Volcom Sidfish

Volcom Qualifying Series
Porthtowan UK
10 - 11 October 2009

Series runs again at the Badlands

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 20 October, 2009 : - - I find it increasable difficult to make it down to the South West of the UK, it started with me just making my flight with the dream team (Octopus and Senegal) from Biarritz to the infamous Stansted with you guess it the supposing “always on time airline” Ryan Air, definitely not the case with my past history with this Irish airline company.

We arrived and picked up the rental, loaded up and took off to pick up the Parrott who was in actual fact supposed to pick us up and hit the M something direction Cornwall.After getting lost to find the Parrott we arrived later than planned (six hours?) and had to wake up Misses “I am not impressed” to sleep in our Bed and Breakfast just on top of the rolling hills to the Badlands.

The swell had increased from the Friday and we had some quite fun waves on offer at Porthtowan to get the contest underway. With about ninety competitors ready to shred we started with the groms followed by the juniors, opens and last but not least the girls.

The surfing level was consistent and high through out the day on Saturday over all divisions, even after the Hog roast sandwiches, with stuffing, apple sauce and of course crackling that were cooked on the beach for competitors and family that didn’t seem to weigh anybody down in the water, thanks to Redbull for catching the one and half meter pig for us.

With the current numbers of heats spread out through all divisions we didn’t have enough light to finish in one day and opted to run the finals on the Sunday. The waves had increased and so did the wind but if you were in the right spot there were some nice lefts and on the other side of the messy peak some rights as well.

In the grom finals it was Little Harry Timson who managed to get a few lefts in the not so consistent conditions in front in first position ahead of Krys Barfield in second chased by Adam Bayfield in third and little Ed Smith in the fourth spot.

For the juniors there were more open faced waves and taking advantage of them was George Pickering also on his forehand and throwing spray for first with multiple turns on some of the bigger waves. Josh Piper who had been on a good run on the Saturday had to settle for the silver followed by Tom Good in third and Chris Kelly in fourth.

The girls made the most of the conditions as did eventual winner Sarah Beardmore who was strong through out also and fresh off a couple of nine point rides from the day before was to strong for the others and maybe also the other divisions? Zoe Cheath who was cruising around with Sarah had to settle for second with Kensa Munroe in third and Jesse Henry in fourth.

The Opens was the last final that was run in the now drizzly conditions with wind and rain more present. Joss Ash found the better ones with opens faces to push it for first spot ahead of Jayce Robinson who impressed early on but couldn’t find the good ones to give Joss the run for his money so to speak held the second place with Andrew Griffin in third and Ben Sowter in fourth.

RESULTS:

Groms:
1.Harry Timson
2.Krys Barfield
3.Adam Bayfield
4.Ed Smith

Juniors:
1.George Pickering
2.Josh Piper
3.Tom Good
4.Chris Kelly

Girls:
1.Sarah Beardmore
2.Zoe Cheath
3.Kensa Munroe
4.Jesse Henry

Opens:
1.Joss Ash
2.Jayce Robinson
3.Andrew Griffin
4. Ben Sowter

Electric Volt Thrower:
Harry Timson

All finalists qualify for the VQS European Championships next April in France. Thanks to everybody who competed and came by the beach over the weekend to support the Sidfish. Extra thanks go Jo from the BSA, Vans, Electric , Red Bull the Blue Bar, the Wards,Dimmer, Aerial7, Josh Ward and the Judges, and not to forget Mr. Clinton for the pics!

www.volcomeurope.com