First Snowy Winter Waves

Pretty chilly this weekend! First snowy surf of the winter and my hands and feet were turning blue after 3 hours in the water. Some nice waves to be had though. How cute are the horses on the way down :)





Surfgirl Mag has just done a full interview with Dee and here is a link to her Q+A session: http://www.surfgirlmag.com/2011/12/16/surfing-in-scotland-its-snow-joke

Dee Ripoll - Hossegor to Thurso

This is a wee video documenting my travels over the last few months - catching the last of summer in Hossegor before heading back up north to Scotland for the start of winter and snowy times!

Dee Ripoll - Hossegor to Thurso from Allyn Harper on Vimeo.

MULLAGHMORE Goes for Broke

MULLAGHMORE went for broke during a gap between two storm systems on Monday, December 12th.



Why was it so big? Because the storm was so close. Why didn't they run the Billabong Tow comp? Because storm number two was too close. Morning's perfection rolled into a stormforce afternoon but not before allowing a thrills-and-spills tow and paddle session in the teeth of winter.

"Well what a day, it had it all, we all agree it was some of the hollowest nastiest 20ft plus barrels we have ever had out there" Said Richie Fitzgerald. "Great crew, me, Gav, Paul, Nezza, Dylan, Pete, Barry, Roo, Easkey, Jayce, Lyndon, and photogs, we all had some mental waves."

It was a brutal day in the frigid Irish waters. Casualty list included Jayce Robinson's knee, a couple of tow boards and Paul O'Kane's ski. Barry Mottershead got absolutely hosed from steep and deep whilst Fergal Smith and Tom Lowe's paddling stole the show.

"It was truly epic seeing Tom, Ferg and Dan Skaj paddle those waves from the peak." Said Mickey Smith "Next level shit."

Mullaghmore Tow Session from Peter Clyne on Vimeo.

Buts'y & Bearman's Winter Barrells

After smashing into 1st place in the 2011 etnies tube rider challenge, Quiver & Etnies UK surfer Tom Butler has continued to seek out some big challenging, dangerous slabs around the UK and Ireland. On a constant vigil for deep low pressure systems, Tom continuously chases the best swells and has captured this slice of cold water magic to get you amped.

With his partner in crime, Adam 'Bearman' Griffiths towing along for the ride, the pair of them scored their week in Ireland at the start of this winter. Adam, normally riding his mal and smashing the longboard comps in Europe this year, was on something a little shorter and looks like he rides these little sticks all the time.

Freezing cold winters are not a thing to be afraid of according to Tom. This is heavy duty hardcore British surfing at its best. Grab a cup of tea and put your feet up…

PLEASE PLEASE Recycle & Reuse Your Boards

We at Quiver are very much in support for trying to encourage all surfers out there to try and do their bit for the environment and help to reduce landfill waste as much as we can.

Currently there are up to 63 million surfboards in use worldwide. At the end of their lives, they will become landfill. Surfboards cannot be recycled.

Have you heard of the 1000 surfboard graveyard project? Well the aims of this project is to highlight landfill as societies graveyard for material objects like surfboards and in doing so intends to generate fresh conversations on whether we can better manage this waste.



*(The Encyclopedia of Surfing by Matt Warshaw, 2005, p605, reports that the world wide surfing population is estimated to between 17 million (Surfing Australia) and 23 million (International Surfing Association). Research by Decarbonated Sports, 2011 estimates that the average surfer has 2.75 surfboards.)


So to get your recycle + reuse thoughts in use, here is a collection of ideas for reusing your old/broken surfboards to get you started:

FEATURE WALL:www.herbiefletcher.com

PAINT IT

ART:Anthony Pelto:http://pelto.com.au

CHALKBOARD:

Use chalkboard paints to transform your surfboard.

FENCE:

LETTER BOX:

CHAIR: www.karlsgoodwood.com

Quiver Tints in Stock

Here are 2 beauty's that have just been finished and now in stock. Double sided resin tints that look like lolipops :) Pop in to us and check them out. Might be a nice Christmas present to yourself!!

Scots Lass Dee Features in SurfGirl Mag

Our Quiver rider and Scots lassie Dee Ripoll features in the latest issue of SurfGirls magazine with their winter issue just out in the stores.

Dee has been an amazing ambassador for Quiver and has many other talents up here sleeve other than surfing and you might just see her at a venue near you playing drums in her band.

