Surf's up in Newquay :: Wessex Scene Online

Surf's up in Newquay

25th May 2003
Jessica Trahar

Rate this story

Nov 07 - Seconds out, Lax are in
Nov 07 - Get your kit off!
Dec 06 - Netball a bunch of basketcases?
May 03 - Charity hockey match gets great ''support''
Mar 03 - Queens of the South

February finds the sea at one of its coldest points of the year. A perfect time then to hold the BUSA Surfing Championships!

Southampton Uni sent two teams of four girls and a team of six boys for the annual surf comp in Newquay, with 62 boys teams and 33 girls, it promised to be not only the biggest surfing competition in Europe but also one of the most enjoyable!

With considerable success in the much smaller warm-up Nolton Haven competition in Pembrokeshire last December, which saw Charlie Nash taking individual second place, and the Southampton girls’ team claiming second position in the team comp both behind Exeter, the surf club was hoping for a top performance and a chance to settle the score with Exeter.

Not being noted as a ‘surf’ uni, Southampton managed to shock the competition as Simon Burdett, Andy Crosher and Luis Jones won their first round heats with Jai Dorbin also qualifying for the second round. With four boys and four girls through, Southampton looked forward to a fruitful second day.

On the second day of the comp, Pip Young managed to outdo the competition as she won her second round heat and progressed through to the last sixteen.

Andy Crosher put in a top performance to clear the second round but ducked out of the third round in tough high tide surf at Towan beach.

Pip put in a commendable performance but missed out on a semi-finals place. The end of our success, but once again the surf club proved to be a force to be reckoned with as the girls teams claimed eleventh and eighteenth place and the boys took sixteenth - no mean feat as both surf renowned universities Exeter and Plymouth had three teams each in the top fifteen!

Despite the surf clubs’ lack of trophies, we still managed to outdo ourselves with an award-winning freestyle performance at Watergate Bay on Sunday! Unfortunately our revenge on Exeter for the Nolton Haven comp wasn’t as forthcoming as we would have liked. Bring on next year...! Plymouth took the honours in the men’s team event, with Exeter claiming first place in the girls.

The surf club meets Tuesday 1pm in the Union bar and organises weekend surf trips every three to four weeks.