Wass on??

So Summers here and the time is right... well almost, hopefully!

Anyway contest season has kicked off, starting with the Al Rann Memorial. I've entered this comp for about 5/6 years in a row and every year without fail the surf is big, heavy and blown out. This year was no exception, in fact the only thing stopping it from being a groundhog day of the previous 5 was that it was actually sunny... and warm! First of they sent the groms out on the beach, looked about as much fun as paddling in mud but somehow (don't think i could've) a few of the brave made it out back and even got some good rides. Well done guys.

Now the Open event at Croyde is a funny catergory at the best of times, its more like a masters event as 80% of the entrants are over 30 year olds desperately trying to cling on to the little bit of youth we've got left! Being of this frail age we looked at the beach and politely (there was kids around) said 'f*ck that, we're moving to the point' so at least we might be able to get out the back. We did and had a 45 minute expression session type final. Didnt do particually well but it was fun none the less and good to get the old contest shoulders moving again.

The night time presentation was a bit of a blur from about 8 onwards and unfortunately ruled out any chance of me re-deeming myself at the Tony Renyard in Woolacombe as i didn't even make it out of bed the next morning til about 10!

Loads of comps this year at Croyde so should be a fun year of doing badly and getting smashed.




Onwards and upwards!

Winter... the new summer/antartic/lake everything!

Well.......
Winter, its been a funny old game so far hasn't it? It started off all the way back in November with a couple of fun swells and i thought 'i like winter.. this one could be fun'. Then we had the lake Geneva affair that was the end of November and all of December, don't think i can remember a flat spell like it. Pretty much gave up all hope of ever surfing again. Then Boxing Day, the waves suddenly poked their heads back into the equation and we were off again - only snag, it was minus 8!! Since then we've had a steady stream of good swells, lighting up most spots on the North Coast at one time or another, some days even came with temperatures in double figures. This week has been especially nice, considering the time of year.. almost warm!

Now we're back to millpondville, whats to come? Who knows but some more of the sun/waves scenario wouldn't go a miss.

Happy days :)

Top 5's... this week...

Rather predictably its top 5 surfers of 2010. I'm thinking of doing other top 5's as well so if you have a topic you want 'top 5'ing' let me have it and i'll give it a go.

Ok...




5. Matt Wilkinson/Shaun Candsdell. Ok so i've cheated already but I really wanted to have a goofy foot in here and couldn't pick between these two. Their both completely different surfers, I love the way Wilkinson has gone about the tour this year, bit Dane'esc but with a bit more party and a bit less air. Shaun Candsdell is a weird one eh? Well maybe but i loved him on tour a few years ago and then he disappeared. He has since got a new sponsor, had a kid and developed his contest prowess without loosing that Parko like smoothness in his surfing. Loved it that he won the 50 g's for the Cold Water Classic series, lookout CT this boys coming back!




4. Adam Robertson. This fella first came to my attention a few years back when he went from the trials to the final of Bells, only loosing a close one to Parko in that. At the time he was sponsorless and not really operating. Now backed by Billabong he's on the QS and i just love the way he surfs, again super smooth, almost effortless turns. plus he has (probably from living at Bells) the smoothest roundhouse this side of Taylor Knox. Check the boy out.




3. Jay Quinn. I love this guy mainly from the QS Highland Open where he surfed the whole event in a 3/2mm and at howling, snow blown, 5ft thurso knocked himself out trying a massive reverse. Legend. Also super smooth, super aggresive and not shy of taking to the air if the situation warrants it. Great blog as well - check out suitcasesurfers.com for an honest inside view of life on the road.

Obvious but unavoidable top 2.




2. Dane Reynolds. I want to go out with Dane, he is easily the best surfer on tour, the funniest surfer on tour and doesn't give a shit. Drives a clapped out Volvo 240 and looks like a charity shop window model. I don't need to write anything about this fella other than he surfed my favorite wave this year at pipe. Took off late, pulled in, got proper barrelled then came out and where most people pull off, he put in 2 pumps and launched a good 6ft straight air which he put down but just behind the wave. Had he stuck it - it would've had to have been an 11!



1. Kelly. 10 - that is all that needs to be said here.

Stay tuned, next time top 5 darts players ;)

The new force in pro surfing!

If anyone watches as much pro surfing online as me then you may have seen a fair few WQS events from around europe this summer. Its been all over from newquay to the azores and is now finishing up in the canaries. I kept noticing a name in the 1st round results - Alexander El Naib. Let me tell you a bit about this fella. Al El Naib is 49 year old german guy who has been doing the QS all through europe. He enters every event, always shows up for his heat but never gets through round one. Why is this I here you ask... Its because he's fucking shit! When i say shit, i don't mean horrible brazillian style shit or not quite good enough shit. I mean really shit, like can just about stand up shit. Why does he do the QS was my question and it appears from a bit of internet research a lot of other peoples too. The guy is becoming a bit of a legend - he has never scored over 2 points for a heat total yet he keeps coming back for more. At $250 - $400 dollars a comp, travel costs, accomodation and hire car costs it must be costing him an absolute fortune to show up and surf for 20 mins. So why does he do it... well turns out he's just as much of a pro surf fanatic as me, yet infinatly richer (rumour is he's a trust fund kid) so what better way to spend your summer than travelling round europe and not only surfing with but gettng to know some of the best surfers in the world! True dedication I say. Here's a photo that encapsulates it for me - here he is shaking hands with Tom Curren who he's just surfed a heat with in the Azores... yes TOM CURREN!! Got to be worth the airfare eh?

How many bands am i in again???

If you only go out once in blue moon then make sure its shining on the 4th of Dec and come to this. A good friend of mine and in fact someone i did one of my first gigs with donkeys years ago, Jay Perry has had a tough tough time of late. This night is all about raising funds to help him with his rehabilitation. There's live music - The Breaks - awesome live band and my Ramones 'its alive' tribute The Shamones. Come along, buy some raffle tickets and get involved in a very worthy cause. Yee ha!

Gig ahoy!!

Telling it like it is...

So a few months ago i acquired a new wetsuit sponno from the lovely people at animal,and bloody pleased i am about it too. Now i guess what your supposed to do in these situations is shout from the rooftops (or the pages of the journal) about how amazingly marvelous these suits are to anyone and everyone who will listen. Well this might be sponno suicide but i haven't really done that, I've just worn mine (a lot) and been really pleased with it. Sometimes people ask me about it in the sea and i'll say 'yeah its a really good suit you should check them out' but thats about all you can say to a stranger in the sea isn't it?

But then today I thought, hang on a minute, this actually is a really good suit and deserves more recognition of that fact. Basically without going into the stretch/warmth/well made details of the whole thing - its a really stretchy, really warm and really really well made (better than pretty much anything i've had before i'd say)suit. So if your looking for something to keep you warm and mobile this winter go here http://shop.animal.co.uk/technical/icat/technical/ and discover more.

You might be thinking about now - 'he's only saying this because he has to' or 'what the fuck do animal know about making wetsuits' well i've had a fair few free suits in the past and have never been arsed to right about them before so they must be doing something right!! Right?

Anyway check em out and save yourself a fair few quid on a new xcel. nice x