Cornish paddle surf Ambassador wins national championship for second time

Thumping double-overhead waves provided the canvas for an impressive display of surfing at Watergate Bay over the weekend 2 and 3 May 2009 for the English National Surf Championships.

With Saturday’s pulsing 6 to 8ft swell on the limit of contestable conditions, organisers opted to run only the elite Open division. But by Sunday the waves had dropped to a more manageable 4ft, allowing all eight divisions to be completed in fun, albeit choppy, surf.

Newquay-based Johnny Fryer claimed the Open division title in a closely-fought heat. Any of the four finalists - who included Cornishmen Josh Ward, Andrew Griffen and Shaun Skilton - would have been worthy winners.

In the Stand-up Paddle Surf division, Cornish veteran longboarder Adam Zervas won the title for a second consecutive year.

In the Longboard Open, Newquay surfer Ben Skinner’s recent run of form continued as he beat off competition from defending champion Ben Haworth to win, while Candice O’Donnell retained her Women’s Longboard title.

Just four weeks ago both Skinner and O’Donnell were standing on the podium in Tapia, Spain, having won their respective European qualifying events for the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Longbord Tour. For Skinner, another win reinforces his position as Europe’s top longboard surfer.

Surfboard shaper Chris Harris won the Senior (over 28) division; former European champion Spencer Hargraves won the Masters (over 35); and David Pearce claimed top spot in the Legends (over 45).

As well as winning national titles, the top-placing surfers gain qualification for the English team, which will take part in the European championships in Jersey from 26 September to 4 October.

Event organiser Pauly Jeffery of the English Surfing Federation said: "Our surfers don’t often get the chance to prove themselves in decent waves, but they certainly did on Saturday, and they certainly impressed me and the judges.

"There was a lot of committed surfing in some fairly chunky waves. There was a lot of paddling, a lot of hard work, and the good surfers got rewarded. "

Results

Open
1st Johnny Fryer
2nd Josh Ward
3rd Andrew Griffen
4th Shaun Skilton

Women’s Open
1st Zoe Sheath
2nd Sophie Hellyer
3rd Hannah Harding
4th Carrie Edwards

Longboard Open
1st Ben Skinner
2nd James Parrey
3rd Adam Griffiths
4th Ben Haworth

Women’s Longboard
1st Candice O’Donnell
2nd Nicola Bunt
3rd Marina Lee
4th Zoe Sheath

Senior (Over 28)
1st Chris Harris
2nd Eugene Tollemache
3rd Spencer Hargraves
4th Joe Moran

Masters (Over 35)
1st Spencer Hargraves
2nd Chris Harris
3rd Callum Morrell
4th Paul Barlow

Legends (Over 45)
1st David Pearce
2nd Jed Stone
3rd Tony Good
4th Laurence Couch

Stand-up Paddle Surf
1st Adam Zervas
2nd Alex Murray
3rd Nick Healey
4th Tim Mellors