Nine Plus   -   Freedom

2000 EPSA LONGBOARD FINAL 

St Ouens Bay Jersey

Contest Site St Ouens bay Jersey (outside the Watersplash Nightclub)

CURRENT European tour leader Jonathan Larcher won the Nine Plus, Freedom,  2000 EPSA Longboard championship at St Ouen on Saturday, but not before the Jersey team had proved its worth. In ideal conditions, with a light offshore wind and 3>4 ft waves, the closing stages saw a keenly-fought contest between surfers who were fighting both for a title and the chance to represent Europe at the Oxbow World championships in Brazil this October.

   Local interest in the day's first round, the quarter-finals, was maintained with the inclusion of Gordon Blake, Nigel Wray, André Le Geyt and Jersey-born Ben Skinner, who now surfs at his home beach of Newquay. Blake's heat was the narrowest with only 2.75 points separating all four surfers and the outcome was decided only during the closing minutes.

Wales's 1999 Euro Champ, Chris (Guts) Griffiths on the nose

Jerseys Gordon Blake out on a free surf

 Blake had been lying in second place for most of the heat, a position good enough to ensure his progress to the semis before Gwen Christien of France picked up a long left-hand ride which pushed the Jersey man down to third.
Blake tried to find another good wave to get back into contention but, with the clock ticking down, a lull in the surf meant he could not get a high scoring ride and he fell 0.8 points short of a semi-final place.
 André Le Geyt and Nigel Wray were also both eliminated as they faced tough opposition from Larcher, of France, and highly-ranked Ronan Chatain. It was left to Skinner to ensure Jersey had a representative in the next round as he used his aggressive cutbacks and floaters to good effect in seeing off the challenge of Portugal's Manuel Mestre.

Welsh surfer Chris Griffiths and Thomas Bilbao of France advanced from semi-final number one. Skinner was up against the No 2 and No 4 ranked longboarders from last year's tour and although he produced some great scoring rides, he couldn't find the winning wave that would see him through.Ultimately it was French duo Larcher and Chatain who went through, as Skinner was pushed out, narrowly, into third place.  The final was held just before the high tide mark with good, clean 4-ft waves breaking right in front of a large crowd gathered in front of the Watersplash. The conditions and the surfing were excellent. Larcher got off to a great start with the highest scoring wave of the contest as he put in a mixture of cutbacks, nose-riding and two floaters off the re-forming wave.

Frances Jonathan Larcher being crowned Nine Plus Champ and European "Numero Uno"

Griffiths tried to stay in touch but couldn't find the longer waves to accumulate a series of  high-scoring maneuvers and saw some of the larger waves he caught close out in front of him. These two were clearly in the lead, but it was Larcher who managed to find the best waves to put together a winning three-wave total of 21.05 points.
Griffiths was safe in second and Bilbao and Chatain fought it out for 3rd and 4th.
Larcher's win means that he has finished first in the 2000 tour ratings, and has turned the tables on Griffiths who finished in top spot last year.

EPSA Nine Plus Freedom Pro-Am 2000: 

1, Jonathan Larcher (France); 2, Chris Griffiths (Wales); 3, Ronan Chatain (France); 4, Thomas Bilbao (France).

Highest-placed Jersey surfer (non-EPSA registered), André Le Geyt; Highest-placed Jersey junior, Harry Trower; Highest-placed female surfer, Nina Blake (Jersey); Highest-placed master (over 45), Steve Harewood (Jersey).

Kana Beach Boyz knocking up some Brittany specialties and Cider for all the competitors (What was that special ingredient?)

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 Where we will continue!! Filipe.....