LOCAL SURFERS got the opportunity last weekend to pit their skills against regional surfers in the just concluded Caribbean Surf Network's 2007 Suzuki Soup Bowl Pro at the Soup Bowl, Bathsheba.

In the end, the locals dominated the show with the Soup Bowl's own Mark Holder taking the championship trophy in the Men's Open Division.

Looking back on the event, Nick Donawa, one of the organisers of the Caribbean Surf Network, commented on the small conditions that plagued the first day of the contest.

"We are accustomed to knowing Soup Bowl as a big wave venue, but with competition surfing the best surfers have to perform in whatever conditions," he said.

"What they [the conditions] do is level the playing field where the young kids have the advantage in that they don't have that much weight."

Donawa said he was pleased with the turnout in the bodyboard and ladies' divisions.

"With the local knowledge, they [local surfers] do have an advantage over the international surfers, but we're still not seeing the local entrants."

The organiser also said the event was poised to grow even more next year with four events in three islands slated for 2008.

"We're going back to Trinidad in late February, then Drill Hall beach in Easter, Jamaica in mid-July and then back in Soup Bowl," he said.

"We will see this progress and hopefully in 2009 we will add two more islands," he added.

The finalists in the events were:

Open: Mark Holder, first; Jason Apparicio (Trinidad), second; Stefan Corbin, third; Gabriel Escudero (Puerto Rico), fourth.

Ladies: Melanie Pitcher, first; Ametza Nicholls, second; Chelsea Roett, third; Chelsea Tuach, fourth;

Bodyboard: Mark Neuhoff, first; Silos Adams, second; Ian Jarvis, third; and Paul Wilson, fourth.