A Beach Invasion!

A Beach Invasion!

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!

 

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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 )

Kids Club ( Continued )

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!

 

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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…

 

 

 

 

 

St. Ives School takes National title

St. Ives School takes National title

Competition news General Club News Groms

These three Saints Boardriders members were missing from last Saturday’s Kids Club as they competed at the UK Schools Pro-Am Surf competition at Fistral Beach, Newquay. On a day of fierce competition among surfers from throughout the UK, they all made their respective finals, and in doing so made St. Ives School the highest scoring school in the country. Pictured are Harry De Roth, who won the Boys Under-18’s, Taylor Bairds, Runner-Up in the Boys Under-12’s, and Charley Fox who won the Girls Under-14’s. Thats a great result for St. Ives School, and maybe a small pat on the back for Saints Boardriders and it’s coaches! Well done everyone.

By the way, Harry’s latest video, as seen at our beach cinema screening last month, is now available for viewing here. Enjoy!

 

Sun, Sea, Surf

Sun, Sea, Surf

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!

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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:

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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

Hitting Our Stride

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!

Matty’s Hokey Cokey warm-up with porcupine quill tresses!

Oscar under close supervision

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!

This is how you do it!

Whoops!

Whoops!

Man overboard!

Man overboard!

Mum sneaks a crafty wave for herself

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.