In the fourth year of this regional event the JSA pulls out all the stops and sees one of its native sons take the title from the most impressive field of competitive surfers ever to be assembled on Jamaica.
The 2010 Makka Pro came to a magnificent close on Sunday July 19, 2010 at the Makka Surfing Beach at Southaven, Yallahs Saint Thomas. Despite pro surfing entrants from Barbados, Trinidad, Philippines, Australia, and the USA, Jamaica came away with the purse in the Open Men’s division for the first time in the history of the four year-old event when Icah Wilmot walked away with the US$1000.00 on offer to the winner of the Open division.
It didn’t stop there either. Shane Simmonds took second ahead of third and fourth place finishers Travis Ajay of the USA and Che Lovelace of Trinidad. In the Junior division Jamaica had a clean sweep with Akeem Taylor, Shama Beckford, Garren Pryce, and Ivah Wilmot taking first to fourth place respectively showing that Jamaica has a bright future in regional professional surfing.
In the Women’s division, young Chelsea Tuach of Barbados successfully defended her 2009 crown and was declared 2010 Makka Pro Women’s champion with Jamaican’s Imani Wilmot and Elim Beckford taking second and third ahead of American Gillian Gensler who took fourth.
“The event was huge despite the intermittent rains over the two days it ran. Thousands of people turned out. It was impressive,” said JSA president Mr. Billy Wilmot. “This event has been growing from strength to strength. This year we had live radio broadcasts on Hits FM and RJR 92 FM as well as a live internet feed courtesy of DEKAL Wireless. We also had computerized judging and an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) head judge.”
The Makka Pro has become arguably the largest public spectacle in Saint Thomas putting the Parish in the east on the world surfing map and commanding the local sporting spotlight with an extreme water sporting event unanswerable by the rest of the island. The local press has also embraced the sport of surfing and is now giving prime exposure to the efforts of the JSA to promote surfing as a sport of choice for all Jamaicans.