Xtreme Degreez Sports Magazine

PRESS RELEASE

2008 BRANDONS PRO

Thibault Breneol (GLP) is the 2008 Brandon’s Pro Men’s Champion. The Nike 6.0 team rider, who is also sponsored by Seven Shores and 69Slam, overcame a heavy locally contested final to emerge victorious on the second and final day in some classic 4-6 ft waves at Drill Hall Beach, on the south coast of the island of Barbados. Regional competitors representing Barbados, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Trinidad & Tobago as well as Aruba, eagerly contested the second stop on the 2008 Suzuki Caribbean Challenge Cup Tour, held March 22-23, 2008.

Competition began with a 5:30 am call to remain at the original spot of Drill Hall Beach by both Contest Director (Nicholas Donawa) and Event Organizer (Christopher Clarke). After seeing epic 4m north swells arriving 3 days prior to the event, which totally shut down Soup Bowl on the East Coast and light up the fickle west coast, everyone was uncertain which end of the island would produce the most consistent contestable conditions. Once again, the call was worth its’ weight in gold as Round One hit the water at around 9:30 am with 3-4ft waves appearing as the tide shifted to low. Making the top heat scores at the end of the first day and advancing straight though to Round Three were Bruce Mackie (BDS), Adrian Small (BDS), Brian Gooding (BDS) and Stuart Stoute (BDS).

Round Three began on Sunday morning with bigger and better conditions for the surfers hoping to either capture a title or at least make it to the money rounds. Wave size increased by 1-2ft as the day progressed and everyone was blessed with clear sunny skies and cool tropical breezes. After lunch, the first final of the day hit the water with a 3 man final in the Bodyboard Division. Matias Chayia (MAR) opened the final by displaying well linked maneuvers on his first two waves, giving him the lead with a score of 12.17 (6.0, 6.17) in the first half of the twenty minute final. Ian Jarvis (BDS) and Kwame Griffith (BDS), who placed second and third respectively, kept the score distance tight in the second half of the final ending with 10.76 and 10.0 respectively.

Up next were the ladies with a 5 women final. After a slow start, it looked like anybody’s title with four local girls competing against the lone Jamaican, Danielle Ohayon. Of the four girls, three of them will represent Barbados at the 2008 ISA World Junior Games in Hossegor, France in May (Ametza Nicholls, Chelsea Roett, and Chelsea Tuach). The final local girl is the 2007 Womens CSN Tour Champion – Jade Niccolls – so “Miss Jamaica” had her work cut out for her. By the midway point in the heat, Chelsea Roett was in a comfortable lead with a 5.3 and 5.5 and looking ready to win her first title. Slowly creeping up behind her were Chelsea Tuach with a 4.57 and 4.1 and Ametza Nicholls with a 3.5 and 5.43. As the heat climaxed, it would appear that Chelsea Tuach would overtake her rival by taking off on some excellent waves, but she just couldn’t make the connection to the inside to get the needed score. In the final minute of the heat, Ametza managed to locate the heat winning wave and ride it almost to the shore giving her a much needed score of 6.67 to win the Women’s Title. The final standings were Ametza first (12.1), Chelsea Roett second (10.83), Chelsea Tuach third (8.67), Danielle Ohayon fourth (5.9) and Jade Niccolls fifth (5.3).

The junior finalists were on deck next with three local kids battling the lone French West Indies rider from Martinique for the Junior Title. Bruce Mackie (BDS) dominated this final from start to finish by opening the heat with a 5.83 and 6.5 and securing a comfortable lead. Trying to keep close behind were Lewis St. John (BDS) (4.83, 7.17) and Jordan Heaselgrave (BDS) (5.33, 5.93), leaving Sean Millienne (MAR) in fourth with a 6.17 and in desperate need of a back up score. Bruce, seeing that the other guys were in striking distance to snatch glory from him, turned up the heat with a blistering display of smooth vertical re-entries on two back-to-back waves plus putting in a carving 360 to seal the deal. These two wave scores proved to be the highest heat scores plus the highest individual scores for the entire contest – 9.0 & 8.6. And to add more drama to this spectacular final, in the final seconds of the heat, Sean Milienne made his come back move by catching his final wave seconds before the horn to score a 7.1 and move from fourth position to second. In the end, the final results were Bruce Mackie (17.6), Sean Milienne (13.27), Lewis St. John (12.00), and Jordan Heaselgraves (11.27).

