Barbados Waterman Festival Day 3

On the morning of Day 3, the weather was looking promising, so at the 8:30am skippers meeting all riders were put on hold. At 11am head judge Simeon Glasson called the first heat on for the women.

Flora Vergnoll

Flora Vergnoll set the tone with a cleanly landed rocket air taking the win, while Sam Bittner linked together some hard slashing turns in challenging conditions. Cecilia Tolley dealt with an early gear failure but still managed to perform.

Sam Bittner

Jules Forli age 15, from neighboring island Guadeloupe, represented the youth category gaining extra experience prior to his pro heat.

Local rider Simon Moll entered in the Grand Masters division at age 64. Originally residing in the UK, Simon has lived on Barbados for the past 30 years and used his local knowledge to win the Grand Master division.

Brian Talma

The conclusion of day 3 saw all four registered Masters riders on the water. Brian Talma took a narrow win with a massive landed back loop, and critical turns on the wave. Closely following behind Talma was local rider Stefano Porcu. His cleanly linked turns and multiple smooth landing cheese rolls mixed in with an ankle dry back loop saw him take 2nd place. Smiling Jonathan Pooley came in 3rd with on point wave selection while head judge Simeon Glasson rounded out the heat with a forward attempt and one solid wave.

Stefano Porcu

Riders were treated for the Friday night local fish fry jump up in Oistens for dinner and party. All had much fun.

The forecast for Day 4 is an increase in swell and wind, so stay tuned for more updates.

Jonathan Pooley

Text by Sam Bittner and photos by Si Crowther