Weston-super-Mare Autumn 2024

Overlooking the Bristol Channel at the historic Grand Pier, tables filled with timers and mats as 85 competitors assembled for Weston-super-Mare Autumn 2024. The seaside atmosphere in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, United Kingdom set the stage for two days of intense speedcubing across November 16 and November 17, 2024. Across 17 total rounds, the weekend highlighted individual growth as much as elite speed, giving solvers of every background a platform to chase down new personal milestones.

The official WCA competition featured 11 distinct disciplines, testing everything from traditional puzzles to memory-intensive blindfolded variants. For many participants, the true metric of success over the weekend was measured against their own previous marks rather than the top step of the podium. Across the board, solvers trimmed substantial margins from their personal records, demonstrating massive mechanical and algorithmic progress since their previous appearances.

The spirit of rapid progress was particularly clear among solvers tackling packed multi-event schedules. Sebastian Costa delivered one of the weekend's biggest leaps in Square-1, registering a personal best of 20.07 seconds that slashed 54.8 percent off his prior benchmark, alongside a 20.1 percent cut to 30.95 in 3x3x3 One-Handed and a 15th-place finish in Square-1 across five entered events. Sam Leonard showed similar momentum across eight events, improving his 3x3x3 One-Handed mark by 43.8 percent to 31.16 seconds and dropping his 4x4x4 Cube best by 29.4 percent to 48.12. Magnus Watson took on six events and achieved a 39.9 percent improvement in Square-1 with a time of 19.52 seconds, while also trimming his 3x3x3 One-Handed time by 30.7 percent to 22.86. Samuel Hunt tackled six events and produced a 35.6 percent drop in Square-1 to 47.62 seconds, an improved Megaminx best of 2:48.54, and his first official attempt at the 5x5x5 Cube, finishing in 3:26.88.

First-time event attempts and major milestones extended across the roster. Reuben Mould entered eight events, securing 10th place in Megaminx while recording first-ever official attempts at the 6x6x6 Cube in 3:03.19 and 7x7x7 Cube in 4:27.36, plus a 34.7 percent cut to 30.13 in Square-1. Joh Fujita took on five events, logging a first-ever attempt at 4x4x4 Blindfolded with a time of 24:28.00 to finish eighth, alongside a 16.6 percent improvement in 3x3x3 One-Handed to 37.47 seconds. Daniel Billingham competed in nine events, lowering his Square-1 best by 24.1 percent to 18.72 seconds and his one-handed best by 21.7 percent to 22.63. In the main event, Joshua Antony Mortimer made his speed cubing debut at his very first official tournament, logging an opening 3x3x3 Cube mark of 17.65 seconds.

At the sharp end of the classic Rubik's Cube, Feliks Zemdegs of Australia led the field of 83 competitors through three rounds of the 3x3x3 Cube. Zemdegs captured the title with a 6.04 average in the final round, having also logged a 4.95 single and a 5.95 average during the competition. Sebastian Weyer of Germany claimed second place with a 6.57 average, while Philipp Weyer secured third place with a 6.84 average. The official 3x3 results underlined an exceptionally rapid final round on the pier.

Sebastian Weyer asserted command over the mid-sized big cubes, claiming double victories. In the 4x4x4 Cube, which drew 70 competitors across three rounds, Weyer took the title with a 19.91 average and a best single of 17.57 seconds. He followed that performance in the 5x5x5 Cube, where 66 competitors took part, posting a winning average of 43.24 seconds with a single of 39.35, edging out Zemdegs at 43.46 and Jake Brown at 52.10.

Zemdegs added two more victories across the largest puzzles on the schedule. He topped the 53-competitor field in the 6x6x6 Cube with a winning average of 1:26.58, finishing ahead of Cham J. Chambers at 1:31.88 and Mark Ostrom at 1:48.27. Zemdegs also won the 7x7x7 Cube among 55 competitors with an average of 2:01.66 and a single of 1:49.12. In Megaminx, Aidan Grainger delivered a dominant display across two rounds, averaging 29.87 seconds to defeat Sean Moran at 32.96 and Zemdegs at 38.52.

The specialist disciplines featured remarkable versatility, led by Ryan Eckersley who secured four separate event victories. Eckersley won the Square-1 with an average of 9.08 seconds, then swept all three memory events. In 3x3x3 Blindfolded, Eckersley won with an average of 32.74 seconds ahead of Tao Yu at 29.85 and Chambers at 39.63. He then topped 4x4x4 Blindfolded with a single of 1:25.81 ahead of Ben Stokes and Thomas Bevan, and won 5x5x5 Blindfolded with a best single of 3:22.12 ahead of Stokes and Callum Hales-Jepp. In 3x3x3 One-Handed, Louis de Mendonça took top honours with a 10.82 average ahead of Tao Yu and Zemdegs.

By the conclusion of Weston-super-Mare Autumn 2024, United Kingdom competitors had gathered 19 podium finishes, supported by seven podium places from Australia, five from Germany, and two from Ireland. The cubing competition showcased world-class speed at the top alongside substantial personal improvements across the entire entry list, concluding a memorable weekend on the Somerset coast.