Cold Water Challenge 2009

David Speller has won the 2009 Cold Water Challenge in fun 2-3ft glassy surf at La Saline, St. Ouen's Bay.

The contest, organised by the Jersey Bodyboarders, kicked-off early on a frosty Sunday morning with a chilly sea temp of only 7c, the lowest sea temperature yet for this annual event. The competitors were split into two 30 minute heats, with each rider's best two waves making up their overall score.

Heat one saw Speller up against Gary Le Neveu, Peter Bolam, Seb Bonnier and Simon Watkins. Speller started the heat well, with a couple of good rolls, however it was the in-form Watkins who built up a good lead in the first half of the heat, finding a good four manoeuvre left hander with a spin on the first section, followed by a double spin off the lip into a roll on the inside shorebreak. This wave was backed up by a left hander with a good deep tube ride.

Bonnier and Bolam picked off a few of the bigger peaks, with Bolam scoring well on one nice left hand wave, with a spin to roll combo. Meanwhile, further down the beach, Le Neveu was surfing the rights, pulling some nice spins of the lip and somehow finding his wave out from under the curtain of a close-out barrel.

As the heat progressed, Speller moved up another gear, launching a huge air roll spin (ARS), which posted high scores from the judges despite an untidy landing. This wave was followed up by a right-hander with two solid rolls, and a left with a reverse and an inverted air.

In heat two, old foes Clint Loake and Colin Crowther did battle against Stefano Ricci and the youngest competitor in the competition Dan Garton. Garton, found one good strong ride, performing a series of rolls, posting some score scores, unfortunately, he couldn't back this wave up with a second high scorer. Ricci paddled further north of the main peak, in search of the left-handers,which break there, finding himself a hollow one and pulling deep into the tube.

Crowther landed a rollo take-off early in the heat, however the wave failed to open up to offer a further manoeuvre opportunity. This wave was followed up by high scoring wave with a reverse and a roll on a peaky left-hander.

It was Loake though, who was to dominate this heat. Bodyboarding with his usual consistancy, Loake's manoeuvres included some strong rolls and an ARS on a series of high scoring rides.

Results
1 David Speller 17.13 points
2 Simon Watkins 15.4
3 Clint Loake 15.06
4 Colin Crowther 14.1
5 Dan Garton 11.1
6 Stefano Ricci 8.6
7 Peter Bolam 8.33
8 Gary Le Neveu 8.23
9 Seb Bonnier 4.83