The big one...

When I first heard about it, I really wanted to do it. Then I didn't finish high enough at the Saltrock Open so I was just outside the qualifiers. Then 4 days before the event I get an email from Dave Reed saying i'm in! What am I going on about???... The Nike 6.0 Nightsurf - thats what! This event was billed as the biggest domestic UK Pro Tour Event ever held and it was easilly that.

So, it all started for me Friday morning, I packed up the car, set of in good time and hit the road in good weather. As I was coming out of Barnstaple I thought 'the only thing that can go wrong now, is if I break down'. Normally when you pre empt things like that, they don't happen, only this time, jut as I got to Wadebridge, my car died! Not proper died, just teased me died, like 'i'm thinking about breaking down, what do you reckon?' Luckilly it held out and i trundled into Fistral at about 4mph just in time for check-in.

Surfing glamour? Staying at the Headland Hotel this is not! My bed for the night.


The waves were absolutely bolt standard for a UK comp, 3ft and onshore. The only thing different to all other comps ever, was the sun was out! I thought only WBSC were lucky enough to get this but I guess Nike must be paying someone of somewhere because it pretty much stayed sunny the whole time.

86 out of the 88 comps i've ever done have been held in surf like this.


Once I'd got my bearings and taken in the comp site (including VIP area with complimentory competitor massause no less!) I bumped into a few Croydeites. The wildcard surf off's were in the water so I watched those heats with Matt, Suzzane and Taz Knight (a nicer, more welcoming, more surf crazy family you are unlikely to meet!). The standard was already off the chart - watching WQS surfers Charly Martin and Romain Laulhe was already making me think about no-showing my heat. Then, it came, heat one, round 3, Oli Adams, Mark Harris, Luke Dillon and me! I was pretty calm getting changed, just like any other heat I thought. It then dawned on me, walking down the beach that I knew absolutely fuck all about Fistral so I tagged along with Oli pretending I knew what I was doing when really i was just following him to see where he paddled out and sat. Heat on and 2 minutes in I get an ok wave, a good starter anyway and a 5.67 score. It relaxed me and made me think 'at least i'm not going to embarrass myself. So all I had to do was sit and wait for another similar one. Sounds easy doesn't it, sitting and waiting for a wave? Its actually probably the hardest thing to do in surfing so I did exactly the opposite and panic paddled into 3 shit waves and a close out, highest score of them a 4. 20 minutes gone, heat over and i'm out. I was pleased that I was in with a chance in the heat but also annoyed with myself for panicing - thats contests for you I guess.

15 mins of fame you say? Fuck you, I got 20!


Fistral lit up like a bloody christmas tree.



So it appears now i am inadvertantly doing the UK tour, its somewhat addictive all this sitting around, waiting, surfing for 20 minutes losing and then wanting to do it all over again. Why? Who cares why, Scarborough, here we come!