Boardmasters Open crowns Etxabarri and Piter at Fistral Beach
For the first time, the surf contest that shares its name with Newquay’s biggest summer festival was carrying some of the heaviest ranking points in European surfing. When the scores finally settled at Fistral Beach, two surfers stood above everyone else.
Janire Gonzalez Etxabarri and Sam Piter are the 2026 Boardmasters Open champions, crowned after two days of elite competition on Cornwall’s most famous stretch of sand. One of those wins continued a family story that started a year ago. The other came down to less than two tenths of a point.
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A first for the QS 4,000 at Fistral
This year the Boardmasters Open stepped up to become a World Surf League QS 4,000, one of the top three Qualifying Series events in Europe, run in partnership with YETI. The upgrade drew one of the strongest international fields the contest has ever seen, and gave British surfers the chance to bank valuable ranking points on home sand as they build towards the LA 2028 Olympic cycle.
The Shortboard titles have now been decided. The Longboard competition is still live, waiting on the right window for its closing rounds, while the wider Boardmasters festival carries on across Newquay.
Finals day belongs to Etxabarri
Finals day brought smaller surf, but the standard stayed high as the field fought through the Round of 16, the quarter-finals and the semi-finals. In the women’s draw, Clemence Schorsch, Janire Gonzalez Etxabarri, Nahia Milhau and Sol Borelli came through to the last four.
It was Janire who took the title, and in doing so continued a remarkable family story. Her sister won the Boardmasters crown in 2025, and twelve months on the Gonzalez Etxabarri name is on the trophy again.
A men’s final decided by 0.17 points
The men’s final was one of the closest heats of the whole event. France’s Sam Piter edged local favourite Lukas Skinner, the two-time defending champion, by just 0.17 points, sealing the win in the closing moments of the heat. Lukas had been the last British surfer standing in the men’s draw, and went into the final in front of a home crowd chasing a third straight title.
The men’s side had shown its depth all the way through, with standout runs from Lukas, Spain’s Sean Gunning and German brothers Kai and Hans Odriozola.
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Longboard drama still to come
With the Shortboard finals wrapped, attention turned to the Longboard competition. Local favourites Adam Griffith, Emily Currie and Lola Bleakley all booked places in the semi-finals. Former world champion Ben Skinner missed out on qualification by less than half a point.
The Longboard semi-finals and finals are on standby while organisers watch the conditions, so that title is still to be settled.
How the heats unfolded
Competition opened in ideal 3-4ft surf at Fistral, and organisers used the good conditions to push both the men’s and women’s QS 4,000 draws through to the Round of 16 on day one. Lukas Skinner came through as the last remaining British surfer in the men’s event, while Sean Gunning posted the highest-scoring heat of the Round of 32.
Eight British women reached the Round of 32, with Carla Morera De La Vall and Clemence Schorsch among those setting the tone for finals day.
The festival rolls on
Away from the water, the ramps and the music kept the rest of Newquay busy, the surf contest just one part of a festival that fills the town every August. The world-class surfing still has more to give, too. Somewhere out at Fistral, a Longboard title is waiting for the right wave.
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