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Newquay surfers dominated the the Headworx English Nationals at Watergate Bay, with surfers from the Cornish town claiming more than 10 of the 23 titles on offer
by George Mojo
06/05/2008:// Winning the prestigious Open division was 19 year old Tom Butler who saw off a strong challenge from defending champion Oli Adams, South Devon's Matt Capel and Reubin Pearce, from Constantine Bay.
Butler and Adams both opened the final strongly, each posting one good wave score, before the heat was effectively ended when Adams and Capel both took off on the same wave incurring a double interference penalty.
With both surfers penalised half of their second wave score, Butler only required a reasonable wave to secure the win.
“It’s been a good event, we had good fun waves yesterday and luckily the waves managed to stick around today,” said Butler, who has won English titles at every stage of his career as a junior surfer.
“It was a little bit smaller today but I had one good wave in the final and then a bit of luck with Matt (Capel) and Oli (Adams) having a double interference - but I’m taking the win for sure, I’m so happy. I saw they were both paddling hard for the same wave and then they both stood up so they had to call a double interference.”
Another Newquay resident who had a good day on the beach was Lee Bartlett, who showed his competitive pedigree by winning two divisions.
The former English and British champion took victories in the Senior (over 28) and Masters (over 35) divisions, taking his total number of English national titles to six.
“I was so tired because I entered three categories, but luckily I got knocked out of the Open quite early which saved my energy,” said Bartlett. “I was really happy to make two finals; I thought I’d come second and third, you never seem to think you’ve done as well as you could. I’ve always wanted to do the double and now I’ve done it.”
16 year old Holly Donnelly, also from Newquay, was another surfer relishing the 3ft surf. Donnelly made up for losing in the girls division (won by Croyde’s Kathleen Spears) by winning the womens title ahead of Jersey’s Sophie Hellyer.
Other notable performances came from Darren Halse who won the bodyboard division; Saunton’s Ben Haworth who won the longboard; and Lewis Clinton, whose win in the juniors (under 18) also earned him the Dave Gent Memorial Trophy for the best-placed junior surfer from Newquay.
There was also special mention for Grishka Roberts, who was awarded the Randall Davies Memorial Trophy for the best performance by a Newquay surfer. Roberts was clearly honoured to be presented with the trophy, which is given in the memory of one of his best friends.
With 23 divisions and close to 300 entrants, the Headworx English Nationals is one of the biggest surfing competitions in Europe. This year it was also one of the busiest, with Saturday alone seeing 40 hours of heats contested simultaneously on four peaks.
“We had a really busy day on Saturday but luckily the surf was brilliant for a competition; everybody was really happy with yesterday’s surf,” said Contest Director Ester Spears. “Out in the water we’ve seen some really excellent surfing; some of the younger guys have been making real inroads into the Open competition, guys like Tom Butler, Jayce Robinson, really young guys who caned the waves yesterday and are establishing themselves in the older divisions.
“It is worth noting that the second biggest category in terms of the number of entries was the under 16s. It was fiercely competitive, and any one of the quarter-finalists could have made it to the final, there’s real depth of talent and plenty to look forward to. Luis Eyre can be very proud to have won that title.”
The winning junior surfers have also earned the right to represent England in the European Junior Surfing Championships which will be held in Morocco in November.
Ben Byfield from event sponsors Headworx, concluded: “It’s been a really successful championship; certainly the surf and the weather have played ball. The standard of competition has been higher than it’s ever been. It’s been great for Headworx to be involved because it’s such a great event with so many different age groups and disciplines, it’s a really nice community event to be involved with.”
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