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.
