The senior divisions of the English National Surf Championships were finally held at Fistral Beach, Newquay last week after three previous attempts this year were defeated by stormy conditions. St. Ives’ Jayce Robinson thought he might give it a go, some years after his last competitive outings. He has a tremendous pedigree in his history, comprising a win at Newquay Boardmasters, several National and UK titles as both a senior and a junior, and successes in Europe in his junior career too. Jayce can be seen styling at Porthmeor on every local swell but after a while away from the cutting edge of the sport he wondered how he might measure up against today’s national elite.
Well, it seems that he had lost none of his old heat strategy and competitive nous as he progressed smoothly to the final where he overcame his biggest test in winning the prize, taking down current double Boardmasters title holder Lucas Skinner, England team coach, Luke Dillon and current England international Heath Gillespie . The banner picture, courtesy of Surfing England, shows the post-heat podium . There is the video of the mens and womens final on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6mJLXDer1c
Well done Jayce! We never doubted that you still had what it takes!
Our last session of the summer is always a bitter/sweet event. We can feel the summer slipping into cooler days, but we are reluctant to call an end to our joyful surfing Saturdays. However, as previous years have taught us, we always manage to go out on a high. And this day was no exception. It was a very wet affair, both for the surfers and for the parents and others watching on the beach. There were few breaks from the driving rain, so our picture count of the contest is low, and there was no opportunity to catch the last nippers sessions on camera. As the hooter sounded on the final heat of the day everyone retired to the clubhouse to dry out and to learn the results of the contest and to share out the celebratory medals and the group accolades of 2025. The BBQ was already sizzling away on the balcony, a heady end-of-term brewing.
The clubhouse ceremony started with our St. Ives Surf School coaches reviewing their group progress for the year and making the tricky selections of prizewinners among their charges. There were celebratory medals for all participants and group photos after each summation. The chart below has the details:
Nemo – ages 4 to 5
Most Improved: Edie
Most Dedicated: Howie
Surfer of the Summer: Oscar
Dory – Ages 6 to 8
Most Improved: Mila
Most Dedicated: Otis
Surfer of the Summer: Josie
Swordfish – Ages 8 to 11
Most Improved: Emily
Most Dedicated: Lottie
Surfer of the Summer: Rosie
Dolphins – Ages 11 to 16 – Improvers
Most Improved: Dennick siblings – Noah, Ben and Anna
Most Dedicated: Joe
Surfer of the Summer: Solomon
Sharks – Ages 11 to 16 – Advanced
Most Improved: Jimmy
Most Dedicated: Reuben
Surfer of the Summer: Jude
And then our heroic contest judges, who had spent over two hours in the rain at the water’s edge scrutinising heat after heat, stepped forward to read the results of the Girls Final and the Open Final.
Elyse took the Girls gold with Lottie and Anne bringing in the silver and bronze. The Open Final was taken with a buzzer-beater of a wave by Bobby to deny Elyse a double success with Reuben and Joe in the minor placings.
Our thanks for the day’s event goes to St. Ives Surf School and their magnificent coaches, to our judges Steve, Joely, Teddy and Head Judge Jonny who steered the contest smoothly through a drizzly dank morning with humour and flair to give our novice surfers a taste of competitive surfing. To our BBQ wizards, who could ace any TV chef for enthusiasm, and to Tregenna Castle who supplied the bangers and rolls on the day. More generally, our season relied on The St. Ives Surf School for it’s booking system and coaches and it’s willingness to bring the joy of surfing to the children of the town who are lucky enough to grow up by the sea. Thanks also to those parents and helpers ( Are they secretly called ‘Penguins’ by the surfers and coaches? ) who keep everything rolling, battle the parking wars at Porthmeor Car Park on summer Saturdays and create that club vibe with their camps on the day. We offer our thanks, as always, to the RNLI lifeguards whose co-operation has been a welcome prop to our days from the very beginning of our club. We derive the greatest satisfaction when we see some of our alumni graduate to lifeguarding or becoming surf coaches at the school – in a small way we are giving back for their investment in us as youngsters in earlier days! Porthmeor Beach management continue to encourage and help us and we are ever grateful for their support.
So it’s ‘See you next year!’ when we can do it all over again. It’s been a blast!
While there was no Saturday Surf Club at Porthmeor for our juniors last weekend, that didn’t stop some of our keenest Sharks from testing themselves on a wider playing field. The ‘No Pro’ event at Gwithian is always a highlight of the Autumn calendar locally and Saints Boardriders have enjoyed some success there in past years. This time we are delighted to see both Scout Foreman and Bobby Smith help themselves to prizes and continue that tradition. Scout won the Girls Under-14 event, while Bobby finished second in the Boys Under 14s. Our banner picture shows them weighing their bags of swag post-presentation.
