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09/07/2007:// The Welsh team coach has described his country's finish at the European Surfing Championships as "a huge success."
The Gul-sponsored team equalled a personal best by finishing fourth in Portugal with a solid team performance and the crowning of a European champion.
Elliot Dudley repeated his epic victory of two years ago, winning the longboard title in a nail biting final in perfect 4ft waves.
Dudley did it the hard way, having been knocked into the repercharge earlier in the day, he had to surf three times to retain his title.
The final itself was an incredibly tense affair with the lead changing hands throughout, Channel Islands surfer Ben Skinner got off to a great start, locking in two strong rides but couldn't improve on his tally.
French star Antoine Delepro replied nailing a 7.83 but it was Dudley who saved the best for last, scoring an 8 in the later half of the heat which he quickly backed up with 6.97.
The ocean went calm for the last few moments, leaving the fellow finalists frustrated and an ecstatic Dudley champion. The Welshman, clearly delighted was carried from the beach by his fellow countrymen draped in the Welsh Flag. "I'm so stoked said Elliot, to win this for a 2nd time against such strong opposition and in great waves, I'm over the moon!"
It could have been even better for the Welsh, as for the first time since 1993 they had 3 finalists to cheer on, all of which surfed one after the other.
First in was Welsh Legend Chris Griffiths who surfed out a highly competitive Masters final to finish 3rd behind Portugal's Pedro Araujo and a fired up Clayton Lidster of the Channel Islands. Griffiths had gold in sights, but the waves just didn't seem to fall his way as he couldn't find a second scoring wave, leaving Griffiths requiring (by his standard) an very obtainable 5.64 to go first.
Dudley was next in which obviously provided the Welsh with plenty to cheer, who was followed by Mark Vaughan in the Senior final.
Vaughanie who'd looked good in the earlier rounds got off to the slowest of starts as he sat patiently waiting for the sets which never materialised. Meanwhile competitors Rodrigues, Mc Carthy and Eastwood went about racking up scores, giving Vaughan a real battle.
The Welshman fought back however, smashing a couple of rights to earn a 6.33 and 5.97 but it wasn't enough to catch Portugal's Paulo Rodrigues who deservedly took the win, leaving Vaughan 2nd, Ireland's Jon Mc Carthy 3rd and Channel Islands Scot Eastwood 4th.
Aside from the finalists the team performed brilliantly all week, the girls were exceptional with Joanne Dennison and Beth Mason finishing 9th & 11th in the Women's and Gemma Harris heartbreakingly missing out in the Women's Bodyboard final by one place, finishing up 5th. Dan Harris was always a threat in the Longboard and fellow Aberavon local Mark Griffiths also narrowly missed out on progressing to the finals in the Men's Bodyboard.
In the Open division lady luck wasn't quite so generous, with several of the team failing to progress by the narrowest of margins. However all performed with passion and commitment and the dream Open run that any one of the team is capable of, wasn't to be. Sam Burkett was Wales highest placing with a creditable 25th, young Sam put in some solid displays in the chunky onshore conditions and certainly will be one to watch in the future.
Coach Chris Griffiths had this to say: "Overall the event was a huge success for Wales. 4th place equalled the previous best achieved in Thurso back in 1993. With a little more fortune we would have taken 3rd place from Spain, which would have put us in dream land. To finish 4th against such strong opposition is fantastic. The team supported each other throughout the event and our team spirit helped us achieve this result. I must pass on thanks to managers Eryl Mason and Stuart Bentley, my assistant coach Vaughanie and our sponsors "Gul" for their very generous support."
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