COVERED BY DARKNESS

Kate Macdonald

Princes Club’s first ever Covered by Darkness Tour got off to a great start on Friday 25 May. The idea behind the series was to offer the cable wakeboarders a cash prize tour to replace the now defunct British Cable Wakeboard Tour, and in doing so, to give something back to all the supporters of the sport.

George Newell did a great job of rounding up all the entrants and we kicked off with 24 competitors spread across 6 divisions. The majority of riders were Princes Club stalwarts but it was good to see the likes of Alexis Twigdon and Jules Haley make their way across.

As the evening began DJ Dave was onboard with some great tunes, the BBQ was ready to go and the judges and spectators were rugged up for some great riding. The competition kicked off with some insane tricks. Connor Jones in the Under 16 category pulled of his first ever S-Bend in competition and in doing so took out the first place spot. Ben Hitch landed his right foot forward Mobe 540 in the Open Mens, and Steph Caller landed her left foot forward Back Roll to Revert. Tor Young also pulled off a great raley which saw her take out the top spot in the Under 16’s, while Jules Haley invented her very own trick by accidentally gapping Princes Club’s famous A-frame to butt slide!

The chilly night was too much for the under 16 girls who all agreed to leave it at one round and head to the hot showers, but for the rest of the competitors the newly improved lighting and low wind chill kept the competition going past 10pm. Prize giving saw the Jones’ family maintain a solid presence across three categories, and the current European Cable Wakeboard Champion Ben Hitch take out the top spot for Open Men’s.

The winners of each division received a cash prize which we are hoping to improve on as the tour continues and gains more sponsorship. Thanks to Princes Shop for providing prizes for second place. The second tour stop should provide an even better competition especially in Open Mens’ with the return of Princes Club’s Nick Davis, Lewis Cornwall and James Young, who are all now back from their recent trip to the Philippines.

Princes Club would like to congratulate all the winners from the first Covered by Darkness series competition, and to thank all the supporters. We look forward to seeing you all down here for the remainder of the series.

Don’t forget to put the series competition dates in your diary: 29 June, 27 July & 24 August.

The results were: