The ISA World Bodyboard Games has been on the grapevine for a couple of years but finally in 2011 it came to fruition, and what a way to start! The Spanish Surfing Federation took the lead and hosted an incredibly professional event from start to finish. From the opening ceremony in the town of Galdar where all teams paraded through the streets to the town square for a massive kick start, to the final presentations on the shoreline in front of the epic waves of La Guancha it felt good to be a bodyboarder.

Team GB were selected following a successful British Tour and Nationals competition. The only hiccup was junior selection Steve Hall who in training for the event bust his arm big time landing a huge backflip. Devastation for Steve and the team but that opened the door to the biggest event of young Sam Brabyn’s life; his eyes were on stalks for the full seven days. You should have seen his face when Hubbard jumped in the car and joined the team for dinner, and when PLC was hanging out in his room at the hotel!

The opening day was held at the reason the competition was in the Canary Islands, the infamous El Fronton; a shallow bone crushing wave that takes no prisoners. But if you can tame this beast of a wave the possibilities for bodyboarding are endless. Damian Prisk was up first in the very first heat so with the world watching he got down to business. First wave comes Damo’s way; he dropped into a ledging right-hander, scooped under the lip for a quick barrel and hit the lip for a text book ARS, the Brits have landed and the crowd went absolutely mental!

The quality of surfing from all teams was excellent; it was so good to see teams like Italy and Israel getting stuck in too. The event proved to be a tough one for Team GB with many falling into the repercharge after the first or second heat making the number of heats they had to surf through grow significantly but the double elimination format (a luxury for week-long competitions) kept everyone in it and interested.

Highlights have to include Winkworth’s heroic performance on the Knee at Fronton. No-one surfs a stand-up at Fronton, imagine trying to DK this beast! Alex gave it a massive effort and according the Team Espana he was the champion of Fronton on the Knee that day, does praise get any better? Huge credit must also go to Sam Brabyn and Olivia Smedley for their brave efforts in waves it’s fair to say neither have even seen before let alone competed in. They have both walked away fired up, watch these two and expect great things.

Despite not making it to the final day of competition Jack Johns was the head turner for the team. He was the first to post a 9 point ride in the competition and pretty much invented a new move dubbed the “Jackpot” by team manager Alex Ledbrooke. Jack owned that particular heat with two sevens and a nine. Deep barrels and that crazy tweaked out flip had the world of bodyboarding frothing. Aussie Team manager Danny Bycroft blogged on Riptide’s website that evening saying, “The crowd was treated to a schooling in smooth barrel riding by the UK’s Jack Johns”. (http://www.riptidemag.com.au/world-tour/5194-day-two-of-the-isa-games)

All in all it was an amazing week. The team had a great experience and Ledbrooke was picking the brains of everyone learning what he can bring back to the BBC Tour as well as getting his mug on the webcast and an invite to go back next year! Team GB finished in a respectable 14th place out of 21 teams. That will only improve in the coming years.

Thanks to all the team sponsors; Cornwall College, British Bodyboard Club, Auto Sleeper Group, Smith and Williamson, Bodyboard HQ, Bodyboard Depot, Pit Surf Shop, NMD Boards, Corona Extra and Collection House.

First up was the international debut for Olivia “Deadley” Smedly.  The wedgy heavy wave was a long way from Deadley’s home break of Portreath but she gave a solid effort dropping into pit after pit with one notable lefthander, go Smedders!  For a while she was hanging onto second place but a big push from her rivals saw her pushed out of the progression and into the repercharge.

Sam Brabyn was next up.  Super relaxed Sam had a similar heat dropping into one particular bomb of a right.  The little man looked like he was sitting inside a 10ft backdoor drainer on one wave and he very nearly saw the light of day after the wave blew its guts out but alas, “Welcome to La Guancha”!!!  Another ticket for the the repercharge.  The reper started well with Sam tweaking an invert on the now bowling left which put him where he needed to be.  It was a super tight heat with everyone within just a couple points of each other.  However the 15 minute heat was just too short for Sam to find a second solid high scoring wave and he was pipped for second place and out of the competition.  A huge performance from Sam which included taking out a heat at Fronton, big up this man!

