Winter Boom Booms Animal British Cup

British Bulldog Russell Winter blew up in perfect waves at Fistral beach last weekend to take down the prestigious Animal British Cup and a winner's cheque of £1000. Taking time off from the World Qualifying Series Tour, Newquay boy Russ reminded us he's Britain's number one by blitzing through the field.

Boom! The trademark Russell Winter gouge. Photo: Mike Searle

With the surf looking small for the weekend, contest organisers made a late call on Friday afternoon to move the event from Tolcarne to Fistral. The decision paid off, with Fistral firing on all four cylinders on the Saturday. Early standouts were Newcastle's Sam Lamiroy, Newquay's Tom Butler and Animal riders Alan Stokes and Mitch Corbett, both also from Newquay.

The man on man format was welcomed by the competitors, allowing them to concentrate of their surfing rather than the hassling for waves that so often goes on in a three or four man heat.

The semi finals were held in possibly the best surf for a contest this year in Britain; Sheet glass 3-4ft A-frames were zipping down North Fistral's low tide sand bars.

A spectacular no hands punt air from Fryer in semi one was met with hoots from the beach, but wasn't enough to stop the Bulldog, who consistently tore apart set waves, throwing buckets of spray into the heavens and drawing nines and tens from the judges. The other semi saw two of the hottest young talents battle it out for the right to face Russ in the final. Oli Adams couldn’t quite match Capel's intensity.

Russ opened his Final account with an 8.12 and soon backed it up with a 9.33, leaving the young gun Capel comboed. Capel's reply was to go for broke with a series of largely incomplete airs and tailslides that had the crowd on the beach gasping and Winter smilling.

Matt Capel (background) went for it, but couldn't stop Winter from taking the winners cheque.
Photos: Mike Searle and Ralph Rutter/Event Media

The remaining three divisions were run in tricky, dying 1-2 ft surf on the Sunday. St Ives' Jayce Robinson was a stand out in the Junior division, winning all of his heats, including the final, with ease. The Longboard division, on the other hand, was a closely contested battle with some excellent rides and scores. Newquay’s Ben Skinner came out the victor in a tough final. In the Womens event, Ireland's Easkey Britton came out on top.

Results