Surf champ ‘waves’ hello to new global challenges

Friday 04 January 2019

At just 16 years old, a rising surf star from Jersey is not ‘board’ of winning yet and is aiming to up his ranking as the new year rolls in.

2018 has seen surf prodigy Will Masterman surf his way to success during competitions throughout the year, and he’s hoping to ride that wave all the way through 2019.

Having secured the title of under 16 English Champion, Will plans to make a name for himself in his new age category, ‘under 18’s’.

Believed to be the highest placed under-16 UK competitor in the history of the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships, the teen also scored a ‘golden ticket’ to represent the UK in the Rip Curl Grom Search World final where he won the second round of the three-part series.

Will, who says that he “get[s] a real buzz out of competing”, has surfed all around the world including California, Ireland, Portugal, Costa Rica and the Azores, but his favourite spot is Hawaii.

Pictured: Will Masterman is setting his sights high for 2019 (Ben Reed).

The Christmas break hasn’t meant a vacation from surfing for the teenager who says that he’s spent the holidays riding the tide “as much as possible” as well as “packing for his next trip”.

The surf champ, who is currently studying for his A-levels at Hautlieu, reflected on his achievements to date and shared his ambitions for 2019 with Express…

What was your key achievement in 2018? 

For 2018, my main achievements were winning the English Championships for my category, winning the golden ticket to go to the World final of the Ripcurl Grom Search and representing England at the Vissla ISA World Junior Surf Championships, placing 13th. 

Pictured: Will cleaned up at surfing competitions in 2018 as he became the under-16 English Champion as well as winning the second round of the Ripcurl Grom Search.

What are your ambitions for 2019?

I really want to up my ranking on the WSL European Pro Junior Tour, do as well I can at the Grom Search World Final, win or be a finalist at the English Surf Championships in my new age category 'Under 18’s'.

I also hope to be selected again as part of the team representing England at the next World Junior Championships.