Our last Saturday session of the season was an Autumnal sort of affair. Back at school and with days becoming shorter, we find ourselves measuring what we have achieved in our surfing summer this year. Increased confidence in the water and better board-handling techniques are evident in this session. There’s the final session at 3pm on Sunday 1st October to display all the skills we have learnt before we celebrate the season with prize-giving, our thank yous to the coaches, admin crew, lifeguards and Porthmeor Beach and maybe see-off the summer with a ‘Sausage Sizzle’ to cap the day and the summer!

Last Saturday’s session offered the best conditions we have had all summer and our young chargers pulled out their best surfing to take advantage of the bounty. Our assisted nippers had some creamy white insider waves to play on, while all the older surfers capable of paddling into waves for themselves were out back catching green waves and enjoying the thrills that the sport offers. The smiles and the non-stop action were a joy to behold. A morning well spent!

Strong winds and a deluge during check-in hinted that things might not be so cosy this morning. However, once in the water our various groups found conditions to be very helpful and we saw some good surfing progress right across the beach. All in all it was a successful call to run this morning, though the proposed “Sausage Sizzle” at Porthminster in the evening was postponed in view of the afternoon weather forecast. We’ll save that for another day! Win some, lose some.

Our third session of the season presented us with a very different scenario to the first two. With a forecast of strong onshore winds and a lively swell, we had issued early advice that conditions would be challenging. Nevertheless, a determined group of surfers lined up at 9 o’clock to battle it out. Jonny took the Dolphins and Sharks over to Porthgwidden to tackle the peeling left-handers that were on offer over there while the more junior groups smashed into the white water at Meor. Among the Dory and Nemo groups a bodyboard proved a more manageable craft than the swellboard, but the Tuna and Swordfish contingents tackled the surf with their shortboards or swellboards as usual. Our pictures below exclude the Porthgwidden surfers, but they do give a flavour of what we encountered at Mother Meor! We might wish for more settled conditions for the next session on 15th July. And note that we are holding a ‘sausage sizzle’ and putting competition at Porthminster Beach at 5pm later that day. Double bubble! See you at both I hope.

Sunny skies and a friendly waist-high wave greeted us at Porthmeor for the first Kids Club session of 2023. Surf coaches and helpers were keen to get their chargers into the water and wash away any rust from the winter, and in quite a few cases to appreciate the improvement made over the winter by those brave juniors who surfed throughout the year. It is so heartening and encouraging for the coaches to pick up from last season with young surfers who have progressed their skills and can show new levels of competence coming into the new season. There are a few pictures below from the session and a promise of a fun summer of surfing to come for Saints Boardriders!