The final event in the BSUPA surf series calendar, and the first ever sup event to be held at Fistral Beach, Newquay, got going last Saturday in some, shall we say, interesting conditions. The UK’s most talented sup surfers rose to the occasion though and put on an explosive display that showed just what was capable. 

Fistral Beach, 4^th November

During the week running up to the event, the entire south west peninsula was enveloped in a blocking high pressure system which while it brought a last gasp of summer, also prevented any swell whatsoever from coming in. The forecast for Saturday was fixed from a long way out – strong NNW winds which would whip up a 3 foot wave with a period of about 5 seconds. It would be contestable, but would it be fun? It wasn’t classic Fistral and this surely had an impact on the number of entrants.

Saturday morning arrived and I thought the surf didn’t look quite as bad as I expected. The riders certainly didn’t seem phased with many admitting they’d surfed in worse. Even junky days Fistral can still offer lots of sections and ramps, it was most likely the best place to be anyway in these conditions I was cautiously optimistic that we’d see some good surfing. If nothing else, this should be a demonstration of sup’s versatility over other styles in tricky surf.

First heats got underway at 10am and with 10 men and 4 women entrants we had about three hours of competition time ahead of us, meaning we could dodge the worst of it at low tide around lunchtime, and run the finals on the rising tide. The men’s fleet was split between the veteran stalwarts of Neal Gent, Dave Ewer, Jason Sawyer, Marcio Dias and Matt Argyle and the new wave of Blue Ewer, Max Shepherd, Todd Sawyer, Ben Fisher and Aaron Rowe (though he seems like he’s been around for years), with contest regular Sean Facey bridging the gap between the two schools.

In the women’s fleet, the ultra-consistent Tina Beresford was fighting to retain her overall title and against Marie Buchanan, who’s been on fire all year. Standing in their way though were Cal Major and West Cornwall’ Elle Veale, both of whom were willing to fight to take the first ever sup win at Fistral.

With a strong current surging right to left, about 30 knots of wind in the face and a sea state that would probably make most kitesurfers flinch, it was a test of fitness and skill, and a bit of luck to shine in the twenty minute heats. Marie’s ability to get her head down and smash relentlessly into the wind would cinch it for her, gaining her the top spot and overall title. Tina would take second, with Cal third and Elle fourth.

Ultimately in the mens it was the new school that would emerge to face each other in the man on man finals. With the tide rising and the sun setting towards the south, the contest area was shifted towards the middle of the beach and the judges relocated to the top floor of the RNLI building for an unimpeded view. The beach was getting busy and by this point word had definitely got out that there was a sup surfing comp on and the tourists that were still hanging around after half-term and locals beach goers alike were turning their gaze towards the ocean, seemingly bewildered that anyone would be able to stand up on a sup on such a day, never mind turn and burn on a wave. It was all pretty far removed from floating down the Gannel on inflatable with the dog on the front!

First up was Ben Fisher and Aaron Rowe. Ben was surfing well combining smooth cutbacks and some stylish backhand reos but it was a day of lefthanders and Aaron edge him with a succession of snappy, creative waves on his frontside. Blue Ewer and Max Shepherd were on next. Blue is emerging so rapidly as a formidable force in these comps and displaying considerable strength for his 16 years. Max managed to find a rare right hander in the chaos, possibly the best wave of the comp and it tipped the balance in his favour. He’d have about two minutes to get his breath back though before facing Aaron, who’d been refuelling with gummy bears, in the final. Talk about a test of fitness, I almost felt bad giving Max the news that he was through.

With the Cornish sun dropping in the sky the light and setting for the final was perfect. Throughout the event the riders had been ripping so hard that you almost forgot the conditions were just the right side of impossible. If Max was at all fatigued from his previous heat, he didn’t show it. In fact, he was obviously warmed up as he got straight back into another decent (for the day) right leaving Aaron to respond by working a left to the beach. The surf could never be described as epic all day, but for the final it slowed down a bit leaving the way for Aaron with his ability to perform with full style points regardless of wave quality, to step forward and claim a well deserved victory at Fistral, and the overall title.

Round Three Fistral Results:

Men’s

1^st Aaron Rowe
2^nd Max Shepherd
3^rd Blue Ewer
3^rd Ben Fisher
5^th Neal Gent
5^th Sean Facey
5^th Matt Argyle
5^th Dave Ewer
7^th Marcio Dias
7^th Todd Sawyer
7^th Jason Sawyer

Women’s
1^st Marie Buchanan
2^nd Tina Beresford
3^rd Cal Major
4^th Elle Veale