left to right: Open finalists Pete Symms, Dan Harris, Elliot Dudley & Ashley Braunton
with contest director Robert "Minnow" Green.

British Longboard Union Series – Contest 4:

Presented by Nine Plus & Ginsters
Saunton Sands Classic, North Devon,
15th/16th October 2005 

Elliot Dudley wins the Saunton Sands Classic and takes the overall British Longboard Union title for 2005

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 19 October 2005: - Held at Saunton Sands in North Devon over the 15th and 16th October, the final event on the longboard series tour drew near with promising swell predictions. With wave forecasts showing a long range 8ft swell arriving for Saturday morning after a flat week (Friday showing 1ft). As the sun rose up across the bay at Saunton Sands, surfers were greeted with perfect 8-10ft peaks breaking almost a mile out to sea and light off-shores holding up the faces of what were huge waves for a longboard event. The contest judges, first starting on the rocks, had to move to the headland point on the cliffs in order to watch the surfers riding across the waves from out the back with the paddle out times increased from 5 to 10 minutes ahead of the prior heat.

Early standouts included anyone competing in the Junior and Ladies divisions, whom all seemed nervous at the thought of getting ‘out there’ in the hazardous conditions. Local surfer Ashley Braunton surfed his home break extremely well, as did 15 year old Ben Howarth, who both used the narrow tidal rip alongside the rocks edge to get outside when the larger sets rolled through.

The top 16 surfers within the British Longboard Union series seems to be dominated by youngsters this year, and all of them are surfing extremely well. It was disappointing to see Ben Skinner from Newquay fall under testing conditions in his final heat but it was the waves to a certain extent that determined the progress of the surfer. Gordan Blake from Jersey was also unlucky not to advance though his quarter final heat, as during his free surfs he was the only surfer to go out without a leash and hang five across 8ft shifting peaks.

Awaking on Sunday saw the best conditions anyone could have wished for, 4ft perfection and an incoming tide. The semi finals got underway with the first casualty being Newquay’s Lee Ryan, who failed to advance although surfing well. Elliot Dudley from Wales secured his place in the Final, as did Ashley Braunton, and in the second semi it was Dan Harris and South Devon’s longboard shaper Pete Symms who also advanced.

The first of the finals – being held in clean ideal 3ft conditions, was the Masters division (over 40) with Plymouth University surf lecturer Malcolm Findley taking top honours. In the Juniors it was Sennen Cove’s James Parry who won against Adam Griffths from Newquay.  The Ladies division was won by Jersey’s very stylish Nina Blake, noseriding her way into first place past Emma Fitzhenry, and in the Open Final Elliot Dudley from Wales not only became the series winner, but also won every judges scoresheet to take first place across the board and win the competition.

Above and Below: Elliot Dudley from Wales on his way to becoming
2005 British Longboard Union Open Champion.

RESULTS:

OPEN: 1: Elliot Dudley (Wales) 2: Ashley Braunton (Devon) 3: Dan Harris (Wales) 4: Pete Symms (Devon)
LADIES: 1: Nina Blake (Jersey) 2: Emma Fitzhenry (Newquay) 3: Dominique Kent (St Agnes) 4: Louise West (Perranporth)
JUNIORS: 1: James Parry (Sennen Cove), 2: Adam Griffiths (Newquay) 3: Ben Howarth (Devon) 4: OJ Freshwater (Devon)
MASTERS: 1: Malcolm Findley (Plymouth) 2: Adrian Howell (Sussex) 3: Shaun Marlow (Devon) 4: Tim Mellors (Newquay)

FINAL STANDINGS (TOP 3 FROM 4 EVENTS FINAL STANDINGS)

Elliot Dudley – 2005 Mens Open Champion
Dominique Kent – 2005 Ladies Champion
Adam Griffiths – 2005 Juniors Champion
Malcolm Findley – 2005 Masters Champion

Brief History Of The British Longboard Union

British Longboard Union, also known as the The BLU, was started in 1996 by Robert ‘Minnow’ Green with the revival of British longboarding during the late Nineties. The aim was to hold 2 or 3 events across the South West of the UK that longboarders could enter as a way of having their own main events, and not just be attached to the shortboard contests and pushed into the small waves as a side show.

With the popularity growing in longboard surfing, the British Longboard Union now holds 4 events, including the ‘Wateringhole Classic’ in Perranporth, Cornwall; the ‘Midsummer Classic’ at Watergate Beach, Cornwall; ‘Chapel Idne’ Classic at Sennen Beach, Cornwall and the ‘Surfed Out’ classic at Saunton Sands in North Devon.

For 2005, The BLU is being supported by longboard surfing brand ‘Nineplus’ and Cornish giant ‘Ginsters’. Together the two companies are eager to support their roots being based in the West Country, and with 3 of the 4 events being held in Cornwall both companies appreciate what the West Country has to offer both surfers and beachgoers alike.

(for more information on the contests, please visit the BLU website http://www.theblu.co.uk)






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