The Australian Longboard Surfing Open, in Kingscliff, shows age is no barrier to the sport.
This year, the competition has attracted groms of all ages — with seven competing in the over 70s division and the oldest amateur surfer at 77 years of age.
Michael Cottier is the oldest professional surfer in the world at 62.
"World Surf League [WSL] have confirmed by four years is the next person my junior," he said.
"That's right across all the divisions — shortboard and long board."
Cottier was competing the championship event, against the best in the world.
"As a young boy I saw grey-haired surfers sitting out the back on their boards and I knew that was going to be me," Mr Cottier said.
"If you want to be healthy and happy you have to stay surfing and you need a motivator and competing is a motivator."
But, unfortunately there will be no trophy for Cottier this weekend; he was knocked out in the first round.
Flow, grace, style and a little bit of dancing
Longboarding is the little brother to the shortboarding World Surf League Championship tour.
Currently, there are two or three championship events, one usually in Taiwan and the other in Indonesia or Papua New Guinea.
Events like this WSL-qualifying competition give Australasian surfers points, and the two males and two females with the most points go on to represent the region in the international competitions.
The judges are looking for grace and style, not the dramatic turns surfing is usually famous for.
"It's not just surfing, you're actually dancing on the board," Mr Cottier said.
"They are looking for traditional mauvers, which is nose riding and stepping, they want to see you walking the board in the longboard, not standing there like a statue."
2017 Women's World Champion Honolua Blomfeild, of Hawaii, said she didn't choose longboarding — it chose her.
"It was easier than shortboarding for me, and I was just blessed with a longboarding talent or something, it was easy," she said.
"You can walk a board — it's longer — instead of just doing turns and it's just pretty.
"I've seen girls who are very graceful on a shortboard too, but I just think longboarding is good for girls. There is a lot of style in it."
Australian Men's Champion Jack Entwistle is the opposite, starting on the board at a young age.
"My dad was a champion longboarder in 1987, so I kind of followed in his footsteps," he said.
"I started off on a shortboard, but just had way more fun on a longboard, it's a nice community and I get to hang out with friends around the world, so yeah I just enjoy it more.
"There is definitely more style and grace in longboarding, a lot more chilled-back, relaxed and fun to watch."
But to nail a 'hang ten' he said took a lot more practice.
"A lot of practice on good waves and good boards," he said.
The competition will continue Friday with both Blomfeild and Entwistle competing for their respective titles.
Beers and trash talking: two mates go head to head
In the biggest upset of the competition so far, two best mates knocked out three-time world champion Taylor Jensen.
Local concreter Dane Pioli did it with style, three hang tens on one wave.
"It was a random one, a long hang ten, maybe a little cut back and another two hang tens through the inside and then it fizzled out," he said.
Pioli said it felt amazing when the siren sounded and he and his mate Jared Neal had beaten the world champion.
"Felt great, haven't done it for about 10 years, so to do it again with Jazza by my side, giving him grief the whole way through was good," he said.
"You still kind of feel like you can do it, you don't give up straight away, you give it all you've got, and some days it works and some days it doesn't, and most of the time it doesn't, but yesterday it did."
Coffs Harbour surfer Jared Neal said they both wanted each other to win, but that was not going to happen as they face off in the finals on Friday.
"It's a bummer we are meeting up in the semi-final. It would have been great to meet up in the final, but that is the way it goes — at least one of us is going to win, hopefully," he said.
The mates are not strangers to the elite competition: Jared Neal holds an Australian Longboard title, and he and Pioli have competed together in world championship events before.
"Pretty much about re-qualification now, me and Dane are trying to requalify for the world tour, we got knocked off last year, so this is my last crack at it, if I can requalify this year," Neal said.
He will need to score high points at this Kingscliff qualifying event to progress.