Check out the feature issue now and even the cover makes winter surfing look somewhat tropical!!! :)

Tom Butler - at Aileens

Gary McCall's photo of Quiver rider Tom Butler has been announced as photo of the day (24th November) on Magic Seaweed - take a look here. Amazing photo, amazing wave, and Tom is always looking for the biggest beast of a wave out there.

Tom is riding a custom board for this wave, which is all part of the service at Quiver Surfboards. When you are after something which isn't quite in the model range, then speak to one of our shapers to get what you need. Quiver Surfboards is a custom surfboard factory; it's what we do.

Quivers Golden Wavelength Cover

We are stoked to say we've managed to get another cover this year on Wavelength Magazine's December 2011 Issue, making it our 4th Quiver front cover on the UK's top Surfing Magazines. It features Hugh Galloway from Ireland surfing Riley's on his Quiver. Here's the gold we are looking at:

The mag is in the shops now and is a real cracker of an issue so be sure to check it out. The winter season has started with a massive bang and swells to beat and hard to remember such a good early start. Better make sure you've got your guns at the ready this year!!!

Heavy Riley's session

Fergal Smith, Tom Lowe, Matt Capel, Tom Butler and Huw Galloway towing at Riley's - watch the video at Surfline:

http://www.surfline.com/surflinetv/primetime/atlantic-slab-session_62532

Emily Stoked on her 5'10 Hobbit

Well, you've made one grom very very happy! I think it's almost impossible to say just how stoked Em is with the new board.

Her first surf on it was a quick 20 minutes before her first heat in our club comp ( Welsh Coast Tsunami charity fundraiser ), Em said the board felt right straight away and she wanted to use it in the comp.

First wave of her first heat, she pulled off a huge off the lip then carved all the way down the line, loads of people commented how well she was surfing, she looked fast and in control. Won every heat she surfed in, surf was about 3 - 4ft. She ended up winning the under 16 Girls and was second in the Ladies, not bad going considering she had only surfed the board for twenty minutes before the comp.

Emily picked up her 5'10 Hobbit from the factory a few weeks back and already looks like the board is doing a good job for her.

Thanks to photographer Claire Beach for the use of the images.

Jed Stone featured in WWF Life. Nature. You. video production

Newquay legend and Quiver Team rider Jed Stone features in a new short video from the WWF. The film shows Jed surfing at Fistral and we learn all about his love and affinity with the ocean, and in the full video part of the video was filmed at the Quiver Surfboard factory at Seabase in Newquay. Jed has been surfing Seabase and Quiver Surfboards for more years than I can remember, and is a valued ambassador of surfing around the world.

It's a short film produced for the WWF 'Life. Nature. You. Make the connection' 50th anniversary competition.

Shot on a cold yet beautiful October morning in Newquay, 58 year old British and European Champion, Jed Stone, talked to us about his life long connection with the ocean.

Life. Nature. You. from Nutmeg Productions on Vimeo.

Cameras: Paul Hines & Richard Butterworth

Edited: Richard Buttworth

Produced: Harry Chambers

The Endless Winter: A Very British Surf Movie; the teaser

The Endless Winter: A Very British Surf Movie; the teaser

This is the teaser for the forth coming feature length documentary and web-series 'The Endless Winter - A Very British Surf Movie'. The Quiver team can't wait to watch the whole movie; and neither should you! As a country we have a lot of heritage to be proud of, and plenty of good things to come in the future.

Mitch and Egor travel the length of the UK on a road trip tracing the wild and unusual roots of British surf culture.

www.theendlesswinter.co.uk

This video features:

Interviewees: Roger Mansfield; Pete 'PJ' Jones; Malcolm Findlay; Charles Williams

Surfers: Alan Stokes; Gabe Davies; Russ Winters; Nate Phillips; Nigel Semmens; Steve Daniels; Carwyn Williams

Archive courtesy of: SWFTA; Three S Films; ITN Source

Music: The Dakotas 'The Cruel Sea'

Rosco's 7 Board Quiver

Rosco definitely gets the customer of the month award collecting his 7 board custom Quiver order last Friday. Think this is every mans dream to order 7 boards and have a different model for every condition mother nature might throw at us.

