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South African Takes Title at Europe's Greenest Surf Festival

The SAS/Aloha Cornish and Open 2005 results

South African Richard Sills has won the 2005 Surfers Against Sewage/Aloha Cornish and Open held at Porthtowan beach, Cornwall from the 12th –14th August.

The 3-day event enjoyed very contestable waves providing some great surfing action from the 150 competitors. Those watching on finals day also saw the sun shine all day to round off a hugely successful event.

The Open final had an international feel with Richie Sills (South Africa), Wesley Kelly(Australia), Clinton Fraser (South Africa) and Llewellyn Whittaker (GB) making the final a close affair. The level of surfing was high, raising the bar for next year. This was mirrored in the other divisions with Rebecca Templeton (Wales) taking home the ladies title, Jed Stone adding another Masters title to a competition he always does well in. The Cornish and Open also saw outstanding performances from locally based surfers in particular 16-year-old Ryan Manetta and Shaun ‘Skippy’ Skilton who both made it to the semis of the Open. Current English Longboard Champion Ben Skinner put in an impressive performance to show why he is ranked 13 on the World Longboard Tour. His classic mix of progressive and traditional surfing brought him the longboard division title ahead of the ever-consistent Chris ‘Guts’ Griffiths (Wales).

Day 1 of the Cornish and Open saw the younger categories battle it out in good conditions. Solid, consistent surfing by Sam Burkett (Wales), Alex Baker (Devon), Matt Burner (Devon), Lewis Clinton (Cornwall) and Beth Mason (Wales) made the junior divisions highly competitive. Friday also saw Damian Prisk retain his Cornish and Open title in the Bodyboard division.

The grand finale of this year’s Cornish and Open saw the SAS Tag Team event take place at low tide Porthtowan. The crowd was treated by a fun and explosive hour of surfing, which saw Team SAS (Ben Skinner, James Hendy, Skippy Skilton and Sarah Bentley edge out Team Pure Blue Water.

Throughout the 3 day event a strong ‘environmental message’ was given out by all the surfers and the organisers. SAS prides itself on delivering a ‘green’ surf contest and so the event was packed with kids beach litter picks, appearances by a caped crusader known as Recycleman, reclaimed driftwood contest trophies, environmental talks by SAS campaigners and organic cotton contest t-shirts provided by Aloha which are fairly traded and pesticide free so they don’t pollute the water table.

SAS are grateful to the support of Aloha to deliver another successful grassroots contest – the greenest and the longest running surf contest in the UK. We would also like to thank our supporting sponsors, The Blue Bar, Pure Blue Water, Red Stripe, Carve/Surfgirl/Threesixty. Thanks also to Our Fair Hands for making the trophies, Tree of Life Organics, Carrs of St Agnes and Vospers.

Michelle England SAS Contest Organiser says: ”SAS are stoked that this year’s Cornish and Open has stood out through its commitment to deliver both environmental friendliness and a high level of competitive surfing. A unique atmosphere brought 3 days of fun to one of Cornwall’s finest surf breaks keeping the Cornish and Open tradition alive.

Emma Hartley, Aloha Europe says: “We’re delighted to have teamed up with SAS to support this prestigious event and to have contributed in minimising the environmental impact to ensure an exciting and green surf event took place”.

Full results are as follows:

Youth (Under 14)
1st Alex Baker
2nd Lewis Clinton
3rd Toby Donachie
4th Tom Good

Cadets (Under 16)
1st Matt Burner
2nd Billy Norways
3rd Dane Hall
4th Jack Clinton

Juniors (under 18)
1st Sam Burkett
2nd Jayce Robinson
3rd Tom Owens
4th Dane Hall

Under 18 Girls
1st Beth Mason
2nd Gwen Spurlock
3rd Zoe Sheath
4th Rebecca Templeton

Bodyboard
1st Damian Prisk
2nd Scott Harben
3rd Oli Medland
4th Shaun Smithers

Masters ( over 35)
1st Jed Stone
2nd Roger Knight
3rd Chris Griffiths
4th Daz Wright

Longboard
1st Ben Skinner
2nd Chris Griffiths
3rd Luke Patterson
4th Sam Bleakley

Ladies
1st Rebecca Templeton
2nd Sarah Bentley
3rd Nicola Bunt
4th Holly Donnelly

Open
1st Richie Sills
2nd Wesley Kelly
3rd Llewellyn Whittaker
4th Clinton Frazer

Jimmy Mavor Cup – Ryan Manetta warded for local outstanding performance.