At the age of 42 (and 13 weeks), I had long since concluded that my illustrious competitive surfing career would retain a lustre perhaps unmatched among all other surfing writers for The Times. My record speaks for itself, standing at an impressive No Defeats but a less than commendable No Victories, for, if truth be told, I am a virgin when it comes to surf contests.
This changed today, thanks to Jonty Henshall. I turned up at Sennen Cove with Harry at 10.30 a.m, oblivious of the fact that the Cove was the scene of the Sennen Waterman's Association Surf Rodeo. Before Harry and I could say "It looks messy and onshore but there's a wave at North Rocks", Jonty had entered us in the Rodeo, an annual event in which funds were today being raised for SurfAid.
Long-standing Rodeo aficionados will be aware that, as surf contests go, it is one of the less intense. In fact, a case might even be made for it being an anti-surf contest, for competitors in the Rodeo do not win heats through excellent surfing alone. Excellent surfing is perhaps more of an optional extra, with the highest points available for deliberate interference, general carnage and obscure surfing moves such as the 'backwards headstand bail' and the 'blindfold fin first take off'.
Even so, I was nervous. It's not every day that you enter a surf contest. I'd never known a day when I'd entered one. Harry, at 12, is a comparative surf contest veteran, having already racked up some seven or eight events in the last year alone. It was left to my sensitive elder son to put my fears to one side. "Why are you nervous, Dad? You've only got Sam Bleakley in your heat."
Yes, dear readers, my first ever competitive heat would see me paddle out and do battle with Sam Bleakley, pro longboarder, style-master and, er, twice a European champion. "Just knock him off his board, Dad," was Harry's advice, he having acquitted himself admirably in his first heat with a flawless execution of the 'ride a wave then jump onto a rival's board' move. Sound advice, but cometh the hour, cometh the failure to put it into practice. I strove in vain to catch a wave that would propel me onto, or near, Sam's board, this being the only way in which I might prevail over him (or anyone else, for that matter). None materialised and my progress was cut short not so much in its prime but its dotage. At 42 (and 13 weeks), my surf contest record now stands at: Contests entered: 1; Contests marked by failure to progress beyond heat one: 1.
No matter, for not only did I make a debut as a competitor, but also as a judge. Regrettably, I failed to note that Jonty took off on not one but two waves wearing a blindfold. So did my fellow judges, as a result of which Jonty's progress to the final was cruelly curtailed.
So who won? To be honest, I don't know. My mum and dad turned up and Harry and I had to depart to entertain them. I have a lurking suspicion that Sam Bleakley might have added 'Winner of Sennen Surf Rodeo 2008' to his array of titles, and will find out soon. But meanwhile, I can't stop thinking about one image from the event. I think I saw a surfer standing on his board, riding it to the beach, clasping a green crocodile between his legs and having sex with it. Yes, I'm sure that's what I saw. But no, that can't be true. Definitely not. I blame my age, and, of course, contest nerves. No one would ride a board and have sex with a green inflatable crocodile, not in front of everyone and heedless of the consequences, as if having sex with crocodiles was not only natural but perfectly safe.
Would they?
Top effort all round by the Sennen Watermen and thanks to Russell Pierre for the photograph of Jonty Henshall.
I was chatting the other day with Andy Cox, who writes on these pages about the fine sport of surfboat rowing. Andy has been trying to get me along to try surfboat racing for a while, and I finally admitted the reason I've yet to take the plunge. Yes, folks, it's the Speedos. I just don't fancy wearing the obligatory Speedo, an item of clothing which seems dangerously close to a thong, itself something which, if you're a bloke, should only be worn when strictly necessary, in the dark, and on your own.
Andy was having none of it. Here's how our conversation went.
Me: It's the Speedos. Why do you lot wear them? You do know they went out of fashion three decades ago?
Andy: Rubbish. Speedos are the real man's best friend. Besides, you can't slide on a fixed seat wearing boardies.
Me: That's another thing - all this sliding about on fixed seats. Doesn't sound natural. But in a pair of Speedos? Do me a favour.
Andy: That's what we aim to do - especially by wearing Speedos. Good eye candy for the ladies given that all boaties of the male persuasion come fitted with six-pack as standard. OK, brains are an optional extra and conscience is in very short supply, but check out this picture. A more complete vision of beauty is hard to imagine.