He ordered:

• 6'2 MC Slammer
• 7'8 Semi Gun
• 5'10 Dirty Truck
• 5'10 Hart Attack
• 5'11 Bumblebart
• 6'2 WOC
• 6'10 Guilty Pleasure

His order was collected in just in time for the swell this wkend and I'm sure his 7'8 semi gun had some use at the weekend with the epic first winter swell that hit the coast Sat & Sun.

Nice one Rosco!!

Nic Muscroft on Quiver for O'neill Santa Cruz 6* Prime

We were stoked to watch Nic Muscroft getting to the quarter finals of the O'neill Santa Cruz 6* Prime at the weekend. Unlucky he didn't make it through to the semi's but his feedback has been great on his board that was shaped by Luke here in Newquay.

He was riding his 6'0 W.O.C and his feedback to Luke on the board was "it's going sick and one of the best boards I've had in ages". Yewwwww, so stoked.

Thanks to O'neill TV, Here is a clip of his heat 3 no loser round with Adam Melling and Tom Whitaker where he scored a 13.10 to win the round.

Nic Muscroft - quarter finals of 6 Star Prime Event

Congratulations to Nic Muscroft, for getting through to the quarters of the 6 Star Prime event in Santa Cruz riding his Quiver!

'The board is going sick - its one of the best boards I've had in ages!!!!'

Check out the video from O'Neill below.

AMAZING WAVES, SUN SHINE AND IMPRESSIVE SURFING - JESUS LONGBOARD CLASSIC

A beautiful sunny Polzeath greeted the surfers for the 5th Jesus Longboard Classic, held over the 15th and 16th October. Hosted by Tubestation, the Christian Surfers UK event saw over 70 competitors come from all over the country to compete in stunning conditions. A gentle offshore breeze and 3ft+ waves gave the long-boarders a perfect opportunity to show off their prowess in the waves.

The Masters were the first to hit the water and in perhaps the craziest heat of the contest, which included three interferences, they showed that they still have the skills, and the greatest enjoyment of being in the sea, as friends attempted to steal waves from each other. They showed great sportsmanship as they hooted each other into waves.

The Juniors were next to hit the water, which saw an incredibly high level of surfing and some closely fought heats. Zac Lawton showed that he will be a contender for future titles next year as he is about to leave the ranks of under 18 surfing.

In the women's category a tight set of heats saw Anna Gooding, Davina Stickley, Ashleigh Bennetts and Claire Smail progress to the final.

The open category progressed quickly from round 1 to the quarter finals on saturday afternoon. A mix of traditional and progressive manoeuvers displayed the wealth of talent we have in this country, with some amazing nose-rides and big off-the-lips, and fins free turns.

Saturday could not have been any better as the sun shone all day, the sets kept on coming and the standard of surfing got better and better, which was only topped by a pod of Dolphins who joined the packed line up, and put on a spectacular display.

A surfers blessing at the Tubestation has become a traditional part of the Jesus Longboard Classic. After a stunning breakfast, all the surfers were given garlands of flowers as they listened to live music by singer songwriter Gareth Logan and a heartfelt message from Rich Balding of surf company, Nineplus.

There were some concerns that Sunday would see a drop in swell and be chopped up by the on-shore wind, but the sets kept rolling in under slightly cloudier skies and we were not disappointed. The level of surfing improved again as all of the semi finals and finals were closely fought out.

The results are as follows,

In the Junior Category, Jack Unsworth 4th, Connor Griffiths 3rd, Alex Maddocks 2nd and taking the win in his final year or under 18 surfing was Zac Lawton, with two excellent rides.

In a tightly fought women’s final that could have seen any one of the four take the victory, a tied score for 3rd place between Davina Stickley and Ashleigh Bennetts meant that Anna Gooding took second place, and Claire Smail emerging victorious.

The master results had a popular Robert Davin in 4th, last years “longest nose-ride” winner- Pete Dudley in 3rd, Colin Bright taking yet another second place and Adam Chell scooping the winners trophy.

The open final was one of the most hotly contested finals ever seen at the JLC, which saw Ben Haworth get straight to business with an opening ride of 8.87. Ben went on to dominate the final, as he had done the whole contest, scoring three more excellent rides with an impressive combination of arcing turns, fast snaps and precision nose-riding. Ben went on to take the win with a heat total of 18.13. The other three finalists were hot on his heels the whole heat, each scoring excellent rides and making for a very exciting final.The judges were tested to the limit, with only 1.5 points separating 1st to 4th positions.

