Alan Stokes

The Animal team cleaned up the top spots of the UK Pro Surf tour in Newquay at the weekend.

Alan Stokes claimed the overall men's open title and Gwen Spurlock became overall women's open champion too.

This is a great finish for Gwen who has taken home the Welsh Junior and British Junior titles already this year.

After the stormy conditions provided by Mother Nature on day one, meaning the event was moved to Towan beach, the competition returned to Fistral.

Day two saw a challenging chunky 6ft swell and a strong cross-shore SSW wind testing the competitors.

On the beach, each heat of the day was watched closely by the onlookers to find out who would win overall.

Stokesy secured the UK Pro Surf Tour title defeating rivals Tom Butler and Reubyn Ash in the semi-finals despite a strong performance from Tom Butler throughout each of the rounds.

Alan kept on top with some solid scores getting a 7.5 and 8.33 in the semis to clinch the title and take the championship title home on solid form.

In the Women's event, strong performances were put on by Zoe Sheath and Gabi Rowe but not enough to take the overall title from Gwen Spurlock who won the overall UK Pro Surf Tour Women'sevent thirty points ahead of the pack.

Tour Director Dave Reed said “A fantastic event and a great result for two of the best surfers in the UK, Alan Stokes, and Gwen Spurlock.

They have both achieved a great result from the last 12 months of hard work”.

Stoksie and Gwen’s results overshadowed great performances by event winners Ruebin Pearce and Gabi Rowe who both became Animal Newquay Open Champions for 2009.

The end-of-tour awards ceremony held at Fistral Blu was a great evening celebrating the achievements of the cream of the UK surf talent.

Animal Sponsorship manager Steve Kitchin said, 'We are really proud to have two such outstanding surfers on the team, and to have a double win at the Animal Newquay Open is the icing on top.'

Top Stories

The most successful competitive surfer of all time, Kelly Slater, rode what may have been the last heat of his 24-year professional career.

We can't choose our height, and 80 percent of it is genetic. But if you're into surfing, taller and shorter surfers feel noticeable differences in getting acquainted with boards, paddling for, and riding a wave.

Ryan Crosby is the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the World Surf League (WSL).

Classified as "Critically Endangered" by UNESCO, the native Hawaiian language has approximately 2,000 speakers. Here's what makes it so special.