Me: Highly dubious.
Andy: If you didn't have Speedos, how else could you smuggle the budgies?
Me: I'm sorry?
Andy: An Oz-ism. They're also more manageable after an inadvertent Code Brown.
Me: Now you're really losing me. What's all this about a Code?
Andy: Never mind, there's another plus. You're a hirsute individual - wearing Speedos, in a surfboat, saves a fortune on hair removal products.
Me: But I don't want to remove any of my hair, least of all in the area to which, if I am not mistaken, you are alluding.
At this point, Andy clasped me on the shoulder and stared intently into my increasingly terrified eyes. Then he spoke, in a deep and resonant voice.
Andy: Come with me and I will show you the true path. You have nothing to fear. Speedos are Truth, and Truth is a pair of Speedos. Here, come into this boathouse...
I don't know about the weather in Brighton but here on the far western front it's starting to gust at around Force 7 to 8. It's dark, dank and miserable, with rain sheeting down, and it looks as if the inclemency is here for a few days. Here's hoping it'll be a little more benign on the south coast, for this weekend sees the return of the Paddle Round The Pier Beach Festival in Brighton. This year's event is double the size of last year's and I have a feeling that despite the weather it'll still make for a good weekend. The press release appears below, but meanwhile, talking about paddling, did anyone see this story from the London Evening Standard yesterday? The Standard doesn't reach these parts but a kindly soul alerted me to the tale of two dudes who paddle-surf to work along The Thames each day. Sounds bonkers to me but then again, it's got to be better than the tube.
Sponsored by the Custom Group, Paddle Round The Pier is hoping to raise more money than ever for its three chosen charities - the RNLI, the Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice and SurfAid International. Over the coming weekend visitors will be able to watch and take part in a whole host of activities both in the water and on the land, centred around a massive ‘paddle village’ on Hove Lawns.
Saturday is ‘Hardcore Day’ and kicks off with the Oxbow Stand Up Paddle Race, which will see competitors paddle their Stand Up boards from Worthing pier to the West Pier. Other races on the day include the Pure Vacations Pier to Pier race and the Perception Kayaks Pier to Pier to Pier race.
Sunday is ‘Family Day’, with a much more laid-back vibe to it and main events include the Paddle Something Unusual and the main ‘Paddle Round The Pier’. 
The paddle village is twice as big as last year and includes a large shopping area, children’s entertainments, the Chilled Turtle Ukulele Festival and the main music stage. This main stage plays host to a number of bands and musicians throughout the weekend, including the Railing Stains, Los Albertos and Ukulele legends the Rinky Dinks.
David Somerville from the organising team said: “The popularity of the event from the last couple of years has meant that it just keeps growing. It’s a great opportunity to bring watersports enthusiasts together to have fun and raise thousands of pounds for three really worthwhile charities. As the largest event of its kind in the UK and is also completely free to visit.
“Being a charity event we rely heavily on the kindness of our sponsors, local businesses and individual volunteers, so make sure you come down on the weekend and do your bit to help too by donating some money. There is so much going on across the weekend that people should check out www.paddleroundthepier.com to get all of the latest info.”
What's the best music to play on the way to the beach? Myself, I'm keen on some Sun Ra (That explains everything. Ed.) or Jackie Mittoo, while Harry has taken to demanding that The Clash blast out of the car at full volume. Fearless of the immense work involved (Neil Watson, take note), I asked Alf Alderson for his Top 10, and here's what he came up with. As Alf says, "I’d be the first to admit that few of the tracks listed here are ‘surf music’ in the true sense of the word, but to my mind ‘surf music’ is more than just the sound of Dick Dale or the Beach Boys – it’s the sounds you turn up to full volume on your way to catch a few waves, the sounds that remind you of great times and great sessions with great mates."
Here, in no particular order, is Alf's Top 10.
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE: THE POLICE
Giving my age away here, but this catchy tune by Mr. Sting and co. had me tapping my foot (above which hung ludicrous nylon boardshorts) at the same time as my first surf trip to SW France. Happy memories of drubbings by the waves and the alcohol at Chambre d’Amour.
