2013 Offsure British Interclub Surf Championships
“the largest in history”
Hordes of Surfers from throughout the UK descended upon the idyllic Cornish surfing haven of Bude over the weekend to take part in the 2013 Offsure British Interclub Surf Championships. One of Surfing GB’s flagship events, the Interclubs is a grassroots contest that puts Club pride, team spirit and collective achievement above individual performance. This year’s event has been hailed as the “the largest in history”, due to the massive entry of just over 130 surfers mixed in with a selection of memorable parties, incredible atmosphere and the huge supporting efforts of the newly established Bude Waveriders surf club.
Competitors were welcomed to Widemouth Bay on day one by clean 2-3ft high tide shories and competition soon got underway with the Junior division as the tide began drop. Team Laneez from Jersey started strongly but soon after the top place honours then began to be shared sporadically between all the other competing teams. Surfers from Boscombe, Wollacombe, Bude, Croyde and South East Cornwall all performed well, which made for a close finish to the team scores at the end of the 1st round in the Juniors. Following a break that was mainly used for Juniors to froth out on the free surfing, the final round commenced and Bude A capitlised on their local knowledge to take a significant share in the points, whilst Boscombe A, Woolacombe and Croyde A all performed strongly and consistently.
As the women’s division got underway the conditions began to deteriorate slightly as the wind swung, however Croyde’s women appeared to revel in the conditions as they won all 4 of the women’s heats of day one to take a clear and early lead. The other points were fiercely contested for between the competitors from Woolacombe, South East Cornwall, Jersey and Bude A.
Karma Worthington smashing Bobcat
A total of 70 surfers from Bude, Boscombe, Croyde, South East Cornwall, Isle of White, Christian Surfers, Jersey and Woolacombe occupied the open draw and impressive surfing was on show throughout. A classic rivalry raged war again as Woolacombe took an early lead but Croyde A soon battled back and closed the early gap. The level of surfing on show was true testament to the quality of UK surfing, yet the atmosphere in the water highlighted the fun side of competitive surfing.
In true Interclub’s fashion the social aspect of the event was high on everyone’s agenda, so following a casual start to proceedings on Friday night, as Bar35 kindly hosted the Interclubs Pre-Party, the main event kicked off at Adventure International. As the booze flowed ‘The Sum Of’ rocked out and the head banging began, swiftly followed by a DJ set by DJ Blue Juice and Lloydy & Bcat (AKA. Bob Cat) dropped some dirty beats into the early hours and beyond.
There may of been a bit of dancing
Blurry eyed and tender, the surfers arrived for Day 2 of the Offsure Interclubs. A late night for all contestants had done little to diminish the intensity of the competition, so as mellow reggae music filtered around the bay solid 3-4ft glassy waves rolled on in, everyone shook off last night and frothed out over the pumping surf. The women got underway and as Bude B got off to a great start, whilst Croyde continued their winning ways until Wollacombe’s Lucy Campbell stamped her authority on the final heat and took maximum points for her team. The Open again provided the goods as impressive surfing was on show from the outset as Woolacombe continued their dominance however Bude A showed their strength’s and finished strongly.
Neil Clifton – Smooth as silk for Woolacombe
As the event came to an end and the last cakes and tshirts were sold off and the attention turned to the results. Following an aray of impressive surfing and consistent performances Croyde A Juniors took the 2013 title with a total of 62pts, only marginally beating Bude A who finished on 60pts, Woolacombe on 58pts and Boscombe A on 56pts! The women’s title race was slightly more one sided as Croyde A defended their 2012 title and came away the winners with 72pts, 2nd place went to Woolacombe on 50pts and Bude A in 3rd with 44pts.
The Open title and bragging rights were awarded to Woolacombe A who finished with an impressive 110pts, whilst Croyde came in 2nd with 94pts and Bude A in 3rd with 92pts. The overall Interclubs team champions turned into a tightly fought battle but taking the 2013 Offsure British Interclubs title and defending their 2012 title was Croyde A with a 232pt total, whilst Woolacombe came in 2nd with 218pts and Bude A in 3rd with 196pts.
Open Winners – Woolacombe Boardriders
“We were so stoked to be able to welcome surfers to Bude for this event, its clear to see how important it is whilst the vibe and hype around it shows how much fun it is! We are already amped for next year and look forward to taking the title off Croyde” said Charlie Green of Bude Waveriders.
Contest director Pauly Jeffrey discussed how ‘The ethos of Interclubs forms the foundations for Surfing in the UK, sharing good times with your mates and striving to perform to the best of your potential to help your team, it’s one of the best contests in the UK for sure!’.
Croyde Surf Club #winners
Just a few photos ©Tibbles
RESULTS
Junior Division
1st Croyde
2nd Bude A
3rdWoolacombe
Womens
1st Croyde
2nd Woolacombe
3rd Bude A
Open
1st Woolacombe
2nd Croyde A
3rd Bude A
Club champions
1st Croyde A
2nd Woolacombe
3rd Bude A