On the Sunday we were represented on the national stage by three juniors in the Surfing England Junior Surf Series at Great Western Beach in Newquay. This third round of the tour saw Elyse Venables get a taste of competing in the Under 14 girls and Jude Rogers surf in the Under 14 Boys division. There was no podium finish for either of them this time, but I’m sure the experience at this elite level will stand them in good stead for future events. Bobby Smith was also up there and blitzed through the quarters and semi final en route to a third place finish in the final itself in the Under 12 Boys division. An excellent result! There are some budding stars nationally in this age group and it is a great credit to Bobby that he is establishing himself in that company. The picture below shows the four finalist from that division. Both pictures by Diane Smith.
So, all-in-all a successful weekend for our surfers, our club and our coaches. Just the final Saturday Session to go for most of our juniors now, but perhaps the more intrepid might be looking to find competition further afield over the coming months!
A day which began in the Autumnal chill of a dawn morning blossomed into a beautiful Porthmeor Saturday afternoon beach day to crown our season with a final session of tripping little waves by Mans Head for our juniors and some challenging surf by The Island for our Seniors competition. That early check-in for the comp and a ten o’clock start for the Nemos, Dorys and Swordfish brought us all to a climactic conclusion with a gathering by the surf school for the end of season celebration and awards followed by a sausage sizzle on the beach to cap a fine club day.
Super grom session below:
The competition attracted a healthy number of surfers including some plucky youngsters who fancied a chance to challenge the older cadets. It produced some memorable heats and a keenly contested final graced with the best rides of the day including a trophy winning ten point ride by our eventual champion.
The Finalists
And so to the summation of the summer’s efforts. We gathered our groups in turn for a photo and a commemorative medal before the coaches were given the unenviable task of choosing a surfer from their group in each of these categories: Most Improved, Most Committed and Surfer of the Summer.
If you hadn’t guessed, our banner picture today shows Bobby with Head Judge Jonny celebrating the ten point score which contributed to his championship-winning 18 point total in the final. It was a ride that deserved to belong in a final! Elyse was our Girls Champion and also ran a close second to Bobby in the final with a couple of scores that might well have won on another day.
It was fitting after such a celebratory awards session that the weather invited us to stay and enjoy our BBQ Sausage Sizzle on the beach picnic fashion and build those surf club memories to carry us through to next summer!
It only remains for me to thank our generous benefactors for another season of support of our young surfers. Principal among them is St. Ives Surf School and our magnificent coaches. Your enthusiasm fires those youngsters to meet challenges head-on and thrive in the water. Our many Saturday helpers, both in the water and around the check-in and administration are a boon, and we are always indebted to Porthmeor lifeguards and the management of Porthmeor Beach for their support. And finally, ‘Thank You’ to all our parents for your contribution and engagement with the Saturday morning surf club. See you all in 2025 to go again!
A Sunday afternoon surf is one of life’s enduring pleasures and our young chargers had the chance to experience it for themselves at our final Kids Club session of the 2023 season. The weather was kind and the waves were friendly – the water as warm as we are likely to find at Porthmeor. Our banner picture shows most of those who came to make this a fitting send-off and was taken as a prelude to the afternoon activities. Our youngest crew had a session with their coaches while the Sharks and Dolphins held a competition further down the beach.
A Harris pile-on. Why?
Those coloured rash vests certainly brought out the competitive element in our advanced surfers. We witnessed a couple of interference calls which scotched hopes of winning a heat and the judges followed the full rules protocol to guarantee fairness and to educated these newbies in the game.
National Champions on the panelBoys finalistsGirls finalists
And then it was back under the awning for the distribution of prizes and compliments to our high achievers. There were commemorative medals for all participants in Kids Club 2023, and then came the group awards in three categories: Most improved surfer, Most committed surfer and Surfer of the summer. Our coaches found these selections as difficult as always, all youngsters showing distinct improvement over the course of the summer. We then came to the results of the main competition and the time-honoured tease of announcing the result in reverse order. Bobby Smith triumphed in the boys event, while in the girls section Leila retained the crown she won last year. Congratulation to both of them, and to all our competitors for their participation.