HEY LITTLE SISTER: RY COODER
I used to listen to this Ry Cooder track while working in the original Ma Sime’s Surf Hut (it was quite literally a garden shed stocked with surf gear) above Whitesands Bay in Pembrokeshire. Slightest sign of a swell and the ‘Closed’ sign went up…
CALL ME THE BREEZE: JJ CALE
I first heard this classic piece of road music while living in Western Australia in the early 80s. Memories of hot sun, hot winds, hot waves.
BLUE MONDAY: NEW ORDER
Conjures up a long, lazy summer on the beach at Whitesands and drunken nights in the St. David’s Rugby Club, surfing any ripple available and desperately waiting for late August and the first real swells.
WIPEOUT: THE SURFARIS
At last, a surf music classic. I played in a band in St. David’s for many years, every member of which surfed, as did most of our audiences, and this one always had ‘em dancing on the tables.
ROAD TO NOWHERE: CHRIS REA
That rare thing, a British ‘road song’ and personally very appropriate at the time it was released as I was driving around the UK researching Surf UK. I bought it in Thurso and am always reminded of driving across Lewis in search of waves when I hear it – ironic considering that it’s about the M25…
DOO BOP: MILES DAVIS
Any track on Miles’ last album reminds me of drifting around in SW France with The Gill many years ago – not much surf on that trip but lots of laughs.
BLACKFOOT: ILLINOIS JACQUET
Ah yes – this groovy little jazz number was playing when, with my mate Tony Kitchell on board, I turned my van upside down on the Ile de Ré in France. We were fine, not so Tony’s boards which were on the roof (mine had wisely been stashed inside the van). We didn’t get any waves there either.
STAR GUITAR: THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS
This one brings back fairly recent memories of travelling in style down the Landes coast in my campervan – no more scuzzy tents in the forest now. And I got the CD it comes from for just €8 at the excellent weekly market at Montalivet-les-Bains.
GOOD VIBRATIONS: THE BEACH BOYS
However clichéd it may be to have a Beach Boys track in the list there’s no doubt that, irrespective of the band’s dubious surf connections, Brian Wilson and co. penned one of the finest pop songs of all time with this number.
Congratulations to Newquay ripper Josh Hughes who, at 17, this week became almost certainly the youngest surfer to ride The Cribbar. I met Josh and saw him surf at the O'Neill Highland Open a couple of months ago, and it was clear then that he's a young man of courage, determination and talent.
An excellent effort, and Josh is justifiably stoked: "I've always wanted to surf it," he said. "It felt amazing." But is the wave pictured really 25ft, as described by just about all media, for example The Telegraph?
Who knows, for wave measurement is a dark art. Yesterday, for example, I paddled out at Sennen Cove at around 8pm (a good time for a surf - the crowds start to thin out). From the car park the waves looked to be comfortably head high on the sets. So it was in the water, though initially, on Steve Lynton's magic board, I had a Groundhog Day few moments. I'd paddle for what looked like a good wave, only for it to back off. Was this to be another of my long list of frustrating surfs?
No, for after about 15 minutes a nice left came my way. It was my first wave, and it was a good one. A good wave sets the tone for the session, and I was well and truly in the mood by the time a seriously decent set wave came through a little later. I caught it and had an awesome ride, Steve's board - one set up for big wave surfing - turning on a sixpence, at speed, and allowing some great carves. Even better, Steve, who sold me the board a week or so ago, happened to be paddling back out a little further down the line just as I caught the wave. He saw the whole thing and it felt good to paddle back out and tell him what a superb board he'd sold me. "It took 14 different versions to get right," said Steve, who's having another, in the image of that which he sold me, shaped now.
But back to wave measurement. How big was my 'seriously decent' wave? We've had a week of solid swell here on the far western front - I'd say chest to head high on most days. Yesterday's awesome left (I'm still stoked now, and slept badly last night for thinking about it) was easily over head high on the drop, with a wave face, on the peak, of perhaps 8-10ft. Having bottom turned, it lined up at head high, a solid 6ft face.
That's what I think, and that's what it felt like, but hang on, what's that? It's someone from Hawaii telling me that, actually, my wave was 3ft at most, while Josh's can't have been any bigger than 8ft. Over there, of course, they measure waves from the back.
