Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

Well, today’s title, borrowed from Nat King Cole’s breezy song, is almost a farewell to Kids Club’s 2015 season. Our last Saturday outing before the end-of-season contest offered some decent surf conditions for our coaches to make a final assessment of how our junior members have progressed this year.

We have taken a great deal of pleasure from the Nemos and Dorys, the newest and youngest intake to the club – particularly in having their parents or elder siblings in the water with us giving the sessions a real family feel. For the older and more experienced groups we’ve structured the fun around the SurfingGB junior surfer scheme, and tried to instill good surfing and safety practice into their time in the water. The picture below shows some of the Sardines group with Porthmeor head lifeguard, James Symons, learning that vital knowledge of how to make a phone call to the emergency services should they witness a dangerous situation on the beach.

This is one of the fundamental skills required to pass level 3 in the junior surfer scheme. Our two images below show Luca and Matty smashing the close-out to finish a ride in fine style having got as much as the wave offered. That’s what we’re after!

So, only the end of season contest remains. I’ve seen some of the kids out polishing their moves during these last few days of the summer holidays. Expect to see the buddhas, cockroaches, coffin rides and ( without giving too much away ) some headstands in the fun shoot out. And fingers crossed for some good waves for the senior groups to show what they can do under traditional contest rules. 12th of September it is then !

Here’s a gallery of pics from Saturday:

Surfin’ Saturday

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events

Eighty eight surfers turned out for the Saturday club this week on a blustery, cool morning. The surf was chunky, with some strong rips on the inside, and a bumpy face on the set waves. Our banner picture shows our youngest member, Deja, putting her dad through his paces. Some of the groups have developed routines and themes – the hokey cokey being one particular example. Our picture below shows the Mackerels gathering for a team cheer at the end of their session.

There were plenty of waves for everyone, and a small gallery below captures some of those rides.

There will be no Saturday morning surf club next week due to adverse tide times.

It’s A Beautiful Day

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events

Another fine Saturday morning dawns, and again we have waves – at least large enough to interest our smaller members. A turnout in the mid-80’s was taken through lessons which included learning how to paddle out pushing the board up into the oncoming wave, and how to speed up and slow down once you are on the wave.

With the advanced groups, surfers who might be at a beach unaccompanied by a parent or adult, the small conditions gave us a chance to introduce them to Porthmeor Beach’s Head Lifeguard, James Symons, who explained how to make an emergency phone call if they should witness an incident – and what information they might be expected to provide to the call handler to help get the most effective help quickly. An accurate location, the nature of the incident, the number of casualties involved, are there people already attempting a rescue – possibly a good assessment of the weather conditions if an air ambulance should be requested – and so on. Some members of the group were then handed a phone to make that call to the call handler having been given an imaginary scenario to describe. We hope never to find ourselves in such a situation, but being prepared to deal with one is a vital skill for any surfer!

And then those groups got their chance to paddle out, and were last seen disappearing round the corner into Foxholes on a surf safari. It’s been an unsettled summer, weatherwise, except for Saturday mornings at Porthmeor which have blessed us with enough of both sun and surf to keep enthusiasm firing among saints boardriders! A gallery of today’s action below:

Saturday Stars

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events Wave Of The Day

As the tide fell off the bank on Saturday morning we again found good conditions for Kids Club. Wave size varied from 1 to 2 foot at the West end of the beach to a meaty 3 foot plus on the sets by the Island. So from chest-high for the Nemos to chest-high for the Sharks, everyone met a similar challenge in their respective groups. It seemed like all the kids wanted to impress, getting out in the deep for a steep take-off, and remembering to work on style once up and riding.

I try to resist calling a ‘Wave of the day” because it’s clear that many of us are reaching new heights in our surfing as the weeks progress. But I’ll give a shout-out to Matt Burrell in our banner picture for his overall performance this week. There’s a gallery of pictures below of some others who impressed this session -we’re seeing great improvement from these guys, though they’re not the finished article yet!

A Beach Invasion!

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events

This week’s Kids Club will long be remembered as the one where we shared the beach and the water with millions of moon jellyfish! We arrived on the morning to find strand lines of them from the high water mark all the way to the ocean – and then found more in the sea once the session got underway. Moon Jellyfish ( Aurelia Aurita ) have a very mild sting which humans find imperceptible, and there seems to be a growing trend to keep them as pets in an aquarium apparently!

