The Camp
The Redbull Break 5 contest drew teams of 5 surfers from across the country to the beautiful National Trust owned Sandymouth beach over the weekend. The event, now in its second year, was billed as aiming to recapture the legendary good times and camaraderie of the surf events from back in the day, and they achieved just that and then some.
Representing their beaches and clubs the teams of 5 arrived to find an amazing camp with a huge teepee as the social hub. Each team had to include a Pro as well as surfers from a mix of divisions including junior, womens, seniors, masters and longboards, competing with a handicap system that gave additional points allowing combined and fair heats throughout the first day of competition with the fresh groundswell providing plenty of room for expression despite the onshore wind.
The Saturday heats done and dusted it was on to the expression session which was claimed outright with a stunning display from Croyde team captain Andrew Cotton who dazzled the assembled crowd & judges with his range of moves and balance.
Steve & Andrew have a mellow chat
An evening of sensible drinking and quiet chatter followed as the athletes, judges and assembled media prepared for day two.
A quiet drink….
As the fuzziness cleared and the heats kicked off, things were looking good for a number of teams but with the cunning use of the double-whammy joker cards it became a 3 way battle between Woolacombe’s Ass Bandits, Putsborough A and team Rip Shred from Newquay.
It came down to the last heat of the day where all rested on Boardriders chairman Archie Willis who did enough by scrapping a 3rd to force a dramatic surf-off against the Newquay boys.
Woolacombe make the play-off against Rip-Shred
Neil Clifton and Stuart Campbell were selected to ride for Woolacombe and had just 15 minutes to catch one scoring wave each which they had to claim. Clifton grabbed the first wave smashing three hefty hacks cheered by the crowd, the joy was short lived as Oli Adams cancelled out the advantage but the handicap system meant it was down to the final pair.
there was a bit of surfing
The storm that had been brewing all morning hit and torrential conditions ensued but that didn’t dampen the fever pitch atmosphere as Rip Shreds Tom Good grabbed a left to score a 7 leaving Campbell alone in the lineup trying to find something special. With the clock showing less than 2 minutes to go, Campbell hooked into a left and smashed it for all he was worth, covering so much ground the crowd ran from the shelter of the camp into the downpour to make sure they caught the end of a historic ride that finally earned the Woolacombe boardriders a national title.
The winners: Woolacombe
Archie Willis, Neil Clifton, Stuart Campbell, Nick Thorn, Josh Witts
As Neil Clifton, Josh Witts, Stuart Campbell, Nick Thorn and Archie Willis stood on the podium the cheering from all assembled showed the popularity of the team and their victory. which also wins the team an all expenses paid surf trip with Carve magazine later this year, possibly to the Galapagos Islands and the final icing on the cake was when 10 times world champ Kelly Slater gave the team a mention on Twitter. Well done to Jamie and all the crew who made it happen….what a weekend!
You know where you stand with WBSC
There’s so much still to tell: the waves that were ridden,the friends met, and drinks drunk: along with the hospitality, food, and more drink plus the good times had …….you’ll hear the stories or maybe even glimpse a picture, but nothing can do justice to the Redbull Break 5. Bring on 2012
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