid had a great deal of relevance to surfers. “The BlackBerry SurfAid Corporate Cup WA is an example of one of our new initiatives for this year’s event – and BlackBerry is the perfect fit given our alliance with Telstra. We are really excited to see this event roll out alongside the Telstra Drug Aware Pro feature event,” Lane said.
