Counting Our Blessings

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

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!

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!!

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

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

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.

UK Pro Tour Review 2015: St. Ives Surfers

by Nog Competition news General Club News Groms

There were more St. Ives surfers than usual tilting at UK Tour glory in 2015 with several youngsters having their first taste of the national scene. Here’s how everyone got on, beginning with our most successful competitor of recent times, Jayce Robinson. Well, he had finished 2014 as the UK Tour champion and also took out the prestigious Wavebreaker Series. Could he repeat the feat in 2015? In the last event of the season, and the final event of the Wavebreaker Series, Jayce found his score tied for first place in that contest at Lynmouth. Competition rules state that in the event of a tie, the surfer with the highest single wave score wins. In this instance, that gave Jayce second place – enough to take the three-event Wavebreaker Series, but leaving him as runner-up on the UK Tour. First place would have seen him retain both titles! So close! Both Jayce and Harry De Roth also made the semi-finals of the Mens Open at the Boardmasters against some strong international opposition in August.

At the Pro Junior division ( 20 years and under), Harry stormed to the UK title with two first places and a second in the three events of the tour. He showed a similar dominance in the Under-18 boys division with four wins and a joint first in his five counting scores. He’s gearing up for a European campaign in 2016 as well as bidding to represent TeamGB at the World Juniors, and England in the European championships!

Harry De Roth

In her first full season campaigning on the UK Tour, Melodie Shakespear earned 10th place on the Womens’ tour, and fourth in the Under-18 girls. Both credible finishes against some seasoned competitors.

Melodie on Surf Club duty

Charley Fox ( Main picture) dipped her toes into the competitive scene in the Under-16 girls division, earning a tenth place on the tour from her only event of the two available. Similarly, in the Under-14 Girls, Charley won the one event she contested, giving her second place in that division. A great debut season!

Taylor Bairds

Taylor Bairds made his debut in the Under-14 Boys with a sixth place tour finish, and also earned fourth place on the Under-12 Open tour – his highlights being a semi-final place in the Boardmasters Under-12’s, and a second place in the English Schools. Dylan Cole Nell also had a go in the Under-14 Boys division, finishing 15th on the tour. He too could have finished in the top ten had he contested more events!

Dylan Cole Nell

Here’s wishing “Good Luck” to all St. Ives surfers who compete in 2016.

Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

by Nog General Club News Groms Surf Club Events

Well, today’s title, borrowed from Nat King Cole’s breezy song, is almost a farewell to Kids Club’s 2015 season. Our last Saturday outing before the end-of-season contest offered some decent surf conditions for our coaches to make a final assessment of how our junior members have progressed this year.

We have taken a great deal of pleasure from the Nemos and Dorys, the newest and youngest intake to the club – particularly in having their parents or elder siblings in the water with us giving the sessions a real family feel. For the older and more experienced groups we’ve structured the fun around the SurfingGB junior surfer scheme, and tried to instill good surfing and safety practice into their time in the water. The picture below shows some of the Sardines group with Porthmeor head lifeguard, James Symons, learning that vital knowledge of how to make a phone call to the emergency services should they witness a dangerous situation on the beach.

This is one of the fundamental skills required to pass level 3 in the junior surfer scheme. Our two images below show Luca and Matty smashing the close-out to finish a ride in fine style having got as much as the wave offered. That’s what we’re after!

So, only the end of season contest remains. I’ve seen some of the kids out polishing their moves during these last few days of the summer holidays. Expect to see the buddhas, cockroaches, coffin rides and ( without giving too much away ) some headstands in the fun shoot out. And fingers crossed for some good waves for the senior groups to show what they can do under traditional contest rules. 12th of September it is then !

Here’s a gallery of pics from Saturday:

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.