Barbados Junior surfer and 2009 BSA National Open Champion, Lewis St.John, recently travelled to Anglet, France to compete in Volcom’s 2009 VQS European Champs series. He dominated the contest and won the Junior division. Lewis’ mother is from france and he is naturally bi-lingual, which probably helped offset the discomfort of competing in a foreign country in stormy weather and cold water. Here is the official press release…
Full results for Volcom’s 2009 VQS European Champs.. Nightcrawler winners : photo courtesy Volcom Europe
VQS European Champs
VQS
Anglet Beaches France
25 - 26 April 2009
Full results for Volcom’s 2009 VQS European Champs
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 29 April, 2009 : - - Well yall we just finished off the last of the moonshine at VQS European Championships here in Anglet, France that was held over the weekend in our small hillbilly village in Marinella beach utilizing both days in challenging weather with plenty of wind and rain.
All the hillbillies had to take cover in the tents sitting on their hay bails chewing backy waiting for the chance for the sun to shine.Contestants came from all over « Europe » to compete, the trip was not easy for everyone, with hours spent in the cars, train’s or plane’s/. With people coming from Andalusia, Norway, Galicia, England, Reunion Island, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Brittany, Denmark and Portugal.
The conditions were solid to say the least with the Bootleggers (Opens) starting the competition on the Saturday morning followed by the Night Crawlers (Juniors) and we managed to get a few rounds down despite the difficulty on being able to punch through the frequent closeout sets.
It was decided by head judge Didier Piter to difficult to continue with the other categories so we decided to re start on the Sunday with what looked like more favorable conditions for the showdown.
Finals action : photo courtesy Volcom Europe
So to keep all the hillbillies at ease we organized a shindig at La Poste Saturday night with hotdogs, corn and beverages to keep everybody happy. If that wasn’t your piece of corn then you could check out the band Xubung that rocked out on top of the skate ramp while it was being sessioned.
While waking up in the sand next to my bottle for a pillow I noticed the conditions had cleaned up a little and also had dropped in size compared for the day before. To save time the decision was made to run two podiums with the Mountain Mommas (Girls) running simultaneously on the northern podium and the Porch Babies (Groms) on the southern one.
The Mountain Mommas made the most of the left running into the dig with some long waves and some nice lines being drawn. In the end it was Anne Peres (FR) who prevailed in first position and clenching the airplane ticket to compete against the other Mountain Mommas in the US for the World Championships. Marie Mitsuko Bouchaton (FR) finished in second place in front Joana Giansanti (FR) in third and Virginia Giansanti (CNY) in fourth place.
The Porch Babies (Groms) had a nice peak to shred and it was Paul César Distinguin (FR) who was the strongest pushing his tail through into to first ahead of Andy Criere (FR) that chased him in second with Vigo’s own Lalo Diez (ES) in third followed by little Charly Thermeau in fourth.
Finals action : photo courtesy Volcom Europe
The Night Crawlers were in amazing form considering that they looked like they had a lot of fun at the shin dig the night before in was the hair show not the air show with Lewis Saint John (BAR) doing enough to keep his lead and hang on to the ticket to the States in first spot with Medi Veminardi (RUN) fighting till the end in second with little PV Laborde (FR) in third and wishing the contest was held in Seingosse and Pierre Rollet (FR) taking fourth spot at home.
Last but by no means least was the Bootleggers (Opens) final with Adrian Toyan (RUN) even beating Lewis Saint John in the hillbilly hair show was solid through out the event and claimed his ticket to the States in first position in front of Miguel Mouzinho (POR) in second, who was happier than he was after his fourteen hour train ride from Lisbon to here in France to compete.
Hugo Palmarini (RUN) was strong enough to hold third position from local homeboy Romain Laulhé (FR) who rounded out the final in fourth place.
Thank you’s: Everyone that came, Anglet city council, Anglet surf club, staff and judges, lifeguards, Bastienne, Tom from Surf Europe for filming under the rain, Pacome from Electric, companies that helped us with prizes Electric , Red Bull , FCS, Vans, Nixon ,Skullcandy, Hoff and Surf Europe.
