Daniel Edghill may make a living in the water, but he’s still red hot.
Edghill reigned supreme in the men’s Open Division when the Barbados Surfing Association’s Surfer Of The Year championships reached fever pitch during the fifth and final event of the series a fortnight ago.
With most of Barbados’ elite surfers jostling for the top positions in their respective divisions, big manoeuvres were the order of the day, as the waves at South Point also delivered in the difficult, chest-high, windy conditions on offer, compliments of Hurricane Irene.
Dane Mackie used his intimate knowledge of his “home” break to tackle the waves with flair for the win on the day, ahead of national junior surfer Daniel Edghill and Joshua Burke, who finished in third spot.
The improving Nathan Allan rounded out the top four.
But 2011 belonged to 15-year-old Edghill who won the open men’s division ahead of Josh Burke. Newcomer Josh Galt had a great year, finishing third. Mackie, who did not surf the first contest, ended the year in fourth after his impressive performance on the last day.
Another 15-year-old also made news in the championships.
Chelsea Tuach, now the ninth ranked female in the world in junior surfing, ruled the Open Women’s Division with her fifth win in as many contests to easily take the Surfer Of The Year crown. Second during the last event was Gylla McKenzie and third was Chelsie Grant.
In the overall standings, Tuach finished ahead of arch-rival Chelsea Roett, while Isabella Venezia and McKenzie tied for third position.
Tuach also won the Under-18 Girls’ Division, again defeating Roett. Third in this division was McKenzie and fourth was Grant Roett did have a solid championship, however, going on to win the Open-21 Division, ahead of Tuach.
The Under-18 Boys’ was another competitive affair with Mackie securing his second win of the day. Josh Burke continued to display his progressive surfing and took second. Caelum Blanford was third while the young gun, Ché Allan, was fourth.
Josh Burke was good enough to win the Under-16 division, getting the better of Mackie, Allan and Zander Venezia. With the win on the final day, Burke secured his second overall championship.
The Under-12 division was another hard-fought affair with Venezia taking his first win in this division, ahead of the consistent Allan, and Andrew Rose. Jacob Burke took the fourth spot.
Though Allan finished second on the final day, his consistency earned him the overall title for 2011, ahead of Venezia, Burke and Rose.
Venezia went on to win the Under-10 Division, just out-pointing Caeleb Rapson and Darian Pitcher.
In the Senior Men’s Division, Andrew Rapson emerged as champion, beating out Christopher Clarke and Louis Venezia. Rapson also won the Masters Division, while Louis Venezia was second, Simon Coles third, and Carlos Wharton fourth.
The Long Board Division was won by Daniel Edghill, with Branden Frazier second and Andre Clarke third. (BA/PR)
