A Beach Invasion!

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…

St. Ives School takes National title

by Nog 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

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.

[Show slideshow]

How Was Your Weekend?

by Nog 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?

And… we’re back!

by Nog General Club News Groms

Our first Saturday Morning Surf Club of 2015 saw an impressive turnout of 112 juniors in the water, and over twenty helpers to register, teach and keep them safe while in the club’s care. There was a great influx of new members, particularly in the Nemo group comprising the youngest children and parents. The waves were a perfect one foot size to offer them a gentle introduction to the water, and after the customary safety talk and demonstration of board handling technique, there was an enthusiastic group ready to make their first forays into the surf.

Nemo meet Buddha

Know your signals

Of course, there was the serious matter of the warm-up to be dealt with before leashes could be fastened to ankles! – and some choice routines were demonstrated to the amusement of the watching parents.

Toes over the end of the board!

Travolta rides again

It’s fair to say that conditions suited the Swellboard riders better than they did those on their own hardboards – and the elite group in particular found itself doing an extra arduous warm-up of drills including shuttles and burpees which didn’t meet with universal enthusiasm! However, everyone had their share of waves by the end of the two sessions and our first Saturday of 2015 wrapped up with surfers and instructors alike happy to be back in action.

Back in the old routine

Too cool for school

One happy surfer

A Media Day

by Nog General Club News St. Ives Surf School events Top Shots

A fun trip to St. Austell Brewery last Thursday to join SurfingGB in celebrating their sponsorship partnership with Korev Lager. Along with our old friend Lyndon Wake, representing his Croyde-based surf school, we had Harris on behalf of St. Ives Surf School and Nav’s sporting a Saints Boardriders hoodie. It’s a real coup for SurfingGB to bring St. Austell Brewery on board, their support for Cornish rugby is well known, and they are keen to help our sport in a similar way. We were honoured to be asked to join in this first meeting, and thrilled to learn from SurfingGb that we have the largest junior membership of any surf club in the land!

English National Surfing Championships 2015

by Nog Competition news General Club News Groms Surf Profiles

Watergate Bay in Newquay hosted the English National Surfing Championships last weekend and it was pleasing to see some of our members stepping into the fray. Taylor Bairds, entering his first major competition, made a great start in progressing through his first heat in the Boys Under-14’s. He was soon back in the water again in the Under-12’s division and suffered the disappointment of missing out on a place in the final by a mere 0.2 of a point. He later fell at the quarter final stage of the Under-14’s, but came back up the beach fired with enthusiasm and eagerly anticipating his next contest. It can take a while to find your feet in the contest surfing world – but Taylor has the skill and determination to take his place on the scene!

In the Under-18 Boys division, Harry De Roth produced a series of winning displays, culminating in a massive 16.3 score to win the final and retain the title he won last year. He also earned a 16 point score in the first round of the Mens Open, including a 9.2 ride which equalled the best single wave score of the weekend. He fell out of contention with a third place in the semi final, his only defeat of the weekend. Defending Mens Champion, Jayce Robinson also fell in the semis after powering through the early rounds with convincing wins.

A live interview with Harry after the Under-18 final

Harry Takes The Under-18 Boys Winner’s Prize

So, there’s much encouragement to be drawn from the standard of surfing produced by our surfers last weekend. We look forward to the coming season with great optimism for those three, and a keen eye out for others in the club who may be ready to join them on the contest scene.

Big Spring Beach Clean 2015

by Nog General Club News Groms

A fine turnout of club members answered the call to support Surfers Against Sewage’s Big Spring Beach Clean 2015 at Porthmeor on Saturday. It was a morning that demanded wet weather clothing and a commitment to the cause, so it was heartening to see so many of our families joining other public-minded St. Ives folk at the saintsboardriders gazebo to help clean the beach and lower cliffs of litter. Our main picture shows the pickers with their haul after one sweep of the beach.

A broad sweep from West Beach

Chris Rainsford of Surfers Against Sewage and Harris of the St. Ives Surf School welcomed the volunteers with introductory addresses about the work of SAS .They described the varieties of litter we would find on the beach, it’s provenance and the dangers it poses to beach users and marine wildlife. Then, with gloves and bags distributed to all, we set off to tackle what already appeared to be a clean beach.

Dropped from the car park or washed in from the sea?

Porthmeor is a beach which is cleaned all-year-round, yet it still rendered all those bags of garbage when tackled by an army of pickers with a fine toothcomb! It is troubling to imagine the amount of flotsam and jetsam which could be found on more remote cliffs and beaches by a similar team. And that, in itself, tells us why we must support the work of Surfers Against Sewage!

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Author: Nog