Nathan rips and Igor seals Tour title
11th November 2002Nathan Phillips from Llantwit broke two boards on the way to killing the Headworx North Devon Open held at Croyde and Mark Harris grabbed second place consolidating his ratings lead to take the British Professional Championship title for 2002.
The last event of the year saw great waves again although the onshore winds make it hard work for the competitors in the solid overhead waves. Johnny Fryer from the IOW was flying in the semis and booked his final berth with an awesome lefthander which he destroyed with three massive turns pushing the challenging Harris into second place.
Drama unfolded in the other semi as Alan Stokes wave magnet finally stopped working and the welsh combo of Mark Vaughan and Nathan Phillips ended the new Animals riders chance of overall title. Phillips broke his favourite board on his last wave of the heat.
The final opened with Harris blazing and taking off on a set wave pulled the biggest floater of the weekend causing the car park to eurpt with hoots. Phillips however was plugging away smashing any lip that dared to feather in front of him. He snapped his second board half way through he final and grabbed a third board and a second high scoring wave to seal victory and his thirst place on the ratings board.
Mark Harris wins £2000 for his winter travels and second place overall Alan Stokes picks up a cool £1000 consolation prize.