It's a tricky subject, wave measurement. I guess the best system is by body comparison. We all know what head high means, what double overhead is, what waist high denotes. We rarely seem to agree on more precise measurements. How often do you hear a surfer say a wave was 9ft? Or 11ft? Or 16ft? Waves of such dimensions must exist, and yet you never hear them mentioned.
As for me, whether yesterday's left was 10ft or 4ft, I'm as stoked as Josh. Surfing - it's all relative.
Will Kelly Slater claim his ninth title this year? Let's hope so. The man is a genius, as we all know, but did anyone know about Emil Kozak? I didn't, but thanks to Thad at Limited Fun I now know that he's the dude behind the graphic design on the Al Merrick-shaped board ridden by Slater in this killer shot. Nice work, Emil.
Mankind has killed God. We are confronted by the fundamental absurdity of existence. There is nothing to do but wait in the line-up for waves which, today, never came.
Today's surf was rubbish.
Here's Andy Cox with a report on the action from the second round of the UKSRL. Andy is also in the midst of penning a few thoughts in favour of speedos - the one aspect of surfboat racing that I still can't get my head round.
Saunton Sands, on Devon’s north coast, played host to the second round of the United Kingdom Surfboat Rowers’ League (UKSRL). For those unfamiliar with the area, surfers living around Braunton are among the most blessed in the British Isles. Within a short drive are a number of quality reef breaks, the long walls of Woolacombe, the churning barrels of Croyde and the slow, rolling waves of Saunton. The latter are perfect for longboarders of a certain age - and surfboat racing.
The 20 crews arrived desperate for some decent surf. The 1-2’ dribble that greeted them, blown to pieces by a cross-shore gale, was not what had been ordered but no one said being a surfer of any hue in this country was easy (Ed's Note: Astute observers may contend that the image is not of 1-2' dribble blown to pieces by a cross-shore gale. They're right. Image courtesy of a UKSRL event last year.)
Continue reading "Lobsters, Wreckers and, er, Hermaphrodites: it must be Round 2 of the Surfboat League" »
It had to happen. Since last Monday evening, when Harry and I caught Gwenver working very nicely thank you, we've had a succession of fun outings at Sennen Cove, myself on Steve Lynton's magic board and Harry either on my shortboard or his own TL2. The surf has been quite chunky at times, and I've even felt a little surfed out. But the roll had to come to an end, and so it proved this morning. We rocked up to see the main peak working well, with rights and lefts, at about mid-tide on the push. Just before we paddled out, the lifeguards designated the main peak as the bathing area and ushered everyone down to North Rocks. Once there, we found that it was onshore and it was rubbish. I caught precisely three waves and only one of them was any good (the term being used, here, advisedly). But out there, in the dross, I had plenty of time to think. Here were my reflections:
1. Lifeguards and bathing areas. Without wishing to put the cat among the pigeons, why do the lifeguards at The Cove keep deciding that best peak on the beach is the bathing area? Why can't they put the red and yellow flags up opposite the car park, which is surely a safer place for swimming? Today, hardly anyone was out swimming anyway, but a huge crowd of surfers was forced to compete for waves in one area which, at mid-tide, had lacklustre surf while the main peak/bathing area was serving up fun waves. I know, like and respect a lot of the lifeguards, but this decision has been made a few times so far this summer and I don't get it. Can anyone provide enlightenment?
2. Lifeguards and jet-skis. Even if there is a decent reason for designating the main peak as the bathing area, is it necessary to herd surfers out of it using a jet-ski? Jet-skis are doubtless invaluable in certain rescue situations, and they've proved their use in tow-in surfing, but otherwise they're noisy, hideous pollutants which should be used as sparingly as possible. No one likes being told to move from the one part of the beach that's working, but being told by someone on a jet-ski, in an exquisite, pristine place like Sennen Cove, just seems plain wrong. Again, what's the rationale? Anyone know?
