Anything You Want

‘Anything You Want” is the title of Harry De Roth’s latest video offering shot and edited by Greg Dennis in 4K and showcasing the best in British surfing and videography. It’s a companion piece to the two videos highlighted in our previous blog, https://www.saintsboardriders.co.uk/rainy-day-videos/ having been shot at the same Thurso Surf Festival in 2016. Taken all together they give a compelling picture of a surfer’s life on the road at a tour competition. Maintaining form over the duration of the event, coping with different waves and sea conditions, getting in some free-surfing and practice between heats, all these elements combined with a nerve for competition are what brings success. Enjoy Harry’s newest vid Anything You Want here!

Matty Behind The Lens

by Nog General Club News Surf Club Events

Matty Snelling, ace surf coach and Saturday Surf Club star has launched his new website featuring his photographic work. There’s lots to admire including landscapes, seascapes, surf photography and weddings. Check it out here .

And as a bonus, here are some of his shots from the end-of-season comp last year to remind us what our club is about.Enjoy!

: Our 2016 committee

: This Photo credit: AN Other

A Fundraiser at The Balcony

by Nog General Club News Surf Club Events

With the Saturday Kids Club wrapped up for the season, our attention now turns to the small matter of raising funds towards the building of the clubhouse. The first initiative of the winter was an End-Of-Season party at The Balcony on 12th November. We were honoured to have the Sandy Acre Seven deliver some spanking dance tunes which had the floor filled and the place rocking from their opening number to the very end of their set!

There was a great turnout from the Saturday morning kids and their parents, and fine support from the wider community, helping to fill the Balcony as well as filling our collection boxes and the raffle ticket sales.

Harris and some Nemos

Shark Alert!

After the band had finished and the kids ( and some of we older hands) had disappeared towards our beds, the fun continued long beyond midnight as the town’s regular Saturday night revellers came to join the party. A great night was had by all, and the club coffers were swelled by over £2000 in the process!

Thanks to The Sandy Acre Seven for bringing their special party vibe, thanks to The Balcony Bar and St Austell Brewery for the hospitality.

Further thanks are extended to to all the people who gave us raffle prizes; Porthminster Restaurant, The Fire House, Tregenna Castle, The Garrack, Howdens, R&J Supplies, Michelle Footman, Holly Kearey, Alder, Good Folks Barbers, and Burdett Wines.

Also thanks to our doormen Emma and Rebecca (no one would mess with them) and all the other guys and girls who helped on the night. And finally thanks to everyone who came and gave generously. We have a long way to go on the fundraising front, so please watch out for our next extravaganza and be ready to come and help us realise our dream!

British Nationals 2016

by Nog Competition news General Club News Groms

Perranporth hosted the British National Surfing Championships last weekend and some very contestable surf enabled a high standard of surfing to be seen. There was a hectic schedule, with two peaks in operation all weekend to get through the programme and find champions in fifteen divisions.

All our St. Ives surfers were still in contention going into finals day. We lost our first competitor when Taylor Bairds was edged into third place in the Under-14 Boys quarter final.

Taylor bows out in the quarters.

And that was our only loss as we reached the finals! First up was Eleanor Hewlett in the Under-12 Girls. Finishing in fourth place in her first shot at the nationals, this was a very creditable performance!

Eleanor, first left on the podium

Our next finalist was a new recruit to saints boardriders, Luke Jannaway in the Mens Masters ( 35 and over). In a hotly contested heat, Luke earned fourth place, crowning a good weekend’s surfing.

Luke first left.

Next up among the saints boardriders team was Harry De Roth in the Under-18 Boys. Harry has won several National titles as he has moved up through the age groups, and this was his last shot as a junior before moving into the Mens Open bracket. This time he had to settle for second place as Croyde’s Will Bailey took the honours in a keenly anticipated final.

Harry, second left.

So there remained only Jayce Robinson in the Mens Open if there was to be a British title coming back to St. Ives this year. And it looked very much on as Jayce found the left-handers to his liking, showing his flowing backhand style and taking the fight to his fellow finalists. His efforts were thwarted at the very end of the contest as Bude’s Jobe Harris, home from his European QS campaign, found a buzzer-beater in the dying seconds to claim his first mens title. It was a great final to cap a great weekend of competition, and our banner picture shows Jayce, second left, within reach of the trophy which was so nearly his!

Well done to all our competitors – it’s been a fine show by everyone!

Trophies Are Earned : Part One

by Nog Competition news General Club News Groms Surf Club Events

Jabula came and pitched a fine big tent, St. Ives Surf School unpacked a box of shining trophies, and the new contest vests got their first airing as the final day of our 2016 season arrived.

Prizes all!

