Into July

Well the heatwave failed us just short of another Junior Surf Club Saturday and we experienced cold Westerly winds and showers of horizontal rain during our two hours down the beach today. Nevertheless, these conditions did bring challenging waves and lots of moving water to deal with. There was an encouraging number of surfers participating, including a few newbies who were thrown in to this unseasonal weather and came through smiling and full of anticipation for next week’s session. The banner shows Jude dropping into a green wave out back, going on to smash a couple of strong turns and a completion of the close-out. The best effort I saw all day! Here are some more pictures from the day – though fewer than I would like as the camera struggled in the rain and poor light!

Jeopardy

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

Another Saturday morning – another eye on the weather. This time it was distant thunder and lightning threatening to visit us as we readied ourselves for another Junior Surf Club. Nevertheless, the largest attendance of the season to date made it’s way down the beach and we were soon into our routines and finding the waves very enjoyable. The Nemos and Dorys were perfectly matched to the swell size and were bagging loads of waves. Further along the beach the Swordfish group were tackling slightly bigger waves and racking up their wave-count. Of course, the second session for the seniors was more of a struggle in these small conditions, but with an impromptu raft-running session for the Dolphins and an intriguing tag team challenge for the Sharks the time passed in great high spirits and satisfactory time was had by all!

Fickle Weather Forecast

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

Going into the weekend we felt we had to send an advisory to our Junior Surf Club and it’s parents in view of a forecast of strong onshore winds and a prediction of some large unruly surf. It’s hard to gauge the tone of such an announcement and we tend to err on the side of caution. In the event we suggested that conditions would be too raw for the Nemos and that nervous kids or parents should give it a miss. Saturday morning was thankfully an improvement on the forecast and we got the session away with an enthusiastic team with a particularly large Dolphins group who thrived in the conditions. Some pictures below.

Meanwhile, over the border in Devon, Bobby Smith of our Sharks group was tackling the Rip Curl Grom Search at Croyde. This is an annual national event with the division winners earning a place in the Eurropean finals later in the season. While not taking the European ticket, Bobby had a fine weekend making the podium with a third place finish. We are so proud of you Bobby and encourage you to continue competing and pushing your surfing. Go Bobby!

Moving On!

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

Week two brought an increase in numbers of surfers with no lessening of enthusiasm. The waves for our Dolphins and Sharks session were more testing than the previous week and provided just the conditions that the coaches would require when they asked them to cut the bottom turn short in order to make a floater and hopefully a completion on the wave. The first hour had seen the Dory and Nemo groups catching loads of waves as parents and helpers coaxed them into some gentle runners by Mans Head. It has been a brilliant start to the season and promises much for the coming weeks and months. There’s some of the action from the day below.

And We’re Off!

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

An idyllic Saturday in late-Spring/early Summer provided the perfect introduction to our Junior Surf Club for 2025. I’m sure those new faces will be itching to get back to Porthmeor again next week after a morning of clean little rollers and the bluest of skies gave them a first coaching session which must have whetted their appetite for more. Our more advanced surfers in the dolphin and shark groups may have wished for bigger waves, but finding good rides in small conditions can bring great satisfaction and there were plenty of smiles in that second session suggesting they were taking on the challenge. Here are a few pictures of the day to set the scene for what we might expect this summer.