Thanks as well to the Bidassoa surf club and Hendaye city council for giving us the option to run some heats there. Stay tuned for the World VQS champs in 2 weeks Newport Beach, CA, live web cast on volcom.com.
RESULTS:
Open:
1. Adrian Toyon / RUN
2. Miguel Mouzinho / POR
3. Hugo Palmarini / RUN
4. Romain Laulhé / FR
Junior:
1. Lewis Saint John / BAR
2. Medi Veminardi / RUN
3. PV Laborde / FR
4. Pierre Rollet / FR
Groms: 1. Paul César Distinguin / FR
2. Andy Criere / FR
3. Lalo Díez / ES
4. Charly Thermeau / FR
Girls:
1. Anne Peres / FR
2. Marie-Mitsuko Bochaton / FR
3. Joana Giansanti / FR
4. Virginia Giesen / CNY
ELECTRIC VOLT THROWER AWARD -100€
Adrien Toyon / RUN
Chris Dennis is now completely dominating the SATT National Team Trials circuit! This Sunday he successfully won his third event in a row at Beach Break, Sans Souci. He has claimed his spot on the National Team to represent Trinidad and Tobago at the World Surfing Games in Costa Rica this August!
The National Team Qualifiers are as follows:
1) Chris Dennis
2) Jason Apparicio
3) Che Lovelace
4) Alan Davis
Alternates:
1) Shane Hennaman
2) Shawn Rostant
RESULTS Trials #4
OPEN MEN
HEAT 1
1. SHANE HENNEMAN
2. ANDREW AWAI
3. ANDRE STEUART
4. KEWAN LANDRETH-SMITH
HEAT 3
1. SIMON CABRAL
2. ALAN DAVIS
3. DOMINIC PERCY
4. SEAN MORUF
HEAT 4
1. JASON APPARICIO
2. CHRIS DENNIS
3. CHE LOVELACE
4. KENDELL FRANCIS
5. BRYAN RAMCHARRAN
SEMI 1
1. CHRIS DENNIS
2. SHANE HENNEMAN
3. ALAN DAVIS
4. SEAN ROSTANT
SEMI 2
1. JASON APPARICIO
2. CHE LOVELACE
3. ANDREW AWAI
4. SIMON CABRAL
5. MIKEY PHILLIPS
FINAL
1. CHRIS DENNIS
2. JASON APPARICIO
3. CHE LOVELACE
4. ANDREW AWAI
5. SHANE HENNEMAN
SATT TRIALS #3 2009 RESULTS … The Road to The World Surfing Games…
Chris Dennis in winning form at World Surfing Games 2008.
This sunday Trinidad and Tobago’s National Surfing Champion 2008, Christopher Dennis, continued his winning form by securing his second victory in a row at SATT National Team Trails #3, held at Beach Break, Sans Souci.
Replicating the form of on-fire ASP surfer Joel Parkinson, who also won his last two events back-to-back, Chris has all but fully secured a birth on his country’s National Team for the second year in a row and is likely to be representing the Red, Black and White come July 31st in Hermosa, Costa Rica at the World Surfing Games 2009!
Conditions at Beach Break, Sans Souci once again turned on for the field of competition, proving why it’s considered the most consistent surf spot in the twin island state. Both Juniors and Open surfers had an opportunity to compete in their divisions. The results were as follows:
OPEN MEN
ROUND 1
HT 1
1. Che Lovelace
2. Sean Rostant
3. Sherrard Spiers
4. Simon Cabral
HT 2
1. Jason Apparicio
2. Shane Henneman
3. Kendell Francis
4. Kiwan Landreth-Smith
HT 3
1. Chris Dennis
2. Mikey Phillips
3. Kevin Seetai
4. Simeon Cupid
HT 4
1. Alan Davis
2. Bryan Ramcharan
3. Ryan Chin
4. Tristan Richardson
SEMI 1
1. Chris Dennis
2. Che Lovelace
3. Bryan Ramcharan
4. Shane Henneman
SEMI 2
1. Alan Davis
2. Jason Apparicio
3. Sean Rostant
4. Mikey Phillips
FINAL
1. Chris Dennis
2. Jason Apparicio
3. Alan Davis
4. Che Lovelace
Captain Gerard “Frothy” De Silva, (Capt. Frothy, as he is known), started his love affair with the sea at the age of 6, and he would constantly plead with his mother to take him fishing in his tender years.
