Battery surfing at San Souci

The first day of the competition will consist of the preliminary rounds before moving to the quarter-final, semi-final and finals on the second day.

Surfers will be competing in the Open Division, Junior Division (Under-18), Women and Longboard and Bodyboard. All entrants must be citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and current members of the SATT.

All members of SATT who meet the necessary criteria will also have their entry fees to the contest waived.

Several of the nation’s top surfers will be competing at the competition such as Chris Dennis, Alan Davis, Jason Apparicio and Che Lovelace.

Dennis was the winner of two of the three National Team Trials in 2006 and also emerged tops in the first National Team Trial in 2007.

He also copped the Arnett Pro Competition in Puerto Rico in 2005 and the recent Caribbean Surf Network (CSN) San Souci Pro Competition in March 2007 while competing in the World Qualifying Series (WQS) where he made it to the fifth round.

The competition will also have non-surfing entertainment such as tug-of-war, product demonstrations, prize giveaways and several other novelty events.

A contest “village” will be erected off the main road for surfers and supporters to ensure their safety. At the village there will be music, food, drinks, shade and entertainment.

Secured parking will also be available off the main road at the basketball court and football field.

There will also be two restricted designated areas, one for event officials such as judges and contest directors and another strictly for registered participants and their equipment.

The Battery National Surfing Championships is a critical step in achieving the SATT’s mandate to take a full national surf team to the International Surfing Association World Surfing Games 2008, in Portugal.

The ISA World Surfing Games is the equivalent of the Olympic Games for the surfing community and is held every two years in varying locations around the world. Trinidad and Tobago has never been represented by a full team at these games.

Other sponsors of the event are Quicksilver, Tropical Rhythms, Beach break Surf Shop, Souljahs International, Tropical Power, Pabloz Bar, Mystic Hemp and Coleman.