Soundwave Surf Shop Channel Island Championships 2009 - Open and Drop-Knee
Kempt Tower and Weirdos, 06 February 2010.

The Open and Drop-knee Division postponed from the end of 2009 due to poor conditions, has finally been completed in big surf at Kempt Tower and chunky preaks at Weirdos by Jersey Pearl.

After an epic paddle-out mission in solid 8ft surf at Kempt Tower, a paddle which saw a number of competitors take some heavy beatings, it was decided to move the final up the coast to a spot known as Weirdos, a powerful shorebreak wave near Lewis Tower, which would handle the swell better.

The organisers decided to run a 45 minute final, to give the finalists maximum opportunity of picking off waves of good scoring potential from amongst the confused 4-5ft shorey.

As the final got underway, it was David Speller who was to get the better of the early wave exchanges, scoring what was to be the highest scoring wave of the final, with a good right hand barrel. Andy de la Mare then came very close to landing a potential event winning manoeuvre, after boosting a big invert air. The move was not 100% completed though, so missed out on the big scores from the judges.

Speller and de la Mare then become involved in a paddle battle, which resulted in both catching the same left, with Speller performing a rollo right over de la Mare's head. In a situation which had the potential to go either way, the judges unanimously called an interference on de la Mare, ruling that he had interfered with Speller's scoring potential.

As the heat progressed Eduardo Afonso and James Manners both picked off a few mid-range scoring rides, finding good spin and roll sections to put them into contention. Meanwhile, Clint Loake sat further out waiting for his favoured right-hand waves, hoping to find a section to launch one of his trade mark air-roll-spins. Unfortunately for Loake though, the waves he caught failed to co-operate, leaving him out of contention.

Speller consolidated his lead near the end of the heat, when he paddled into a peaky left hand wave, pulling up for a cleanly exited barrel, followed by a solid reverse. The last challenge to Speller's lead came from Manners, who only a few minutes earlier had taken a hefty leash snapping wipeout. The super fit Manners was soon back out, to finish the heat with a powerful roll off a heavy inside section. The wave was not to be enough for Manners though, as Speller held on to take the win. 3rd spot went to Afonso, ahead of Loake in 4th and de la Mare in 5th.

Speller, Loake, Manners and de la Mare were back out for the Drop-knee final, which was held in testing conditions as the ride started to drop. It was Loake who took the title, performing some good turns and 360s. Speller found some good waves on his forehand to take the runner-up spot ahead of drop-knee specialist de la Mare in 3rd and Manners in 4th.

The club would like to thank Soundwave Surf Shop for their kind sponsorship of this event.

Soundwave Surf Shop Channel Island Championships 2009 - Seniors and Masters
Held at Kempt Tower, 12 December 2009.

The Seniors and Masters division of the 2009 Channel Island Championships were held concurrently on Saturday 12 December in good 3ft offshore waves at Kempt Tower.

The final was won by Colin Crowther, who started the heat strong finding a long peeling left-hander, with two reverses and a roll on the inside. A second good scoring wave early in the heat, another good left featuring a reverse and a roll, was enough to secure Crowther the win.

Peter Bolam, also favouring the longer left-hand waves, performed a series of forward spins, to take the runner-up spot just ahead of Eduardo Afonso, who had landed some good rolls on the shorter rights.

Soundwave Surf Shop Channel Island Championships

Full Results

Open
1. David Speller
2. James Manners
3. Eduardo Afonso
4. Clint Loake
5. Andy de la Mare

Drop-Knee
1. Clint Loake
2. David Speller
3. Andy de la Mare
4. James Manners

Seniors
1. Colin Crowther (1st Master)
2. Peter Bolam (2nd Master)
3. Eduardo Afonso