Each of the Open Mens Semis was like a final with some of the highest level of Caribbean surfing on display. The first semi was an all Barbadian affair which pitted the older generation (Mark Holder and Stuart Stoute) against the young guns (Lewis St. John and Jonathon Reece. At the sound of the opening horn, the old boys made their move with Mark Holder being first out of the blocks scoring 8.67. Immediately behind him was Stuart Stoute securing a solid 6.0. Lewis St. John quickly answered back with a 7.0 and then made it back to the line up to put pressure on the old boys while Jonathan Reece struggled to get an average score on his tally sheet. As the heat progressed, Mark secured his second scoring ride of 6.3 as well as Lewis – 5.67. Jonathan slowly closed the points gap between himself and Lewis by scoring 5.5 and 5.43, which would require just a 7.17 to take the second position form Lewis. With all the attention on the battle for second position, Stuart Stoute was left all alone to catch the wave of the heat in the closing seconds to score 8.83 and climb from fourth to second to the dismay of both Lewis and Jonathan.

The second semi got underway quite similarly to the first with Thibault Breneol (GLP) and Alan Davis (TNT) firing out of the blocks at the sound of the horn with a 7.33 and 7.67, respectively. Bruce Mackie (BDS) started out slow with 5.77 and Luke Williams (JAM) laboring to get a decent score on the board. At the midway point, Thibault and Alan were looking even more comfortable with back up scores of 6.6 and 6.43 respectively which left Luke and Bruce to battle for second spot. Just like in the prior semi, the final minutes of the heat decided the final outcome. With that said, Bruce Mackie must have made a deal with King Neptune for him to send two back to back waves directly in his path. Scoring a 7.27 and 7.83, Bruce was now in the lead with the final seconds elapsing. By the end of the heat, Bruce remained in first, while second place had to be decided through a tie-breaker which eventually saw Thibault edging out Alan by .5.

Now the scene was set for the finals, three Barbadians against the lone Guadeloupe rider. Once again the heat started slowly, with each competitor getting low scores for their opening ride. Then it happened, Thibault made him move on his third wave riding it all the way to the shore and scoring 8.83. Stepping off on the beach, and having the crowd cheer him on, Thibault jogged his way back up the beach to take advantage of the quick entrance back to the line up. As Thibault made his way up the beach, Stuart Stoute made good work of a set wave that rolled his way by scoring 7.67, to the dismay of Bruce Mackie and Mark Holder who waited in vain for that wave to allow them to catch up. By using the beach to return to the line up instead of paddling, served the Nike 6.0 rider very well, as he slotted himself into perfect position to catch his second scoring wave of 6.43 and move into a secure lead. This time, he would guard his position carefully against any late charges by either Stoute or Mackie as they had done in the previous heats. But Thibault couldn’t guard every wave, and Stoute managed to slip away in the final 10 seconds to destroy a couple lips on his way to the beach. Would it be enough to claim the number 1 spot? Fortunately for Thibault, Stoute’s final ride could only muster a score of 6.33 which was just shy of the needed score to dethrone him. The final results would read Thibault Breneol first (15.26), Stuart Stoute second (14.0), Bruce Mackie third (11.0) and Mark Holder fourth (8.17).

With this win, Thibault now leads the Suzuki Caribbean Challenge Cup Tour heading to Jamaica for the 2008 Makka Pro in July 19-20, 2008 in Yallahs, St. Thomas. See you there.