Smedders was next back in the water with the conditions now looking nasty, windy, confused and rocky!  One competitor in Liv’s heat completed a roll and ended up lieterally high and dry on the rocks.  Deadly got in the mix and again is was so close but the pelling wave she was rightly looking for never materialised and the chance of a long higher scroing ride didn’t come.  Another brave effort.  She’ll be bringing loads of experience back to the UK that’s for sure.  A quick photo with Pierre put the smile back on her face!

The injured Winkle was next in in conditions that again didn’t exactly scream DK.  Only local man Ardiel Jimenez managed anything decent.  Winky paddled out with a patched up leg complete with stitches and started really well.  A sick backhand left and tight spray throwing snap looked good but the judges only have it 4.8.  Another decent scoring ride couldn’t be found so Winky too was into reper land.  A second effort against none other than Ceasar Bauer.  With an aching leg is was a big ask and proved to be too much for Winky and another Team GB rider fell.  IN the eys of the Team Espana however he was the El Fronton champion of DK.  They literally gave him a huge pat on the back for yesterday’s performance.  What more praise could you ask for?

Tomorrow will see the completion of the DK, Juniors and Women’s back at La Guancha.  The Open division may be in around low tide at midday but that is unasure at the moment.

Stay tuned, and if you’re lucky you’ll get Alex back on the live webcast commentary!

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

After that it was back to Gladar for the opening ceremony, it was nothing less than epic. Locals lined the streets as 21 teams paraded their flags to the town square where the games were declared open by local dignatries. Brabyn and Winky soon found themselves mobed by groupies as they posed for photos with swathes of girls, classic! The whole team were signing autographs, and “Deadly” Smedly jumped around on top of the Red Bull Hummer!

A second session back at a rapidly growing Fronton for Damo, Jack and Winkworth whilst folder holder Ledbrooke got the paper sorted in the afternoon. A final evening session on La Guancha, the anticipated spot for the DK, women’s and juniors was enjoyed with a lot of fun waves going down.

The bits you need to know. Tomorrow’s activity.
Check-in 8am at Fronton for round one of the open.
Heat 1 – Prisk, Alonzo (Venezula), Mugani (Israel) and Eman (Aruba)
Heat 6 – JOhns, Rivera (Peurto Rico), Loefstock (Aruba)
Webcast – www.sportzoneisabodyboard.com

Juniors and DK is on standby for tomorrow.

Fingers crossed some video action for you tomorrow and we’ll try to get some opening ceremony photos up tonight.
BOOM!

National titles in eight divisions were decided in the testing conditions at Porthtowan, with the event being the last in the Tour for Open, Women and Drop Knee; and the stand-alone for age divisions in the U14, U16, U18, Seniors and Masters.

The Collection House Under 14s were the first to hit the water with their semi finals; and with many of the competitors competing after the BBC/Bodyboard Depot training course a few weeks before expectations were high. The youngsters got fully stuck in to the ramps and faces on offer at low-tide Porthtowan and did not disappoint. Trevenna and Littlejohns laid down their marks seeing them both progress to the final later in the day.

Next up was the open division, and as has been the case all year there were no easy draws. The tour rankings decide the seeding into each event, so with some riders only having made it to one or two events there was always the potential for a big clash in an early round, which is exactly what happened.

For the Tour title to stay open until the very last minute, the 2010 champion and 2011 Tour leader Jack Johns had to be knocked out in the first round. With one no show in his heat, Jack was left to battle it out with the ever consistent Aidan Salmon and the super competitive Remi Geffroy. Everyone went to work; Remi stamped his authority on the heat with fast powerful combos. Aidan then got in on the action with a couple of solid rides which put him at the front of the pack. Throughout the heat Jack never quite found the rhythm he’s famed for and whilst the intention was bold, it never quite came off. Scores tabulated, Jack was out and Prisk and Winkworth were still in the race but they both needed a finals finish.

The rest of the open quarter finals were a great display of solid bodyboarding in the punchy beach conditions.

