Boscombe Sorted Surf Festival overcame horrendous weather conditions and indifferent public opinion to produce a successful competition at the weekend.

A surfer in action on the reef

Boscombe’s £3m artificial surf reef hosted its very first competitive action, as around 70 competitors took part in Saturday’s surfing and bodyboarding competitions. The quality of wave produced by the reef had been widely criticised prior to the weekend. And it appeared to get off to the worst possible start as rain and high winds battered the seafront.

On land, around 40 spectators braved the weather and lined the pier to watch the action, while the seafront promenade was transformed into a 70s style festival atmosphere. It may not have been Woodstock, but Hendrix was pumping out in the background, camper vans lined the road, and tents offered activities including bongo lessons and wooden surf carvings. A unique atmosphere was created.

In the sea, the men’s and over 35’s surf opens took place on the west side of Boscombe Pier. While on the east side, on the much publicised surf reef, the junior surf open and the first round of the British Bodyboarding Championships got underway. Unfortunately, the women’s open was cancelled due to only two entrants registering.  

The first round of the British Bodyboarding Championships was the day’s big event, particularly as some of the country’s top bodyboarders were taking part. Also, popular opinion suggested that the waves produced on the reef were more suited to bodyboarders.

Bournemouth surfer, John Willetts, 27, said: “There’s no oomph in the wave for surfers, so when you put your toe down to do a move there’s nothing there. I think the bodyboarding will be a lot more exciting to watch”.

There were eight initial bodyboarding heats with four competitors in each, and they were each given marks by judges in an X-Factor style audition. They were scored according to how well they performed ‘radical manoeuvres in the most critical sections of a wave with speed, power and flow’.

The top two from each heat went through to the quarter-finals, where they then battled to get into the semi-finals before fighting to reach the final four. Shaun Bands appeared to be the stand out performer leading up to the final, and he went into the last four up against Remi Geoffrey, Jack Johns and Aidan Salmon.

But it was Jack Johns who upset the form book on the day to win the final and the first round of the Championships, despite not being at his best in the early stages. Indeed his change in fortunes during the day mirrored the surf festival’s turn around and eventual success.

On the back of the Sorted Surf festival’s success, it has been announced it will be an annual event at the Boscombe surf reef.