The conclusion of the awards was the signal for the committee members to demonstrate their skills at twizzling, balancing and splashing the sauce as we fired up the barbie to share a Sunday Sausage Sizzle among family and friends to toast another fine season of surfing for Saints Boardriders Kids Club ( Super sibilant sentence structure seen there! ). We acknowledge the great support of Tregenna Castle in providing both the food and the beer, while also thanking Porthmeor Beach for chips and hot drinks for all the kids. We feel a depth of love and gratitude to Harris and the surf instructors for their unstinting support, to the check-in crew and administration for another summer of supervision, and Porthmeor lifeguards for another safe season. Our judges this afternoon were Tassie Swallow, Jayce Robinson and Josh Martindale, with Johnny Fryer co-ordinating. Thanks to you all, and to our parents and helpers who made our Saturday mornings tick like clockwork despite the usual car park congestion. We finish with a picture of Jack in a pinny. We haven’t seen enough of him this summer but the day will shortly come when his girls will want to join surf club! NB: Ben on quality control – We never let our standards slip!
It has been five years since we enjoyed the St. Ives Cup, an Autumn handicap competition between local surfers that was so well-received by the community. Towards the end of last week Harris looked at the surf chart, checked that the tides were favourable and put out the call ” Who fancies it?” On Friday afternoon it was called ‘On’ for 8.30 Saturday morning and around forty competitors checked in for “The Porthmeor Cup”, a new incarnation of that fabled beast. There was a generous support of families and friends on a warm late-September day as the battle began in challenging chest-high surf that tested even the highly ranked chargers and created a thrilling spectacle for everyone on the beach.
JohnnyJayceHarrisGiacomoJonnySimonDeanoOllieMarcoRobJudges on rotationChristianRobDanTeddyScrappyKazDanCharlieBenOllieCharliePeteJohnnyJayce
I fear we didn’t capture all the action, or even all the competitors, on camera over the day, but here are a few more of them and a couple of beach scenes to round out what was recorded by our reporters on the day.
Another judging sessionBen, Jayce and SteveJackMarleyMickTimbo post-heat debriefOwenBenThe sceneBenJacobOllieHarrisSimonPumpsHamishScrappyThe business end of the comp.Hospitality tentDan – finalistJohnny – winnerCharlieTarps and PeteChristianJohnny – finalistFinal line-upPresentationBen collects a prizeShaun and JohnnyDon’t want this party to end! Note Charlie’s award!
Our thanks are due to Harris and the Surf School crew for running such an ace competition flawlessly. Our gratitude also to Porthmeor lifeguards for their help and support, to Porthmeor Beach for feeding the competitors and to St. Ives Brewery for their refreshing ales. We also recognise the support of our community, particularly the families and partners of our competitors for sharing them with us for a precious day among friends. Thanks too to Barry Walker for the action shots of the surfing and to those competitors who took a spell in the judging chair during the day. Congratulations to all our surfers, and particularly to our champion, and first holder of the Porthmeor Cup, Johnny Fryer!
Porthmeor saw our first coloured rash vests of the season as Minnow Green brought the Porthmeor Longboard Classic contest to the beach to start the British Longboard Union competitive season over the weekend of April 15th and 16th. It was a busy programme with categories of Men’s Open, Womens Open, U18, U16, Masters, Grandmasters, Cadets & Single Fin to complete with barely a minute between the finish of one heat and the start of the next. That it passed without a snag is testament to the well-practised teamwork of Minnow’s crew and the enthusiasm of both competitors and officials to make it a joy and a celebration of the noble art of riding the longboard.
We had a few St. Ives locals competing, with Sam Crookshanks taking a win in the blue riband Single Fin class and making the final of the Men’s Open. Ollie Riley and Kaz Phillips made the finals of their respective junior divisions and the Men’s Open saw the competitive debut of Gary Brownsword, and ace bodyboarder Colin Stirling stepping up several board lengths to enjoy a dip along the beach from his familiar Low Tide Boiler locale. Jack Dudley also put in a creditable performance in the Single Fin event. Full results available here.
There are a few pictures from the weekend below and the BLU website has details of their forthcoming events and more to further your interest. Our thanks are due to Porthmeor Beach, St. Ives BID, Tregenna Castle Estate, CTC, 10 Over Surf Shop, Ocean and Earth, Skindog Surfboards and the RNLI Porthmeor lifeguards for their support for the event and Saints Boardriders look forward to hosting the BLU again in the near future for another extravaganza of longboarding on Porthmeor Beach.
Clubhouse balcony judging platformSam, toes to the noseElliot DudleyOllie in actionSingle Fin FinalistsCaz cruisin’Under 16 finalists – Caz second leftColin in yellow vestGary makes the drop
We held the postponed end-of-season finale last Saturday in pumping waves under a clear blue sky. We could not ask for better conditions, and a large turn-out was guaranteed to witness the competition to be club champion 2022, the post-season presentations and enjoy the promised ” sausage sizzle” afterwards.
There were regular group sessions for the juniors to enjoy, offering a last chance to impress the coaches and maybe claim ‘surfer of the summer’ in the group.
