SESSIONS: Shipstern Bluff

Aussie lensman Tim Bonython was there to showcase the best of the action in this SESSIONS edit.

As the big wave world waited for the fourth edition of Red Bull Cape Fear to come alive, the event's home, Shipstern Bluff, had been starting to look impressive in its warm-up runs. Tasmania woke for the winter in April, just as the competition window opened up. Although conditions weren't sufficient for the contest to be called on, they were definitely close enough for a considerable fraternity of the field to fly to the Apple Isle and join the local team on one of their first serious sessions. 

With Australian domestic borders at the time of the swell wide open and a crew of newly recruited interstate competitors chomping at the bit to sharpen their Shipstern chops, everyone from 2012 world champ Joel Parkinson to future first-time female Red Bull Cape Fear competitor Summa Longbottom jetted into Hobart with slabs and steps on their minds.