Surf predictions for the 15th Jesus Longboard Classic were quite difficult this year. Contest director, Phil Williams, was pretty convinced there would be waves for Sunday but with over 80 competitors registered, both days of surf were required, so the Christian Surfers UK team certainly put some time into praying for the right decisions to be made and for enough waves on the Saturday to complete the 22 heats which were run.

The event, which is held at Polzeath Beach in conjunction with the Tubestation and organisers Christian Surfers UK, is traditionally one of the last longboard events of the season. However, for 2023 it was brought forward to the month of April and therefore took place just one week after the BLU event in St Ives.

The event covers six categories and is always sold out on most of them, although this year there were a few less in the Women’s Open category due to the fact that it clashed with the Mexi Log Fest.

The Christian Surfers crew gathered on Friday night to set up the venue along with the Tubestation staff and were back on site at 7am on Saturday morning ready to go with the hot drinks and breakfast which were free to competitors and well received.

All were very relieved that there were enough waves to begin the heats at 9am and the contest ran seven heats before a three-hour hold due to the big spring tides decreasing the small but clean swell. However, when the tide turned again there were some great waves ridden all the way up till the end of the first day at around 7 pm. It’s fair to say that the judges, beach marshals, and all those involved with contest on the beach had every weather under the sun thrown at them with some torrential rain, so huge thanks to all of them as well as Era Water Safety looking after the event.

Saturday night meant as usual a good community gathering in the various restaurants and pubs around Polzeath which is a highlight of the event, as the longboard community come back together.

Traditionally finals day on Sunday, always starts with a very special event for the Christian surfer’s team which is a simple ‘surfers blessing’ at Tubestation Church, inviting surfers, their support crew, CSUK as well as the local church community to reflect on something relevant to start the day off, and for those wishing a blessing of sea water.

Following the thought provoking surfers blessing the contest got underway with 18 further heats. Surf for the Sunday was a bit bigger than Saturday, and still clean until midway through the day, when the winds turned north-westerly and messed up the surf, but there was still contestable waves right throughout the event until the final final finished just after 4 pm.

Some excellent surfing in all divisions, and when it came to the finals all the heats were pretty stacked. In the over 60s event a great performance by Colin Bright saw him take the victory ahead of fellow Llantwit surfer Peter Cosier, with Backwell’s Ben Keay in 3rd, and the legend that is Minnow Green taking fourth spot.

Moving through the age categories in the over 50’s a new name on the trophy, St Agnes surfer Matt Thomas with a commanding display throughout, taking the title. Rich Emerson pushing him all the way in second, with Colin Bright and Ben Keay taking third and fourth spot respectively.

The over 35’s division is always one of the most popular divisions, and once again was oversubscribed, this year there was a new name on the trophy, Hayle’s Nicolas Keruzec, taking the victory with strong performances right the way through the competition. Another dark horse unknown to this event Tom Fisher from the Gower, surfed strongly in second place and Ashley Braunton and Chris Thomson took third and fourth place respectively, all surfing really well.

The under 18’s (mixed event) always showcases the future of the longboard sport in the UK, and on form St Agnes surfer Arthur Randell retained the trophy ahead of welsh surfer Blake Jones. Seth Reed from St David’s took third, and it was great to see Sylvie Puddiphat pushing the boys all the way in 4th.

There was a new name on the trophy for the women’s title with Jen Pendlebury and Tina Beresford both from Newquay area taking first and second, with Polzeaths Mali Harbour and Georgia McCulloch also surfing strongly into third and fourth.

The open men’s final despite the onshore conditions was a real close battle with Bantham’s Ben Howey eventually taking the title he won a few years ago, but being pushed all the way by Ashley Braunton, Nicolas Keruzec and Tom Fisher.

The presentation took place in glorious sunshine on the side of the hill by Tubestation, a fitting end to what was a tiring, but very enjoyable weekend for all involved

A massive thanks for all involved in putting on this really successful event and in particular for all of the surfers who competed in some tricky conditions, the beach-based CS volunteers, and of course everybody involved with running the event and the hospitality back at Tubestation. Era also did a great job with the water safety.