Fortunately, even the most squeamish among us soon set our anxieties aside, and the pre-surf lessons plans were put into practice as the warm-ups, then surfing, got underway. Our early start was particularly helpful on the day, as the busiest weekend of the holiday season saw the beach and the sea rapidly filling with people as we concluded our sessions at 11 o’clock.Surf conditions were again favourable for both Swellboards and hardboards, continuing our lucky run of Saturday morning surf.

A gallery of pictures below;

Kids Club ( Continued )

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events Top Shots

There is a phenomenon at the very top of world surfing at the moment known as the Brazilian Storm. It refers to the posse of surfers from that country who have suddenly arrived at the peak of international competition in the sport. Well, Saints Boardriders has it’s own Brazilian Storm in the persons of Flavio and Luciana Favero, seen on check-in duty last Saturday in our banner picture.Their organisational skill has transformed the running of the club into a pretty hassle-free affair, and Luciana even finds time to get in the water with the coaching staff every week and help the nippers into the waves. Both can usually be seen running down the beach for their own surfing session once their club duties are complete. You guys rock!

Attendance this week was in the mid-80’s – our lowest of the season so far, though this is likely explained by the number of absent members who were competing in the surf life-saving event at Portreath on the day. Our day went well in the water with some punchy waves challenging the surfers to hang on and enjoy the ride! Here’s baby Alba checking out the action with mum, Lauren Ringer – expect to see both of them out there in the near future!

There’s a gallery of pics below of some of the rides that were caught on camera. If you aren’t in there, then maybe next time…

Sun, Sea, Surf

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events Wave Of The Day

All three elements in the title were present again last Saturday as the Kids Club tackled the punchiest surf of the season so far! Our banner picture shows Josh Martindale executing Simon’s instruction to “Hit the lip” to perfection. There were several candidates for ‘wave of the day’ among the Sharks group on Saturday, but Josh takes the biscuit this time.

Surfer turn out was above 100 again this week, so we should be grateful to the twenty plus coaches, helpers and admin who make it possible to teach such numbers on a weekly basis. One of our pictures this week features two of those volunteers – Tony and Adam Bayfield. You guys are legends! There’s also a picture capturing Harris’s novel ‘wheelbarrow race’ warm-up routine. Don’t expect to see that at a surf comp near you anytime soon!

The hour long sessions seem to fly by – so it’s vital to concentrate to the full to get the best out of your time in the water. There were lots of examples I could find of members giving their best in that department. Here are a few below:

And there is joy and satisfaction for both surfer and the helping hands when the pop-up leads to a good ride. Our final few pictures for this week capture some of those moments when that teamwork is in evidence!

Hitting Our Stride

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events

Well, the last couple of Saturday mornings have given us both surf and some fine weather – and that has meant bumper attendance figures for both days. June 27th was mega with 117 surfers that morning, and yesterday was close behind with 100 kids getting in the water! That June day brought some punchy 2 foot waves which challenged everyone to bring their ‘A’ game to the water, while yesterday began with raft-building on a flat ocean before a clean foot-high swell rolled in allowing the Nemos in particular to show off their newly-acquired skill.

Matty’s Hokey Cokey warm-up with porcupine quill tresses!

Oscar under close supervision

It’s been great seeing how well the safety information is being absorbed at the pre-surf prepping and warm-ups. The best feedback an instructor can get is that forest of hands shooting up when he asks the group a question.

This is how you do it!

Whoops!

Man overboard!

Mum sneaks a crafty wave for herself

And there has been some good progress in the water too! Hopefully the waves and the weather will continue to co-operate and we can cram as many Saturday sessions as possible into this summer.

[Show slideshow]

How Was Your Weekend?

by Nog Competition news General Club News St. Ives Surf School events Surf Club Events

OK. So the morning high tide caused the cancellation of Saturday Kids Club,much to the disappointment of kids, parents and instructors alike! So how did you get your weekend surf thrill?

Well – as it happened – there was lots of surf action to be caught at Porthmeor Beach over the weekend, courtesy of St. Ives Surf School. On Friday night Porthmeor West Beach Bakery hosted the Red Bull Surf Cinema, showing a series of Jamie O’Brien films interspersed with locally made surf films, including the premiere of Harry De Roth’s latest. It’s the best evening of the year for gathering local surfers together, catching up with friends, and for club members young and old to hang out!

DJ Justo kept us royally entertained with some soulful sounds until the evening sun dropped behind Man’s Head and the screenings began. And he was on duty again on Sunday morning aboard the Red Bull truck as the 5th edition of the famous Fancy Dress Swellboard Shootout commenced at Porthmeor.