The Alder Drop Knee division had a superb cast of protagonists, with tour regulars Ollie Medland, Chris Milford and Alex Winkworth pitched against underground aficionados Andrew ‘Hilly’ Hill, Ross Littlejohns and Wales’ Dean Page. Throw former British DK champions Aiden Salmon and Laurie McCall into the mix and this was going to be something special. The first semi of Page, Winkworth, Hill and Milford was the best DK heat since the epic McCall and Wall showdown a few years ago. Page hooked into a number of outside lefthanders which he took apart with deep front-side hacks. Winkworth used his local knowledge and sat inside and rode the bowling hollow right which suited his natural foot stance. A couple of long combination filled manoeuvres ticked the judges’ boxes and the big scores rolled in. All the time Milford and Hill were in contention as they too threw buckets of spray around the beach, but they couldn’t catch Winky and Page. A seriously impressive display! Solid performances in the second heat saw the south coast’s Medland and Littlejohns progressing through with Salmon and McCall bowing out.

The pace didn’t slow down as the Auto Sleepers U18 division took to the water. With many of the riders in the last year they could compete for the Under 18 title, it was a hotly contested fight for the silverware. Hall looked comfortable in the conditions, his recent spell in France obviously paying off, but he was chased down to the wire by Jack Stevens’ performance of the year to advance into the final. Man of the grommet moment Sam Brabyn also booked himself a place in the final in semi number two and was joined by another “best of the year” performance from the south coast’s Harry Smith. The final could go any way!

Back to the Bodyboard HQ Open division and the semi finals were underway; three riders were still in contention with the eliminated Jack Johns still on top of the Tour leader board. Prisk and Winkworth had to make the final to stay in touch. To make things worse for the two and more interesting for everyone doing the sums on the beach, they were drawn in the same heat! However, both were on fire and dispatched Hall and Salmon with impressive style. So who would join them? Dinham, Wake, Milsom or Geffroy? It was another super tight heat with less than a point separating second and fourth. Remi was top of the pack and clear by a few points, and by the skin of his teeth and his consistent contest style, Dinham booked himself another finals slot.

And so on to the show downs and the eagerly awaited finals…. The girls got things underway, and for the first time this year, a full quota took to the water. Clemi was fresh from the win at Connies, Smedley was top of the leader board and looked good but the contest reliable Gemma Briton joined them as did Tabby Fox who had just returned for the Euros in Ireland, this was going to be good! Clemi opened her account with a bowling right which saw a tight reverse in the pocket. Smedley then showed her intentions with a great spin to lofty roll combo. Gemma and Tabby stayed cool but the waves just wouldn’t come. Both scored good left-handers but didn’t have the same clinical finish of the heat leaders. After her great first wave, Olivia Smedley never found the second big score she wanted and a confident Clemi Hardy got what she needed from a number of further long bowling rights that offered great sections for her trademark reverses. Clemi took the heat and the CW Harwood sponsored event win, but with a second place finish, Olivia got the points for the first ever British Tour Women’s title!

The Collection House under 14s were next and as expected it was the Trevenna and Littlejohns show. These guys have a very bright future ahead of them in the sport. Wave of the heat and one of the best of the day went to Trevenna who whipped the sweetest reverse which saw his lightweight frame nearly lifting clear of the face. He caught the rail and powered out of the spin and down the line into another carve. Big scores all round and with a second long left combo filled wave he was out of sight. Littlejohns was only a point behind with another brilliant display. Jack Cruse and Liam Richards also showed we have an exciting future in British Bodyboarding.

The Beach Cafe U16 was a little thin on the ground so it was a straight 5 man final. Again some new faces were great to see at the event and will no doubt feature in future finals but Brabyn and Newquay’s Joe Woodhouse dominated. Both looked good but Brabyn’s rapidly improving contest head saw him take the heat with a superb score of 14.33 and the title!

