Words:
Simon Hammond –
England Team Coach
Photos:
Mark Boyd
An explosive Surf Kayaking World Championships
Wow! What a week. Every set of conditions that could be possible has been experienced during this explosive World Championships. Storms to start, enormous heart-pounding swell to follow, sunshine and classic offshore three-foot, gale force winds, and classic surf to finish. It must have been a nightmare for the organisers, but it served up amazing conditions for the best surf kayakers in the world to battle it out.
Bude is the traditional home of surf kayaking in England, and after this event, it has become firmly placed as one of the best locations for this sport in the world! The event was brilliantly run, and the locals loved it and befriended competitors from around the world. And the atmosphere, both within national teams and between them, was of friendship and support.
Bude is divided into three beaches, with this event being very much centred on Crooklets Beach, home of the Bude Surf Life Saving Club, who kindly gave up their beachside clubhouse as the base for this event. Middle Beach was the second main competition area, with Summerleaze as an emergency backup in case of storm conditions.
busy timetable
After flag-flying parades and opening ceremonies on Thursday, the event began in earnest at 08:00 Friday morning, with the Open Men running through their opening rounds. With over 170 competitors getting through, the opening rounds were going to take at least two days, and already the forecasts were looking difficult. Marc Woolward, Jack Barker and Charlotte Skardon, the event organisers, stayed calm and the first day, in sloppy surf, went to plan with a delighted Jesper Tilsted from Denmark getting the top scores of the day.
As you can imagine, the event is divided into several sections. Open, Master (Over 40s), Grand Masters (Over 50s), Junior. All these are then split into men and women and again into a short and long boat category. Then to add to the organisers’ headaches, there is the prestigious team event to fit in. Oh, and a unique category this year to allow for the paddlers who would have been juniors in 2021 (the original event date but postponed due to Covid) but are now too old, the New Age category. A busy timetable that just about squeezes into the nine days of the event!
Bude Breakwater
Although Bude has a pure west-facing coastline, it also has the semi-sheltered Summerleaze Beach, which gains some protection from the Bude Breakwater. Due to the size of the surf throughout most of the contest, this beach proved to be a lifeline to the competition. With the massive swell and on-shore winds on the team days, this side of the event ran to clockwork using Summerleaze Bay around the top end of the tide.
Going into the team finals, the nations were divided into an A final comprising the Basques, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland and a B final of Denmark, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Finals day was tense, with all the top five nations putting in great performances.
The Basque team had no weaknesses and were ahead at the halfway point. Ian Sherrington won his masters long boat heat to keep Scotland in the hunt, but England were chasing hard with outstanding performances from Captain Ed Long, She Paddles Ambassador Lucy McQueen-Jones, James Hawker, Jack Barker and Matt Lamont; the gap to the Basques was closing fast.
English newcomer Katy Hogarth was dispatched with the simple instruction to catch the biggest waves she could, and when she delivered with another first place, the gap was almost closed. There was excitement to the end, with the Basques just holding onto the Gold medal, England with the Silver, Ireland with the bronze, Wales in 4th and Scotland 5th.
Alongside the competition, there was plenty to keep everyone entertained. The English team hosted a hilarious Raffle Night at the Crooklets Beach Cafe, with all the worst of cheesy raffle prizes on offer and some more relevant items supplied by Nookie and Peak UK.
carbon footprint
Event organisers arranged for a tree planting ceremony which, together with Friends of the Earth and local sponsors Wooda Campsite, will balance the carbon footprint of all competitors travelling to Bude for the event. Perhaps one of the most emotional parts of the week was the paddle out on Monday evening to remember paddling friends that are no longer with us, including Andy Hambley, Hugo Grassi, Jim Whittaker and Jim Grossman. Over 100 paddlers formed a circle in the sea and sat silently to honour these men.
bravery
And then onto the final day, the individual finals for every category, followed by morning semi-finals. The day required both Middle Beach and Crooklets to be used for the semi-finals, and with a big swell running and the tide dropping out to the low tide mark, competitors were challenged not just with their techniques but also with their bravery. Claire Eatock was the first casualty with a dislocated shoulder, but several other paddlers would end up wiping out and swimming as the day progressed.
