Freshwater Bay – Saturday 8th January
Freshwater Bay – Saturday 8th January by Shane Couch
William Rome, Tom Court and Scadge Surfing Freshwater Bay
IOW Surf Club Frost Bite Event No 3
Sunday saw event 3 of the Isle of Wight Surf Club Frost Bite Series. The Surf club had been patient through December waiting for a nice swell and this weekend was worth the wait. A small clean swell started to build on the Saturday and a few managed a session in at The Pearl or Freshwater Bay. Sunday saw a good turn out and I even got my first surf in January for a few years.
In the early rounds Josh Jupe, Chris Mannion, James Ranson performed well, but just missed out on the final. The final came down to Alan Reed, Joe Truman and Matt Harwood. All three got some great waves but it there can be only one winner. Matt Harwood just taking the win from Al Reed.
Some of the free surfing on show was outstanding, and Robin Forrest showed he is one to look out for in the future. Although James Ranson didn’t make the final he definitely stole the show by pulling off a ‘Backside, 360 air’ getting great cheers from the beach.
Frost Bite Series – Event No 2
The Isle of Wight Surf Club Frost Bite Series – Event No 2
Congratulations to all involved, another great event. Compton had very challenging conditions for the competition but once again we were treated to a very high standard of surfing from all who took part. The onshore waves grew in size as the day went on and all the competitors had their strength and endurance tested as a lot of paddling was needed to get out through the waves and to get themselves to best place in the line up, which seemed to continually move about.
The Longboarders were up first witht the majority of contestants heading to the outside to try and get the set waves. This may have been a mistake as they didn’t seem to be making it through to the inside and early on Matt Harwood seeemd to see this, taking a few waves on the inside right through to the beach. It definitely looked very hard to find some good waves early on and a few very frustated faces came up the beach after the first few heats.
The Juniors were up next and now there seemd to be a waves making it through from the outside. This only made the paddle out even harder and the boys struggled in the difficult conditions, but eventually pick off a few waves.
When the Open started the waves had picked up and they were competing quite far out. There were some good size sets coming through but it still looked very hard to find the best spot to line up. The Open saw 4 heats with the winners of each heat going through to the final. One of the heats saw Chris Mannion, Andrew Tyrrell and Alan Reed against each other. This was going to be a very closely contested heat and didn’t disapoint. Andrew and Al pushed Manni all the way but Chris held on to his lead. The final was Douglas Richards (sporting a moustache rivalling anything I ever saw in the old World War II movies I used to watch with my Dad as a kid), Matt Harwood, Chris Mannion and Joe Truman. Matt got straight into the final catching a few through to the inside but I think his mind was on getting into his pyjammas and watching X-Factor as he didn’t seem to be able to find any of the set waves. We saw Joe treated us to some of his lovely style with some beautiful cutbacks but I think by this time hyperthermia was setting in and we didn’t see him perform at his best. Dougie and Manni got the best of the set waves that came through putting in some big moves with Dougie coming out the winner. But Manni definitley came out of the water with the best spiked punk hairstyle that I definitely think Al was quite envious of (ok I admit, and any of us lacking in that department).
[gallery]2010 Interclubs Classic at Cranking Croyde
Press Release from Croyde Surf Club
* Croyde Surf Club Retain Interclubs Trophy after late fight back.
* Westward Ho! take Open division in tightly fought battle.
* Cornish Juniors Wrestle u-18 team title from Devon.
A Lucky strike with solid swell and offshore winds saw the 2010 Tiki National Interclubs Surfing Championships run, in classic contest conditions.
Organisers and sponsors alike had been nervously watching the charts for a week as a powerful early Winter Low spun across the Atlantic from Newfoundland, threatening onshore gales and torrential rain.
But in the end the storm split North and South, bringing light offshores and sunshine to North Devon, and pumping swell. The only damage was a shredded Marquee which ate itself in spectacular fashion on the day before the event.
With support from headline sponsors Tiki; and the Redbull crew on site with sounds and drinks; energy levels were sky-high amongst the 150 plus surfers who braved the paddle out on Saturday. From the contest site overlooking the break the gathered spectators winced and cheered epic rides, whilst hideous wipeouts in the heavy surf punctuated the generally high standard of surfing.
Clubs and teams from as far afield as The Isle of Wight, Boscombe and Truro descended on North Devon, determined to take the trophies on offer away from Croyde Surf Club, who in 2009 had dominated the event with wins in all categories. Intense local rivalry saw an equally strong challenge from the other North Devon clubs. Woolacombe Boardriders fielding two open and two junior teams, Saunton Hotdoggers entering the Open twice and Westward Ho! putting forward a heavy hitting crew.