The 2010 Under 18 final was one of the highlights of the weekend and this year’s ASG sponsored 2011 final looked set to be just as good. Steve Hall couldn’t quite emulate the same incredible start to his 2010 final but his opening gambit put one foot on the podium with his trademark linking reverses and punchy rolls. Smith, Brabyn and Stevens all chased hard but in the end the race was for second place as Hall found a second high scoring ride to give a big heat total just shy of 15 points and another trophy for the cabinet. The race for second was won by a fraction with Brabyn sneaking passed Smith putting Stevens into fourth place.

The Toys Bodyboard Seniors division was next, but with some of the open division riders now well and truly within the category the action didn’t slow down. Darren McPhail and Gareth Harris had their work cut out with Damian Prisk in their heat. It was a nail biter for second place and in the end it was just 0.27 points separating the riders with McPhail getting the better of Harris. Great to see some new faces in this division but it was no great surprise to see Damo take the title.

The eagerly awaited Alder DK final saw another down-to-the-line race for the Tour title between Winkworth and Medland. Welshman Dean Page started where he finished his last heat with a huge front side snap sending another sheet of water over the back of the wave to worry the others in the heat. Frustratingly for Medland and Littlejohns the waves wouldn’t come to them. They did well with what they found, but the peeling set waves were hard to get. So it was down to Winkworth and Page for the final spot. Winkle had a good bash with some solid manoeuvres out of the pocket but it was Page’s hard hitting and fast flowing carves that did it for him. Let’s hope we see this man on next year’s tour events.

The BBC Masters division was a four horse race that in the end needed a photo finish! After 20 minutes of surfing the difference between first and forth was 2 points. The Jersey duo of Colin Crowther and Simon Watkins were against locals Hilly and Bruno Martin. Hilly opted to do things differently and stuck to his jack stance and he gave it a good go posting a 10.60 final score. Just in front was Crowther on 10.67! After a solid first wave he couldn’t find the second ride he needed to challenge his island rival Watkins. Simon found a couple of long lengths and gave a solid competition performance nicely completing some great combos. Bruno Martin gave it a last minute charge with some good right-handers but it was too little too late, Watkins completed his Masters trophy cabinet and took first place for the first time.

So in the pouring rain the final heat of the day and the Tour decider got going. There was 20 minutes to win it, but who would it be? Dinham got to work and again surfed a solid heat but lacked the set waves and the variety to reach the big scores. Winkworth used his local knowledge and surfed with his smooth style showing through again but like Dinham, the set waves didn’t come his way. Prisk didn’t really put a foot wrong and as expected threw his combinations together in his fast powerful way, but there was one man in the water who wanted it even more. Remi found a couple of long rights and surfed them with power and speed and took a risk off the peak. It really was a great performance throughout the day from Remi and in the end he deserved the win.

But what of the tour? It couldn’t have been much tighter, just what you want as a spectator, not what you want as a competitor. So in reverse order and on 1095 points it was Alex Winkworth. In second place (drum roll please), was Jack Johns on 1110 points and with 1265 points and the 2011 ASG British Tour Champion, ladies and gentlemen, we give you, Damian Prisk!

It was a sick comp well run by the BBC and well supported by British Bodyboarding and of course the headline sponsor Bodyboard HQ. The presentation evening in the Blue Bar was a good laugh and many a beer was sunk as the night wore on.

The BBC would like to thank sponsors Bodyboard HQ, Auto Sleepers, Collection House, The Beach Cafe Porthtowan, C W Harwood, Alder Wetsuits, Toys Bodyboards and the Blue Bar for making the event possible.

It’s been a great year for British Bodyboarding. The BBC committee will now go back to HQ and work out plans for the 2012 tour. We’ve learned a lot and we’re always open to ideas so send us an email to admin@britishbodyboardclub.co.uk and we’ll keep working for you.

• DAMIAN PRISK

DROP KNEE DIVISION

• ALEX WINKWORTH

WOMENS DIVISION

• OLIVIA SMEDLY

UNDER 14 DIVISION

• JAMES TREVENNA

UNDER 16 DIVISION

• SAM BRABYN

UNDER 18 DIVISION

• STEVE HALL

OVER 28 DIVISION

• DAMIAN PRISK

OVER 35 DIVISION

• SIMON WATKINS