In his teens, Capt. Frothy was also an avid surfer.In his early twenties, he was a member of the Trinidad & Tobago National Team for 5 years and the National Champion at one time; he was also a semi-finalist in the Orchard International Classic in Barbados.
In his final year at school, he was asked by his teacher what he wanted to do when he left school, his response was – “I want to be a fisherman”.This, of course, caused the class to erupt with laughter as most of the answers coming for the other students were – Doctor, Lawyer, etc.
He has always known who he was and what he wanted to do – and that was to fish.After leaving school at 17, he worked for 8 years as a hook-and-line commercial fisherman off the coast of Trinidad.
In 1988, in his mid twenties, Capt. Frothy moved to the sister island - Tobago to set-up a charter fishing operation, Hard Play Fishing Charters.
Today, Hard Play Fishing Charters is a well established business in the sport fishing world, with clients from all corners of the globe coming to try their luck at Tobago’s game fishing grounds with Capt. Frothy.
He has been successfully competing on the Caribbean tournament circuit for many years in events in Tobago, Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada and Martinique.
Capt. Frothy and his team have won the Spice Island Billfish Tournament - 7 times, the Tobago International Game Fishing Tournament - 4 times, the Trinidad & Tobago Game Fishing Association Tournament - 5 times and the St. Lucia Billfish Tournament - once.
Furthermore, on many occasions, Capt. Frothy and his team have also placed 2nd & 3rd in these events. It should be noted that all of these tournaments are conducted under IGFA rules. Capt. Frothy is probably the Caribbean’s most successful tournament fisherman.
Apart from these Caribbean circuit events, Capt. Frothy and his team have won the prestigious Ernest Hemmingway Tournament in Cuba.
In 2003, they won 2nd place in the Rolex/IGFA Tournament of Champions in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He has also qualified to participate in these Rolex/IGFA Tournaments on several occasions.
In 1999, Capt. Frothy became an IGFA representative for Tobago.He can boast of over 1,000 billfish releases over the course of his career and is a true advocate of conservation in the Caribbean.He has been given a great talent and enjoys sharing his knowledge with anyone willing to learn about fishing.
Capt. Frothy is the founder and President of the 14 year old Tobago International Game Fishing Tournament which takes place in Charlotteville, Tobago in the month of March/April each year. www.tgft.com
Due to his knowledge of the sea, Capt. Frothy has saved more than a few divers who have gotten into trouble off the coast of Tobago.He has been called at all hours of the day and night to rescue divers, and is usually able to know exactly where to find the divers hours later, because of his knowledge of the ocean currents.
Gladys Knight and her infamous grouper!
Capt. Frothy met his wife - Teija, a Swedish national, when she came to work for a Scandinavian tour company in Tobago in 1991.She has been the driving force behind the Hard Play Fishing Charter operation and exposed Capt. Frothy to a whole new world of fishing in Europe.He has fished in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Madeira.He became particularly fond of Fly Fishing in the lakes and soon mastered it, while developing his own technique.
He worked on Charter boats in Madeira with some of the Big Game Fishing Legends for two summers.Here, he got a taste of the “grander” action that Madeira has to offer, when the fishing vessel, on which he was aboard, landed a 1008 lb. Blue Marlin in 1995.Capt. Frothy fulfilled a life long dream in 2008 when he and his wife purchased the fishing vessel Pesca Grossa in Madeira.
