Newquay Boardriders hosted it's first ever Cold Water Classic, sponsored by Ripcurl on February 17, writes Zoe Sheath.
With solid six to 10ft waves and a full entry list of some of the UK's top professional athletes, the day was filled with outstanding surfing and unbelievable scores throughout.
The Over 40's was a battle of the greats, Sam Mckune found himself in his first ever final and after a prep talk with his son mid heat took 5th place respectively.
With local legends Egor Harris and Warren Tuck unable to quite find the waves to take down Memorial day winner Gadge Llewellyn who took second, while an inform Brad Rochfort claimed victory and his first ever win with an epic performance showcasing his years of experience and stylish surfing.
As a club we were so proud of all the women that paddled out on Saturday, showing true fearlessness and determination, Ocearna Peres took off on some absolute bombs throughout the event but it was Sunny Ingram who walked away as champion with a last minute wave towards the end of their final in maxed out North Fistral conditions.
As the swell grew through the day the decision was made by contest officals to hold an eight man final, after the extreme paddle outs only six men entered the water for a spectacular display of powerful surfing in some of the biggest conditions we've seen at an event in some time.
Josh Hughes, less than a week coming home from deployment took sixth with Gabe Llewellyn fifth.
Sol Hawkins after nearly ending up at Little Fistral in his heat previously and pulling in to massive bombs at every chance he had placed fourth behind dark horse Willow Harman who took down some big names to make it into the final with strong surfing throughout the day and walked away with third place.
It was a rival between Newquay and Mawgan Porth yet again, Otis Perry once again dominated the earlier rounds taking to the air at every opportunity but just couldn't quite keep up with Memorial Day U21's Champion Jowan Pegg who posted excellent scores heat after heat and claimed the Men's Open title 2024.
The Ripcurl Top U21 chosen by the judges was awarded to young Gabe Llewellyn who surfed outstandingly throughout the event and making the Open Final.
Zoe said: “A huge shout out to our youngest competitors, at 10 years Mila Barber and Annabelle Busby showed great courage on Saturday entering the women's division at such a young age.
“Newquay Boardriders would like to thank every single person who helped out at the contest, without you all we would not be able to run these events and we are eternally grateful to have such a strong backing with so many talented individuals supporting us and look forward to welcoming you all to our next event.”
Cold Water Classic 2024 Results
Men’s Open
1st Jowan Pegg
2nd Otis Perry
3rd Willow Harman
4th Sol Hawkins
5th Gabe Llewellyn
6th Josh Hughes
Over 40's
1st Brad Rochfort
2nd Gadge Llewellyn
3rd Warren Tuck
4th Egor Harris
5th Sam Mckune
Women's
1st Sunny Ingram
2nd Ocearna Peres
3rd Eva Blackford
4th Kaja Millward
Ripcurls Top U21 Surfer - Gabe Llewellyn