At Half time on Saturday evening, the bookies sheets had been consigned to the bin: Croyde’s finest were lying in a dismal 4th as the reef-hardened dark horses from Westward Ho! had established a solid position in the Open Division. Powerful performances from Luke Parkhouse and Jordan Reed underpinning their lead. Woolacombe A and Saunton A sitting a close second and third respectively, were eyeing day 2 with eager anticipation.
On Peak ‘B’, the Junior division had ended with a battle of the mini-titans. Two rounds of top level performance surfing from some of the countries best young rippers ended with the Cornish Team Atlantic Coast Surf, run by Newquay legend Tony Good, coming out winners ahead of a strong Croyde ‘A’ team which had been widely tipped to retain their title. Croyde’s Alex Baker, Beau Bromham, Laura Crane and Taz Knight were unable to stop Tom Good, Harry Timson, Tassy Swallow and Angus Scotney from carrying away the trophy for ACS.
With all to play for, the banter in the aftermath of such an epic day was at fever pitch. Gulf Stream Shaper & DJ Jools Matthews eased the pain for the CSC contest crew in the party tent on Saturday night… and Sunday dawned to reveal a very contestable, and perfectly groomed swell.
Open Round Two opened with a bold tactical move from Woolacombe Club Captain Paul Barrington. Struggling to deal with ill disciplined team members who had failed to return from Saturday night revelry, Barrington attempted to field WBC ‘A’ team standout Stuart Campbell in two heats under the noses of Westward Ho! Sharp eyed Ho’s spotted the devious manoeuvre in time to protest & scupper the plan and Barrington was left to make a humiliating tour of the car park in search of a grommet to take the place of the missing Nick Thorn.
High levels of performance continued throughout Sunday. Isle of Wight Pro. Jonny Fryer posted an 8.5 single wave score in front of the judges on Peak A, threatening to further upset the rankings. Alex Baker hit back for Croyde A with his best heat of the contest, Gary Knights impressed for Boscombe, and Ben Howarth surfed a spectacular heat for Saunton. But with Westward Ho inexorably strengthening their grip on the leader board the Open title was wrapped up by a huge 15.73 heat score from Jordan Reed..
Croyde’s stranglehold on the on the Interclubs Trophy looked to be slipping, and it was down to their women to rescue the event for the Club. Fielding two strong teams Croyde women’s A and B racked up sufficient points to overcome the deficit from the Open/ Junior categories. Led by standout Andrea Lawrence they led CSC to a fine overall victory, with Laura Crane, Knight sisters Jemima, Harriet & Peony, Maisie and Flora Lawton and Lucy Campbell all pulling their weight.
BSA Contest Representative Pauly Jefferies commented that “the strength in depth of Croyde Surf Club was ultimately the decisive factor.” Matt Knight, the CSC contest director said; “It was fantastic to have such a strong entry from so many clubs, and the generally high level of surfing meant that there was doubt from the word go over what the result would be. Congratulations to Westward Ho! and ACS for their team prizes, it’s definitely a wake-up call to Croyde that victory may no longer be taken for granted in this event!”
Mountains of Bacon Butties, Gallons of Redbull and pumping swell contributed to the typically good natured Interclubs vibe. “There’s intense competitions for the trophies but everyone is so loved up I can hardly believe it” remarked one seasoned contest regular. “the commercial and individual focussed contests are just so much less fun, and seeing people cheering on their team mates really adds something to the spectator side of watching a comp.”
The Interclubs certainly offers something a bit different to regular format contests. “Surfing for your team means that people are generally looking out for each other as much as for themselves which is very refreshing” said one competitor. “there was one guy (Max Pechonis) who gave up his heat to help another surfer out because the grom had lost his board… and at one point a 12 year old girl stepped in to surf for an open division team from somewhere else in the country because their team member had had to go home…. It just wouldn’t happen at any other comp!”
The 2011 event will likely see intense competition across all divisions now that the contest has proved so close.
Results:
Tiki National Interclubs 2010
Open Division 1st Westward Ho!, 2nd Woolacombe A 3rd Croyde A
Women’s Division 1st Croyde ‘A’ 2nd Croyde ‘B’
Junior Division 1st Atlantic Coast Surf 2nd Croyde ‘A’ 3rd Woolacombe ‘A’
BSA Interclubs Trophy 1st Croyde Surf Club 2nd Woolacombe Boardriders 3rd Atlantic Coast Surf
Tiki Outstanding Surfer Awards. Jordan Reed, Andrea Lawrence, Max Pechonis.
Indoboard Big Move Award Gabriel Ley
Surfplugs Hideous Wipeout Award Ian Ramon Allison
Tiki National Interclub 2010 Surfing Championships
The Isle of Wight Surf Club Team came so close to getting on the podium and a 3rd place at this years Tiki National Interclub Surfing Championships. The gap between themselves and Croyde Surf Club – A Team was only 3 points.
