Home Internationals & British Open

The Home Internationals were held from Monday the 29^th of October to Thursday the 1^st of November. Then on the 3^rd and 4^th of November the British Open was on. Both these events were held in Pembrokeshire.

Monday morning I caught a lift with someone else who was on the England Team and travelled up to Wales. We got into Tenby which was just outside Manorbier, where we were staying and we did a bit of shopping before heading up to Manorbier beach to see what the conditions were like. It was pretty flat so we then retraced our steps and went to the youth hostel where all the teams were staying and the boat check-in was being held. We got our boats checked in and then went in and got comfortable in our rooms. In the evening it was decided who was going to surf when and I was chosen for a heat in the Mens IC class and for the Junior HP. After a very nice and very filling pizza we had a good night’s sleep before getting up and getting to Freshwater West for 8:00.

I had a good day, getting 2^nd places in both my heats and everybody else also did well so that by the end of the day we were in the lead by about 10 points. This was great as it left us a bit of a margin for the second round. The next day we all headed out to the beach and it was decided that we would move to Manorbier beach but when we got there it was decided that the comp. would be postponed to the following day as the surf was massive and the wind was vey high. Everybody went out for a free surf and got some nice waves, I got an air but unfortunately I didn’t land it – but it felt great! It was hard work so I was glad that they had decided not to run the comp.

Most of us then went back to the youth hostel and had a rest. Some went back to the beach later on as the wind had dropped and apparently had a great time. Almost everybody went out to the cinema that evening to see the new James Bond but a few of us decided to go for a surf. It had dropped off quite a bit but there was still a nice wave and as there was only 4 of us out there it was great. We surfed till after dark and then as I was surfing in on my last wave I made a big mistake. It was so dark that I couldn’t really see how close I was to the beach and the waves were breaking right onto it. I took my last wave and thought that it was going brilliantly and I was just preparing to go for the lip when I realized that there was no water in front of me! I went up with the lip and landed on my face on the beach. Apparently it was hilarious to watch from the beach. Thankfully I wasn’t really hurt and nothing was broken. Just had a bruised lip and a couple of slightly loose teeth!

We went back to the youth hostel and had some dinner. Then the program for the next day was put up on the notice board and I was in the Junior IC class and it was being held at Manorbier beach again which was great as it was only a couple of minutes drive from where we were staying.

When we got down there the next day there was quite a nice wave coming through. All the HP heats were on first so I was on later on in the day. I did a bit of judging and watched until it was time to get down for my heat. The conditions were very interesting but I had a couple of nice waves and got a second place. We all had good results that day and we gained another ten points on Northern Ireland who were in 2^nd place meaning we won the Home Internationals with an advantage of 20 points! The prize giving was that evening where everyone got a small trophy and was followed by a Halloween party. It was fun watching some of the Halloween games as well as seeing all the different fancy dresses!

The next day was supposed to be a rest day but because of the forecast and because of the number of people who had entered in the British Open it was decided it wouldn’t be and that we would go straight into the competition.

I was entered in the Junior IC and HP. The Junior HP semi was on fairly early and I didn’t have a good heat. I just didn’t seem to get things right and couldn’t catch any nice waves. I came 3^rd which wasn’t quite good enough as I needed either a 1^st or a 2^nd to get through to the final.

I had a bit of a break before I was on again this time in the Junior IC semi. I did better this time and got a 2^nd place meaning I was through to the final which I was really pleased about. Shortly afterwards I had to go out for the Junior HP B final and I got 2^nd place in it which meant that I came 6^th overall in the Junior HP. Then I had a couple of heats break before going into the Junior IC final. I didn’t feel that I had done brilliantly but I was fairly happy with what I had done – we weren’t going to find out the results until the next evening (Saturday). There were several people who hadn’t yet arrived so they couldn’t do all the heats. We retired to the Youth Hostel and had a shower and a rest, before going out for a team meal in the evening, kindly paid for by Surf Kayak Skills. The next day I wasn’t going to be surfing so I hung around watching the surfing and occasionally helping out with the judging. The Mens IC class and the Masters HP class and the Lady’s HP class were finished that day and we had the prize giving for them and the 2 Junior classes that had been run the day before. that evening. Then after that we had an auction of items that had been donated to raise funds to help get the Welsh Team to the Worlds next year in Australia. We then retired for the night as we had to be at the beach fairly early the next day. We also had to remove all our kit from the Youth Hostel before we left.

The next day started as a rather wet day but with some nice surf. I went out before the heats started to try a new boat and that was my undoing as I bought it several hours later! The final heats were run and we had the prize giving at the beach. I then transferred both my boats and all my kit to someone else’s van for the drive home. It took us about 6 – 7 hours to get back but it wasn’t too bad. We all had a great weekend and it was great to have participated in the Home Internationals and of course to get a 4^th place in the Junior IC and a 6^th place in the Junior HP.

 

                                                                                 JTG