3. Surfing and art. There's such a profound connection between surfing and art that someone ought to write a book about it. I would if I had the time, but as I get older there's no time for anything anymore, just work, work, work (and a bit of surfing). Fortunately, there is a website devoted to surfing and art, but in case the following artists aren't on it let me mention Ben Cook, who recently showed at The Eden Project, Stephen Read and Hannah Davies. Ben, pictured above with new MBE Chris Hines among others, needs no introduction to many of the surfing community in Cornwall. He's gearing up for a show at Cornwall Contemporary in Penzance in September, while Read and Davies - both of whose work is influenced by surfing and beach culture - are presently at Badcocks in Newlyn. If you're in the area, their Beach Voyeurs show is well worth checking out (Read's "Surf Club" is shown here, with Davies' "Low Tide Longboard"). Don't forget also The Surfing Museum's exhibition and, if you're in St Just, pop in to Cove regulars Mick and Allie's Windswept Gallery.
4. Ry Cooder. How good is this guy? I've just bought I, Flathead, the concluding CD to Cooder's California Trilogy. It's not as good as Chavez Ravine, but it's still streets ahead of most of anything else around lately (and a bit more together than Amy Winehouse appeared at Glastonbury over the weekend...).
5. Sex. It was so boring sitting in the line-up this morning that I even started to think about my 27th favourite sexual fantasy. Not for long, mind you - three's a crowd in my experience, and at the Cove today, there were about 500 people in the water. Summer, doncha just love it?
I'm never all that sure about official honours. What do they mean, who decides, why do they exist? Well, for once, I'm not troubled by any of these questions because whoever made the decision to award SAS co-founder Chris Hines an MBE got it right.
I met Chris (pictured on the left) while researching Surf Nation. He's bright, articulate and committed to making this world a better place. For many years a driving force behind SAS, recently Chris has been devoting his considerable energies via the Eden Project (working as its Sustainability Director) to the Eco Board. Prior to his involvement in the Eco Board, Chris gave evidence to the select committees in the House of Commons
and Lords and was selected as special adviser to the minister for the
environment Micheal Meacher. He's known also for once chasing the UK's
minister of the environment around the House of Commons with an
inflatable turd, and helping to cause South West Water's PR manager to come
close to breakdown by dumping a bag full of condoms and sanitary towels
at his feet during a press conference, with the immortal words: "I think these belong
to you."
Remarkably, Chris was awarded his MBE on his wedding day. "The happiest day
of my life just got happier," he said. "It's also a great day for the environment,
the oceans and for surfing. I'd like to thank all the people who
supported SAS and the staff at Eden."
A fine achievement all round. Honours lists? A good thing. See below for the excerpt from Surf Nation in which I met Chris and check out his website to learn more about what he's up to now.
Continue reading "Chris Hines awarded MBE" »
Pete Robinson drops me a line with some summer surfing news from The Surfing Museum:
Surfing and Art
Our latest exhibition, An Art History of British Surfing, is at the Fishing Heritage Centre in Grimsby from 28 June to 7 September, 2008. Art and surfing have been inextricably linked for hundreds of years, and this show looks at how both these elements combined to glide into British consciousness over the past few centuries.
From early sketches of surfers during the voyages of Captain James Cook in the 18th century and iconic hand sculpted wooden surfboards, to the flower power of the 1960s and garish fluorescent colours of the 1980s – paintings, posters, photography and film – An Art History of British Surfing is a visual feast. Also on show will be stunning replicas of ancient Hawaiian surfboards hand-carved by the Tom Pohaku Stone – a lecturer in Hawaiian culture and surfer of legendary status. You'll also be able to play our wonderful 1976 Surf Champ pinball machine - and help raise money for the British Surfing Museum at the same time.
Paddle Round the Pier
We'll be at this wonderful charity weekend on Brighton beach on the weekend of 5 and 6 July, 2008.
We will have a 1960s surfing beach display featuring our 1966 VW splitscreen van alongside our friends and sponsors Oxbow - come and say hello! This promises to be a great weekend for all the family down on Brighton seafront near the West Pier. Plus there's the amazing spectacle of the Oxbow Endurance Stand Up Paddle race - a mere 10 miles from Worthing Pier to the West Pier... Pray for calm conditions in the English Channel!
