A foul mizzle and a strong west wind could have put a dampener on proceedings on Saturday, but our young attendees at Kids Club were undeterred! Some tricky rips in the shallows also challenged our groups, but the consensus among the coaches afterwards was that there had been some good progress, and Subo in particular was pleased to have made a promising start with the Sharks first video analysis session of the season. Some pics below:
Saturday 3rd of June saw saints boardriders first Kids Club of the season. There were lots of new faces among the eager youngsters as well as the hundred or so existing members who turned out on the day. Surf conditions were an ideal 1 to 2 foot with a mild, almost windless day. There was also a throng of volunteers to help coach, marshal and administer the session, and what could have been a hectic induction to the season went very smoothly and the lessons were soon in their stride. First impression from our new members was that they can’t wait for next Saturday! Yippeee! Here’s a flavour of the day:
Friday 26th May saw our latest fundraising effort as The Balcony hosted a gig by The Mosquitoes in aid of saints boardriders bid to build a clubhouse. Our heartfelt thanks go the band and our hosts for a great night. Below is a photo gallery of some of those who came out to support the event. Thank you one and all!
Can I also ask all our well wishers to go to the site here: www.buildingbettercommunities.co.uk/ and vote for saints boardriders bid for support from Jewsons community fund.
After an interminable wait, Porthmeor finally enjoyed a little bump in the ocean on Sunday morning. There were several Saturday kids out catching waves and a goodly number of adults took to the water on swellys or logs to sate their appetites after the recent flat spell. Here’s a few pics of the grown-ups!
Sorry for the punnish headline! Easter Sunday’s jolly little fundraiser on behalf of The Wave Project and saints boardriders deserved better! Young minds turned to thoughts of eggs on the day, and not just the chocolate variety. First up was the contest to present the best-decorated egg and there were some imaginative offerings on show. Hard-boiled, glazed, glittered, face-painted – the choice of designs was broad. After some agonised deliberation, judge Abbie McCartney awarded the prize to a topical surfing egg.
The Judging.
Contestants were then led to the start line for the great egg race down the slipway. The benefit of having the hard-boiled egg becoming abundantly clear! The competitors chased behind their free-rolling eggs as they careered down to the beach giving a nudge and a poke to keep the egg on track.
Ready – Get Set!
Go!
And then came the third element of the day – The Egg Hunt. Buried in the sand were twenty four plastic eggs, each containing prize sweets for the finder. Into the compound went our keen egg hunters and the search was on.
This is what you are looking for!
It proved to be quite a task to recover all the eggs as each unsuccessful scrape possibly buried the hidden treasure just that little bit deeper! Of course, children don’t easily tire when the prize is free sweets so the hunt was pretty intense until everyone had had a fair few mini-eggs. Then, as on beaches everywhere, when the child’s interest waned the parents were only too willing to get digging!
Eager beavers!
I’ve got one Katy!
Bring grown-ups to the beach and they dig!
It was a really fun morning for children and adults alike. Many thanks to Katy Spencer of The Wave Project for some cracking entertainment ( Oooh! There it goes again!).
Saturday 1st of April was the date of this year’s Big Spring Beach Clean in St. Ives. A large group of volunteers was welcomed on Porthmeor Beach by Lowenna Jones of Surfers Against Sewage and Harris Rothschild of St. Ives Surf School to be briefed on what we might find during the clean-up, and what NGO’s like Surfers Against Sewage are doing to raise awareness of seaborne pollution and to combat the sources of that pollution.
Harris and Lowenna
Once the briefing was complete we split into two groups, one group to work from Porthmeor West across the beach, The Island, Porthgwidden Beach, Bamaluz and the harbour from Smeaton’s Pier while the other group began at Porthminster Point and worked across Porthminster, Pedn Olva rocks and the low tide foreshore from Lambeth Walk and West Pier to meet on the Slipway. Our task was made easier this year as the Spring tide had cleansed the beaches earlier in the morning, and the three principal beaches had already received their usual morning clean from the regular service. However, there was still lots to find around The Island, and plenty of examples of ‘nurdles’, the small plastic balls that are the raw material of the process of making plastics were found along Lambeth Walk where the big tides had flung them up at the high tide mark. Shreds of discarded rope and random metal pieces were prevalent in the harbour along with the persistent menace of cigarette ends and fast food litter.
