For the first time in 29 years, Neptune decided to take a day off and with great disappointment, the 2013 Saltburn Open was cancelled. 2014 has arrived and we were nearly faced with the same dilemma. Neptune decided to offer some positive signs and delivered a small low pressure forming above Scotland which gave us swell for the Sunday. The comp was ON!
The conditions were promising, with a strong northerly ground swell and slightly onshore. Feeling optimistic, we hoped the wind would drop – unfortunately, to our dismay, it picked up throughout the day creating tricky and challenging conditions for all of the 35 competitors. This cold Autumn day did not dampen the spirits of everyone involved and the Sun even made a brief appearance to boost moral.
The Saltburn Open was extremely hard fought this year with a strong team from Tynemouth up against a hardy Saltburn and Scarborough crew. It was the crew from Tynemouth who came out victorious, with Louis-Thomson-Hudson winning the Open final, beating defending local champion Sandy Kerr into second place. This pushed Saltburn locals Evan Rogers and Nick Woodings into third and fourth position.
Louis’ surfing abilities were awesome, finding the best peaks out the back that connected all the way into the inside sections while navigating the tricky onshore conditions. However, this was cut short in his Junior category by local grom Sky Shaw and Louis’ Tynemouth comrade Ben Tucker. Sky Shaw, surfing his new VisioNary board, won both the Juniors (under 18s) and Cadets (under16s) with a close battle with Ben Tucker who surfed exceptionally well in these unforgiving conditions.
The Longboard category was up next and the title was taken by Saltburn local, Evan Rogers claiming victory from Scarborough’s Tom Cross, Ry Hammond and James Kirk. Other categories saw Martin Smith and Alex Dand winning the Senior and Rookie categories.
We can’t thank our sponsors enough for their ongoing support – Xcel, C-Skins, Alder, Circle 1, Saltburn Surf Shop and Surfs Up for taking the edge off a cold Autumn day with tea and coffee. A very special thanks to everyone who entered, mucked-in, judges and spectators who succeeded in making this day fantastic! We hope to see you all again in 2015.
Results
Open Final
1st Louis Thompson-Hudson
2nd Sandy Kerr
3rd Evan Rogers
4th Nick Woodings
Longboard Final
1st Evan Rogers
2nd Tom Cross
3rd Ry Hammond
4th James Kirk
Junior Final
1st Sky Shaw
2nd Ben Tucker
3rd Louis Thompson Hudson
4th Nick Woodings
5th Finn Gamblin
Cadets Final
1st Sky Shaw
2nd Ben Tucker
3rd Finn Gamblin
4th Ethan Nary
Senior Final
1st Martin Smith
2nd Stu Cross
3rd Phil Yau
4th Phil Thacker
Rookies Final
1st Alex Dand
2nd John Hadfield
3rd Tom Cliffe
4th Dale Clark
