- Former world champ joins stoked surfers on the Gold Coast
- Huge swells are rolling in ahead of Tropical Cyclone Alfred
Three-time world champion surfing legend Mick Fanning has been left with stitches in his face after an incident that illustrated the danger of the huge swells that are rolling in on the south-east Queensland coast ahead of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The world-famous board rider was among surfers making the most of the huge waves at Kirra Beach just south of the Gold Coast earlier this week when he wiped out and was left a bloodied mess in the water.
Cyclone Alfred has produced massive waves at the world-renowned surf spot and Fanning, who lives locally, came off his board and was left with a nasty gash worryingly close to his eye.
He posted a photo of the damage on Instagram with the caption: ‘Couple of stitches to go with a couple tubes. Good to go again.’
Fanning isn’t the only Aussie legend to risk injury by riding the huge well, with 1999 world champion Mark Occhilupo also visiting the area.
‘This is radical … but if you’re going to be near the ocean, you’ve got to keep your eye on it,’ he told Nine’s Today show from a spot at Snapper Rocks on Thursday.
Three-time world champion surfer Mick Fanning (pictured with partner Breeana Randall and their children) came off second best when he tackled the huge waves Cyclone Alfred has produced off the Queensland coast
Fanning was left needing stitches to a gash worryingly close to his eye after wiping out
‘It’s so important because there are rogue waves that can take you and sweep you out to sea.
‘The waves have been pretty rugged but there’s still some pretty good ones [for surfing], surprisingly enough.
‘It’s been a tremendous run of swell, some of the best waves in the world we’ve seen go down at Kirra.
‘Yesterday I was watching [surfing greats] Joel Parkinson and Dean Morrison tow [into waves] down at north Kirra.
‘Fifteen feet, 12 feet, they were pulling into barrels … that’s getting up to Hawaiian size.’
Asked when it would get too dangerous for him to ride, he said surfers already need help from a jet ski in the current conditions, and said riders are worried about the swells destroying the sandbanks that help make breaks like Kirra soo good.
On Thursday, Cyclone Alfred’s progress towards the coast stalled, with the delay ensuring heavy rain and massive surf will hit southeast Queensland and northern NSW for longer.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said Alfred was like an ‘unwanted house guest’ for arriving late and then hanging around for longer, with 24 communities in the state’s north preparing to evacuate.
Fanning was left with blood pouring from the wound after coming off his board
The world-famous break at Kirra Beach has been producing monster waves as Alfred stalls before making landfall on late Friday or early Saturday
Schools, offices, public transport and the Gold Coast airport were closed as Queensland’s southeast bunkered down, expecting heavy rain and gale-force winds as Alfred approached.
However many in Brisbane woke up on Thursday to blue skies after the category two system stalled.
The latest forecast predicts Alfred will hit between the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast late Friday or early Saturday, almost 24 hours later than initially predicted.
It will be the first cyclone to impact the southeast coast since 1974.
‘That’s still going to bring widespread impacts that we have been talking about all week,’ the Bureau of Meteorology’s Dean Narramore said.
Destructive winds are set to impact bayside and coastal communities when Alfred finally arrives, with heavy rainfall leading to flooding in Queensland’s southeast and northern NSW.
Alfred will also trigger significant coastal erosion, Mr Narramore warned.
