Hundreds of residents flocked to the Josiahs Bay Surf Classic Saturday, where conditions turned on for the 71 surfers competing across seven divisions from this territory and the United States Virgin Islands.
The contest was one of the best in recent memory, according to Steve Howes, who organises the event and runs Surf School BVI in the bay.
“It’s like we had an order in [from] a few months ago, and the weather just came right,” Mr. Howes said. “Everybody came out and enjoyed it. We had a little bit of a rain … to cool the atmosphere down a little, and then it just steamed up again.”
The 200-plus-person crowd was awed early in the day by Bodi Hodges, who got barrelled, according to attendees.
“The conditions were good, but you don’t normally expect to get barrelled at Josiahs — and [Bodi] did,” said Alistair Broderick, whose son Rush won the 12-17-year-old class. “And it was a long barrel at which he came out of — to his amazement — and he won Wave of the Day.”
(Photo: CAROLINA ANSALDO)
Like his son, Mr. Broderick also competed. He did not place, but his waterlogged elf costume might have been to blame.
“Actually, I surprised myself. Normally I enter, I wear my silly costume and get knocked out [of the contest],” Mr. Broderick said. “But then they said, ‘No, Al, you’ve made it to the semifinals!’ I made it
to the finals of the Legends [Class] and came last at that, but that’s the best I’ve ever done.”
(Photo: CAROLINA ANSALDO)
Mr. Howes won the Legends Class, which was for men between the ages of 40 and 54.
“It’s rigged, dude, I told you,” Mr. Howes joked on Monday. “I pay the judges a lot of money every year.”
(Photo: CAROLINA ANSALDO)
Queen of Josiahs
Women 18 and up were bested by Tiara Jones and her nine foot, three inch longboard.
“I actually hadn’t surfed for about almost a month and a half, two months before Saturday,” Ms. Jones said. “So it was just nice to get out in the water.”
After topping the leaderboards, Ms. Jones said she outperformed her own expectations.
“I surfed better than I thought I was going to, to be honest,” she said. “I did a couple tricks that I’ve been working on, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do it since I’ve been out of the water for so long.”
Ms. Jones’ brother, Teshawn, took second in the Men’s Class for ages 18-39.
“I can’t really explain to you why it was so fun,” Mr. Jones said. “I guess the whole day, the whole vibe — and then how good the waves were. And then just competing with everyone.”
Weather cooperates
In the days leading up to Saturday’s contest, the conditions were not good for surfing, according to Messrs. Howes and Jones.
“The day before the contest, we were setting up and the waves were terrible — like completely blown out,” Mr. Jones said. “Maybe a foot and a half, just really on shore. And I was starting to doubt if the weather was going to be good.”
Mr. Howes characterised the weather last Thursday and Friday as great beach weather, but not so good for surfing.
The day of the contest, however, the two Josiahs Bay staples were pleasantly surprised to see the weather turning in the contest’s favour.
“So I wake up in the morning around like 6, and I live about five minutes near Josiahs, so I can see the waves from my house pretty much,” Mr. Jones said. “And then I just saw like pure crystal-clear glass. It was beautiful. Then I got down there, and the waves were pumping pretty much.”
(Photo: CAROLINA ANSALDO)
Upcoming contest
Mr. Jones, like Rush Broderick, is on the territory’s National Surf Team. Their spots, along with teammate Zebedee Bamford’s, will all be up for grabs on Saturday at the territory’s first national surfing championship at Apple Bay.
Messrs. Bamford, Broderick and Jones all represented the VI in Puerto Rico in February, competing against some of the best surfers in the world for a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
For the VI’s newly formed National Surfing Association to be eligible to compete on the world stage, however, the International Surfing Association requires member states to hold a nation-wide competition to ensure a fair selection process for athletes to make the team.
While it’s possible that Saturday’s contest could be postponed for weather, Rush Broderick said the conditions were looking good as of Monday, though it was still too far off to call.
(Photo: CAROLINA ANSALDO)
Although the registration deadline for the territory’s national rankings contest has come and gone, there will also be an open class contest featuring cash prizes and giveaways, according to promotional fliers on the BVINSA’s Facebook page.
Sammy Martinez, David Mora and Jose Rodriguez Riviera will judge this weekend’s contest, while Alistair Broderick provides live commentary and music.
The championship begins at Sebastian’s on the Beach from 9 a.m. Saturday, with an awards ceremony scheduled for 6 p.m.