Taking the 4th spot was Ben Skinner, 3rd was Angus Murray and Quiver's own Nico Keruzec took second Place. The winner with a score of 18.13 was Ben Haworth, demonstrating why he is one of the UK’s top riders.

There were two other trophies given out on the day, The Longest Nose ride - sponsored by Wavehunters - won with an awesome hang five by Ben Skinner. The Most Progressive manoeuver trophy from Surfs Up, was taken by Ben Haworth for his off the lip fins free turn.

At the presentation, contest director Johnny Hillman of CSUK thanked the sponsors of the event, Nineplus and Atlantic House Hotel, and mentioned that this is a highlight of the competition calendar. “The thing that makes this contest, is the great vibe and sportsmanship showed by each and every one of the competitors” he said. Many of the competitors commented on how well the competition ran, and how enjoyable it was. The Tubestation is a fantastic place to hang out between heats.

Christian Surfers UK would also like to thank all the Christian Surfer Volunteers who gave up their time to run the event, Terry and Marta for keeping everyone looked after, and 360 Photography, Surfs up, Wavehunters, Tubestation, Mr Surfy and the support of the RNLI on the beach.

Kelly Slater Surf Park Pumps Eight-Foot Waves

The Kelly Slater Surf Park has been unveiled. The artificial wave surfing project designed by the 10-time world champion has seen the light of day.The future model will pump waves every five-to-ten seconds and delivers rides that could be enjoyed for one minute or more. In a five-million gallon circular pool, everything is possible. Simply enjoy a classic longboard ride or go for aerial tricks. The Kelly Slater Surf Park may be installed in touristic resorts or theme parks.

A ticket for one hour of artificial surfing will cost you $45. Kelly Slater hasn't confirmed these informations that have been rumoured in the web.The technological design is quite simple. One hundred feet hydrofoils will rotate around the tank behind a protective fence. The wave height is adjustable - you can get three-to-eight wavebarrels for surfing joy.

The Kelly Slater Surf Park will be really high tech. From the surf pool floor to the edges of the tank, everything was studied to get top artificial surfing performances.As you get closer to the center of the tanks, waves tend to be glassier and smoother. When you end up your carousel ride, you land in an artificial island beach.

BUCS Surf Champs 2011 - Fistral Beach Newquay

The BUCS Surf Championships took place over last weekend 14th-16th October 2011 at Fistral Beach in Newquay and Fistral was literally taken over from Dusk till Dawn with the students hitting the water for the weekends comp.

Conditions were pretty good for the Saturday's event with clean 2ft surf and then picked up considerably for the Sunday's heats with the wind swinging more cross-shore.

For the 3rd year in a row, Quiver team rider Gordon Fontaine riding for Bournemouth University won the mens individual competition. Well done Gordy.

We just want to say a congrats to all the students that entered the event. Looks like its getting bigger and better every year.

If anyone has the full set of results from the weekend, drop us a line and we will get it updated on our site.

Through The Whisky Barrell

Come and see Scottish surfing on the big screen for the very first time, at the premiere of Through The Whisky Barrel. The Premiere is being hosted at the Belmont Cinema at 7pm on Saturday the 29th of October. After party to follow in the Belmont Cinema bar with a surf raffle and live music featuring Evera and more. All profits go to the Scottish Surfing Federation. The film is also going to be featured at The London Surf Film Festival on Saturday 15th October.

www.throughthewhiskybarrel.com

Relentless Super Series Uk Pro Surf Tour - Thurso Leg

The action kicked off at the point break at Sandside on Monday, ten miles from Thurso, with 4- to 6-foot barrelling left-hand waves allowing the competition to begin. Relentless-sponsored rider Jayce Robinson came second in his heat, advancing himself to Round 2. Come Tuesday, with more 6-foot waves, he eventually made it through to the semis, where he was knocked out. Micah Lester rode into the top spot at the end of the competition, followed by France’s Gordon Fontaine riding for Quiver; the UK’s Tom Butler also riding for Quiver and Sam Lamiroy came in third and fourth respectively, each taking home a share of the £5,000 prize fund.

It’s awesome to win the first round,” says Lester. “I always love the waves here.” His solid riding was matched by Matt Capel bagging the highest scoring barrel (9.3), with more drama in the form of Russell Winter being unexpectedly knocked out in the quarters – and local surfers refusing to get out of the water when the competition was due to begin on Tuesday.

