Damian Chaudoy, recognised as one of Europe’s most promising young surfers, was beaten into third place by just over a single point in one of only a handful of heats completed yesterday in St Ouen’s Bay.
A high scoring opening wave from another Frenchman Romain Laulhe ensured he carved his way into the quarter-final of the main event with a total of 13.33.
However, as with so many of the other heats in this year’s European Championship the second place qualifying spot changed hands in the final stage of the round with Chaudoy finshing on 7.67 and therefore missing out to Mario Lopez of Spain on 8.60.
He was due to meet England’s Alan Stokes in the next round after he stormed through to win his heat in 16.94 as France’s Vincent Duvignac pocketed second place with his efforts earning 13.00 points.
With little action over the last few days organiser Dave Ferguson from the Jersey Surfboard Club expressed his frustration and said: ‘It’s very disappointing that we haven’t completed more of the event but we are in the laps of the gods.’
