The final day of the 2008 Sport Chalet Pro saw a different side of Salt Creek! The perfect weather and surf of the day prior switched into a 4 to 5 Californian wind squall. With eight hours of competition left to be run the riders hit the water at 8 am sharp!

Major standouts where California’s own Jeremy Wright who was on a consistent roll from day one all the way to the final. Other Cali hopefuls such as Nelz Velicido and Ross McBride had bowed out in the quarters due to the trying conditions.

Jeff Hubbard had the highest score of the day in his quarterfinal heat with a roll to barrel to ars that was the highlight of the day’s actions. Jeff in true Champion form continued his domination on into the finals.

The women’s division saw Vikki Gleason coming back to the competition for her first contest in over seven years for an outstanding performance that landed her in the final. Also Claudia Ferrari & Leila Ali our two USBA Women's Champion hopefuls also had great performances, which landed then in the finals. Monica Delamore who was in title contention for the Sport Chalet CA regional tour also made the final with a consistent effort throughout the entire competition!

As the long day of competition progressed it was the amateur’s turn to deal with the now harsh 4 to 6 ft storm surf!

New comers to the CA Sport Chalet/USBA venues such as Jay Uehara and Alex Brown had a great first experience with solid combinations throughout the remaining rounds. Also Dilan Druz and Travis Smith our two contenders for the USBA AM national title both fell victim to back to back to back heats as they progressed through the 13 to 18 and Open Amateur divisions. Both competitors managed to make the finals and where equally exhausted at days end. Hawaiian Reis Yonoheiro all though not in the title race for the Amateur Open title was putting it all on the line with solid performances heat after heat and took home the win for his first for the year!

It was 3rd time lucky for the running of the much anticipated Auto-Sleepers British National bodyboard competition this Sunday.  The event had been postponed twice due to a lack of waves, but the combination of a 6ft swell and the low tide banks at Porthtowan produced an exhilarating display from the UK’s best bodyboarders.

The prospect of £2,000 in prize money had ensured that almost without exception the top 20 British riders were putting their skills on parade, in what some are already calling the highest standard British Nationals to date. 

The early rounds saw some aerial manoeuvres that would have not have been out of place on the world stage.  There were 9.0 and 9.5s awarded for a spectacular ARS (Air Roll Spin) from Porthtowan’s Alex Winkworth, and back-flip from Plymouth’s Danny Wall respectively.  The Judges were rewarding those competitors attempting the more adventurous moves, and ‘above-the-lip’ combination manoeuvres were those attracting the big scores. 

From the Quarter Finals forward, each heat read like a who’s-who of British bodyboarding.  The standard was so high that notable casualties were inevitable.  But Bournemouth’s James Blackwell was surfing out of his skin, and secured a semi final berth against the odds edging out former English Champion Remy Geffroy.

The Semi Finals saw undoubtedly the top two waves of the day.  In Semi one Damian Prisk combined two super tight spins with finding a rare makeable barrel and finished his ride with a confident looping roll to secure his progression.  In Semi two, London’s Darren Halse pulled a clean ARS out of the pocket with a spin on landing; he too finished his wave with a roll to attract the only 10 of the day. 

Danny Wall and Alex Winkworth followed Damien and Darren into the final, leaving Mark Griffiths, Bjorn Storey, Dan Skajowski and James Blackwell dreaming of what could have been.

The final saw Damien Prisk race into an early and ultimately unassailable lead, pulling combination ARS’s on two successive waves.  This left the 3 remaining competitors playing catch-up, and though each man could have stolen the lead with a single score with a few minutes to go, none was able to secure a wave that would let them repeat their performances from the earlier rounds.  So Damien secured back-to-back British titles and a first place prize of £1,000.