2026 Rip Curl Grom Search
This weekend, Fistral Beach played host to one of the highlights of the junior surfing calendar — the Rip Curl Grom Search. Young surfers travelled from across the UK and beyond, with competitors arriving from Wales, Scotland, Portugal and the Channel Islands to take on the iconic Newquay peaks. With fun conditions and plenty of action throughout the weekend, the event delivered standout performances across every division and showcased the incredible depth of talent coming through the next generation of surfing.
Day 1: Crowning Our U16 Champions
Day one focused predominantly on the U16 divisions, capitalising on the most powerful part of the swell. The boys paddled out in the drizzle by 7:30am as the tide pushed in and clean sets rolled through with little to no wind.
There were strong performances across the board, with standout surfing from Cairo Garcia Plartus and Aleks Blampied. Samson Houghton posted the highest-scoring wave of the heat, laying down powerful turns that set him apart from the rest of the field. The clean conditions allowed the surfers to showcase strong rail work, tidy carves and committed manoeuvres throughout the morning.
By 10am, the U16 girls were in the water for one of the most fiercely competitive divisions of the event. The standard was high throughout, but Coco Arthur and Lila Skinner quickly established themselves as the surfers to beat. Lila surfed exceptionally well in her opening heat, attacking critical sections and drawing sleek lines with speed, power and flow. She carried that form all the way through to the final, where she posted an impressive 8.93 wave score to secure second place overall. The U16 girls title went to Coco Arthur, who surfed consistently and confidently throughout the entire day, winning every one of her heats with a comfortable lead. Composed under pressure, Coco selected the right waves and delivered excellent scores throughout the competition before taking the win in the final with a combined total of 13.86.
The U16 boys final proved equally nail-biting. Jensen Martin led for most of the 25-minute heat before Aleks Blampied surged into contention late on with a wave that rocketed him from fourth to first place — an epic finish to watch. The pair ultimately ended on a tie break, with the winner crowned as the surfer with the highest single wave score. After exceptional performances from both surfers throughout the contest, it was Jersey’s Aleks Blampied who claimed the win with his single wave score of 5.50. Jack Strutt posted the highest single wave score of the final with an impressive 5.60, delivering a standout performance to secure third place.
Day 2: U14 Division — Nail-Biting Heats
Day 2 kicked off with glorious sunshine and good-sized sets on the pushing tide for the U14 boys and girls divisions. The opening heat of the morning featured the Woudberg brothers competing alongside Tommy Hamilton and Kai Cruickshank. Kai delivered strong performances across the event, progressing all the way to the semi-finals where he narrowly missed out on a place in the final.
Teijo Boletta produced one of the standout buzzer-beaters of the competition, paddling into a set wave in the dying moments of the heat and posting a crucial 5.23 when it mattered most. The score secured him a semi-final spot ahead of Bobby Wilkinson, who had surfed solidly throughout the heat and only narrowly missed the opportunity to progress. The U14 girls division began with the semi-finals, where Mila Barber impressed with stylish surfing, linking her turns smoothly and looking confident in the water. Despite a strong performance, she missed out on the final to Ellie Hickie and Betsie Reay, who battled right to the very end of their heat.
Joining them in the final were Summer Marie Moore and Bella Llewellyn. Bella dominated her semi-final, winning by six points with an impressive combined total of 14.24 to claim her place comfortably in the final. The girls final featured three members of the Surfing England junior squad alongside Welsh surfer Summer Marie Moore. Betsie Reay was on top form and, midway through the heat, posted a 7.00 to move into the lead, where she remained for most of the final to be crowned the 2026 U14 Grom Search Champion.
Behind her, Ellie Hickie and Bella Llewellyn battled fiercely for second place, with their final combined totals separated by just 0.33 points. The boys final brought together a mix of English, Welsh and Channel Islands surfers. Albie Gould opened strongly with a 5.43 on his first wave, immediately setting the tone for the high standard of surfing on display. Cassius Woudberg responded quickly, posting a 6.50 on his second wave before earning the highest score of the final — a 6.53 — on his fourth. While Teijo Bolletta and Ollie Phillips both pushed hard throughout the heat, nobody could wrestle the lead away from Cassius Woudberg, who was crowned champion on home turf.
Day 2: U12 Division — Roth Gale Runs Away With the Lead
The U12 division closed out the event, creating a fast-paced running order on the high-tide push and an epic atmosphere on the beach with huge support for the surfers.
The opening rounds were held in clean high-tide peelers that allowed for some excellent scores, with Ted Davies posting a 13.40 combined total and Katarina Roth Gale earning an 11.90.
Katarina was relentless throughout her heat, paddling for every opportunity and finishing with 12 waves scored — close to the 15-wave limit. She carried that intensity into the final, building a commanding lead of 8.37 points over Kaleia Peres in second place to secure an impressive victory.
An equally dominant performance came from Monty Cole in the U12 boys final. Fired up from his opening heat of the morning, Monty faced tough competition from Xavier Le Moignan, who briefly moved into the lead with a series of powerful turns. Casper Kershaw also remained firmly in contention alongside Xavier and Cassius, making his performance even more impressive given he was surfing with an injured arm.
Results
U16 Girls
1st Coco Arthur
2nd Lila Skinner
3rd Callie Cruickshank
4th Josie Hawke
U16 Boys
1st Aleks Blampied
2nd Jensen Martin
3rd Jack Strutt
4th Cairo Garcia Partus
U14 Girls
1st Betsie Reay
2nd Bella Llewellyn
3rd Ellie Hickie
4th Summer Marie-Moore
U14 Boys
1st Cassius Woudberg
2nd Albie Gould
3rd Teijo Boletta
4th Ollie Philips
U12 Girls
1st Katarina Roth Gale
2nd Kaleia Peres
3rd Maisie Le Moignon
4th Sophie Busby
U12 Boys
1st Monty Cole
2nd Xavier Le Moignon
3rd Casper Kershaw
4th Rohan Sharp
European Finals await:
Winners from all divisions will now represent the UK at the Rip Curl Grom Search European Final, which is set to take place later this year in O2 Surftown Munich, Germany on the 19th of September. They’ll go head-to-head with surfers from Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and wildcard entries with the chance to go all the way to the Grom Search world final!
A massive thank you to Rip Curl sponsors and partners
A huge thank you to Rip Curl, who are a significant facilitator of global surfing development for junior athletes, for allowing us to run this incredible event! The success of the Grom Search would not be possible without the support that Rip Curl receive from their partners:
- I-SEA for backing an event series that promotes elite surfing.
- FCS as a long standing Grom Search partner and supporter of young surfers all over the country.
- Sun Bum who ensure our competitors stay sun safe.
- Fistral Beach for allowing the use of their incredible venue and facilities, what a place to hold one of our biggest junior competitions.
- Era Adventures for providing water safety throughout the contest.
A massive thank you must also go to our contest Director Tony Good, head judge Arron Evans and our judging panel, media team and every competitor and family member who made this weekend what it was.
Our Membership
Are you getting FOMO after reading this? If you are keen to support or join our Surfing England community, new members are always welcome! Our Junior membership is £20/year and our adult membership is £28/year. To find out more about the benefits take a look at our membership page HERE.
Contact us
For any event enquiries please contact: lauren@surfingengland.org
For any media enquiries please contact: alex@surfingengland.org
For any general enquiries please contact: info@surfingengland.org
