The semi-regular friendly club competition between the Isle of Wight and Gosport clubs held this year at Planet Ice, Ryde, on 14 May was fiercely contested as usual. Gosport fielded its traditionally strong array of talented artistic skaters, and from the off it was going to be a close contest.

The Isle of Wight, however, got off to an excellent start in Class 1, the artistic solos for level 1 and under, taking a seven point lead that ultimately Gosport was unable to erode, despite edging closer after Class 2. The final result was Isle of Wight 63 points, Gosport 46 points.

The clubs also contested the Sue Buckingham Memorial Cup for synchronized skating, a competition set up to remember the late skating judge Sue Buckingham, who was a regular official at IW club competitions. The synchro scene has changed a lot since the clubs last contested the trophy, with the result that cut-down routines were used by a number of teams to level the field. Ultimately, however, the Wight Jewels prevailed.

The event also allowed a number of IW skaters to compete for the first time in a spin, spiral and jump competition, with four classes contested by the club’s aspiring young skaters. Results are given below.

Results

Solent Interclub Competition: Isle of Wight vs Gosport

Class 1, Artistic Solo, level 1 and under: 1 Roxanne Collins (IW), 2 Keelin Scholes (IW), 3 Alice Lording (Gos), 4 Nicola Baxter (IW), 5 Lucy Chuter (Gos), 6 Libby Watts (Gos)

Class 2, Artistic Solo, level 2 to 5: 1 Amy World (Gos), 2 Jemma Southwell (IW), 3 Sophie Doyle (Gos), 4 Tia Daley (IW), 5 Charlotte Chapman (IW), 6 Shola Ray (Gos)

Class 3, Artistic Solo, level 6 and over: 1 Archie Bicknell (IW), 2 Caine Jerone (Gos), 3 Nikita Heathfield (IW), 4 Nathan Newbrook (Gos), 5 Maggie Read (IW)

Class 4 , Artistic 2s-4s, level 1 and under: 1 The Flower Pots (IW), 2 Girl Power (IW), 3 The Tweets (Gos), 4 The D’s (Gos), 5 The Clowns (IW)

Class 5, Artistic 2s-4s, level 2 and over:  1 Double Trouble (Gos), 2 IW Double Trouble (Archie Bicknell and Maggie Read, IW), 3 Ugly Bugs (IW), 4 The P’s (IW), 5 Sway (Gos), 6 Terrisome Twins (Gos)

Class 6, Artistic solo, Adults: 1 Bianca Brooks (Gos), 2 Carol Taverner (IW), 3 Aaron Grist (IW)

Class 7, Artistic Groups (more than 4 skaters): 1 The Spooks (IW), 2 Corps de Ballet (Gos), 3 The Nunnery (Gos), 4 Sisters (IW)

Sue Buckingham Memorial Cup

1 Wight Jewels (IW), 2 Allstars (Gos), 3 Shooting Stars (Gos), 4 Wight Crystals (IW), 5 Wight Gems (Gos)

Spin, Spiral & Jump competitions

Girls, 9 years and under: 1 Hope Roberts, 2 Lauren Wood, 3 Stella Stratton, 4 Ayesha Taylor, 5 Sapphire Arnold-Recarde

Boys, 9 years and under: 1 Thomas Chare, 2 William Riley

Girls, aged 10 to 13 years: 1 Holly Donohue, 2 Hayley Purrington, 3 Laura Treherne, 4 Serena Copping

Girls, aged 14 years and over: 1 Charlotte Hamer, 2 Bryony Hamer

All results subject to confirmation. Now corrected for late-night typing errors…