News

Quiksilver Roxy Finale on the Nerf Clash of the Groms Series

Monday, 27 November 2017

Supported by Quiksilver & Roxy, this year’s final event on the UK Pro Surf Tour calendar marked the end of an exceptional year of competition and the last event of the Nerf Clash of the Groms Series (which covered events from Cornwall, all the way up to the Scottish Highlands for the Thurso Surf Festival).
2 solid days of meteorological brutality faced our intrepid competitors with howling Northerly on-shore winds and 3’ wave faces beyond the white wall of the shoreline paddle-out, making for some tricky conditions as day one commenced with the preliminary rounds of the Under 18, Under 16 & Under 14 Boys throughout the morning, followed by the Under 12 Boys round one before entering the semi-finals of the Under 18,16 & 14 Boys divisions.
Initial stages of the Under 18 Boys saw Noah Anstis, Seth Morris & Noah Capps through to the semi-finals in Heat: 2, with Patrick Langdon-Dark, Noah Biersack & Sol Hawkins pushing through the competition to face-off in SF Heat: 1. Semi-finals eliminations put Patrick-Langdon Dark, Noah Capps, Noah Biersack & Seth Morris through to a stacked final for Day:2
An exciting shake-up in the Under 14 Boys category saw an entry from Dutch surfers, Seb Den Otter & Stef Van Noordenne break up the usual semi-final cast of characters as they faced Austin Brocklesby from Bude in Heat: 1 & Bertie Norman, Sam Hearn, Joel Morrison & Louie Ingram head to head in the second afternoon heat of the semi-finals, with Tour leader Sam Hearn facing both riders from Holland (Seb Den Otter & Stef Van Noordenne) and Bertie Norman in the finals.
The Under 16 Boys elimination rounds saw some excellent displays of surfing in these conditions, with choice waves being picked off out-back by a familiar semi-finals line-up of Woody New, Seth Morris, Noah Capps, Barnaby Cox, Joseph Morris, Louie Harrow & Max Hudson twinned with the aggressive, energetic inside attack strategies of Stanley Norman equating to a final draw consisting of Noah Capps, Barnaby Cox, Seth Morris & Stanley Norman in an all-out battle for the title on our second day.
Young emerging talents in the Under 12’s saw powerful and energetic surfing from Lukas Skinner attract the proud following of his father Ben Skinner & Adam Griffiths, watching the live-feed all the way from their World Surf League Longboard Series event in Taiwan, as he surfed toe-to-toe against fellow groms in Heat:2 to move on into the semi-final stages alongside upcoming surfers Finlay Lucas, Flynn Gillespie, Arthur Randell & Tom Boothroyd to name a few of these future surfing stars in the making.
Day: 2
Cleaner conditions and a slightly diminishing wind in the afternoon welcomed our female competitors to another albeit chilly morning of competition as the event got under-way with the Under 14,16 & 18 Girls’ semi-finals (first) round before heading straight into the finals for all categories for the remainder of the day.
Standing out for our judges was the triple-threat surfing talent, Alys Barton creating a huge stir among the crowd, emerging through the challenging conditions to the finals in all three female divisions, taking the win in the Under 16 Girls category and podium finishes in the Under 14 Girls & the Under 18 Girls.
Lauren Sandland takes the win in the Under 14 Girls for the second year running, and first place in the Under 18 Girls goes to Lily Mandeville who surfed extremely well to top the challengers for the title.
In the Under 12 Open finals, it was the powerful style of Lukas Skinner that shone through to top Flynn Gillespie for the title,
Meanwhile in the Boy’s Divisions, Dutch entry, Seb Den Otter proudly takes home the Under 14 Boys trophy, Stanley Norman returns to a top podium finish in the Under 16 Boys Final & in a thrilling final heat of the event, Patrick Langdon-Dark progressively surfs his way to the crown over Noah Capps for the Under 18’s boys.
Huge Thanks must go to our event Sponsors Quiksilver & Roxy for making this final event one to mark the end of such a successful year and for rewarding our finalists with prizes aplenty and to Nerf for their support over the entire Groms Series, with all our juniors brandishing the latest in foam-propelling technology.
Also, thankyou to UKPSA tour sponsors The Surfing Sumo for their continued work behind our online presence & Fistral Beach for their contribution and for hosting our exciting events throughout the year.
Results
Under 12 Open
1st – Lukas Skinner
2nd – Flynn Gillespie
3rd – Arthur Randell
4th – Finlay Lucas

Under 14 Girls
1st – Lauren Sandland
2nd – Alys Barton
3rd –Tegan Blackford
4th – Claudia Cosgrove
5th – Asha Sykes

Under 14 Boys
1st – Seb Den Otter
2nd – Sam Hearn
3rd – Stef Van Noordenne
4th – Bertie Norman

Under 16 Girls
1st – Alys Barton
2nd – Claudia Cosgrove
3rd – Lily Mandevilles
4th – Gabs Taylor

Under 16 Boys
1st – Stanley Norman
2nd – Seth Morris
3rd – Noah Capps
4th – Barnaby Cox
Under 18 Girls
1st – Lily Mandeville
2nd – Mischa Maguire
3rd – Alys Barton
4th – Gabs Taylor
Under 18 Boys
1st – Patrick Langdon-Dark
2nd – Noah Capps
3rd – Noah Biersack
4th – Seth Morris

Images: Andy Holter