'Surfing's Golden Age: the 70s Kodachromes' by Jeff Divine
For the first time in the UK, Jeff Divine's iconic 1970s imagery will be on display at the Crane Kalman Gallery - 38 Kensington Gardens, North Laine, Brighton BN1 4AL - 23 July to 31 August, 2008.
We'll have some original 1970s surfboards on show alongside Divine's stunning photos. Here's the press blurb on the show: "At a time when surfing is more popular than ever, Jeff Divine's work pays a fitting tribute to its golden years - a nostalgic and fascinating testimony to the style, the boards, the locations, the attitudes; and not just to the sport but to the way of life. The Seventies birthed a new generation of surfers, with a new language, new attitude and, with the advent of the shortboard, a new way of surfing. Divine captured the time in a comprehensive, on-the-spot fashion. Divine's colour saturated photography is drenched with purity and soul, and with a hint of 70s psychedelic spin. His vision was vibrantly tuned to the times and captured the free-spirited nature embodied by a sport in its adolescence."
I enjoyed a gorgeous early evening session at mellow, nicely working Gwenver a couple of nights ago - it still brings a smile to my face now. Likewise, these images of the Midsummer Swellboard Classic, held at Godrevy on Sunday. Mel Sedgwick tells me that "despite the 20mph onshore winds, we still had a great time - in fancy dress."
The event - one which evidently puts a premium on fun, with nul points for negative vibes - saw a stand-out performance by Hayle-based four-year-old Ollie Turrel, who, "dressed as a Bam Bam and with only a little help from his Mum," took overall 4th and 3rd in the Junior Boys contest.
Also at the same event, Surf4theSoul International Soulsurfers Surf Club presented the annual SoulSurfer
of the year award to Keith Prowse and Dave Barnwell. This was a double presentation by which Keith received the award for last year, with Dave (not present, so not pictured) bagging this year's.
Other firsts were:
Fancy dress winner - the Adam Nightingale and Nancy Seer duo for their prison
break outfit
1st Junior boys - Finlay Abbot Ellwood
1st
Junior Girls - Anna Steele-Perkins
Family Prize - The Pleasants from
Newquay
Green surfer award - Jasmine Nevitt (just one point on the carbon footprint index)
Overall winner - Pete Williams (Shore Surf
School)
The sponsors were: Splashography, The National Trust, Shore Surf School, Swell Surfboards, Dodgy Gear Clothing, Finisterre, Godrevy Cafe, Hager Vor, Natural Balance, Treviglas Surf Academy (who sent the beach marshalls), and, of course, the RNLI, who provided the
lifeguards. All good stuff, and with the reforming of Sennen Surf Club, there'll doubtless be more such frolics here in the far west as the (excellent, so far - but I've probably tempted fate) summer rolls on. (Just one last thing - excuse the formatting in this post. Something strange is afoot with it today.)
I should have mentioned this a few days ago but there's still time to enter the annual SAS Green Raffle. No less a figure than Jack Johnson has donated 50 tickets to SAS (one of his favourite environmental campaign groups) for the UK leg of his tour. Throughout June, anyone who joins SAS or renews their membership through the SAS website (and quotes a designated promotional code) will be entered into a draw to win a pair of tickets to see Johnson, so check out the site now before the month is over.
You'll also be in with a chance of winning one of 15 green prizes including seven days' accommodation at the ‘Carbon Light’ La Lucertola Farmhouse in Tuscany, a Bodyglove Eco Wetsuit and a meal for two at Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Restaurant, Cornwall.
Get your tickets now by visiting www.sas.org.uk. The raffle draw takes place on 18 July 2008 and tickets must be returned by 16 July 2008.
The SAS fundraising raffle ticket costs 50p - protecting our oceans is... priceless.
Huck came out recently with an interview by yours truly with Tom Curren. He was a great guy to meet and talk to as well as an inspirational surfer. The most stylish ever? Quite possibly. Here's the interview for those who may not have caught up with Huck yet (the pictures, by Sam Christmas, are excellent but you'll have to buy the mag to see them).
Hossegor, France, The small beach town is even more awash with the imagery of surfing than usual thanks to the highest-rated WQS event of the year, the Rip Curl Pro. Australia’s Shaun Candsell is the man of the moment, having won the event by beating 21-year-old Californian Dane Reynolds. Cansdell pockets a cheque for $20,000 and, if he has yet to fulfil the promise that saw him crowned ASP Rookie of the Year in 2006, he has surfed well enough to remind the cognoscenti that he should be a contender in the coming years.
