Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
General Club News Groms Surf Club EventsWell, 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
General Club News Groms Surf Club EventsEighty 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.
Saturday Stars
General Club News Groms Surf Club Events Wave Of The DayAs 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!
General Club News Groms Surf Club EventsThis 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;
Sun, Sea, Surf
General Club News Groms Surf Club Events Wave Of The DayAll 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!
How Was Your Weekend?
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?
The Season Ends
General Club News GromsLast weekend saw the final Saturday of the season for the Kids Club with groups 1 to 4 enjoying a morning in the surf before gathering to receive their Junior Surfer Scheme log books with Level One completed by all participants. The coaches also had the difficult task of deciding award winners for each group – and there were many more deserving of prizes than there were trophies to hand out! So without further ado, let’s look at the winners:
Group One Award Winners
Group One Surfer of the Summer award went to Fletcher Saint. The Most Committed Surfer Award went to Leo Kirk-Mackrell. And The Most Improved Surfer was Teddy Nichols.
Group Two
Group Two Surfer of the Summer was Sofia Hosking. The Most Committed Surfer award went to Kaitlyn Borghi. And The Most Improved Surfer was Luca Czerwinski.
Group Three Award Winners
Group Three Surfer of the Summer was Kitty Lees. The Most Committed Surfer Award went to Alexander Hosking. And The Most Improved Surfer was Kaya Stattkus.
Group Four Award Winners
Group Four Surfer of the Summer was Nicholas Wood. The Most Committed Surfer was James Marsden. And the Most Improved Surfer award was won by Molly Cross.
We are still waiting for a season finale contest for Groups 5,6 and 7. That will be called when we see a suitable swell forecast. Watch the Facebook page for an update on that!
On behalf of Saints Boardriders I offer our heartfelt thanks to Harris and Jenna of St. Ives Surf School for their unstinting support for our club. A further massive thank you is due to the dozen or more coaches who give their time freely on a Saturday morning to enable our Kids Club to develop our junior surfers. And a thank you also to those family members who offer their help with check-ins, administration and the general business of making Saturday mornings run smoothly.
Follow us on Facebook to keep abreast of club news, and expect a shout-out with regard to registration for Kids Club 2015 around April time. Maybe see you in the sea at Porthmeor in the meantime! Have a good winter, regards from The Committee.