Surfers battle it out in testing conditions on first day of premier surfing event

The 46th annual Sunshine Surf Masters got underway on Sunday, with surfers braving big swells in hopes of making it to the finals. The event was scheduled to kick off Saturday but was pushed back due to dangerous weather conditions and while the skies were clear on Sunday there were still some testing conditions on hand with high winds and swells up to nine feet. Heats took place across nine different divisions some fantastic skill on display out at Flat Rocks beach. Previous winner Max Marsden was in good form taking out the Men’s Open heat semi-final one thanks to a massive 8.25 on his sixth wave which catapulted him from third to first. It wasn’t the only comeback of the day, with Rod McVee producing a 6.5 with just seconds remaining in the grand masters semi-final two moving from last place to take the heat with an overall score of 8.75. Finals will be contested on Monday, with the men and women’s open finals rounding out the competition, the women scheduled for a 12:32pm start after the Guardian goes to print.