| Brits Battle it out in Big Waves |
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| Friday, 18 January 2008 | |
  The best Surfers in the country, many from Cornwall, descend on Newquay’s Fistral Beach to compete in the Skinners Goldrush Big Wave Competition at the end of 2007. As a result of the torrential storms that battered Britain’s shores during the middle of December, the South West coast received some of the best surf conditions of the entire year. This meant that 16 specially selected surfers were called on short notice to compete in perfect overhead conditions in the UK’s only big wave contest, the 2008 Skinners Gold Rush. The Gold Rush, created and run by the British Surfing Association (BSA), is an annual event with the aim of providing the best surfers with the most exceptional waves that UK shores can provide. The contest is only called at short notice when conditions are set to be classic. Due to the skill required to surf such waves under contest conditions, only highly experienced competitors are invited. Breaking with tradition, surfers are given extended time and scored only on their best wave (as opposed to two), giving them more of an opportunity to relax and go for broke. The BSA’s surf forecasters went on standby some days before the event as an intense Atlantic low pressure was forecast and made the call to hold the event to co-incide with a massive pulse of swell. While not quite as big as the Hurricane Gordon induced surf of last year’s inaugural event, the waves this year were definitely large by British standards, and perfectly clean due to the light offshore breeze. In keeping with the ethos of the event, the later stages were moved around the corner to Fistral’s sister wave, ‘Little Fistral’, as its low tide sandbars began to fire. This was the first time that a surfing competition had taken place here, and the decision certainly paid off. Competitors went berserk in barreling lefts as spectators enjoyed a fantastic elevated view from the adjacent cliffs. Some great action went down in the intense final. Local Newquay man Mitch Corbett threw down the gauntlet with a sweet barrel ride, earning a 6.6 out of a possible 10 from the judges. 2007 British Champion Sam Lamiroy was a standout throughout the event, deftly pulling into barrels and carving up the waves with power and grace and in the final he served up a series of fierce backhand hacks that earned high points. However with five minutes remaining, WQS surfer Oli Adams took off on a set wave and laid down two outrageous, fins-free vertical turns to earn an 8.3. His competitors couldn’t better this, and a delighted Oli walked away with the £1,000 winnings. Following the presentation, Oli commented: “I’m just so stoked to have won. The waves were amazing today and it was so much fun out there. It was really great to surf my home break and the banks at Little Fistral in the final were awesome. It was a great move to shift the final round to there and everyone in the water was certainly making the most of it.” Bookmark this item              |