Whatever Cansdell’s fate, he looks a little more media friendly than his compatriots in the notorious Bra Boys film, which showed in Hossegor’s tiny beachside square on the evening of the contest’s conclusion. The French audience seemed unsure of Sunny Abberton’s homage to the localism and testosterone endemic to the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, gasping with due reverence at the heaviest of oceanic hammerings courtesy of the Maroubra reef but greeting the film’s overt macho posturing with sang-froid edging - subtly enough, for this is France - to froideur.
The Bra Boys might not have found a home from home in Hossegor, but a dark, almost swarthy 43-year-old Californian paced with such feline ease along the promenade on the morning after the film’s screening that, to the casual observer, he looked as if he owned the place. Or rather, he ambled so effortlessly as to suggest that ideas of ownership – of materialism of any kind – were of the utmost irrelevance. He was unhurried and calm, relaxed and lithe; the antithesis, you might say, of the avatars of aggression in The Bra Boys.
Step forward, Tom Curren, arguably one of only three surfers to transcend surfing and etch his personality into mainstream consciousness. The others are Kelly Slater and Laird Hamilton, super-heroes to contemporary surfing and men whose considerable wealth is matched by finely-honed media awareness. Curren, though, is different. He’s from yesteryear. He’s famously reclusive. He once reputedly answered “Yeah” to every question put to him by a journalist. And yet he’s still one of the most charismatic sportsmen men on the planet. After all, how many people can say they’re paid just to be themselves?
Continue reading "Huck magazine Tom Curren interview" »
I'm indebted to Ed at Global Boarders, who alerts me to what is surely a first - Radio 4 selecting a book on surfing as its book at bedtime. There have been a slew of surfing books lately (and I'll tell you more about a couple that have landed on my desk soon), but the book in question is Tim Winton's acclaimed Breath. See this link for more info. 
Meanwhile, has anyone noted that Italian Vogue's July issue features only black models? As editor Franca Sozzani put it: “I thought, it’s ridiculous, this
discrimination. It’s so crazy to live in such a narrow, narrow place.
Age, weight, sexuality, race - every kind of prejudice."
I couldn't agree more. Surfing magazines, nota bene?
A great site, if you've not encountered it yet, is YouSurfTubes. Here's some killer footage of Puerto Escondido to prove the point.
Why is it fashionable, in certain of surfing's offshoot sports, to wear a pair of boardies outside one's wetsuit?
I wrote a week or so ago of Finisterre's nomination in the fashion category in the Observer Ethical Business Awards. Time has flown and other things have diverted me from following this up, not least my involvement in this project - I am, as regular readers will know, a man of many hats (Too many. You should trim down your commitments and concentrate on writing that novel. And updating this blog on a daily basis. Ed). Anyway, I'm sure many of you know the result, but if you don't, without further ado, at all, in any way, the winner is... Finisterre.
A great effort and congratulations. Here's an image to show you the brains behind the brand; click this link to read more.
What a good idea a shark repellent is. OK, there's not much call for one in our waters, but if you were in the line-up when the St Ives Great White returns this summer, wouldn't it be good to have a shark repellent with you, like Batman's, for example?
Unfortunately, as this story reports (thanks to James Orr), a problem has emerged with one particular shark repellent. It seems that rather than deterring sharks, it attracts them.
Call me old school, but that sounds like a design flaw.
 Alex Wade is a freelance writer who lives and surfs in the far west of Cornwall. Alex's blog will bring
you up-to-date news of our surf scene, what's on and where to surf, as well
as the best of contemporary surfing writing from around Britain. The aim is
to get you stoked and into the water as often as possible, because, as the
old saying goes: "Surfing is life. The rest is details."
About Surf Nation
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At the age of 42 (and 13 weeks), I had long since concluded that my illustrious competitive surfing career would retain a lustre perhaps unmatched among all other surfing writers for The Times. My record speaks for itself, standing at an impressive No Defeats but a less than commendable No Victories, for, if truth be told, I am a virgin when it comes to surf contests. 
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