Over the years, Capt. Frothy and the Hard Play Charter operation have developed a well know reputation in the world of sport fishing.He has been featured in many fishing publications such as SaltWater Sportsman, Marlin, and several European magazines and fishing television fishing shows, including Mark Sossins ESPN in 1998 and Matt Hayes – Total Fishing. He was also featured on the Norweigan television show – Bedo in 2002; and in 2003, he was featured on the Swedish television show – Fiskedrag by Mikael Odell and Johan Broman.
He has clients who travel from Europe and America to fish with him annually. Over the years, his clients have included famous names such as Koffi Annan (the then Secretary-General for the United Nations), Queen Latifa, Gladys Knight and Basdeo Panday (the then Prime Minister of T&T). Jimmy Buffet also wrote a small chapter “Looking for Captain Frothy” in his book – “A Pirate Looks At Fifty”, relating the lengths to which he went to try to fish with Capt. Frothy, who was out of the country at the time.
*** Minuites before publishing this article, we Caribbean Waterman recieved word that Capt. Frothy and his crew executed a dramatic victory at the Barbados Game Fishing Association International Tournament by fighting a fish after lines up, bringing it to scale and racking up enough points to take the main prize. This is the type of performance that has become quite typical of this Pirate of the Caribbean, known for stealing away the first place prizeware in exciting fashion. Frothy is a True Caribbean Waterman Legend, and with 2 solid victories in CW Challenge 2009 / Southern Caribbean Billfish Circuit Events, he is well on his way to pioneering victory in the CW Challenge and securing a second consecutive SCBC title!
**Caribbean youth surfers from Barbados, Jamaica & Trinidad and Tobago have been identified as recipients of the ISA Individual Scholarships for 2009!
Trinidad and Tobago Junior Stand-Out Surfer Dario Jordan is a competent in the classroom as he is in the water. Congrats, keep up the good work!
Salinas, Ecuador, April 1st, 2009) The International Surfing Association announced yesterday, the forty recipients of the 2009 ISA Individual Scholarship Program during an ISA Development Meeting held at the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Ecuador.
This is the third consecutive year that the ISA holds the Scholarship Program. The program started in 2007 with only five grants awarded and within one year expanded it to 20 scholarships. For 2009, the ISA increased the program by 100%, issuing 40 scholarships to Under 18 junior surfers from 22 countries. The ISA received over 80 applications from 24 countries for this year’s program.
Before announcing the winners, ISA President Fernando Aguerre said: “I believe the Scholarship is a huge step forward by the ISA in areas of the world where we can never do enough. Together, we are supporting the dreams and hopes of good students who are also good surfers. We went from five to 40 scholarships in three years and we´re hoping to reach 100 in a couple of years.”
After careful review by the Scholarship Selection Committee, the ISA announced the following surfers as ISA Surfing Ambassadors in every corner of the world. The recipients are inspirational human beings, great surfers and students who want to succeed in surfing and school.
The ISA is able to provide scholarships due to the generous support from Quiksilver Foundation, Billabong, Reef Redemption, and Global Surf Industries, Inc.
2009 ISA Scholarship Recipients
Brian Masmut –Argentina
Martín Carricart –Argentina
Joaquín Castanon –Argentina
Dominic Reisch –Australia
Amiya Doyle - Australia
Ametza Nicholls –Barbados
Jade Niccols –Barbados
Jordan Heaselgrave –Barbados
Victor Bernardo –Brazil
Isaac Norman –Canada
Tomás Villegas –Chile
Camilo Hernández –Chile
Manuel Mesen –Costa Rica
Alberto Muñoz –Costa Rica
Carlos Muñoz –Costa Rica
Roberto Rodriguez –Ecuador
Brandon García –Guatemala
Freddy Morales –Guatemala
Henry Rivera -Guatemala
Garren Pryce –Jamaica
Leon McKenzie –Jamaica
Nao Omura –Japan
Arashi Kato –Japan
Aman Ashraf –Maldives
Itzel García –Mexico
Jayda Martin Fitzharris – New Zealand
Joaquín del Castillo – Perú
Juninho Urcia – Perú
Miguel Tudela – Perú
Pedro Alcobia –Portugal
Christian Rivera –Puerto Rico
Brandon Benjamin –South Africa
Bright Ntuli –South Africa
Khaye Ngcobo – South Africa
Lucía Martino –Spain
Darío Jordan –Trinidad
James Philips – Trinidad
Federico Longo –Uruguay
Christian Arballo –USA
Demi Boelsteri –USA
The Tobago International Game Fishing Tournament (TIGFT) is pleased to release the results of the 14th annual event which was hosted in Charlotteville, Tobago 19th March– 22ndMarch, 2009.
