Ten feet of white water was rolling through the contest arena when the crews began to arrive at Saunton Sands on north Devon’s coast for the UK Open Surfboat Championships that took place on Saturday 28 July.

No amount of preparation, however, was going to settle the butterflies of the river racers from the likes of Molesey, Marlow, Nottingham and Cambridge CCAT. Not when Saturday dawned with sets still at head height and above, whipped by a capricious cross-onshore breeze. “I was nervous before the start,” admitted Cat Lusty who rowed for the Molesey Pirates. “But it made for a massive adrenaline rush.”

As the three preliminary rounds of the men’s event began, the action came thick and fast. Boats were sent airborne only to be swamped by the next wave. In such testing conditions the benefit of experience quickly came to the fore and the old hands from the established surf clubs showed strongly.

The same proved to be true in the women’s event where grunt was substituted by guile as the first-timers struggled to bring their undoubted straight-line speed to bear. Lusty's wry take - after a wave washed the length of the boat - was apposite: “I’ve never seen conditions like that on the Thames."

The drama continued. The bowman of the Pirates, Rachel Padden, was plucked out of her seat by her oar and unceremoniously pitched backwards and head-first into the sea. She was unscathed. Sian David of the Llantwit Majorettes took an awkward fall and was carried out of the sea by the RNLI lifeguards. She was strapped to a spinal board before being taken off for assessment. Happily, her injuries were not serious and she was able to return in time for the evening celebration.

The St Agnes Birds took a huge hit on the way out which threw their sweep (steersman) over the side. Out of control, the boat pitched backwards down the face of a wave but somehow stayed upright. In the men’s semi-finals, one of the Twickenham boats, JT’s Pussies, was not so lucky. With a place in the final seemingly assured, the boat slewed under a collapsing section and rolled; contest over.

The women’s final rowed out into one of the bigger sets of the day but it was the race back to the beach that settled the outcome. Sweep of Perranporth’s Rebel Angels, Pete Gaisford, found a wave from a long way out and surfed it close to the shore. Bowman Anita Adams timed her leap from the boat to perfection and romped up the beach to retain the club’s title.

The men’s title came down to a clash between the champions, Twickenham Exiles, an Australian crew with a solid surfboat pedigree, and the best domestic boat of the season, Porthtowan Blue Bali. In a sure sign that standards in the UK are improving, the Blues were quicker off the beach, first to the turn and won with something in hand. “I’m so pleased,” said their sweep John Richards. “Everyone has worked so hard for this – not just the four who rowed but the whole surfboat team.

”After a gruelling day at the office the teams turned their attention to letting off some serious steam (A recurring theme; I fear that post-race celebrations are more dangerous than the rowing. Ed). By the end of the night, in true “boatie” fashion, the waves were approaching 20’ and the turning buoys had moved to the rocky cliffs of Lundy. 

“It was just a great event,” said Ed Boyns of Molesey Boat Club. “We’re definitely coming back next year.” That must have been music to the ears of main sponsor, Aussiebum, even before the revelation that there may be a chance to race the professional Australian crews in a televised event in France next year. Surfboat racing is on the crest of a wave.

For full details see www.uksrl.co.uk. Pictures (C) Andy Cox