| Ben Proffitt crowned 2010 British Wavesailing champion |
| Saturday, 06 November 2010 15:10 |
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The 2010 BWA UK Wave Tour has once again delivered with many top places going down to the wire at in the final round in some of the most spectacular and challenging conditions seen at Gwithian, Cornwall. Spurred by his fantastic PWA results, Ben Proffitt (Simmer) finally took the crown he has worked so hard for with consistent wins in Ireland and Scotland. Chris Murray and George Shillito (Tushingham, Starboard) delivered consistent performances to take well deserved 2nd and 3rd respectively. Further stars to watch in 2011 will undoubtedly be Sam Neal (JP, Neil Pryde) and Richard Jones (Fanatic, North). The big question... after a giant-slaying 2010, will Andy 'Bubble' Chambers (JP, Neil Pryde) hang up his freestyle hat and cause more upset to the pros in 2011? Of course the fleet result was upset by the non-attendance of other stars such as Phil Horrocks (JP), John Skye (RRD, RRD), Timo Mullen (Starboard), and James Cox (Ezzy) who missed events and then lost valuable points in a savage and uncompromising 3-event tour which gave no charitable discards. There was a real Anglo/Scot battle in the amateurs as Adam Sims and Scott McDowell raged war in their respective countries. But with Sims pulling an epic performance out of the bag in Gwithian, Scotty finally fell to his dagger. Ian Gibson gave a die-hard performance to come a close 3rd next to new kid on the competition block, Jim Brookes-Dowsett in fourth. 2010 Amateur Champion: Adam Sims WOMEN 2010 saw some very welcome new faces for this fleet with a standout performance from Debbie Kennedy who took 1st place in both Tiree and Cornwall to secure a Champions title. Close on her heals and one to watch for 2011 is Jody Ward who put in consistent performances in her first year of wave competition to take the Vice Champion place. You think the pros are competitive...think again! The Masters fleet was a ferocious battle between RAF sailors and our old favourite Big Davey. Despite taking a win in Gwithian with an epic mast high wave performance, Big Davey had to settle for 2nd as RAF's own Craig Hamilton took the 2010 crown. Big Davey commented, "It is so hard to find the will to beat the RAF guys as they are far too nice. It was much easier when I could scrap with Nigel [Treacy] on the wave!" 2010 saw the return of Aleksy Gayda. Aleksy put in a performance most pros would be proud of securing 1st place in Cornwall and overall 2010 Youth Champion, a great birthday present. Newcomers and ones to watch for 2011; Rhosneigr local Liam Ellis and George Bolwell took 2nd and 3rd overall. The 2010 competition season is not yet over, as we have the inaugural Welsh Wave Sailing Amateur Champs ready to be held on the first windy weekend in November at Broadhaven. Sponsored by Pura Vida and Funsport and hosted by HavenSports, this event will see ‘amateur’ sailors battle in the Welsh waves with the Pros showing up to ‘show off’ their sponsors latest kit and their talents on the water! And of course the BWA Team are already working on the 2011 season. We hope to release event dates before Christmas so in the meantime, enjoy the autumn winds!
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