‘Pros’ tame monster waves as surfing returns to Tobago

Many of the beaches in the sister isle were too rough for bathing but surfers came out in their numbers to catch the waves at Mt Irvine which were 2.5-3.5 metres high.

Many spectators gathered to witness a day of keen competition among the country’s top surfers.

Organisers wanted the event to have a great positive impact on the performance quality of surfing in Tobago. Persons who would not normally compete in traditional surf contests were encouraged to take part in this event due to its new and innovative format.

Traditionally, surf contests are purely judged by non-competing individuals, in a rigid schedule of 20 minute heats, whereas a large portion of the CW Cocrico Pro Tobago was judged based on the observations and opinions of the competing surfers themselves through a voting process.

This meant that credit was given where credit was due, and the athletes that were awarded prizes knew that they had truly gained the respect of their peers.

Organisers focussed on encouraging young persons to get involved in the sport and allowed them the opporutnity to showcase their skills alongside their more experienced counterparts.

Tobago’s young surfers have shown immense potential recently and they did not disappoint at the event with four of the top five Under-18 surfers coming from the sister isle.

The positive feedback from the Tobago community on the event has been overwhelming and many have volunteered their support for restructuring the competition into an annual gathering with significant additional resources and infrastructure.

Tobago surfing legend and winner of Best Big-wave Surfing Exhibit and Best Overall Waterman Performance, Barry St George praised organisers of the event and hailed the competition as the sport’s saviour.

“This event has come as a true blessing to surfing in Tobago and has brought recognition where it is long overdue. All critics who downplayed the potential of this event are humbled by its great success,” he declared.

The event was made possible by the generosity of Caribbean Waterman, Souljahs International, The Shade, Surfing TT, Tim Lavesque at Network Surf Australia, Rain Schnider Real Estate and the Tobago surfing community.

Surfing Results—

Monster Drop / Biggest Wave – Duane Kenny

Biggest Barrel Ride – Alan Davis

Worst Wipeout – Scott Tucker

Best High-Performance Surfing Exhibit – Andre Stewart

Best Big-wave Surfing Exhibit – Barry St George

Best Overall Waterman Performance – Barry St George

Most Improved Performer (Open) – Andre Stewart

Most Improved Junior (U-18) – Matthew Milne

Best Master Performance (35+) – Che Lovelace

Spirit of Surfing Award - Eamon Healy-Singh

Super-Session 1st (Open) – Alan Davis

Super-Session 2nd (Open) – Jason Apparicio

U-18 juniors 1st (Male) – Adrian De Silva

U-18 juniors 2nd (Male) – Mathew Milne

U-18 juniors 3rd (Male) – Dario Jordan

U-18 juniors 4th (Male) – Caelum Blandford

U-18 juniors 5th (Male) – Ian Ross-Schweden.