"Some good barrels went down,” says Jayce Robinson, the Relentless rider “I thought Alan Stokes was surfing really good. He was the best in my eyes. Ed Smith got through to the quarter finals and he’s only 14 years old, so he’s doing well. There’s also a kid called Taz Knight who was charging on the big days, surfing pretty well.” It’s encouraging to see that new talent is shining through on the tour already – exactly the reason it was set up.

The focus now shifts to the opposite end of the UK, with the Lynmouth Open in Devon due to kick off from 10 October. You can check out photos from Thurso, and a video edit very soon too, at the Relentless Super Series UK Pro Surf Tour website.

RESULTS:
1st Micah Lester (Australia)
2nd Gordon Fontaine (France)
3RD Tom Butler (UK)
4TH Sam Lamiroy (UK)

European Surf champs Bundoran 2011

European Surfing Championships which was held in Bundoran for the past week with Team Portugal being crowned European Surfing Champions for 2011. English, Welsh, Channel Islands and Irish surfers all placed well with thousands of spectators gathered along Bundoran’s Tullan Strand to watch the finals.

Ben Skinner surfing for Jersey beat Ben Haworth into 2nd England) after dominating the longboard final. Newquays Adam Griffiths was 5th. Sarah Beardmore (Eng) won her heat in by a landslide to become the European Ladies Open Champion. Sarah led from the start, dominating the heat and winning by a 7.0 margin over Leticia Canales (Spn). Easkey Britton (Ireland) finished in fifth place and Channel island Alison McGregor in 6th. In the Open Quivers Alan Stokes managed a credible third with Quivers Tom Butler finishing 6th after beg knocked out in the repercharge final. Channel islands Ben Chapman was third in the seniors, Nick Reid (Wales) 5th and Tyson Greenaway (England) 6th. Greg Owen (Wales) was 4th in the Masters, Mike Raven 5th and Richie Fitzgerald 6th.

Commenting on the event, Contest Director Eileesh Buckley said “Eurosurf as a whole has been an enormous success. We couldn’t have asked for better waves all week and the contest overall has been problem-free. We are indebted to our team of volunteers who have ensured the smooth running of the competition all week and have put in many long days over the past week and a half. We would like to mention our supporters and sponsors at this point too and thank Failte Ireland and Supervalu for their generous support – without whom Eurosurf would not have happened.”

Quiver & O’Neill team rider Adam Griffiths takes the win at the O’Neill Classic ETL Pro Longboard

Local knowledge shows its hand at the O’Neill Classic ETL Pro Longboard at Watergate Bay last weekend with Adam Griffiths taking 1^st place closely followed by Ben Skinner (Skindog) coming in 2^nd . O’Neill was pleased to be the title sponsor of round 2 of the 2 star O’Neill Classic ETL Pro longboard at Watergate Bay. The conditions were not the best and with the strong onshore wind made the surf at Watergate lumpy and unpredictable. This didn’t put off the spectators who braved the strong winds and rain to encourage the guys through the difficult conditions. Steve Peters, marketing manager from O’Neill Wetsuits said- “Everybody did so well in that event, even putting the tent and flags up was tricky, let alone surfing a longboard in those conditions, it just shows how dedicated and professional these guys are, I’m really pleased to have Adam and Ben taking top positions and from what I saw they both absolutely deserved it... well done guys”.

The 2 star event was the second time the ETL has returned to Watergate Bay and with over 50 riders from 9 different nationalities, the winner and local rider Adam Griffiths secured 1,100 championship points and took home a share of the €5,000 prize fund.

Adam said - I am so stoked to win the O’Neill Classic at Watergate Bay, it’s the first European event I have won. Event better it was in my home town at one of my local breaks and was amazing to have my family and friends there for support! It's been a long time coming for a win and it's defiantly not the last". Coming in close 2^nd was Ben Skinner (Skindog) also an O’Neill team rider who after gaining the highest wave score in every one of his heats missed out in the very exciting final by only 2.4 points

Ben quoted - “I just wanted to say thanks to everyone involved in supporting this event. I think it was a major success and after the loss in the rugby, it felt amazing beating the French on our home beach. Well done Adam for a well deserved win and thanks to O’Neill for letting us show the UK what we do”.