The first of the finals was probably the most emotional win of the day, where Ed Long from England became the World Masters Long Boat Champion. Hugs and tears from all around as Ed, the England Captain, finished his heat and was immediately surrounded by teammates and family, with everyone waiting for the online results to be confirmed.
heart-stopping
The massive surf continued to build throughout the day, and every final was a heart-stopping event. Longboats competed first, with Pablo Arrouays from France becoming the men’s champion and Ainhoa Tolosa Inda from the Basque country becoming the Women’sWomen’s champion. Jack Barker fought hard for his 3rd place in the Men’s Open Short Boat, and Emma Fishleigh paddled brilliantly to get 2nd place in the Women’s Short boat final.
As the tide slowly flowed up Crooklets Beach, the wave shape became more defined, and even more, spectacular rides were being executed. Jesper Tilsted from Denmark surfed well to gain 3rd place in the Masters Short Boat, Gary Adcock won his second Grandmasters title and newcomers Phillippa Griffiths, and Toryn Pett both medaled in their junior categories.
Awards of Honour
Pete Blenkinsop and Gary Adcock were cheered when they were both presented with British Canoeing’s Awards of Honour for their services to this sport over many decades.
A fantastic event which has shown not just the exceptional level of talent that these paddlers have but also the spirit of respect and friendship that pervades this sport. Paddlers are already fired up and excited about the next Worlds in Argentina in 2024!
Results
Masters Long Boat Men
1 Ed Long
2 Ian Power
3 David Merrifield
4 Noel Dummett
Masters Long Boat Women
1 Brigitte Egan
2 Beth Moore
3 Meg Spittal
4 Maja Andrea Holmsted
Grand Master Long Boat Men
1 Gary Adcock
2 Anthony Coyne
3 Simon Hammond
4 Jose Pineiro
New Age Long Boat
1 Hodel Crujeiras
2 Peru Barandiaran
3 Nathan Rossiter
4 Almar de la Fuente
5 Robbie O’Driscoll
Junior Boys Long Boat
1. Aiur Illareta
2. Enaut Calvo
3. Toryn Pett
4. Iwan Brew
5. Charlie Faragher
Junior Girls Long Boat
1 Xiang Mezzacasa
2. Aitana Urbieta
3. Izard Sanchez
4. Phillippa Griffiths
Women Long Boat Final
1 Ainhoa Tolosa Inda
2 Marie Tessier
3 Emma Fishleigh
4 Meg Spittal
Men Long Boat
1 Pablo Arrouays
2 Odel Etxebarria
3 Hodel Crujeiras
4 Peru Barandiaran
Masters Short Boat Men
1 Edu Etxeberria
2 Ed Long
3 Jesper Tilsted
4 Glyn Brackenbury
Masters Short Boat Women
1 Beth Moore
2 Brigitte Egan
3 Sophie Muller
4 Meg Spittal
Grand Master Short Boat Men
1 Jose Manuel Garcia Bouzamayor
2 Simon Hammond
3 Ian Sherrington
4 Gary Adcock
Junior Girls Short Boat
1 Aitana Urbieta
2. Xiang Mezzacasa
3. Izard Sanchez
4. Phillippa Griffiths
5. Alex Faragher
Junior Short Boat Boys
1 Aiur Illarreta
2 Enaut Calvo
3 Tahiel Quevedo
4 Tieran Hayes
New Age Short Boat
1 Peru Barandiaran
2 Aimar de la Fuente
3 Andrew Lamont
4 Nathan Rossiter
Women Short Boat Final
1 Olatz Garmendia
2 Emma Fishleigh
3 Ainhoa Tolosa India
4 Meg Spittal
Men Short Boat
1 Odel Etxebarria
2 Cyril Samson
3 Jack Barker
4 Aiur Illarreta
