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Newquay's Josh Piper showed his true potential
by George Mojo
19/02/2008:// Newquay's Josh Piper showed his true potential by reaching the finals of both the under 16 and 18 divisions of the South to South Frostbite sessions, held at Portreath.
The 15-year-old Josh was the clear winner in the under 18's and was narrowly defeated in the under 16's by Jack Whitefield from St Ives.
The second event of the Frostbite series was scheduled to take place at Praa Sands, but as the surf was looking small and blown out, organiser Tyson Greenaway decided to move across to the north coast, which was looking to be a much better option.
Following a cross country ramble, the competitors were greeted by clean highly contestable surf at a sun bathed, if somewhat frosty Portreath.
The first heat of the day saw the youngest surfer of the series, 9 year old Harry de Roth from St Ives put in a great effort, but against such seasoned youngsters as Sennen's Seb Smart, he had to be content with fourth position.
Many of the surfers had opted to enter both divisions, meaning that some surfed as many as six heats throughout the day. Quite an achievement given the freezing conditions.
The under 18's final was a tight fought affair between eventual winner Jack Whitefield, finding long smooth rides, and the powerful style of Josh Piper, going for bigger moves.
Bert Wright from Penzance had easily won his semi, scoring a 7.6 with the only barrel of the day, but couldn't find his form in the final.
Rob Webster Blythe who had travelled all the way down from Newport in Gwent, was milking the small waves for all he was worth, but it wasn't to be enough.
With the two finals back to back, both Whitefield and Piper stayed in the water for the under 16's final, with Piper immediately taking a solid wave on the hooter blast.
Whitefield stuck to his formula of taking as many waves as possible; Seb Smart was trying hard to find some air; Newquay's Alex Piper just couldn't find the waves, and Josh Piper powered his way through again to win convincingly.
Following a good result at the first event at Gwithian, Alex Piper now leads the series ratings in both divisions, as well as overall.
With the best two results from the three events counting, all could change next week, when the event moves to Porthmeor, St Ives on Sunday Feb 24th.
The series consists of three, one-day contests, for surfers in categories 16 and under, and 18 and under, and based on the best two results, the top four surfers from the series will compete in a mobile Grand Final on March 15th.
They will be taken to the best waves available on the day, be it Porthleven, Bude or St Agnes, to battle for the chance to win a lucrative sponsorship deal.
The South to South team of athletes consists of: Renato Galvao, Almao de Maresias, Emerson Piai, Lucinei Malas, Yage Araujo, Aline, Luiz Saraiva, Guillermo Ribeiro, Anjinjo, and Tyson Greenaway, and James Mitchell from Cornwall.
Results U-16 1st Jack Whitefield 2nd Josh Piper 3rd Alex Piper 4th Seb Smart
U-18 1st Josh Piper 2nd Rob Webster Blythe 3rd Jack Whitefield 4th Bert Wright
The 2008 Beachley Classic got underway this morning, completing Rounds 1 and 2 as well as the opening two heats of Round 3 at nearby Freshwater Beach in clean two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves
Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, has officially announced her retirement from full-time competition, effective at the end of the year
Former Exeter University student Josh Lewin first heat at the Ocean and Earth Pro in the Canary Islands has been delayed because the 2ft surf was deemed uncontestable
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