A final Saturday for the season

There comes a time when you have to let go. Our young surfer in the header picture has reached that point, and, indeed, so have the rest of the 2016 cohort of saints boardriders. Saturday was our last session of the season with only the grand finale on Sunday 25th to come. There will be group sessions for junior surfers, and a comp under standard judging rules for the Dolphins and Sharks. Here’s hoping for a fine day and great surf as we say goodbye to our 2016 sessions!

In the meantime here’s a gallery of pictures from Saturday.

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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!

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…

When Harry met … Nora?

by Nog General Club News Top Shots

I don’t know who was more surprised on a recent evening when St. Ives lifeboat Nora Stachura, exercising off Porthmeor Beach and coming hard astern, found Harry De Roth popping up on a wave beneath her. Harry was quickly to his feet and out of there toward the beach, while Nora powered offshore in a muscular demonstration of her own wave-busting potential.

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.

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.