It was very worthwhile exercise of a couple of hours which reaped a small harvest of marine debris and in the process raised public awareness locally, the event being covered by the St. Ives Times And Echo, and nationally in a piece on Sky TV News featuring Surfers Against Sewage director Hugo Tagholm and St. Ives surfer Jayce Robinson. Thanks and well done to all who took part, many of whom are in our banner picture taken at the conclusion of proceedings by Matty Snelling. All other pictures by Nog.
Matty Snelling, ace surf coach and Saturday Surf Club star has launched his new website featuring his photographic work. There’s lots to admire including landscapes, seascapes, surf photography and weddings. Check it out here .
And as a bonus, here are some of his shots from the end-of-season comp last year to remind us what our club is about.Enjoy!
In this second part of the report we’ll see the roll call of those juniors who earned their trophy by their season’s effort. It is difficult to persuade the coaches to make these choices as many of their charges have brought dedication and determination to the sessions, but we hope that those who didn’t collect a prize this time will come back next season with renewed enthusiasm and feel that a prize is within reach this time!
Here are this season’s choices:
Nemos
Surfer of the summer, Amber Kearey
Most committed surfer, Blossom Burdett
Most improved surfer, Milo Kirk-Mackrell
Dorys
Surfer of the summer, Ravi Simmons
Most committed surfer, Sydney and Cody Warner
Most improved surfer, Benjamin Olney
Tunas
Surfer of the summer, Kaitlyn Borghi
Most committed surfer, Milly-Rose Nichols
Most improved surfer, Evie Stattkus
Sea Bass
Surfer of the summer, Alexander Hosking
Most committed surfer, Thai Merrill
Most improved surfer, Bradley Beach
Seals
Surfer of the summer, Chanaelle Aberos
Most committed surfer, Kieran Stattkus
Most improved surfer, Kaya Stattkus
Of course, there’s a real sense that every child who has enjoyed her surfing and is keenly anticipating the next session is a winner. Finding a passion for a sport is a great feeling, and I hope we are introducing more than a few of our juniors to a lifelong association with surfing.
I’ll conclude by thanking those whose help and support made the day go so smoothly: St. Ives Surf School, RNLI Lifeguards, Jabula Tents, Porthmeor Beach Services, Carl and the Take-away crew and our own members who judged, coached and marshalled the event. Jayce Robinson came down to present the trophies – and it’s always a great inspiration to the kids to spend time with our local pros!
More pics!
Jabula came and pitched a fine big tent, St. Ives Surf School unpacked a box of shining trophies, and the new contest vests got their first airing as the final day of our 2016 season arrived.
Prizes all!
The running order was boys heats to the completion of their semis, then junior groups in the water with coaches and helpers for their last session and assessments, followed by girls final and then the boys final. The early rounds were keenly contested in chunky surf at the West end of the beach, watched by an enthusiastic crowd!
Judges and spectators find a good viewing spot.
Once the semis were completed the group sessions got underway and we saw some confident surfing from some very junior surfers. Their delight in showing their skills was great to see! As they got out of their wetsuits and dried off, we had a great display of fast food catering from Carl at Porthmeor Central takeaway as boxes of hot food and ice lollies arrived to tame any hunger pangs the surfing had prompted.
Mmmm! Just the job.
Meanwhile, the girls finalists battled it out, and then the boys had their shot at glory. The results were saved for the presentation and came in reverse order as follows:
Girls final
Fourth; Eleanor Hewlett
Third; Kaitlyn Borghi
Second; Tara Langley
And the winner was Bridgit Wells.
Well done to all our finalists and congratulations Bridgit!
Boys final
Fourth; Dev Parsons
Third; Bailey Rogers
Second; Matthew Burrell
And the winner was Taylor Bairds
A cracking final with Taylor finding the win this year after several second places in recent years!
Finalists; Taylor, Dev, Bailey, Matt, Kaitlyn, Eleanor, Tara and Bridget
Part Two of the contest day report to follow with a full round-up of prize winners and more pics as available. Meanwhile here’s a taster of the awards ceremony. Back soon!
Our youngest winners!
There comes a time when you have to let go. Our young surfer in the header picture has reached that point, and, indeed, so have the rest of the 2016 cohort of saints boardriders. Saturday was our last session of the season with only the grand finale on Sunday 25th to come. There will be group sessions for junior surfers, and a comp under standard judging rules for the Dolphins and Sharks. Here’s hoping for a fine day and great surf as we say goodbye to our 2016 sessions!
In the meantime here’s a gallery of pictures from Saturday.
