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| BSC Newsletter. 29th April 09 | ||
| Match report: Woolacombe Longboarders v Bristol Surf Club Before I get to concerned watching the channel 4 news about a ice berg the size of new York breaking off from the Wilkins Ice shelf, thus prompting some urgent defrosting of my fridge freezer, its time to cast our minds back to the momentous events of last weekend. The morning of Saturday 15th April, did not start to well. The weather was “very April showers” with a strong southerly wind blowing and somehow bloody cold. The good old Wooly rip at the north end of the beach was working well. By the time the first mug of camp stove tea had been downed one surfer had got stuck on a rocky out crop, two more being washed round to high tide Combesgate and by the time some breakfast was being sorted a third surfer had been rescued by helicopter. So all was looking good for the surf comp! The call was made at 9:30 at everyone’s relief, to move the comp to Puts. The new start date was now going to be 12:30. So it was all off to Puts for a fun pre comp surf. 12:30 came round fast. 1st up in the long board comp was Ian D & Sim in not too favourable conditions, yep it was typical low tide windy Puts. All the waves were caught by Bristol, resulting in a brilliant 1st for Sim and solid 2nd to Ian. Some of the Wooly guys looked a bit worried! The conditions in round two were no better. One thing for sure was that you needed a big heavy board, good news for Bristol was that it was big single fin pairing of Dave P on his 10 foot minty and Clive on excellent 9’6” CJ. Again a great result for Bristol as DP went through throwing some solid big bum shapes. (Noted. Ed.) The locals were getting nervous. Round three was a tense low scoring affair that went to the North Devon favourites, but both Corndog and Simon H put up a brave fights right up to the end. The tide was pushing up now and the waves were starting to shape up well. It was time now for Woolacombe to bring out their local big guns in round 4. In this round the wave count started to rise as well as the wind speeds. Simon T put in an excellent effort only months after his pacemaker op and on a borrowed board. Pete was left kicking himself after wasting many great opportunities to make 2nd place, by going after high risk manoeuvres. Keeping it simple would have been enough. As a result Pete missed going through by one point. The locals started to breath again! Round 5 was another close contest with the strong pairing of Steve & Ric running the Malibu club pair close. Steve excellent showing in the heat aloud him to progress to the next round, just ahead of a brilliant effort by Ric in his first event. The semi’s was a strange affair with 3 of the Bristol team being in one heat, Steve in another and the 3rd heat being a all Wooly event. The light was starting to fail and the rash vests getting harder to see. The colour of your top was going to be of some help now, yellow being the best. The Bristol team was confident that out of the 3 in the heat at least one would go through. Alas it wasn’t to be. The stand out surfer of the heat was Sim, but only one of his waves was spotted by the judges. Ian & Dave just had the unlucky pick of the waves. The last remaining Bristol surfer was Steve. In a closely fought heat where every wave counted, Steve was in contention right up to the end. Unfortunately some late nose riding put pay to Steve efforts. In the end it was a all Woolacombe final, which was won by Greg. On a positive note the gap between the local team and Bristol wasn’t that great and who knows with some better luck on heat draws, more mature heat tactics, bright rash vests and a little more experience the result could have been closer still. So are you up for it in the Autumn Patsy & Martin? The short board event wasn’t quite as well subscribed, but still the Bristol club put in a Stirling effort lead by Steve. Mark will take some good experience from his first completion debut. Unfortunately these two where up against two of Woolacombe strongest short boarders and as a result both went out. A couple of the 1st choice Bristol Short boarders had to leave early for the 2nd heat so as a result a scratch pairing of Andy T and Pete went up against the Wooly 2nd stream team. By this stage the condition were getting fat and crowded. Again the north Devon team progressed to the final. Like the long boarding comp the short boarding was all local, but next time Bristol will be fielding a far stronger squad. The challenge is for the Dryd, Roger, Stuart, Meg, Owain or anyone else to stand up to the mark come Autumn rematch. A massive highlight of the Saturday was the prize giving as both beautifully hand crafted Murphy trophies (big thanks to Woody) where both lifted by the Woolacombe boys in Bar Electra. These Two trophies are well worth fighting for to bring home later this year. Also a big thanks has to go to the Woolacombe board riders for putting on a great event and making the Bristol Crew so welcome. Big thanks to all the supporters who came down from Bristol to cheers the team on, Andy D for taking the photos and to Corndog for co-ordinating between the two clubs. Well that’s about all folks, I hope you all had a good time. Cheers. Pete Nice one Pete. There's a big gang going back to Gwithian for Yaz's birthday this weekend. So, how's it looking? Over to Ric: It looks like an incredible forecast for the weekend: HUGE surf, light winds and sunshine all weekend! Expect the crowds to be out in force, but pinned to the shoreline by the waves. :) Right now, it looks a bit like this: 8-10' in Sennen. 8' in Gwithian and Fistral. 4-6' In the Newquay bay. 5-6' in Bude, (Sumerleaze will get some shelter on HW of couse). 5' in Saunton/Croyde. Low tide Puts for a smaller wave. 4' on the Gower. Try Rhossili or Langland for smaller again, and Coney in Porthcawl for the smallest. So, most people will find something to suit their abilities. Obviously it's still 3 days away, so it could change a lot by the weekend. Sunday and Monday will be progressively smaller, so if it's going to be to big then hang out till later in the weekend and then check the dropping tide on the smaller spots. If you get to the beach and find it's too big, go get some lunch/beer check a nearby 'smaller' spot and try again in the afternoon. The tide is pushing in the morning and dropping in the afternoon. Magic stuff. That's my weekend planned. So what else is coming up? Dates and Events First up a couple of postponements. This weekends wakeboarding session has been put back due to the surf forecast. We'll let you know when another date is available. Also, Edryd has postponed the Surf Show to next year so commiserations to him. Next, some better news. There's a rumor that Andy Sturt from the BSA will be in town for next weeks meeting at the Pumphouse. He's offered to run a quick session on surf fitness and training techniques so if you want some tips on surfing stronger then come on down. This one's still to be confirmed so watch this space. Then the following weekend there's a great opportunity to catch the latest Thomas Campbell movie '"The Present" at the Cube Cinema on Sunday 10th May. There will be two shows, one at 7:20 and one at 9pm. Check out http://www.trimyourlifeaway.com for a preview and full details. The screening is part of a wider season of events in the south west from "Surf Screen". Check out http://www.thesurfscreen.com for the full skinny. The same weekend the Saunton Hotdoggers are hosting a round of the British Longboard Union competition series. If you're in the area and you enjoyed the surfing at last weekends comp then this is a chance to see how it's really done. The guys on the BLU tour are serious international contenders. Check out the hotdoggers site for more details. As discussed previously, the Pembrokeshire weekend it shaping up nicely for the second May bankholiday, 22nd/24th May. See the events page for full details. Finally, there was a bit of confusion on the forum about the Bude weekend that Andy is putting together in June. The plan is this: 12 places have been reserved in self catering chalets at Penstowe Park just outside Bude for £50 per head for up to 3 nights over the weekend of the 26th-28th June. We also have a deal sorted on beginners lessons with Raven surfschool at Widemouth beach for £20 per head. All are welcome, beginner or experienced surfer so post up on the forum ASAP if you want to reserve your place. Andy's run a couple of these sessions before so have a chat with him in the pub if you want any more details. Right. That's your lot. This weeks meeting is business as usual at the Pumphouse from 8pm. Come on down and complain about the absurd size of the newsletters lately. See you there. |
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