Twenty eight teams reported for battle sporting some amazingly inventive fancy dress ideas, and after displaying for the judges, the whole competition paraded through St. Ives to remind the town that International Surfing Day was being celebrated at Porthmeor.

I’ll leave the details of the format and regulations as they have been well explained in blogs from recent years – and proceed to the results as announced at the after-party at the Balcony once the beach festivities had ended:

Best fancy dress earned Kiss a £200 prize donated by Maurice Symons of The Sloop Inn

Kiss headline at Fancy Dress comp.

Jamaican Bob – winners in the water.

The Jamaican Bobsleigh Team won the Shootout in the water – boosted enormously by a stonking ride by Adam Bayfield which received two 9’s and a 10 from the judges and earned him a goody bag of Rhythm clothing, and helped earn his team a first prize of a trip to surf the Severn Bore courtesy of Red Bull.

And to demonstrate that the day wasn’t all about surfing prowess – Eggselence were awarded the wooden spoon for the lowest score of the day – along with some cool clothing!

Takedowns and drop-ins are encouraged!

Grateful thanks Mi Luds!

We are delighted to once again help Surfers Against Sewage in their great work in campaigning for clean oceans, and heartfelt thanks go out to the sponsors who supported the weekend’s events : Red Bull, Rhythm Clothing, Korev Lager, Robies Robes, and Porthmeor Beach. Thanks also to Barnie and Joel, RNLI lifeguards who volunteered to provide water cover for the event, and to our distinguished judges – you know who you are!

Watch Luke Pilbeam’s video edit here!

Nick Pumphrey’s photo gallery of the Swellboard Shootout is here

And Harry De Roth’s latest video is here

But enough about our weekend – How was yours?

Big Kids Comp Report – 2014

by Nog Competition news General Club News Groms Surf Club Events

The last day of British Summertime for 2014 offered our best chance to hold the final club competition of the year and find our junior champ. There was a good turnout from groups 5,6 and 7 all keen to show off their chops in some very surfable waves. The judging criteria was strictly International Surfing rules, unlike the earlier nippers’ event, but the competitors were undaunted and worked hard on their turns to impress the judges.

A distinguished panel of judges

After the opening round and repechage , the seeded surfers made their entry into procedings and pushed the standard of surfing to a higher level with some big drops and critical turns on the green waves on offer out back.

Lilly completing her ride

Jay looking for points

Harry trimming

There were some close heats bringing elation and disappointment in equal measure, but the quality of sportsmanship and goodwill toward fellow competitors was a credit to all participants.

Good effort mate!

The final itself was contested between Taylor Bairds, Jack Tarplee, Matt Burrell and Josh Martindale. Josh got off to a flyer with two strong scores in the opening five minutes, and could not improve on them as the other guys worked their way back finding good waves of their own. As the final hooter sounded his lead had held by a mere 0.3 of a point. Close one that! Jack Tarplee claimed second, Matt third and Taylor fourth.

There were no losers on the day as all surfers received their SurfingGB Junior surf scheme certificates for achieving level 1 this summer.

Charlie Smith collects his SurfingGB certificate

Then RNLI supervisor Lloyd Davies and Porthmeor Head Lifeguard, James Symons made their awards to the groms who had shown the most initiative in aiding the lifeguarding of the beach this season, with the overall trophy awarded to Matt Burrell.

Lifeguard trophy winner Matt Burrell

Charley Fox claimed the Girls Trophy for the highest finishing girl on the day – a well-deserved reward for the hours of training she has dedicated to the sport this year!

Girls Champion Charley Fox

And the main prize and new wetsuit courtesy of Tregenna Castle, went to Josh Martindale. Well done Josh!

The Champion with his swag!

Saintsboardriders thank Porthmeor Beach management and St. Ives Surf School for their continuing support for our club. Six years on from our rebirth on the beach we have over 120 Junior members and our Saturday Morning Surf Club is a sight to behold as those yellow-vested kids are led through their warm-up routines at the waters’ edge. Thanks also to all the volunteer instructors who give their time freely to club days, and to the Porthmeor RNLI lifeguards for their help and support.

Prizes for this years’ contest were donated by Robies Robes, Rip Curl, Tregenna Castle, Tombstone Surf, Off The Beaten Track, Natural Balance and Windansea. We ask our members,friends and supporters to show their appreciation of this generosity by supporting these local businesses with their custom.

And a bumper reward for readers who have got to the end of this report! Here’s gallery of photos from the competition! Enjoy.