I was really excited about the idea of being invited to the Hurley Classic. I have always wanted to surf and compete at the Hurley wave since I was 14 and first saw photos of the wave. I also have never been to England and was excited to check out a new location.
Aaron and Rhona Dempsy, the owners of Square Rock distribution, were beyond amazing and fully took me in under their wing and showed me around, fed me and gave me a place to stay, along with some more hoodlums like Stephen Wright, Jason Craig, and Mattiue Dumoulin.
I was fortunate enough to have a couple days in England. I was able to experience some of the English culture such as the famous ‘Fish & Chips’, which I tried to eat as much as I possibly could. While leading up to the event I was able to visit an elementary school and give a little talk about kayaking and show a couple videos to all the kids. It was amazing to see how excited to kids would get about watching some footage.
The event itself was incredible, with 220 competitors, boater-X, an old skool rodeo, and finals under the lights, there was lots to do and tons of excitement. For me the most fun was competing at night under the lights. It feels as if you are a Rock Star and competing during a concert, there are lights and music, people cheering and cameras flashing, it was truly amazing.
The Finals format was the top 10 people all compete in one large heat and everyone has two rides with the best ride winning. it was an awesome format and people were going big for the crowds. I had two pretty good rides filled with airscrews, back panams, clean blunts, and a blunt Mcnasty. After watching everyone finish both rides I felt it was pretty close, though in the end it was more then enough to end up on top of the Podium.
Check out the full results below.
1
|
Nicholas Troutman
|
198
|
Senior
|
M
|
Elite
|
K1
|
792.50
|
2
|
Stephen Wright
|
1
|
Master
|
M
|
Elite
|
K1
|
640.00
|
3
|
Sebastien DEVRED
|
58
|
Senior
|
M
|
Elite
|
K1
|
570.00
|
4
|
Quim Fontana Maso
|
77
|
Senior
|
M
|
Elite
|
K1
|
567.50
|
5
|
Gav Barker
|
14
|
Senior
|
M
|
Elite
|
K1
|
505.00
|
6
|
Jason Craig
|
47
|
Senior
|
M
|
Elite
|
K1
|
475.00
|
7
|
Dumoulin Mathieu
|
128
|
Senior
|
M
|
Elite
|
K1
|
442.50
|
8
|
Doug Cooper
|
44
|
Senior
|
M
|
Elite
|
K1
|
430.00
|
9
|
Brandon Hepburn
|
96
|
Senior
|
M
|
Elite
|
K1
|
405.00
|
10
|
James Bebbington
|
20
|
Senior
|
M
|
Elite
|
K1
|
172.50
|
