IOW Surf Club Frost Bite Series – Event No 1

IOW Surf Club Frost Bite Series

Today saw the first ‘Frost bite’ competition of six being held this winter, sponsored kindly by the boys at Rapanui. Greeted with pretty grim onshore head-high waves at Compton, first up we saw the groms test the water. Both Robin & Dylan snagged plenty of waves each but Robin gradually took control with a couple of good waves to take the first event. The waves continue to prove challenging for the mens Open, as the pool of 16 riders entered the water in 4 man, 20 min heats. Julie Tortajada, in the first quarter final, took the Ladies title getting several fun waves.

From the first round the following progressed into the semis:
Heat 1:       1.Richard Gray           2. Jamie Whittle
Heat 2:       1.Nick Whittle             2. Foz
Heat 3:       1. Jo Truman              2. Al Reed
Heat 4:       1. Doug Richards       2. Matt Harwood

Semi One saw Douglas Richards start to show his quality, making some nice aggressive turns, and following him after a somewhat slow start, Jo’s local knowledge paid dividends, hooking into some good little rights, his smooth style saw him up his wave count and into second place only 0.5 points behind Dougie & just ahead of Rich who surfed well in both his heats. In Semi Two, Matt, keen to progress, started with a bang  – getting several scores on the
board in quick succession. Al also posted some scores whilst  Jamie & Nick, who both showed good form earlier on,  were quiet until the last quarter, when Nick started to make a come-back, but too little, too late saw Al & Matt progress into the final.  The Final was closely fought battle , the waves failed to improve, which saw the judges favourite going into the final, Doug,  making a subdued start. We did see glimmers of his solid style, but the waves just didn’t go his way. Matt, with a great high scoring first wave, continued to post some respectable scores, streaking ahead on wave count alone, Al found a solid right all the way into the inside, showing some style with cross-steps & smooth cutbacks. Jo’s consistency and nack for finding those fun inside walls, meant he edged ahead of Al into second and Matt taking the  top spot with skill & tenacity.

Final Scores:
1st Matt Harwood 11.83
2nd Jo Truman 11.53
3rd Al Reed 10.16
4th Doug Richards 9.63

Provided by the Isle of Wight Surf Club