The results were as follows:

1^st Place Adam Griffiths, UK

2^nd Place Ben Skinner, UK

3^rd Place Eduard Delpero, France

4^th Place Alexis Deniel, France

Flat Day Heaven: Wavegarden

MAN-MADE WAVE SIMULATES AND OCEAN BREAK

Instant Engineering Company presents Wavegarden®. Their vision gives people of all ages and surfing levels the ability

to enjoy a beach environment and a real surfing experience...beyond the oceans of the world. Wavegarden’s cutting edge technology allows for the creation of a broad and customisable range of authentic surfing waves in a safe and natural environment. This cost effective and environmentally friendly wave generation technology is now available to the public and for the first time makes economically-viable inland wave sports and lifestyle facilities possible. Think of the fun you could have in winter....

Jordy, Bobby and friends @ Wavegarden from wavegarden on Vimeo.

Wavegarden (Extended) from wavegarden on Vimeo.

Surf Solutions MINI BUGS CONTEST

Sunday the 14th August saw the MINI-BUGS surf contest take place at Sennen Cove, Cornwall. The contest was a pre-teen event with 3 separate divisions - Beatles (12 and under), Ants (10 and under) and Fleas (8 and under).

In the FLEAS (8 and under) final the 2 Norman brothers and the 2 Thomas brothers took each other on. They were so cool and Stanley Norman scored a 10 and a 9.5 to win that! Sabrina Swallow won the highest placed girl award too.

The contest attracted 30 surfers from Wales, North and South Devon and all over Cornwall and represented the best British. It was National Champion Harry DeRoth from St Ives who took the Beatles division and along with it the prize of a coaching trip to Portugal.

“It felt great to win the final as the others were surfing so well. Every time I paddled out I saw someone getting a good wave so I was stoked when I found out I won such a good contest.” HARRY DEROTH

The contest was the brain child of Joel Gray who runs the Surf Solutions (www.surfsolutions.tv) training program. It was run in conjunction with the Sennen Surfing Centre. “I am so pleased at such a great turn out and could not have asked for better conditions. The standard was extremely high and it was fantastic to have a packed beach watching such competitive finals. (Joel

Gray)

MINI-BUGS will return again in 2012. Below are the results from this years

contest.

BEATLES (12 and under)

1.) Harry De Roth

2.) Liam Murray Strout

3.) Will Bailey

4.) Cieran Hughes

ANTS (10 and under)

1.) Gabriel Ley

2.) Dylan Smith

3.) Sabrina Swallow

4.) Ffion Hughes

5.) Joseph Morriss

FLEAS (8 and under)

1.) Stanley Norman

2.) Bertie Norman

3.) Flynn Thomas

4.) Reece Thomas

Attached is photo of the 4 Beatles finalists.

Antoine Delpero Wins ASP 6 Star Newquay Boardmasters

Quiver's Antoine Delpero (Biarritz, FRA) 25, and Jennifer Smith (California, USA) 25, have won the ASP Tuaca Longboard Pro 2011 titles in tricky wind affected 3ft peaks while in the Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans, quarter-finalists were decided.

Delpero overcame an inform Ben Skinner (Newquay, GBR) 26, to take out the inaugural edition of the ASP 3-Star Tuaca Longboard Pro in a high scoring 30-minute final which saw the lead change several times. Delpero eventually sealed the victory on a long peeling right with a combination of turns to receive a 9.17 out of 10 and an unbeatable lead.

“It was a great final against my friend Ben (Skinner) and I know he is a really tough competitor so I am really happy to win against him at his home break. The waves were not easy to find the right spot to take off and which ones would run through to the shore. I was lucky with the biggest one that I caught and I surfed it well. I won this one but it has been a long time since I have won one against Ben so I am happy.”

Delpero current ASP World nº2, now looks ahead to the upcoming ASP World Longboard Tour which starts at the end of September in Sri Lanka and hopes to go one step higher and clinch his maiden ASP World title. “I am going to start preparing now for the World Tour event in Sri Lanka and I want to do well there because I have been twice second in the world so I think that it could be my year this year.”

Advancing to the final meant Skinner claimed the ASP European Men’s Longboard title and his qualification into this year’s ASP World Longboard title along with fellow Englishman Adam Griffiths who placed 3rd in the Tuaca Longboard Pro. Its a fantastic result for Adam and an exciting year lies ahead with his qualification on the world longboard tour.

