British surfers rush to grab golden waves

Newquay’s Little Fistral becomes surfing amphitheatre for first time
Source: British Surfing Association
Press release sent on December 16th, 2007

Following the torrential storms that battled Britain’s shores recently, the last few days have seen some of the best surf of the whole year. As a result, 16 of the country’s specially selected top surfers today battled it out in perfect overhead conditions at Newquay’s Fistral Beach in the UK’s only big wave contest, the 2008 Skinners Gold Rush in association with Ignite Beanies.

The Gold Rush, created and run by the British Surfing Association (BSA), is an annual event based on the concept of providing the best surfers with the most exceptional waves that UK shores can provide.

The contest is only called on at short notice when conditions are set to be classic and due to the skill required to surf such waves under contest conditions, only highly experienced competitors are invited. Breaking with tradition, surfers are given extended time and scored only on their best wave (as opposed to two), giving them more of an opportunity to relax and go for broke.

The BSA’s surf forecasters went on standby some days ago as an intense ‘dart board’ Atlantic low pressure was forecast. And on Thursday things were still looking good, so the call was made for the event to be held on Sunday.

Whilst not quite as big as the Hurricane Gordon induced surf of last year’s inaugural event, the waves this year were definitely large by British standards, and perfectly clean due to the offshore breeze.
Competitors, spectators and sponsors, Skinners and Ignite Beanies, gathered around the beach and headland of one of the UK’s most famous breaks to witness some exceptional surf action.

In keeping with the ethos of the event, the latter stages were moved around the corner to Fistral’s sister wave, ‘Little Fistral’, as its low tide sandbars began to fire. This was the first time that a surfing competition had taken place here, and the decision certainly paid off. Competitors went berserk in barrelling lefts as spectators enjoyed a fantastic elevated view from the adjacent cliffs. Thanks go out to Ben Granata and Ben Butler of K38 UK, water safety providers for the event, for clearing the Little Fistral line-up of free-surfers, and also to those free-surfers for co-operating.

Some great action went down in the intense final. Local Newquay man Mitch Corbett threw down the gauntlet with a sweet barrel ride, earning a 6.6 out of a possible 10 from the judges.

2006 British Champion Sam Lamiroy was a standout throughout the event, deftly pulling into barrels and carving up the waves with aplomb and in the final he served up a series of fierce backhand hacks that earned a 7.5. But with 5 minutes remaining, WQS surfer Oli Adams took off on a set wave and laid down two outrageous, fins-free vertical turns to earn an 8.3.

His competitors couldn’t better this, and a delighted Oli walked away with the £1,000 winnings, not to mention a case of Skinners Ale to help him celebrate and a host of Ignite Beanies and gloves to keep him warm through the winter months.

Following the presentation a delighted Oli commented, “I’m just so stoked to have won. The waves were amazing today and it was so much fun out there. It was really great to surf my home break and the banks at Little Fistral in the final were awesome. It was a great move to shift the final round to there and everyone in the water was certainly making the most of it.”

Steve Skinner of Skinners Brewery said, “The Gold Rush is a perfect contest for us to sponsor because as a surfing family we can fully appreciate what our country’s surfers can do when the waves co-operate.”

Neill Thompson of Ignite Beanies said, “The surfers love the Gold Rush as do the photographers and spectators so it’s a great event for us to involved with. Today’s temperatures were below zero so we were more than happy to provide a stack of our beanies to help everyone stay warm!”

Contest Director Tristan Perry said, “Today went exceptionally well to say the least. The conditions were good and there was some really awesome surfing showing what our country’s competitors can really do given the right opportunity.

Oli was an obvious standout today and credit must go to all that made it to the final in the face of tough competition. It’s true that the waves were not as big as last year, but they were better quality. Little Fistral was sucky and hollow, hence our decision to move round there for a gripping final.”

Final Results:

1st - Oli Adams (8.3)
2nd – Sam Lamiory (7.5)
3rd – Mitch Corbett (6.6)
4th – Jye Gofton (3.2)

BACK TO HOME