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!

The team will be managed by BBC Treasurer and head judge Alex Ledbrooke, who will also be looking to do some shadow judging at the event to bring some insight to the British Tour.

Alex said “we’ve been working hard alongside Surfing GB to get our team registered and now that this final hurdle is out of the way it’s all systems go!”  He continued, “we had originally wanted to make it cost free for the team but with current financial constraints that’s not been possible”.

However, acknowledging the importance of the event, the British Bodyboard Club has dug deep into its reserves to underwrite the team; and alongside the generous contributions from sponsors the club is looking to minimise the competitor costs to represent their country.

Chairman Rich Hall said; “we put the call out to both past and present sponsors of British bodyboarding asking them for assistance in financing the team, and we were blown away by the response.  Cornwall College, Auto-Sleepers and Smith & Williamson have made significant contributions to the cause; alongside The Bodyboard Depot, Action Sports Distribution, The Pit, Bodyboard HQ, Corona and Collection House. Together they have raised almost half the overhead cost which is amazing”.

The event runs from 28 November to 4 December and the team will be based near Galdar in the north of the island.  Talking about the team’s chances Alex said “we realise we’ll be up against some of the best bodyboarders in the world, and the Euro teams will be especially strong even though some of their most outstanding guys won’t be there due to IBA commitments.   That said, our guys all have experience with the breaks we’ll be competing at and we know they’ll do us proud”.