Round Five of the Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans was also completed today with Romain Cloitre (Capbreton, FRA) 22, securing his best result of the 2011 season with a convincing win over former ASP World Tour member and close friend Tom Whitaker (AUS) 31, who struggled to overtake the inform Frenchman. Getting off to an excellent start with a series of critical forehand snaps to bag an 8.10 out of 10, Cloitre then backed up midway through the encounter to advance through to the quarter-finals.

“I got a really good start with the first wave and scored 8-points on this one. I was then really relaxed and just waited for another good one. Competing against Tom (Whitaker) who is a good friend of mine was hard and in the end it was difficult to go and sit on him and try to get priority. I am happy because at last I have got a result for this year and I hope to keep it going tomorrow.”

Jesse Mendes (BRA) 18, pulled off a last second win over a rampaging Jean Da Silva (BRA) 26, with a near perfect 9.07 out of 10 to take his pass into tomorrow’s finals day at the Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans. Relying on his priority and waiting patiently for a quality wave, Mendes displayed nerves of steel as he played his last card on his final wave.

“He (Da Silva) is surfing amazing and so fast and I saw his wave from behind with all his turns linked together and knew I needed something more than that to win. I tried a couple of times and didn’t get any scores and I needed an 8.40. I had priority for the last 15 minutes and just sat and waited to find something to get that score. Somehow in the last minutes a wave came through and I got in one good turn and then just went for it on the air and I got the score.”

Surfers competing in the Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans are out to gain valuable ranking points in their bid to climb the ASP World rankings and enter the elite Top 32 before the mid-year points cut off. European athletes are also building on their ASP European Men’s ranking as the main summer leg of events commences.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, The Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans is scheduled from August 9-14, 2011.

Results ASP 3-Star Tuaca Longboard Pro Final
Antoine Delpero (FRA) 17.50 Def. Ben Skinner (GBR) 16.74

Results ASP 6-Star Tuaca Ladies Longboard Pro Final
Jennifer Smith (USA) 16.77 def Georgia Young (AUS) 10.77

Results ASP 3-Star Tuaca Longboard Pro Semi-finals
Heat 1: Antoine Delpero (FRA) 17.27 Def. Adam Griffiths (GBR) 11.80
Heat 2: Ben Skinner (GBR) 19.50 Def. Remi Arauzo (FRA) 13.53

Results ASP 6-Star Tuaca Ladies Longboard Pro Semi-finals
Heat 1: Jennifer Smith (USA) 14.17 Def. Emilie Libier (FRA) 8.00
Heat 2: Georgia Young (AUS) 8.27 Def. Candice O'Donnell (GBR) 4.67

Upcoming Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans Quarter-final Matchups
Heat 1: Mitch Crews (AUS) Vs Flavio Nakagima (BRA)
Heat 2: Mitch Coleborn (AUS) Vs Jesse Mendes (BRA)
Heat 3: Romain Cloitre (FRA) Vs Glen Hall (IRL)
Heat 4: Royden Bryson (ZAF) Vs Garret Parkes (AUS)

Results Relentless Boardmasters in assoc. with Vans Round Five
Heat 1: Mitch Crews (AUS) 11.67 Def. Yadin Nicol (AUS) 9.56
Heat 2: Flavio Nakagima (BRA) 16.50 Def. Jack Freestone (AUS) 12.03
Heat 3: Mitch Coleborn (AUS) 13.50 Def. Gabriel Villaran (PER) 8.06
Heat 4: Jesse Mendes (BRA) 15.74 Def. Jean Da Silva (BRA) 15.27
Heat 5: Romain Cloitre (FRA) 14.87 Def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 5.53
Heat 6: Glen Hall (IRL) 15.44 Def. Adam Robertson (AUS) 11.54
Heat 7: Royden Bryson (ZAF) 13.60 Def. Kolohe Andino (USA) 12.63
Heat 8: Garret Parkes (AUS) 14.13 Def. Perth Standlick (AUS) 14.00

Boardmasters 2011 Newquay Highlights - DAY 2

Here are a few more pics of Quiver team rider Alan Stokes from the weeks action of day 2 of the Boardmasters comp. All images supplied by ASP photographer Aquashot: ASP Europe.