Without sponsors this event could not happen so a huge thank you for those that have been involved in previous years, Nineplus, Finisterre, Georges Surf School, Kosin and Ocean Frog, and a big welcome to new sponsor 10Oversurf. Also a big thanks to British Longboard Union, and Hotdoggers for ongoing support, and Jamie at Surfline, for great up to date Surf Forecasts.

Photos: Andy Holter.

The event forms the first part of the Jesus surf series with the second part taking place in Croyde over the weekend of September 9th & 10th with the 31st Jesus Surf Classic.

If anybody would like any more information on Christian surfer’s, log onto christiansurfers.co.uk or the Facebook Pages Christian Surfers UK or Jesus Surf Series CSUK

Ahhh! April. Another lovely, gentle return to beautiful Porthmeor beach for some small but very contestable waves. Super. Only this year, Porthmeor had gone out and got some tattoos, a studded leather jacket and a couple of crates of that energy drink everyone seems to be queueing up for in the supermarkets. O-kay…….

First in, the Men’s Open. It quickly became apparent that the solid 3ft swell (and occasional head high sets) had a tad more punch to it than expected. For some, the paddle out became a war of attrition. For others, including British Surfing representatives Ashley Braunton and Evan Rogers, the shifty, dumping peaks simply offered scoring potential, with Evan’s vertical backhand snaps meeting the judge’s approval. Progressive longboarding’s dead, is it? Bringing balance back to the force were Elliot Dudley and Sam Crookshanks, a-steppin’ and noseridin’ like the traditional heroes of old.

The Women’s Open went in next and, unsurprisingly, another member of the team off to El Salvador – current BLU Women’s Champ Emily Currie – took advantage of the power in the swell to stamp her authority over the rest. Other early standouts were Lola Bleakley (off to Mexi Log Fest) and Mali Harbour.

In the Masters, Chris Thomson and Sam Bleakley put those years of experience to good use and breezed into the later rounds, with smooth and controlled being the order of the day. Both of these guys are still very much on top of their game, through I’m assured they bruise easier and take longer to heal like the rest of us over 40’s.

Another huge entry for the Single Fin this year, and the swell had cooled its jets enough to give round 1 an unexpectedly early chance to show their stuff. A game of two halves, this one. The experience of Elliot Dudley, Sam Bleakley, Tom Fisher, Sam Crookshanks and Ashley Braunton being matched by the youthful zest of Jordan Zervas, Arthur Randell and uber grom queen, Sylvie Puddiphatt. Looking good for the later rounds, for sure.

With the tide filling in, a definite reduction in power and size was apparent. The small but perfectly formed field of Grandmasters made the best of it, with Adam Chell, Alan Reed and a surprise entry from Adam Zervas posting the top scores of the semi-finals. I guess they all brought their ‘A’ game. Yes, terrible pun. I know.

It was time to unleash the Monsters of Froth, the U16 Cadets. Last year’s battle royale between Kaz Phillips and Sylvie Puddiphatt appears to be back, both posting 1st place in their respective semi-finals. Mali Harbour and new grom on the block Isaac Dakin also racked up respectable numbers.

With the day drawing to a close there was just enough time to bash through Men’s Open round 2, get fed and watered and off to bed to prepare for another intense day of surfing.

Day 2 brought the sight many a Contest Director fears. The swell had dropped considerably overnight and though the wind had swung fully offshore to produce perfect little peelers, with the tide being a major factor at this size it was decided to reduce the heat lengths to 15 minutes. Popular decision? Maybe not, but definitely the right one.

The Single Fin hit the water and normal service resumed, the standouts from round 1 kept on scoring well. In the end, Sam Crookshanks completed his reintegration into the British surf scene by taking the final in some style with a field combo-ing 15.57 and some of the sweetest backhand noserides you’ll see in such diddy surf.

Emily Currie carried on where she left off in the Women’s Open, and surfed a very controlled and professional semi and final to take the win and a great start to the defence of the title. With the highest score in each round, it wasn’t exactly a huge surprise and bodes (hopefully) well for Emily at the ISA Worlds.

