A selection of England’s most talented young surfers gathered in West Cornwall at the weekend for the Rip Curl Grom Search. The event held at Godrevy Beach proved popular once again with every category having a maximum number of entrants.

The competition was the last stop on the Rip Curl UK tour, which has also visited Wales and Ireland. A choppy 3ft of surf greeted the contestants on the Saturday and a tough day of competition saw the under 16 final reach a thrilling climax.

Newquay surfers dominated with Harry Timson comfortably taking the victory, Tom Good in second place, Miles Lee Hargreaves in third and Luke Dillion in fourth place. The under 16 girls’ final saw Gabi Rowe surf to first place, Sophie Sainsbury followed her in second place, Kensa Munroe in third and Jessica Henry in fourth.

Harry Timson and Gabi Rowe were then invited to compete against the finalists from Ireland and Wales. Surfers from each country were then pitted against each other to battle in a national final – the prize being a place in the Rip Curl Grom Search European finals to be held in France.

Gabi Rowe faced Mali James in the girls’ final, but it was Gabi in fine form who bagged her trip to France. There was also success for Harry Timson, who beat David Williams from Wales and James Gorvey, from Ireland. Harry Timson was on fine form as he also clinched the under 14 title, with Miles Lee Hargreaves taking second, Liam Turner in third and Jobe Harriss in fourth.

Jaide Lowe won the under 14 girls’ category, with Lucy Campbell in second, third place went to Kensa Munroe and fourth to Flora Lawton.

There was smaller surf on Sunday which proved ideal conditions for the under 12s. Peony Knight impressed the judges and won her heat, with Teah Munroe, Flora Lawton and Sophie Turner in second, third and fourth respectively. In the under 12 boys category William Bailey clinched first place, second went to Harry de Roth, Alex Gibson surfed into third, with Liam Murray Strout securing fourth place.

The English Surfing Federation ran the event on behalf of Rip Curl. Contest director, Pauly Jeffery, said: “I am continually impressed by the standard of surfing from young talent in the UK. Obviously as the director of the ESF I am particularly proud that two English contestants have secured a place in the European final.

“Special thanks go to Rip Curl, the RNLI, the National Trust, all the judges, officials, parents and most importantly to the young surfers who took part.”