COUNTRIES RESPRESENTED INCLUDE:
- Barbados, Grenada,Trinidad, Tobago, United Kingdom, United States, Martinique, Sweden.
The Tobago International Game Fishing Tournament for 2009 saw its largest participation ever with a full fleet of 60+ boats participating in the Four-Day Fishing Competition packed with an agenda of Fun and Games, Great Food and Activities for the 300+ Anglers, Visitors and Spectators that engulfed the picturesque Village of Charlotteville, located on the North Western tip of Tobago. Fish were in no short supply with over 3,000 lbs of Fish brought to scale collectively between the International and Local divisions of the Tournament and over 30 Billfish reported to TIGFT Tournament Control. It would be safe to say a great time was had by all and it was a fantastic show of world-class fishing and honorable sportsman ship.
Through kind contributions and whole-hearted sponsorship this 14th Event of the TIGFT turned out to be a success!
A very special THANK YOU to the following for their support!
Tobago House of Assembly, Tourism Development Company, Sterling Service Limited, Vemco, Digicel, Carib, Matouks, Budget Marine, BHP Billiton, AMCO, National Petroleum, D. Mankee, Nature Valley, Royal Oak Select Rum, Brydens.
Lewis Appliances, Tobago Water, Bar Code, Hard Play Fishing Charters,Yeti Coolers,
J. Wong Feed Shop, Dillons’ Sea Food Restaurant, G1’s Enterprizes, Miles Almandoz and Co. Ltd.
Bodo Muche Studio, Black Bart Lures, Roburn’s Agencies , Momoi’s High Catch Line , Sekard Technologies
Special Thank You to all of the Boats and Anglers that Participated!
INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT STATISTICS
·36 Boats Participated from Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, Martinique and Grenada.
·161 Anglers from Sweden, The USA, Barbados, Grenada, the UK, Australia, Trinidad & Tobago.( 149 Male Anglers, 8 Female Anglers and 4 Junior Anglers.)
·Hi-Lights: Species of Fish Caught or Tagged and Released – Blue Marlin, Sailfish, White Marlin, Wahoo, Dolphin and Yellow-fin Tuna.
Last year a 15 year old walked away with over TT$400,000.00 in prize money in the 28th TTGFA “Marlin Madness” International Game Fishing Tournament in Tobago. This massive payout could possibly turn out to be the largest for a fishing tournament in the Southern Caribbean.
This lucky junior angler’s name is Sean Mendonca and he also put his name in the International Game Fishing Association (IGFA) World Records with his 890 lb Blue Marlin caught off Charlotteville on the third and final day of the tournament. He now holds the male junior Atlantic Blue Marlin World Record and has put Trinidad and Tobago on the world map for Blue Marlin fishing.
This year’s tournament is carded for April 29th,30th and May 2nd at Pigeon Point in Tobago and several crews from neighboring Islands have shown an interest in participating for the chance of receiving TT$1,000,000.00 if they can catch a Blue Marlin over 1000 pounds ! This year’s tournament will introduce for the first time 130 lb tackle which makes the possibility of landing the big one even more possible. Anglers can register on line at www.ttgfa.com .
TTGFA Marlin Madness Tournament April 29th - May 2nd, 2009 - Tobago
After last years massive record breaker, the hype is on for this years event! See you there…
WWW.TTGFA.COM
This is another CARIBBEAN WATERMAN CHALLENGE 2009 QUALIFICATION EVENT!
Nightcrawler winners : photo courtesy Volcom Europe
