Open &Womens surf Comp

Surfing talent gathered at Bantham at the weekend to take part in the first competition of 2025, the Shortboard Open run by the newly formed Bantham Boardriders Surf Club.

Conditions were fairly good with fun two foot waves, occasionally peaking to a three foot face on the outgoing tide accompanied by a brisk off-shore wind producing nice clean lines.

There were two categories, Open and Womens Open with fourteen and seven competitors in each division respectively.

Bigbury local, Dr. Malcolm Findlay and former Scottish surfing champion proved invaluable as head judge bringing years of competitive experience to the event as did fellow judge, Ben Howie a former ISA World Championship finalist. Surfers were awarded points on criteria such as degree of difficulty, manoeuvring on the wave, turns, speed and power. Participants were graded on their two best waves out of a possible ten rides.

Chairman of the Bantham Boardriders, Paul Hatton said, ‘This was an impressive start to the year and we want to thank all the competitors for coming on Saturday. We are very grateful to the Bantham Estate and to the Bantham Surf Life Saving Club for their co-operation and support and also to Outside for hosting our awards ceremony. Many thanks go to Discovery Surf for the loan for rash vests and to Volcom, Ocean and Earth and Vivo Barefoot for their kind donations to the prize pot.

Lewis Edwards from Vivo Barefoot added, ‘We’re proud to support the roots of this new surf club as it builds a community of ocean-loving, barefoot movers. Every great movement starts at the grassroots level, and seeing this club come to life—bringing people together, embracing the elements, and inspiring the next generation to get outside—is exactly why we do what we do.’

Winners were delighted to receive a new Xcel wetsuit of their choice from surf distribution specialists Daniel Surf. Second placed winners took home a pair of Vivo shoes and third placed winners received a £50 voucher to spend at Tri-Ocean Surf in Churchstow. Other prizes included packs of coffee from Bigbury based Froth Coffee Roasters and a personal medal made for all the winners by Fran, pottery manager at Outside. 

Special mentions went to Tommy Hamilton as the most progressive youth of the day, winning a Volcom backpack and also Willoughby Tucker for being the most ‘frothed’ youngster of the event. 

Winner of the Women’s Open, Annika Connolly said, ‘I was really stoked to take the win at the BBR Comp at the weekend! It was such a fantastic community event and I loved the fact that I was competing with my whole family as well, with my husband Martin making the open mens final and my children Seb and Kira narrowly missing out joining us in the finals! The event was well organised and it was so cool hanging out and catching up with surfers of all generations from across South Devon.’

Winner of the Open, Noah Capps said ‘It felt great to compete again after a long time off especially at an empty Bantham line up. The vibes were high and it was epic to see all the local groms go for it. Big thanks to everyone who helped organise the event and hopefully it’s the first of many, long live the Bantham Boardriders.’

The aim of the Bantham Boardriders is to support local surfing talent and help youngsters progress to the best of their ability and eventually develop the competitive skills needed to further their surfing careers.

Other finalists:

Women’s: 4th-Eva Everliss, 3rd-Merryn Odell, 2nd-Gen Conquest

Open: 4th-Martin Connolly, 3rd-Joe Woods, 2nd-Jonty Tucker