Over in the competition area some keenly fought heats saw a final four boys emerge to contest their final, after five girls had contested their own final.
Boys finalistsGirls finalistsThe judges hawk-like intensity!
And then it was up to the clubhouse to learn who the winners would be, and to honour all our young chargers for their efforts this summer. A packed room cheered the awards as our groups acknowledged winners in three categories: surfer of the summer, most committed surfer and most improved surfer. There were medals for all juniors to commemorate the season, and then the contest surfers received their medals in reverse order, leaving Leila and Teddy as our champions for 2022.
The Trophy TableChampions
And then it was back out onto the putting green for a “sausage sizzle” in the late-summer sunshine. What a day!
Well that was a most satisfactory way to complete our season. Nature’s elements combined to offer us a perfect day to say farewell to summer 2022.
Many thanks to Tesco St. Ives for their generous support to the BBQ. Thanks to St. Ives Brewery ( again!) for their support on every event day. Thanks also to the contest judges and thank you to the club committee for a fine day, and a fine season. Our gratitude to Porthmeor Beach management and to Porthmeor Beach RNLI lifeguards for their support and encouragement over the season. St. Ives Surf School is the rock on which our Kids Club is built and we owe Harris and his crew a debt we can never hope to repay for their unstinting efforts. And, finally, a word of praise for those Dolphin surfers who gave their Saturday mornings to helping the younger groups into waves: Kaz, Ollie, Marley, Kaitlyn and Bridget are names that readily spring to mind!
To all children and parents who participated over the summer – We have relished your company. ” Thank you ” and we look forward to seeing you all again in 2023!
Well, our luck continues to hold and a large turnout of surfers enjoyed fabulous conditions for our first September session of this season. Under warm blue skies we had a fine morning polishing our surfing ready for the end of season bash. There were a couple of absentees as Ollie Tarplee and Caz Phillips went off to Newquay to compete in the BLU longboard event, and it’s pleasing to report that they both made their respective finals, Caz placing third in the Under-18 Boys and Ollie coming fourth in the Under-16 Cadets. Well done guys – we’re proud to have you representing the club! Our banner picture shows Ollie in action at Fistral Beach.
Some pictures below from the club session at Porthmeor:
On the last weekend of September, under balmy Autumn skies, we welcomed Minnow Green and his fellow longboarders to Tregenna Surf House. The club was honoured to host the Porthmeor Longboard Classic under the auspices of the British Longboard Union and offer a late season spectacular to the Porthmeor Beach crowd. Throughout a busy weekend of competition the surfers enjoyed pretty good waves and they treated us to some fine logging in the time-honoured manner. The largest entry was for the single-fin event – testament to the enduring pleasure of the style and elegance that good boardriding can offer.
There were a few of our local crew stepped up to have a go, and all performed very creditably against experienced longboard campaigners.
Travis
Matt
Teddy
Kaz
Eleanor
Travis and Matt were keen to ride the singlefins, while Teddy and Kaz joined in the U-16 boys. Eleanor was our sole girl competing on the weekend, giving a good account of herself in the U-18 girls.
Local crew enjoying the action
A closer view of events
The most successful Saints Boardriders was undoubtedly Teddy who battled through the rounds to the U-16 final, earning third place behind two of Britain’s most accomplished juniors. Well Done Teddy!
Teddy on the podium
The junior girls finalists also demonstrated the full panoply of longboarding manoeuvres and it was noticeable and encouraging to see several of our local juniors trying some of those moves on their own boards a little way down from the competition area.
The outstanding performer of the weekend was Mike Lay, a West Cornwall longboarder. He is a familiar sight at Porthmeor and at Breakwater when it turns on, so he enjoyed vocal support from the local crew. He claimed both the Singlefin and the Mens Open titles on his return to competitive events after a long hiatus. And in accepting his trophy at the presentation he gave an elegant impromptu speech of affirmation of the camaraderie and bonhomie of the longboarding fraternity in this country and the British Longboarding Union itself in promoting the sport and the good fellowship of it’s practitioners. Saints Boardriders supports that philosophy and we hope we can share again with the British Longboard Union the buzz of a weekend of spirited competition in future seasons having thoroughly enjoyed the Porthmeor Longboard Classic first time around.
Mike Lay unplugged
In closing Saints Boardriders and the British Longboard Union offer our thanks to the generosity of Down The Line, The Tregenna Castle Estate, St. Ives BID and Ocean And Earth for their sponsorship, and to Porthmeor Beach management for feeding the officials and organisers, and the Porthmeor RNLI lifeguards for their help in running a trouble-free event. Thanks too to the competitors for giving us a weekend of skilful competitive longboarding in the finest of sporting traditions. Let’s do it again!