The running order was boys heats to the completion of their semis, then junior groups in the water with coaches and helpers for their last session and assessments, followed by girls final and then the boys final. The early rounds were keenly contested in chunky surf at the West end of the beach, watched by an enthusiastic crowd!

Judges and spectators find a good viewing spot.

: Luca in action

: Harry at speed

: Teddy trimming

: Matt heads back to the pocket

: Aiden’s cutback

: Taylor drops his wallet

Once the semis were completed the group sessions got underway and we saw some confident surfing from some very junior surfers. Their delight in showing their skills was great to see! As they got out of their wetsuits and dried off, we had a great display of fast food catering from Carl at Porthmeor Central takeaway as boxes of hot food and ice lollies arrived to tame any hunger pangs the surfing had prompted.

Mmmm! Just the job.

Meanwhile, the girls finalists battled it out, and then the boys had their shot at glory. The results were saved for the presentation and came in reverse order as follows:

Girls final

Fourth; Eleanor Hewlett

Third; Kaitlyn Borghi

Second; Tara Langley

And the winner was Bridgit Wells.

Well done to all our finalists and congratulations Bridgit!

Boys final

Fourth; Dev Parsons

Third; Bailey Rogers

Second; Matthew Burrell

And the winner was Taylor Bairds

A cracking final with Taylor finding the win this year after several second places in recent years!

Finalists; Taylor, Dev, Bailey, Matt, Kaitlyn, Eleanor, Tara and Bridget

Part Two of the contest day report to follow with a full round-up of prize winners and more pics as available. Meanwhile here’s a taster of the awards ceremony. Back soon!

Our youngest winners!

A Gentle Saturday Surf

by Nog General Club News

Saturday 27th August brought us a small wave – we might call it Nemo-friendly! It served our mini groms very well, and they had a particularly fun session. Tandem rides and tricks were much in evidence. As usual, there were also a few steeper, more testing waves for the older surfers, so all-in-all, a fine day was had by everyone!

Enter Title Here

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events

Well, I didn’t know what to call it myself, though I did hear one young girl call it “The best session ever!” as she got out of the water. That gives such satisfaction to the coaches and helpers. Thank you Kaitlyn for that encouragement!

The first session began at low water, and the waves looked small as we gathered at the surf school. However, we found a persistent swell with the set waves about chest-high to our sharks, ideal conditions to serve up a surfing session for all sizes and competencies. Only 89 surfers today, our smallest attendance this year, but I suspect there may have been a swimming gala somewhere, as none of our ace competitors were present.

Thankfully, we had best use of the sea conditions, as the beach filled to capacity as the day wore on and a fresh batch of holidaymakers got to enjoy Porthmeor at it’s best – albeit it’s busiest too!

Hokey Cokey

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events Top Shots

That old music hall routine is one that many of our groups use in their warm-up, and it aptly describes the nature of our Saturday mornings so far this season. In – out – in – out the high tides have cost a fair few sessions.

Last Saturday saw 105 kids enjoying perfect conditions – a gentle surf with enough grunt even for those surfing their own shortboards to bag some peelers. There was some good surfing on show throughout the groups, and I’ll offer additional props to the members of the Sharks who put in a great hour helping the more junior groups before their own session commenced. Great work guys and gals!

There’s a gallery of some of the action below.

Waves a’ plenty

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events

A blustery Saturday morning saw a rippy low tide offering some chunky waves to the Dorys and Nemos in the 9 o’ clock session. It required a large corps of instructors, helpers and parents in the water to get the kids on the waves. Nevertheless, despite the wipeouts, inevitable collisions and numerous duckings, the smiles told us that a challenging day in the surf is fun!

A Team Huddle

Even the sharks surfing out back found themselves tested by the conditions, and all the intermediate groups were also pushing themselves to get on the larger, steeper waves. Attendance was again over 120 surfers, all keen to keep the Saturday morning vibe despite the disappointing run of cancellations due to early morning high tides. There’s more on the next two alternate Saturdays, but then we see an unbroken spell for a while to get into the groove as the school holidays begin. All we need are waves! Some Saints below…

The Early Bird

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events

It’s the early bird that catches the worm, so the saying goes. Well, we could have caught dolphins, jellyfish and even sand eels at Saturday Club this week. All were on show, but it was waves that we were after. 132 kids took to the water this week in search of that particular thrill we find in waveriding, and there were waves for everyone.

Simon and Josh put the advanced surfers to the test with some video analysis.

The gallery of pictures below gives a flavour of how the morning went – it’s not a non-stop surf fest! And the warm weather encouraged quite a number of families to make it a beach day -some even enjoying a late surf in the early evening glass-off. Ah those summer days!!