2016 British National Surf Champions crowned
The British National Surf Championships, an event held in the highest regard by surfers across the land, once a year provides competitors with that golden opportunity to write their name in to surfing history. Many have battled but few have succeeded in their quest for the nations surfing crowns over the years and the new champions have just claimed their titles in a weekend referred to as ‘one of the best’.
Surf events come and go like the turning of the tide, and all rely on the good will of ole’ mother nature herself, and on this occasion she generously provided the goods. A call to local shredder and world Silver medallist Ben Skinner back at the start of 2016 helped contest officials identify October 8th and 9th as the best tidal opportunity of Autumn, so all we needed was swell, and swell we got. 3-4ft glassy conditions with light offshore winds for most of the weekend to be precise, lucky us.
Two hundred and fifteen entries stretching over fifteen divisions from under twelves to over forty fives made for double peaks all weekend with ninety-seven twenty minute heats to run.
Day one started with a bang as the Billabong Men’s Open surfers took to the water and a who’s who of elite surfing battled it out. Joss Ash tore into a relentless left and tested the judges tone with a 9.8 and the quality surfing didn’t stop there as more and more heats took to the water and surfers split peaks, chucked buckets and raised the bar of competition. Interest was high on the event in part due to its BBC news coverage and spectators were blown away by the quality of surfing. As the tide dropped the judges took positions on the rocks elevated above giving an incredible view which was important for finding the fine margins that lay between the surfing on show as some surfers progressed, and others didn’t. The adult divisions set the tone, but the junior divisions set the excitement, the quality of junior surfing keeps getting higher and all can be proud of the performances they put in throughout. Conditions changed as the sun heated the land and winds swung onshore making it tricky for some heats but still the older divisions like the Veterans pushed through and impressed.
By close of play on day one the entry had been halved in size, and focus turned to an important meeting to be held at the beach. Surfing GB and English Surfing Federation held Extraordinary General meetings to vote on the legal aspects of the proposed merger, which were voted on by members of both organisations and a unanimous vote to support the merger was passed and work to achieve National Governing Body status for English surfing continues.
Day two was almost a carbon copy of conditions as the autumnal swells continued to filter in, greeted by some fantastic sand bank structures at Perranporth, leading to near on perfect competition waves. The younger divisions dived in first, swiftly followed by the open division’s quarter finals that were all stacked heats. The Star Surf women’s open then had their time to shine and following in their seeding Emily Currie, Lucy Campbell, Ellie Turner and Flora Lawton all took heat wins.
The efficiency of the event schedule and the professionalism of the surfers allowed for all to stay on track and the afternoon was a focus of finals. The training, the dedication, the focus, all coming down to twenty minutes of intense competition in a challenge to prove yourself as better than the three surfers sat next to you. With a double peak and tidal range live scoring wasn’t introduced and so results were only to be published at the presentation. Conditions fluctuated throughout the finals but the speed, power and flow didn’t as all finals delivered.
Jobe Harris
Perranporths Watering Hole played a fine host of the event and presentations had the whole place buzzing as both surfers and spectators alike waited with baited breath for the results. One by the one the surfers took to the podium, as cheers and applause erupted division on division, and fifteen surfers left with the right to call themselves a British champion. Congratulations to them all.
We would like to thank all the surfers and spectators, and big appreciated from organisers for the staff and of course sponsors for making it all possible.
Sponsored by: The Caravan Club, Korev Lager, Surfdome, Jeep UK, Star Surf Camps, Carve Visionaries, Billabong, Red Bull UK, 110% Surfing Techniques, Christian Surfers UK, Dryrobe, Ocean Lodge Newquay, Watering Hole, Jolly Brown, Butta, Surfvault, GoPro.
FULL RESULTS
UNDER 12 BOYS – 110% Surfing Techniques
1. Keiron Smith 2. Sam Hearn 3. Thomas Reeves 4. Tai Garrett
UNDER 12 GIRLS – 110% Surfing Techniques
1. Claudia Cosgrove 2. Asha Sykes 3. Belle Betteridge 4. Eleanor Hewlett
UNDER 14 BOYS
1. Woody New 2. Will Masterman 3. Stanley Norman 4. Noah Capps
UNDER 14 GIRLS
1. Ffion Hughes 2. Bonita Whitelock 3. Esmee Gregorius 4. Francesca Sayer
UNDER 16 BOYS – Carve Visionaries
1. Barnaby Cox 2. Fynnlee Miller 3. Kit Innes 4. Leo Reeves
UNDER 16 GIRLS
1. Ellie Turner 2. Kitty Brewer 3. Lily Mandeville 4.Amy Dyer
UNDER 18 BOYS
1. Will Bailey 2. Harry De Roth 3. Liam Murray Strout 4. Gus Brewer
UNDER 18 GIRLS – Jolly Brown
1. Tilly Theobald 2. Niamh Mathias 3. Mischa Maguire 4. Ruby Breadon
MENS OPEN – Billabong
1. Jobe Harris 2. Jayce Robinson 3. Will Bailey 4.Liam Turner
WOMENS OPEN – Star Surf Camps
1. Ellie Turner 2. Emily Currie 3. Lucy Campbell 4. Ellen Harding
SENIORS MENS (28+)
1. Joss Ash 2. Jordan Reed 3. Matt Le Maitre 4. Alex Chisholm
SENIORS WOMENS (28+)
1. Hannah Harding 2. Tina Beresford 3. Jennifer Pendlebury 4. Amy Murphy 5. October Hamlyn-Wright
MASTERS MENS (35+)
1. Joel Gray 2. Sam George 3. Paul Barlow 4. Luke Jannaway
MASTERS WOMENS (35+)
1. Dominique Kent 2. Rachael Taylor 3. Mary Lucas 4. Jenny Butt
VETERANS OPEN (45+)
1. Roger Knight 2. Mike Young 3. Chris Harris 4. Drustan Ward
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