Sydney, 23rd February 2007 - Umina's Drew Courtney will square off against some of the best surfers in the country when he bids to retain the Jim Beam National Boardriders Cup at Sydney's Curl Curl Beach this week.

Courtney, who surfs on the World Qualifying Series tour, will be out to keep the title he won last year when he lines up against the open champions from Australia's top 50 boardriding clubs for the National title.

The Jim Beam Boardriders Cup National final was held for the first time in 2006 with Courtney convincingly beating Avalon's Matt Thompson in the man on man final, which was also held at Curl Curl.

The 2007 Jim Beam Boardriders Cup National Final boasts a prize pool of $33,000, including $2,000 and a vmoto scooter valued at $3,000 for the National champion, with every Club Open champion from 2006 winning $500 and the right to compete in the 2007 National final.

Heats get underway on Friday and conclude on Saturday with Courtney taking on a field that includes favourites Jake Spooner (Sandon Point), Shaun Gossman (Snapper Rocks), Matt Bemrose (Curl Curl) and Marcus Aboody (Le Ba), as well as Central Coast rival Cameron Pits of Avoca.

Ironically Courtney earned his berth as Umina's representative even though he placed third in the club's open championship last year.

The two surfers that finished above him are unavailable for the final paving the way for the defending champion to take his place in the field.

The Boardriders Cup will again be run in conjunction with the Jim Beam National Surftag final that will put Australia's top 16 clubs in a battle for the right to be tagged the nation's premier boardriding club, won last year by Gold Coast outfit Snapper Rocks, from Curl Curl, Noosa and Cronulla.

Courtney's Umina club won the National Surftag final in 2005.

In its sixth year, the National Surftag, and now the National Boardriders Cup, has established themselves as the premier club surfing events on the calendar and the state qualifying events this year saw World Championship Tour and World Qualifying Series tour surfers in action.

The Jim Beam Surftag is run under the popular tag team format with each club being represented by five surfers. In relay style each surfer catches three waves and then returns to the beach to tag the next surfer. All three waves ridden count towards the team's final score with each surfer's second wave worth double points "Powerwave". Bonus points are also on offer for each team's fifth surfer returning to the tag area before the one hour time limit.

The all important draw for both the Surftag and Boardriders Cup will be held in Sydney on Thursday.

The 2007 Jim Beam Surftag National Series is proudly supported by Jim Beam, Face of Australia Sunscreen, Mentawai Resorts, vmoto, Oporto, Coastalwatch and Australia's Surfing Life.