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Cloud 9 Spring Sponge Fest 4Series Event 1 Spring |
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Click here for video footage from the first heats Report Clint Loake returned to winning ways to win a new event on the local bodyboard calendar, the Cloud 9 Spring Sponge Fest, which was held in good waves at Petit Port Reef, Corbiere. The event, organised by the Jersey Bodyboarders and kindly sponsored by Cloud 9 Surf Shop, will form the first of 4 events which will make up a four event series that will culminate with the Cold Water Challenge to be held during mid winter. Conditions to kick off the series were excellent as a three week flat spell came to a very timely end to provide very consistant and clean 4ft surf. Most competitors in the first round heats opted to surf the section of reef known as the slab, which was breaking in very shallow water with the tide barely washing over the rocks. Star of the first round was Andy De La Mare who found four hollow left hand tube rides to totally control heat one. Also advancing from heat one was Colin Laurent who performed some tight spin manoeuvres. In heat two Simon Watkins put in a solid performance, which included a nice backdoor tube ride to win the heat ahead of Peter Bolam, who was another competitor to notch up some tube time. Heat three was dominated by Clint Loake, who packed his waves with fast manoeuvres, including some crazy rolls over the almost dry reef. A long lefthander helped Colin Crowther to also advance from the heat. A surprise result in heat four saw Dominic Alfano beat the pre-contest favourite David Speller after back-dooring a nice tube ride to post high scores from the judges. As the tide pushed up for the semi-finals the water became deeper over the reef, meaning there were less powerfull hollow waves to offer the tube rides like in the early heats. Instead the waves, albeit much bigger and breaking much further out, were much flatter in shape, meaning there were less sections on the waves to perform the bigger moves on. Semi one was fought out between Speller, Loake, Bolam and De La Mare. Speller and Loake both posted very high scores from the judges to advance through in 1st and 2nd respectively. Current British junior champion Speller, who has developed a high reputation for his big aerial manoeuvres had to adapt to the conditions by throwing in some forward and reverse spins combinations, whilst hoping to find a wave that might offer a section in which to launch one of his trade mark airs. A small inside section did eventually come along on the almost dry section of reef on the inside and sure enough Speller popped a tidy invert air to please the judges. With the waves losing their hollowness, De La Mare was unable to repeat his first round tube riding exploits and had to settle for 3rd spot ahead of Bolam in 4th. In semi two, Laurent known for his super smooth style and clean manoeuvres, got off to a flyer, scoring the highest wave of the heat on the first wave he caught. Another good back-up wave later in the heat placed him into a clear lead which was never to be challenged. Second spot went to Watkins, who powered his way through some spins and carving cut-backs. Crowther added some entertainment to the heat after sitting for over half of the heat without even catching a wave, he found what was later described as possibly the longest wave to date in one of the club's contests, taking off right on the slab, then fading left he performed four reverse spins before riding out the flat section beyond the end section of reef to the next far inside reef section, before finding a tube followed by another reverse on exit. This was to be Crowther's only ride though, which was only good enough for 3rd spot, ahead of Alfano in 4th for one of his strongest showings to date. The waves were bigger again for the final, with none stop 3-5ft sets pouring through, although there still weren't the powerful sections that these guys were looking for to launching their big moves. As a consequence of this, it developed into a fascinating final, as all four finalists went wave for wave trying to make what they could of the waves on offer. Watkins and Laurent both found solid rigthhanders carving out big fans of spray, and throwing forwards and reverse spins. Speller went through his reportoire of stylish spins, but clearly looked frustrated by the lack of big sections to launch off of. This became even more evident went he took a set wave standing up, no easy feat on a small bodyboard with no fins on the board and whilst wearing flippers! Loake sensing the conditions could favour him as he has an amazing ability to pack in super fast manouevres in all conditions, went about throwing in multiple speedy forward and reverse combos, whilst always having an eye out for a section to hit. As the final drew to a close the scores were close enough for any of the finalists to still take the win. It looked like it was going to be Spellers day as he found a section to hit and pulled a big roll right over the rocks on the inside; however it was Loake who was to take the honours after catching a bigger righthander on the next wave, a wave that jacked-up nice and heavy over the inside corner of reef. A solid bottom turn set Loake up for a perfectly executed el-rollo to take the win and round off a great day of bodyboard action. Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
