HE has been surfing since he was a youngster playing in the waves at Cronulla, and now Ulladulla’s Dave Wilson has claimed his biggest ever surfing win.
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Facing opponents from all over the world including France, Portugal, the USA and Hawaii, Dave claimed the over 65 longboard title at the Noosa Festival of Surfing – the world’s biggest longboard surfing event.
“Two waves came my way and they were beauties,” said Dave, who had competed at the Noosa event for 22 years.
The win was a victory for passion and determination as much as surfing skills for the 67-year-old, who a few years ago was the first person in NSW to have radical treatment for oesophagus cancer that resulted in his oesophagus being removed and his stomach moved into his chest to connect directly with his throat.
As a result paddling out in the surf competition at Noosa “hurt like hell,” but it was not enough to make him give up or even slow down.
In fact he was out in the water and among the waves soon after being released from hospital after surgery seven years ago.
“I’ve always loved surfing,” he explained.
He started competing in surf events as a teenager, about the time he began heading to the Ulladulla region to camp beside the Golf Course Reef, at a time when there was nothing more than a dirt track to the popular surf spot.
In the ensuing years Dave and his wife of 47 years, Toni, have owned houses and businesses in the Ulladulla region “for many years”, and also maintained a long association with surfing.
From his home overlooking Rennies Beach, Dave said he was in the perfect location, allowing him to surf, Toni to be involved in the Outriggers, and them both to enjoy stand-up paddleboarding.
“You can down here,” he said.
“That’s the beauty of living in this place, you can do it all in perfect, unspoilt conditions.”
The surfing connection extends to their son Dane being one of the world’s best longboarders for many years, featuring in many surf movies.
Dane and Dave even resurrected the classic Gordon n Smith surf board factory at one stage, with Dave working as a shaper and fibreglasser.