Last weekend some of the Soul Surfers crew made the 500 or so mile journey down to Cornwall to help out at one of the UK’s longest running surf contests. This year’s competition was sponsored by some of my favourite surf brands – Nineplus and Finisterre together with Riz Boardshorts and 360 Photography. Whilst sponsors often seek to badge events by inserting their name into the contest name as some sort of payback for endorsement, this competition retains its original name – the Jesus Longboard Classic.
Now, before the name puts you off, let’s set some context. A small local contest was hosted in Croyde, North Devon in 1991 with about 25 locals competing in two categories: the Juniors and the Open surfing titles. The event was organised by Christian Surfers UK (CSUK). In the subsequent 23 years the event has grown into one of the UK’s largest surf comps, so much so in fact that seven years ago they decided to run a longboard specific contest to complement the established Jesus Surf Classic. The Jesus Surf Series, as the two comps have become known, is highly regarded by the UK surfing community. One of our country’s most prized surf authors, Tom Anderson, wrote an insightful and uplifting chapter about his own experiences of it in his wonderful book “Grey Skies, Green Waves”.
This year there were 90 entrants competing in the: Juniors; Women’s; Masters and; Open categories of the longboard specific comp. I volunteered as one of the beach-marshalls and it was great to be able to chat to the surfers between heats. There was plenty of particularly stylin’ surfing throughout the day. The CSUK guys were working hard as some of the crew simultaneously ran the second leg of the Jesus Classic back up the coast in Croyde.
The day also provided a bit of time to observe from the judges vantage point up on the cliffs and to liaise with the tabulators back at Tubestation. Having got to know so many genuinely wonderful people through CSUK over the past five or six years, it was a delight to catch up with many familiar faces from throughout the country. Some are people who have become close friends and others are folks whose stories I still love to see unfold on social media. Many people describe CSUK like a big family and, despite my initial preconceptions and misconceptions when I first came across the organisation 10 years ago, I can attest that it does very much feel like a big family and one that I am proud to belong to.
We managed to run the entire event in a single day and retired back up to the Tubestation for the awards ceremony. Congratulations are due to everyone who took part. Particular props should go out to Emily Currie who won the Women’s and to Connor Griffiths who was the Open Winner. Sam Bleakley took the highest scoring wave of the day and Master’ titles. This photo from my good friend, Kris Lannen, might give you a flavour of the prowess on display.
I have long loved Sam Bleakley’s writings and I continue to miss his adventurous travelogues to far flung shores as recounted in Surfers’ Path. Sam shared some really genuine and heart-felt words about his own participation in the Jesus Surf Classic comps over the years and his gratitude to everyone who had worked so hard behind the scenes to deliver such a well run and enjoyable event.
The vibe and spirit of the Jesus Surf Series are unique within the UK surfing calendar. As Dave Westwater of the British Longboard Union commented, “if only you could bottle this stuff”.
Kris also captured something of the essence of the day in this beautiful little video.
http://vimeohttp://vimeo.com/109372078
Good times!
B.
soul surfers 