February sapper mag:Layout 1 21/1/09 16:19 Page 50
A
fter hearing about the Army Surf Championships taking place in Penhale, Cornwall,
from a friend in the PWRR, I thought I should get my board out and have a crack at
it. On arrival I found that I was the only TA competitor - the pressure was on. All the lads were
very laid back, which is to be expected of surfers I suppose, and were all on first name terms.
There were several people in my category including two PTIs who I had heard were pretty
good. After getting through the heats, it was the three of us who made it through into the final.
The surf for the final was a solid 6-10ft high and it was hard to get out. After catching only
three waves in 30 minutes I had done enough to come second, being beaten by WO2 Dave Cox
(APTC) but beating Sgt Dave Holden (APTC). Having got myself second place, and doing the
TA proud, I was selected to represent the Army team at the Inter-Services.
On the first weekend of November, armed with our winter wetsuits, we arrived at the Inter-
Services competition at Gwithian Sands ready to show the RAF and Navy what we were made
of. Unfortunately, we didn’t really get the chance as the waves were only coming in at only
around the 1ft mark – a little different to what we had at the Army championships!
I finished my heat in second place (by one point!) to an RAF lad. By the end of the competi-
tion, this one point margin was repeated again in the overall standings with the RAF beating us
into second place. Despite losing the overall competition, we managed to win the short board
category and we beat the Navy!
It is the Army’s turn to host the event next year so fingers crossed we will get that point back
and win the lot.
Cpl Paul O’Dwyer, R Mon RE (M)
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50
The Sapper Sports
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