14th Jesus Longboard Classic – a huge success

Pretty stormy conditions for the initial date of this very popular longboard surfing event led to a new date of 29 – 30 October being chosen, and the organising team focused on making sure that everything was in place if the wind and the waves behaved for this weekend.

The event, which is held at Polzeath Beach and organised by Christian Surfers UK  in conjunction with the Tubestation, is traditionally one of the last longboard events of the season and is always enjoyed by the amazing community who ride boards over 9ft in length.

The 2022 event had a record number of entries (85 over the six categories) and once the charts began to settle down there was confidence that it would be contestable throughout the whole weekend, despite the realisation that the wind would be pretty challenging at times.

Saturday dawned with good conditions amongst the squally showers coming through, and the dedicated team of volunteers and other staff set up the event site. By 8:30 am the first heats were underway with the very popular over 35+ division kickstarting the competition.

Conditions for most of the day remained pretty good and with around 25 heats run through, it was time to retreat to the various establishments for a good old community catch-up with friends from around the country.

Traditionally, Sunday’s finals always start with a very special event for the Christian Surfers team, a simple Surfers Blessing at Tubestation Church, to which the surfers, their support crew, the CSUK team, as well as the local church community, are invited, with the chance to to start the day off by reflecting on something relevant and thought-provoking, along with a blessing with sea water for those who would like it. Following this, the contest continued with a further 18 heats (semi-finals and finals in all six divisions) in somewhat more challenging conditions, with strong cross shore winds. There was some excellent surfing in all divisions, and a particular well done to the juniors and the women battling in some pretty big surf at low tide which was exposed by the elements.  

When it came to the finals all of the heats were pretty stacked, and in the 60+ division a great performance from Peter Cosier saw him take the victory ahead of fellow Llantwit surfers Colin Bright and Gwyn Bright, with Backwell’s Ben Keay in 4th.

Moving through the age categories, Colin Bright got back to winning ways  in the 50+ division with just two waves scored in the final, but both of them good quality, which saw him taking the victory over Matt Thomas in a very close final. Rich Emerson and Stephen Harrison took third and fourth places respectively.

The 35+ division is always one of the most popular, and this year was no different with a highly contested final. A big well done to Sennen’s Sam Bleakley who had a 9.17 backed up by an 8.33 to take the highest heat total of the event with a 17.5 combined score. Greg Norman placed second just ahead of Ashley Braunton, with Adrian Napper also doing well getting fourth in the final. 

The mixed Under 18s division always showcases the future of longboard sport in the UK and on-form St Agnes surfer, Arthur Randell, took the victory ahead of Ted Pearson in a close final, with Noah Strike just pipping Sylvie Puddiphat to third place.

In the stacked and really competitive Women’s Open it was a one two for Bude surfers, with Emily Currie taking the victory ahead of Beth Leighfield, and the very talented Lola Bleakley (still only 14 years of age) taking third ahead of Mali Harbour on her home break. A great effort in challenging conditions by all the surfers.

The Men’s Open final ended up being a double victory for Sam Bleakley, with two strong waves totalling 14.8, beating Newquay’s Jordan Zervas into second place by just two points, with Greg Norman and Ashley Braunton both competing in their second final taking third and fourth place respectively.

A massive thanks goes to all those involved in putting on this really successful event and, in particular, to all of the surfers who competed in some tough conditions, the beach-based volunteers, everybody involved with running the event and the hospitality back at Tubestation, and Era Adventures who did a great job with the water safety.

Without sponsors this event could not happen, so a huge thank you to those that have been involved from the start, Nineplus, Finisterre and Old Guys Rule, and a big welcome to new sponsors this year, George’s Surf School, Log Fin Co, Kosin and Ocean Frog. Also a big thanks to British Longboard Union for their ongoing support and Hotdoggers for the ‘loan of Norman’ as head judge.

Action photos are from Ben Hartley and presentation pictures from Sarah Nankivell.

This event completes Christian Surfers UK competition activities for the year and the team wants to thank all of those who have entered the Jesus Longboard Classic and the 30th Jesus Surf Classic; we are looking forward to some more exciting plans for 2023.

More information about Christian Surfers UK can be found elsewhere on this website, or by visiting the Facebook pages: Christian Surfers UK or Jesus Surf Series CSUK