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!