Saturday started with some very challenging conditions and at least a couple of contestants didn’t even make it out to the line up. Even when you made it to the line up it looked difficult to to be in the right place when the sets came through.
As the day went on the swell cleaned up and we were treated to some great surfing. The Island Team finished the day in 4th place with James and Johnny both winning their heats.
On the Sunday the boys had all drawn the Island on their boards, very proud to be representing the Isle of Wight. Later some of them even had the names of Island breaks and their postcode on their boards.
The day started much smaller than the Saturday. Doug was first up again and got two waves scores early on.
There started to be a bit of a wait between the larger sets and you could see the frustration on faces as contestants looked for the best waves.
As Johnny paddled out a nice set came through just before they blew the horn then it seeemd to go flat for about 10 mins. I even started photographing Rock Pipits and a Cormorant, at which point I realised that if I had time to photograph wildlife during Johnny’s heat then he must be so frustrated. A few waves came through towards the end of the heat and he ripped them all the way to the beach. Typically just after the horn went a great set came through and you could see the frustration all the competitors faces in that heat.
It finished a very close thing between Croyde A Team and the Isle of Wight and after the event the conversations were all about how they lost the 3 points or how they could have gained those three points if only….. until someone said ‘so where are we going to surf now’ and it all changed to the where the next surf destination was to be. It was agreed on Sandymouth and within minutes cars were packed and they were on their way.
IOW Surf Club Frost Bite Series
IOW Surf Club Frost Bite Series – by Oliver Harvey & The Isle of Wight Surf Club
The first ‘Frost bite’ competition of six being held this winter, sponsored kindly by the boys at Rapanui was a great success.
Greeted with pretty grim onshore head-high waves at Compton, first up we saw the groms test the water. Both Robin & Dylan snagged plenty of waves each but Robin gradually took control with a couple of good waves to take the first event. The waves continue to prove challenging for the mens Open, as the pool of 16 riders entered the water in 4 man, 20 min heats.
Julie Tortajada, in the first quarter final, took the Ladies title getting several fun waves. From the first round the following progressed into the semis:
Heat 1:
1.Richard Gray
2. Jamie Whittle
Heat 2:
1. Nick Whittle
2. Foz Heat
Heat 3:
1. Jo Truman
2. Al Reed Heat
Heat 4:
1. Doug Richards
2. Matt Harwood
Semi One saw Douglas Richards start to show his quality, making some nice aggressive turns , and following him after a somewhat slow start, Jo’s local knowledge paid dividends, hooking into some good little rights, his smooth style saw him up his wave count and into second place only 0.5 points behind Dougie & just ahead of Rich who surfed well in both his heats.
In Semi Two, Matt, keen to progress, started with a bang – getting several scores on the board in quick succession. Al also posted some scores whilst Jamie & Nick, who both showed good form earlier on, were quiet until the last quarter, when Nick started to make a come-back, but too little, too late saw Al & Matt progress into the final
The Final was closely fought battle , the waves failed to improve, which saw the judges favourite going into the final, Doug, making a subdued start. We did see glimmers of his solid style, but the waves just didn’t go his way. Matt, with a great high scoring first wave, continued to post some respectable scores, streaking ahead on wave count alone, Al found a solid right all the way into the inside, showing some style with cross-steps & smooth cutbacks. Jo’s consistency and nack for finding those fun inside walls, meant he edged ahead of Al into second and Matt taking the top spot with skill & tenacity.
Final Scores:
1.Matt Harwood 11.83
2. Jo Truman 11.53
3. Al Reed 10.16
4. Doug Richards 9.63
The IOW Surf Club would like to say a big thank you for all turning up to make it a great little event. Hopefully we’ll see even bigger competitor numbers, in the next round in the IOW Surf Club Frost Bite series, as what seems like a 1/3 of the IOW surfers return from their Indonesian adventures! Boys, you missed out today !
A big shout out for all girls & groms wanting to get involved. I’m sure Julie, Robin & Dylan would love to beat you in heat & there’s hoodies, t-shirts & other prizes to be won !
It costs £2.50 per comp for existing members
£10 for non-members, which gives your Isle of Wight Surf Club Membership also including your BSA Membership www.britsurf.co.uk/bsa-membership
And that brings me to a last big thank you to Rapanui , who are very generously sponsoring every event of the Frost Bite Series.
For those who haven’t heard of them, Rapanui are an award winning Eco-Fashion company based/born’n’bred on the Isle of Wight.
They make some damm tasty ethical clothing using natural organic fabrics and manufactured using renewable energy in a Fair Wear Foundation audited, wind powered factory. Check them out:
www.rapanuiclothing.com/about
[gallery orderby="title"]All images coutesy of Emma Powell and Nick Martin
