A good weekend was had at West Wittering for the GONG and 2XS first round competition of the 2008 series. The swell was small on saturday, but that did not stop Patrice Guénolé from throwing 360's and nose sides, with a few drop knee turns thrown in for good measure.
The first distance race started at 10.30am and was a punishing trianglular course, with a relatively easy downtide first leg then a hard leg against the tide and a final leg against the wind !
The competition was kindly sponsored by www.2xs.co.uk and GONG sup, and supported by Prosport Sunscreen, Reef, Grasshopper and Atan. It was very hard fought with Neal Gent (GONG) coming in just ahead of John Hibbard (Starboard), in the ladies Claire Blacklock won. Despite being the only woman entrant in the Open category Claire won alot of respect by entering every race and the expression session.
The juniors had a slightly shorter course but did very well in the conditions, Bobbie Cooper managed the first place. Later that day the second distance race was a series of 3 laps around a straight course, once again Neal Gent had a well deserved win.
Patrice Guénolé then ran a master class on SUP freestyle with the Juniors and others getting the benefit of his tips and coaching, it was very rewarding for everyone.
Everybody retired to the Bell Inn in the evening for some food, beer and music.
On Sunday the swell had picked up slightly so the first order of the day was an expression session in the waves. Patrice was showing what 4 years of experience SUPing on a 12 ft board can mean. He was radical and explosive on tiny waves.
It was alot of fun and challenging in the small conditions, the overall results were :
Mens:
1st : Patrice Guénolé (GONG)
2nd: John Hibbard (Starboard)
3rd: Matt Argyle (GONG)
4th: Bill Dawes (Starboard)
5th: Neal Gent (GONG) & Richard Marsh (Naish)
6th: Jason Manning (Starboard) & Mark Slater.
Womens:
1st Claire Blacklock
Juniors :
1st : Bobbie Cooper
2nd: Lucy Howell
3rd: Holly Bassett
The final distance race for the Juniors and Mens took place after lunch and it was another close fought race with Neal Gent (GONG) getting first, Patrice Guénolé (GONG) second, just pipping Mark Slater, third, in a sprint to the finish and John Hibbard (Starboard) fourth.
The final results for all of the distance events were as follows :
Mens :
| Overall Position | Name | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Total |
| 1 | Neal Gent | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | John Hibbard | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 3 | Mark Slater | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 4 | Patrice Guénolé | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
| 5 | Toby Watts | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| 6 | Jason Manning | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 |
| 7 | Nigel Foskett | 7 | 7 | DNS | 26 |
| 8 | Richard Marsh | 10 | 10 | 7 | 27 |
| 9 | Tim Matthews | 9 | 9 | DNS | 30 |
| 10 | Matt Argyle | 8 | DNS | DNS | 32 |
| 10 | Bill Dawes | DNS | 8 | DNS | 32 |
Womens :
| Overall Position | Name | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Total |
| 1 | Claire Blacklock | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Juniors :
| Overall Position | Name | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Total |
| 1 | Bobbie Cooper | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Holly Bassett | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 3 | Lucy Howell | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
Some of these pictures have been kindly provided by Jon Parker. Thank-you Jon and make sure you visit his website to see if he captured your image at the event : Jon Parker Photography.
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