| Alex Winkworth takes the Overhead Wedge Air |
| Wednesday, 15 September 2010 10:19 |
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The British Bodyboard Club’s Overhead Wedge Air has without doubt been the highlight of the tour so far. After a frustrating summer of fickle conditions and postponed events, at the fourth time of asking, competitors were finally treated to near perfect Tolcarne Wedge giving them an opportunity to boost the big aerial manoeuvres the wave is famous for. The first day of the competition saw the first round of heats completed and despite a couple of close calls, there were no losses of the top seeded riders. The following day the conditions looked to be excellent once again with the added bonus of some September sunshine. Every quarter final heat was loaded with talent which produced some outstanding surfing. Porthtowan’s Cheech Fleck came within inches or landing a monster Air Reverse, the judges had “10s” ready for that one had he stuck it. The semi finals saw the first unexpected exits with current tour number one Remi Geffroy and number two Jack Johns struggling to find the high scoring rides needed to make what was set to be an epic final. After a short wait for the high spring tide to drop back the waves started doing their thing. The final four hit the water where Porthtowan hot shot Alex Winkworth opened his account with a sweet down the line invert which gave him a healthy score to build on. An in form Joe Franklin who practically lives at the Wedge was chasing Winkworth hard and found some solid waves but never quite enough for him to boost his trademark back flips. British bodyboarding stalwarts Rob Barber and Damian Prisk’s solid but safe surfing weren’t enough to threaten the more adventurous duo. Winkworth found a second high scoring ride and looked to have it in the bag but an in interference call blew the competition open for anyone to win in the last five minutes. However, no one else could find the score needed to steal the crown and Alex took the title and the cool £150 along with 500 invaluable points towards the ASG tour. The result sets up an exciting finale at the British Nationals which will be held in October at Porthtowan. The Grand Slam event has 1,000 tour points on offer so it’s still anyone’s to win. Final positions: 1st Alex Winkworth
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