from 7 to 10.5m. The tide was dropping,
leaving nice flat spots between the small
waves and it was a pleasure to sit down
and watch the action.
Competition rattled on, and the Juniors and
am ladies were soon completed, before
moving onto the pro classes and masters.
My first heat was fast approaching; I’d been
drawn up against old friends and rivals and
Dave Wilde and Kev Matthey. We were all
excited about the match-up, and conditions
were improving further as the tide dropped,
leaving flatter water between the small
kickers.
As our heat began I was glad to land a nice
clean 313 on the way in, to which Kev and
Dave replied to with Blind Judges. I landed
a few smaller tricks on the way out to sea,
but repeatedly failed to land a low mobe
on the way in. After 3 failures I considered
forgetting it, but as time ran out gave it one
last try and stomped it with a rather sketchy
landing. I wasn’t sure how the judges would
compare this to Dave and Kev’s heats, and
we all anxiously awaited the results.
I later found out that I’d done enough to
secure first place, progressing me straight
through to a place in the third round. Dave
and Kev needed to go through the second
round to progress, which they proceeded to