Brewery boosts surfing

Cornish ale firm invests in boarding

Britain's presence at next month's World Surfing Games in Costa Rica has been given a much needed boost by a Cornish brewery.

Truro based Skinners brewery sealed the 11th hour sponsorship deal with the British Surfing Association (BSA) in a bid to raise Britain's profile in the competition. The sponsorship, which includes financial support and new kit, will hopefully see a full team heading to the event which runs from August 1 - 8.

At present, only four British surfers have confirmed their attendance to the games, due to burdening travel and accommodation costs. But BSA Operations Director Jo Hillman is confident the backing will encourage more surfers to take part.

"Attracting sponsorship has always been a struggle and it is more than ever difficult in the present climate with big cutbacks in company budgets, so we are immensely grateful to Skinner's for stepping in in this way. Without the sponsorship, the surfers would basically have to pay the entire cost of their travel and accommodation in order to take part in the world games and a lot of our top surfers just can't afford that kind of outlay."

Brewery chief executive Steve Skinner is equally as pleased with the partnership as his son Ben, who took part in the 2006 World Games, is rumoured to be coaching the British team. The brewery also supported The Quiksilver King of the Groms special fund raising event at Fistral Beach this month and Skinner stated the company is very happy to be supporting sporting events: "Costa Rica will be the stage for the world's top surfers from America, Australia, Spain - and it would be unthinkable not to have Britain fully represented there. Hopefully, our support can make the difference."

Confirmed members of the British team include longboarder Elliot Dudley and girls open surfers Beth Mason and Joanne Dennison.