Starboard finishes 2nd, 3rd and 4th at the exhibition contest at the Headworx English Surfing Nationals.
Ex UK Masters Longboard Champion Tim Mellors placed 2nd on a 9'8" Sportech, John Hibbard placed 3rd on a 9' Sportech
and Lewis Timson (2nd in the '07 UK SUP Champs) placed 4th using a 12'6" Tufskin. Tim missed out on 1st place by the
smallest of margins.
The exhibtion contest was held as part of the Headworx Surfing Nationals. This event is now in it's 36th year and is the biggest surf contest in the UK with divisions for all areas of surfboard riding. This year SUP was staged as a demonstration event only, but this did not stop the 8 invited riders from showing off sup to the best of their abilities. The final was held as the last session of the day in front of a packed beach and in clean, glassy 1- 2ft swell. The event was held at one of the UK's most famous surfing beaches - Watergate Bay.
John Hibbard says: " It was great to be able to compete in an sup event in front of many of the UK's surfing elite. I was feeling the pressure out on the water as looking back to the beach you could spot WQS surfers and European Champions like Ollie Adams, Grishka Roberts, etc. There was a great atmoshpere on the beach and out on the water and I hope that next year the English Surf Federation will hold a full open sup contest as part of this event. The feedback so far has been good so I think we should see this happening."
The 2008 British Champion (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) will be decided at the end of a 4 event series being run this year by the British Stand Up Paddle Surfing Association (BSUPA). The first of which kicks off on the 17th May at West Wittering Beach Club.
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The exhibtion contest was held as part of the Headworx Surfing Nationals. This event is now in it's 36th year and is the biggest surf contest in the UK with divisions for all areas of surfboard riding. This year SUP was staged as a demonstration event only, but this did not stop the 8 invited riders from showing off sup to the best of their abilities. The final was held as the last session of the day in front of a packed beach and in clean, glassy 1- 2ft swell. The event was held at one of the UK's most famous surfing beaches - Watergate Bay.
John Hibbard says: " It was great to be able to compete in an sup event in front of many of the UK's surfing elite. I was feeling the pressure out on the water as looking back to the beach you could spot WQS surfers and European Champions like Ollie Adams, Grishka Roberts, etc. There was a great atmoshpere on the beach and out on the water and I hope that next year the English Surf Federation will hold a full open sup contest as part of this event. The feedback so far has been good so I think we should see this happening."
The 2008 British Champion (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) will be decided at the end of a 4 event series being run this year by the British Stand Up Paddle Surfing Association (BSUPA). The first of which kicks off on the 17th May at West Wittering Beach Club.
