Sunday 18th November saw Alan Stokes crowned the British Champion 2012 and we are royally chuffed for the Newquay man.
Now, not that we would ever dream of suggesting Alan Stokes is a horse, or that we couldn’t put together a reasonable account of the event ourselves, we have to say in this instance we believe it would be better hear this one ‘from the horse’s mouth’. So, without further ado, here are Stokesy’s words on his win.
“The comp started at 8am and the waves looked good. The tide was pretty high and the wind was light off shore but I really couldn’t find any rhythm in the first few heats and it felt like one of those comps where you couldn’t put a foot right. I swapped boards and fins a few times to try and shake the feeling of the previous heat and start with a fresh approach.
I came within a whisker of landing one of the biggest airs I’ve done in the quarters and squeaked through in 2nd that felt like a turning point in the event for me. Even though I still had a pretty poor heat total the air left me feeling good about my surfing and I took that into the semi’s where the waves just turned on. The wind had sifted out the weird north wobble, the tide was low and just hitting the right banks – it was about as good as Fistral gets for high performance surfing.
I felt in rhythm in the semis and posted two solid scores. When the tide got lower that’s when I feel right at home out there – I have my land point I line up with and I’m confident then because I can see what the waves are doing.
I couldn’t have asked for the final to be at a better time, it was just perfect for me, the tide was starting to push and the north peak that I surf pretty much every day was just pulsing. It’s a really tricky part of the beach to read because there are some rips and a wedge that push set waves around a little before they hit the inside bank. I saw the other guys were trying to position themselves for the same waves but I guess that’s where my local knowledge helped!
A really special win for me with my family and friends down there supporting. I’m so proud to be British Champ. It feels particularly good because I think the standard of surfing here has come so far in the last couple of years.
My Nan is turning into my good luck charm as well I think. I won my two other British titles in the North East where she used to live and now she has only just moved to live here in Newquay and I’ve gone and won my third!”
Congratulations again Alan, but more importantly, keep up the good work Stokesy’s Nan!
