|PIC1|The 16th Jesus Surf Classic outreach surf competition was held earlier in the month in near perfect conditions.

The semi-finals and finals on 14 September saw light winds and solid 4ft swell in bright and sunny conditions. Croyde bay was once again the venue for this long running and very successful event organised by Christian Surfers UK.

The contest is run as an outreach to the UK surfing community, in which Christian surfers share about their faith with other non-Christian competitors over the weekend.

Due to its increasing popularity, the contest was split again this year between the traditional event at Croyde, and the Jesus Longboard Classic to be held at Polzeath over the weekend of October 19 and 20.

With entries restricted to 140 contestants, the event filled up very quickly with most of the UK's top surfers, especially as the surf forecast improved in the week running up to the event.

Conditions for the seven categories started off on the first day of the competition with a slight off shore wind and sets of around 2ft, and bright warm sunshine. With two peaks running throughout the day, progress was swift, and by the end of the first day all categories were run to the semi final stage.

As well as a very busy schedule in the water on Saturday, activity around the contest site and marquee were equally as busy with two 'big move' skate contests taking place on Christian Surfers' mobile skatepark.

These contests were well supported, and before the prizes were handed out, one member of the Christian Skate crew shared his journey since becoming a Christian.

Sunday dawned with very light winds and an increasing groundswell, especially on the incoming tide, which saw some outstanding surfing in all the age categories, as Croyde offered up some low tide classic conditions.

The Youth event (under 14) had the highest number of entrants so far with 32 entered, which is a great pointer to the health of the future of British Surfing, said Phil Williams, head of Christian Surfers UK.

The final was between 3 Cornish surfers, and a travelling competitor from Bournemouth. In a tight final Miles Lee-Hargeaves from Bournemouth took the title ahead of Bude's Jobe Hariss, and Newquay surfers Harry Timson and Sam Harwood.

In the Junior Women's division (under 18) there was a new name on the trophy with Sophie Sainsbury from Port Isaac winning ahead of Tassy Swallow, Gabbi Rowe and Croyde's Karma Worthington.

Josh Daniel from Hayle , was 4th in the cadets(under 16) , just beaten by Newquays Tom Good, but the division was won by Croyde local Alex Baker , ahead of Toby Donachie, who was surfing in 3 events all weekend.

In the Men's Junior (under 18) final Stuart Campbell surfed really well to hold off Toby Donachie in 2nd, Jack Whitefield in 3rd and Marcus Lascelles in 4th.

The women's final saw Beth Mason improve on her 2nd place last year, by winning, with some great power surfing. She was pushed all the way by Sophie Hellyer in 2nd, Tassy Swallow in 3rd and Karma Worthington.

The Masters final (over 35s) saw some new names in the final with some great surfing throughout. This year saw Bude surfer Paul Barlow taking victory, ahead of Mike Plackett, Steve Harvey and South Wales' Rob Poutney.

The final event of the day was an amazing final between four top class surfers in the Open Final. Travelling New Zealand surfer Luke Hughes did well to reach the final, but ended up 4th behind Lyndon Wake, in his first Jesus Surf Classic final. The top two places went to the Ash brothers with Reubyn peaking in the semi final which saw a near perfect wave by him where he pulled an insane aerial 360, and followed it up with four big turns. He just failed to defeat Joss, who retained his 2007 title and his £250 cheque with a mixture of power surfing and aerials throughout the heats.

With over 150 Christian Surfers volunteers supporting the event there was lots going on throughout. Before the presentation of the prizes Phil Pechonis gave a gospel message to the 300 or so gathered. Phil spoke of the way God has created all of us as individuals and that God has a great plan for all of our lives if we choose to follow him. Over the course of the weekend five people made commitments to follow Jesus.

Joss thanked the organisers for putting on another great event and Williams thanked God for an amazing weekend of waves, sunshine and a great atmosphere between all the competitors and helpers.
Just after everything had been dismantled the heavens opened and it rained for the next eight hours.

"An amazing weekend, which has seen much Surf industry publicity, positive feedback from all, and headlines in the papers such as 'Prayers answered'," said Williams.