Resort surfs up ‘perfect conditions’ as top names look to rule waves

A RECORD-BREAKING crowd attended the latest round of a national surfing championships on the Yorkshire coast as organisers predicted the event will have brought hundreds of thousands of pounds into the local economy.
By The Newsroom
Published 8th Oct 2012, 07:00 BST

Scarborough hosted a leg of the UK Professional Surf Tour over the weekend for the second year running.

Some of the sport’s leading figures, including Sam Lamiroy and Russell Winter, competed in the latest stage of the championships, watched 
by a crowd of up to 12,000 spectators.

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Last year’s event attracted a 10,000-strong crowd, and organisers hope the weekend’s competition will bring in more than £300,000 to the coastal economy.

Visitors from as far afield as Britain’s surfing Mecca, Newquay, as well as Brighton, Portsmouth and Scotland travelled to Scarborough for the two-day stage of the UK tour.

A spokesman said: “Last year we had a mini-heatwave in October and while we didn’t have the temperatures this 
year, we still had the sun 
and perfect conditions with 5ft waves.

“Scarborough is a perfect venue – it’s like an amphitheatre as you can stand anywhere on the promenade and see the competition going on.

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“We had even bigger crowds than last year, and a lot of people decided to travel once they realised the conditions were going to be so good.

“We are in discussions to come back to Scarborough next year, and we would love it to become an annual event up here.”

Visitors were also entertained 
by some of the UK’s top professional mountain 
bikers who performed a series 
of freestyle shows, and there was a live music stage along with a series of stalls showcasing traders from the town.

This year’s festival was supported by Yorkshire 
Water, Welcome to Yorkshire 
and Scarborough Borough Council.

[email protected]

Related topics:ScarboroughYorkshireScotlandPortsmouthBrighton