Fat Face Night Jump Results
Results from the Fat Face Night Jump 2008 - A huge success
John ‘Irish’ Tully won the Fat Face Night Jump over the weekend (Saturday 19th July) to the resounding cheer of around 1,500 spectators who made the journey to JB Waterski from all over the UK .
Now in its second year, the Fat Face Night Jump consists of competitors jumping off a large ramp and over a bar! The format is simple – go high or go home!
Irish cleared the final bar at 4.15 m, beating last year’s champion, ‘CK’ Koester and Richie Heiney – all of whom train at JB Waterski.
John walked away with £2,000 of the prize money which he was absolutely delighted with. A lack of funds from this unsponsored sportsman meant that he actually had to compete with a broken board as he could not afford to replace or mend his! John commented: “Unbelievable; I'm on top of the world right now! It was nerve wracking watching CK come round for the final jump but it was great that in the final round I was competing against two of my best friends.”
‘CK’ echoed this competitive camaraderie: “Although I didn't win, I think it was more fun than last year and it's great to have three friends, all from Thorpe, competing - and now Richie, Me and Irish have all won it which is awesome. I've been a bit injured, I'm very tired and I couldn't get the height so it was great that one of these two boys won it.
“The event is really good fun - one of the best events of the season. I travel round the world doing competitions and this is one of the most fun and most thrilling. I love it!”
The women competed against one another in the ‘Big Air’ kicker, with judges – who commented on the extremely high level of entrants - marking on technical skill, height and landing. Suze Clist took the women’s crown in this event and also went on to compete in the Open High Jump event. She explained: “It was amazing to win the women's comp, but the icing on the cake was competing with the guys in the open. The event is fantastic and the girls are doing some amazing stuff at the moment. It's great they've got the chance to compete against the guys and hopefully this'll attract more girls to the event next year.”
The competition was extremely important to all the riders because as well as a substantial prize pot of £3,000 the competitors were also competing for international ranking status, with the IWSF (International Waterski Federation EAME region (Europe/ Africa/ Middle East )).
In the kid’s comp, which was held earlier in the day, it was the Epsom wakeboarders who were hogging the podium places! First place in the Boy’s Comp went to 12 year old Sam Cordery, who did an impressive 360 off the kicker. He explained: “I’m really happy and surprised and did better than I expected to, especially as it was quite windy.”
Taking the crown in the Girl’s Comp was 11 year old Katie Rowlaing from Epsom, fresh from winning the nationals, who explained: “I’m really, really happy to have won. It was a bit choppy and hard to ride but I enjoyed it.”
In the Face to Face waterski Slalom in the afternoon, it was 18 year old George Mayling who claimed first place. The British Under 21 who won the European Championships explained: “I’m over the moon. I didn’t think I’d get it, especially with Sarah back competing but I did and I’m really really chuffed.
“I love the event with tons going on throughout the day. The buzz is amazing.”
The Fat Face Night Jump is the fourth stop on the Night Series tour which also takes in skiing, sailing, surfing, mountain boarding, mountain biking and windsurfing – across the UK .
Ian Williams, Fat Face Event Manager comments: “The Fat Face Night Jump was a massive success and our thanks to JB Waterski for putting on such a fantastic event; the competitors for putting on the phenomenal displays and the spectators who created such a brilliant atmosphere, cheering the riders on.”
