British Longboard Union Champs 2009

The following are the British Longboard Champions for their respective divisions:
Open Ben Skinner (Perranporth)
Juniors Trevellyan Garland (St Agnes)
Ladies Grace Davies (Jersey)
Masters Adrian Howell (Chichester)    

BLU – 6 Gwithian. Event report

It couldn’t last for ever, the good waves that have greeted the final BLU of the year for the last few events were not in evidence on Saturday morning. 1ft, onshore dribble was all Gwithian could muster for the assembled masses and the customary grumblings started to creep around the competitors, But as the sun reared it’s head from behind the Sunset Surf Café and the, at first occasional, 2ft sets started to become more consistent the mood lifted whilst all reminded themselves that there was ‘always the push’. A strong turnout had been expected for the deciding round of the BLU and contest director Minnow Green was not disappointed, with some of the leading title contenders returning from European competition, every division was at almost full strength.
The early rounds of the Juniors and final of the U16’s were run first in small but contestable conditions after the main contest peak had been moved over to the southern end of Godrevy. It was then the turn of the Open quarter finalists to take to the water, with all surfers proving the versatility of longboard riding, the competitors were able to complete full rail turns and long nose-rides on the smallest of waves. After the semi-finals of the Masters, Juniors and Open it was time for the tide to turn and the business end of the competition to commence, starting with the Ladies Final.
Perhaps the most notable absence of the weekend was Ladies title contender Candice O’Donnell who was in France and sadly had to miss the contest, this meant that ratings leader Gracie Davies required a fourth place finish to clinch the overall title, and with conditions well suited to Gracie’s smooth style honed on the peeling lefts of St Ouens in Jersey, she managed to bring it home in style finishing in 1st place. In 2nd was Marina Lee, 3rd Nicola Bunt, 4th Becky Stanhope and 5th Vicky Johnson.
Next up the Junior division with the three leading U18’s of Trev Garland, Mike Lay and Matt Travis competing in their last Junior competition. They all made the final and were joined by first time finalist Max Welland. The conditions had indeed improved with the pushing tide, 2-3ft clean peaks allowed a highly competitive Junior final proving just how close the top three have been all year, with one judge scoring them within 0.4 points of each other! The final result placed Matt Travis in 1st to go with his victory at the very beginning of the season, Mike Lay just behind with his third 2nd place of the year and Trev Garland in 3rd with his only placing outside the top two. Max Welland came in 4th for his highest placing of the year. Trev had already secured the title back in Jersey owing to his fine form in the first four events of the Summer (2nd,1st,1st,1st) and was officially crowned Junior Champion at Gwithian.
The Masters final was full of familiar faces with Paul ‘Keeno’ Keenan coming in 1st for the first time this year and Adrian ‘Shag’ Howell coming in second. Minnow Green managed his highest placing of the year in 3rd and Ray Lee came in 4th. Shag was then officially confirmed as the Masters Champion with three 1st’s and a 2nd over the course of the season.
The Final of the Open and the showcase event saw the return of former British Champion Sam Bleakley who was un-seeded coming into the event but showed he still has what it takes to compete with the best. In a highly competitive final Ben Howey came in 4th place, ratings leader Ben Skinner 3rd after struggling to find the best waves, and Sam Bleakley came in 2nd. But from start to finish there was a clear winner, netting a 9.5 on his first wave, that had the audience on the cliff on their feet and cheering, and backing it up with an 8.0, James Parry dominated to grab his first Open win. It also completes a second Sennen 1,2 after Matt Travis and Mike Lay achieved the same in the Juniors. James’s win secured his place as second overall in Britain but could not take the crown away from Ben Skinner who has been dominant all season and was crowned the British Champion.
This is the 13th year of the British Longboard Union and at the beginning of the season only two events were confirmed, we ended up with 6 events across the South-West and in Jersey and it couldn’t have happened without the hard work of Minnow Green and Vic Danks along with all of the main and individual sponsors, Skinners Brewery, Swiss and Swallow, Rocky Point, The White Lion Saunton, Corduroy Lines, Bathsheba Surf Shop, The Watering Hole on Perranporth Beach, The Thatch in Croyde, The Extreme Academy Watergate, The Jersey Longboard Club together with the Splash in Jersey.
In the eloquent words of James Parry, ‘Stoked for next year’, lets hope it is as good as this one. If anyone is interested in sponsoring the whole tour or just an individual event then contact Minnow Green on 07970 955658.