Counting Our Blessings

Counting Our Blessings

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events

As we come to the end of our rash of postponements due to Saturday morning high tides, we are now anticipating another threat to our weekend session in the form of a predicted huge swell for the weekend! While we see how that plays out let us count our blessings that the sessions we have been able to run so far have all offered pretty decent conditions. Last Saturday was just such a case, and while the National Nippers Surf Lifesaving competition in Exmouth cost us a great numbers of absences, there were still 75 surfers took to the water.

I felt I detected some surfers’ attentions were beginning to focus on the end-of-season competition as there were several examples of trick rides on display as well as some traditional polished surfing to admire. The gallery below shows some of the action. Let’s see how that weekend forecast pans out!

 

And now, a few words to our sponsors

And now, a few words to our sponsors

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events

Before today’s Kids Club, we were delighted to welcome to the beach two generous benefactors of saints boardriders. A donation from Jewsons has enabled us to give every junior member a personal rash vest this season, enhancing the club’s identity and our members’ visibility both on the beach and in the water. Similarly, a donation from Michelle Footman, organiser of the Carbis Bay Bonfire Night celebration has kitted us out with those red helpers vests and a suite of competition vests.

It greatly lifts us as a young club to find such help and encouragement from within our community and we were delighted to have a chance to show our gratitude. The banner picture shows the 9 o’clock group with instructors, helpers, admin, and somewhere in the fray Nigel Smitheram of Jewsons, Penzance. Below, Nigel receiving the thanks of our chairman, Steve Hewlett.

 

Steve, sporting one of those new helpers vests, also recorded our thanks to Michelle!

To Michelle and Jewsons, I say thank you for your support. We value it highly!

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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

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

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?

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.

The Early Bird

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!!

Let’s Begin Again!

Let’s Begin Again!

by Nog General Club News

Summer arrived with a splash for the Bank Holiday week, and we were able to celebrate it’s arrival with the first Saturday Kids Club of the season. I hope everyone found the check-in, membership card and rash vest distribution relatively smooth – it should speed up future check-ins once everyone has their own rash vest!

115 kids got in the water on the day and we had a perfect wave for the newbies and the tiniest tots to begin their surf season. There were many smiling faces – from kids and adults alike – and it was great to see that many kids had retained and polished their surfing techniques over the winter. Here’s hoping for a summer blessed with waves and fine Saturdays!

saints boardriders offers it’s thanks to Jewsons for a large donation toward the new rash vests our members now sport, and to Michelle Footman, organiser of the Carbis Bay Beach bonfire night, for the vests the safety crew and helpers wear, and a suite of competition vests which will be seen later in the season.

A gallery of pictures from the day below:

 

Who’s in for 2016?

Who’s in for 2016?

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events

Having grown the membership to over 150 last season, the sign-up for 2016 Kids Club was looking a challenging prospect for our admin crew! Fortunately we had an ace in Flavio who organised an online membership form to be followed by a supplementary visit to The Balcony for the parental consent signatures and payment, enabling us to smoothly process over a hundred renewals on the morning of Saturday 16th April. The next Saturday morning was open to new members until we reached what may be our capacity for this summer. Our apologies to the dozen or so attendees who only made the reserve list – if any vacancies arise then we’ll get back to you!

Proposed clubhouse plans onscreen

Proposed clubhouse plans onscreen

We were also able to announce our aim of building a home for the club, and were delighted to show the plans on the big screen and have the committee members explain the detail of how we might go about it. Our heartfelt thanks go to Christian Simmons for this original design!

One late arrival on sign-up day was Grace Harry, who had just completed the Lelant to St. Ives Fun Run with her mum. Their effort earned them £50 from their sponsors and we were delighted to learn that Saints Boardriders Club would be the beneficiary! Many thanks, and perhaps they have shown us one fund-raising route we could follow to get that clubhouse built!

Grace and mum fresh from the Fun Run

Grace and mum fresh from the Fun Run

The next date for the diary is 7.30 on the evening of 10th of May when the AGM will be held at Tregenna Castle. Anyone interested in Saints Boardriders is welcome to attend, though only paid-up members can vote. See you there.