Auto-Sleepers British Bodyboard National Championships 2008

Auto-Sleepers British Bodyboard National Championships 2008

Jersey Bodyboarders club members have returned from a successful weekend at the Auto-Sleepers British Bodyboard National Championships, with David Speller successfully retaining his British under 18 title, and club member Aiden Dixon from New Zealand winning the International division.

The event organised by the British Bodyboard Club in conjunction with the British Surfing Association, took place in small clean surf on a great beach weekend at Porthtowan in Cornwall.

Dan Garton, who won the National title at under 14’s level last year, found it more competitive, as he stepped up to the under 16’s Division. Nevertheless, Garton pulled some nice rolls, before eventually being eliminated in a close heat at the semi-final stage. 		Photo gallery
Day two saw an increase in the swell size, with nice clean waves rolling through. First up was the SUSO Drinks under 18’s Division, featuring the much fancied David Speller, who was determined to hold on to his title. Speller lived up to the pre-event hype, dominating his semi-final with powerful manoeuvres, including a high scoring invert on one wave, the first one to be performed during the whole championships.

Speller made a good start to the final, with a strong roll his first wave, posting good scores from the judges. England’s Luke Brabyn immediately fought back with an excellent roll of his own on a hollow right hander. However, Speller just stepped it up a gear, and aided by his supreme fitness, found himself on all of the best set waves, performing two tweaked inverts, a reverse off the lip re-entry, and some solid rolls to retain his title.

Next up was the first ever Sick Lame & Lazy sponsored Masters Division for bodyboarders over the age of 35. This was a well fought out final, which had the added bonus of having a pod of dolphins swim by the competitors.

The Jersey competitors put in a good show against the two local Porthtowan favourites, Eldred ‘the Agressor’ Hawke and multiple British Champion, Danny Catten. Crowther started and finished the final well, landing a solid roll on his first wave, and a nice looping roll on his last. Watkins also picked off a few good waves himself. However, it was the two local boys who took the top two spots, with Hawke’s more projected rolls giving him the edge, taking him to his first British title. 3rd spot went to Crowther ahead of Watkins in 4th and 2006 Senior champion Alasdair Newby in 5th.

Watkins was shortly back in the water for the semi-finals of the Alder Wetsuits Seniors Division for over 28’s. Drawn again in a heat alongside Catten and Hawke, Watkins almost forced the upset of the day, after finding one of the longest waves of the contest, pulling 4 spins as the wave peeled behind the cliffs at the northern end of the bay. Unfortunately, Watkins couldn’t back up the wave by finding a high enough scoring second wave, to advance through to the final, placing a respectable =5th place overall.

The final of the Bradfords Building Supplies International Division featured two members of the Jersey Bodyboarders, former Channel Island Champion Aiden Dixon from New Zealand and Eduardo Afonso from Portugal. Unfortunately, due to the waves moving onto a different sand-bank, the waves deteriorated just as the heat got underway. This made it hard for the competitors to land the bigger manoeuvres. Afonso, battled hard, but couldn’t find the bigger waves he likes to perform in. Dixon, known in Jersey for his text book air roll spins, had to work hard just to force some rolls in the weak conditions. As the heat progressed a spin to roll combo by Australian bodyboarder Ben Hughes put him in a good lead. However, as the heat drew to a close, Dixon just managed to find that little extra, with a nice clean roll on a left hander to take the honours.

Due to the small conditions, it was decided that the main Open Division featuring a £1000.00 first prize, would be postponed until November 1st/2nd.

Full Results

ThreeSixty Under 14:
1. Sam Brabyn
2. Harry Smith
3. Lloyd Atherton
4. Ed Sherlock

The Beach Hotel Under 16:
1. Stephen Hall
2. Luke Brabyn
3. Liam Benney
4. Callum Morse
5. Dan Garton (Jersey)

SUSO Drinks Under 18:
1. Dave Speller (Jersey)
2. Luke Brabyn
3. Stephen Hall
4. Nathan Thompson

Reveller Womens:
1. Gemma Brittan
2. Clemmie Hardy
3. Olivia Smedley
4. Jasmine O’Shea

Smith & Williamson DK:
1. Aiden Salmon
2. Remy Geffroy
3. Alex Winkworth
4. Danny Wall

Alder Wetsuits Seniors:
1. Damien Prisk
2. Bjorn Storey
3. Eldred Hawke
4. Danny Catten
5. Simon Watkins (Jersey)

Sick Lame & Lazy Masters:
 1. Eldred Hawke
2. Danny Catten
3. Colin Crowther (Jersey)
4. Simon Watkins (Jersey)
5. Alasdair Newby

Bradfords Building Supplies International:
1. Aiden Dixon (New Zealand)(Jersey Bodyboarders member)
2. Ben Hughes (Australia)
3. Eduardo Alfonso (Portugal)(Jersey)