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Negotiations are now under way for major sponsorship, a key step towards the running of the contest in the first week of February 2003.

Smackfest 2003 is set to revolutionise wavesailing. The best wavesailors from Australia and around the world will compete via a new format in the most radical conditions on earth. The new judging format will count competitors one best waveride and one best jump only, encouraging big radical moves rather than the tactic of playing it safe which exists in current wavesailing competitions.

The event will be fully filmed and produced, covering the three sections of the event- Australasian, International and X-pression session. The production will be in conjunction with Tideguide which will mean a dynamic web coverage and the addition of a 'web winner' being voted by the world on [url]http://www.tideguide.org[url]

Event organiser and producer Quentin Bye is amped, "We are expecting to sign a major sponsor within the next two months. This means that there will be
some prize money up for grabs- something not seen in an Australian wavesailing contest for a long time!"


International pros Peter Volwater, Francisco Goya(1999 wavesailing champion)and Lars Peterson have been recruited for the International contingent so far with three other international shredders to be announced soon.
Says Cisco, "... of course I would love to be part of this event, also I hear that the conditions could be pretty fun."

'Fun' is one way to describe the conditions; ' completely psyco' is another. Smackfest is be held at Marrawah on the west coast of Tasmania.
Competitors can look forward to wind in the 25- 40 knot range and waves ranging from 3/4 mast high to double mast high! Smackfest is all about going
big!

Australasian contingent invitee Andrew 'Doogs' Gibbon is fired up about Smackfest,
"Finally a real wavesailing comp, one that appreciates power wavesailing and going big. Time to show the PWA how it should be done, Australian style, pumped for it!"

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