In the U18 Boys, Arthur Randell showed exactly why he’s the current European Junior Champion and effortlessly found several hang ten’s over the weekend when others were struggling for one. He also rides a shortboard pretty well, but we forgive him. Honourable mention to Welsh Whippet Blake Jones, who surfed great and should be a shoe-in for a L’Oreal shampoo contract.

A disappointingly small entry in the U18 Girls again, but when you’ve got 3 surfers of the calibre of Sylvie Puddiphatt, Lola Bleakley and Mali Harbour there’s always going to be enough fireworks to keep things interesting. Sylvie’s faultless take-off-to-stall-to-nose-ride paid dividends on the small right-handers while goofyfooters Lola and Mali chose to contend with the lefts that ended rather abruptly on the rocks. Victory to Sylvie.

The Grandmasters final was a tense and close affair, with the lead changing hands several times before Falmouth’s Adam Chell found a longer left with opportunity aplenty to dab toes over nose, and seal the win. I think this is going to be one of the most contested divisions of the tour.

Back to the future, and the U16 Cadets final. Nothing and nobody was going to rain on Sylvie Puddiphatt’s parade, and with a couple of well taken 6 pointers on the scoreboard she managed to take out her second division win of the contest. This could very well be Sylvie’s year.

In the Masters final, another close match between reigning champion Chris Thomson and Sam Bleakley. Chris took an early lead with a well-executed right that earned him the only wave of the final in the ‘excellent’ range, but he was slowly and methodically reeled in by Sam, whose last 2 waves of the heat were enough to ease into the top slot by a slender half a point. This should be another fiercely contested division in 2023.

The inaugural and much anticipated Women’s Over-35s division attracted a smaller field than hoped for, but we’re confident this will grow into one of the most interesting divisions. Former Women’s Open Champ Claire Smail prevailed in typically unflappable style, and it was brilliant to see Dominique Kent resurrecting her BLU career – long may it continue – along with Tina Beresford and Jen Pendlebury. All in all, a very successful first foray.

Last, and definitely by no means least, the Men’s Open. As the swell diminished, so did the hopes and dreams of some of the early standouts. Ashley Braunton and Evan Rogers will definitely find more power to smash on their trip to Central America, but in Cornwall the day belonged to the Welsh Wizard of Traditional Llongboarding (yes, yes, that’s the Welsh spelling) Elliot Dudley. Jordan Zervas ran him a very close second, and with the electronic scoring having a mild nervous breakdown the results were only known after the surfer’s feet hit the dry sand. Thrilling doesn’t even begin to cover it.

So there we are. Good weather, fine waves, great location, fabulous people, sublime bit of toe dabbing and only a smattering of parking tickets. An excellent job once again from the panel of judges under the benevolent eye of Head Judge Norman Wright (particularly while getting used to the brand spanking new tablets courtesy of 10 Over Surf Shop, Beach Marshall Tony ‘Aaaaarrggghhhh’ Clarke, media team Chris Levi, Ben Hartley, Nathan Benham and Richard Davies, and of course our glorious leader and Contest Director, Minnow Green.

Results

Men’s Open
1. Elliot Dudley
2. Jordan Zervas
3. Sam Crookshanks
4. Sam Bleakley

Women’s Open
1. Emily Currie
2. Lola Bleakley
3. Mali Harbour
4. Jennifer Pendlebury

Single Fin
1. Sam Crookshanks
2. Elliot Dudley
3. Arthur Randell
4. Sam Bleakley

Womens Over 35s
1. Claire Snail
2. Tina Beresford
3. Jennifer Pendlebury
4. Dominique Kent

U16 Cadets
1. Sylvie Puddiphatt
2. Kaz Phillips
3. Lola Bleakley
4. Mali Harbour

U18 Boys
1. Arthur Randell
2. Blake Jones
3. Oli Riley
4. Rowan Curbishley

Masters
1. Sam Bleakley
2. Chris Thompson
3. Adrian Napper
4. Alan Reed

Grandmasters
1. Adam Chell
2. Adam Zervas
3. Alan Reed
4. Colin Sterling

U18 Girls
1. Sylvie Puddiphatt
2. Lola Bleakley
3. Mali Harbour