A long time coming…

Longboarding will feature at this years Boardmasters event in August. We caught up with reigning champ Ben Skinner to get the low down…

Earlier this year Boardmasters and the World Surfing League announced they will be hosting the Longboard Qualification Series this summer.
All eyes will be on Ben Skinner, the reigning champion of the event. Couple with this the added pressure of the qualification series and it being on his home soil… sorry coast – it should make for some excellent surfing.

We are all happy to go back to Newquay, and to bring a men’s and women’s longboarding event with us

Nicolas Leroy, Europe Media Manager for the WSL, feels optimistic about the event: “We are all happy to go back to Newquay, and to bring a men’s and women’s longboarding event with us. We are building a strong longboarding tour this season in Europe and all our surfers are enthusiastic about it, which will result in a great show for everyone involved! Plus this event can count on Ben Skinner, one of the best longboarders in the world, as a great ambassador for Newquay and the region as a whole.”

Nicolas refers to Boardmasters as “the number one professional surfing event in the UK.” Stating that is has seen “the very best surfers on the planet compete at Fistral,” he also feels it’s a source of “inspiration for thousands of young surfers in the UK.” But most significantly, for the WSL: “it’s extremely important to try to represent the whole continent and hold events everywhere surfing is popular and people are enjoying our sport and lifestyle.”

Ben Skinner is is currently the reigning champ

During the 80s the event was apart of the World Championship Tour, seeing legends the likes of Tom Carroll, Taj Burrow, Wendy Botha, etc. But in 1992 it became a qualifying series, second-tier event and was officially renamed Boardmasters.
This year see’s the introduction of the Longboard Qualification Series, which will witness a high volume of some of the worlds best longboarders coming to Fistral, and all eyes will be on our local ambassador, Mr Ben ‘Skindog’ Skinner.

Ben Skinner is currently the reigning champion of the event, that as of this year will be the WSL event. When asked about the significance of the event, Ben Told us “Boardmasters is obviously such a prestigious shortboard event, and has been running for so long, longboarding was never really apart of it, and over the last few years it’s really changed and turned around and people have really enjoyed watching it, and I think that’s what I love about it so much, is being able to have an event like this on our own turf and really show that the Brits are strong in the longboarding scene worldwide.”