Surf Nation

Do not watch this skate slam

I feel bad about posting this. It makes my Strathy slam seem like a walk in the park. Honestly, don't watch it. I hope the kid's OK.

London Bike Messenger Race: Definitely No Special Effects

The dudes at Music Thing tell me that explosions in skate videos don't cut it. They point me to this little gem, courtesy of some London bike messengers (aka, in my experience, landlocked surfers).

Massive storm swell ridden by Scott & Co in Ireland

I'm not sure if Tony Plant was in the water swimming around with his camera at the same time that Kelly Allen took these shots, but if he was, he's mad. (Stop press: I've just heard that Tony was in the water. He is, therefore, officially insane)

Here are Duncan Scott and Al Mennie taking on what look to be the biggest waves yet ridden in Britain and Ireland. The session went down at Mullagmore Head, south of Donegal Bay, yesterday. Gabe Davies and Richie Fitzgerald were also in the water, tow-surfing the epic swell. Not surprisingly, the session was described by Scott as "unforgettable."

Photographs (C) Kelly Allen. See www.drivendoc.com

Dynamite surfing

Tony Plant, Newquay-based surf photographer, has just popped round for lunch. As a result, I now know about this insane footage. And, thanks to Antoine, it seems that Natas Kaupas is the man behind the logo. Check it out - absolutely unbelievable.

How dangerous is surfing?

Research in from the American Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that surfing is less dangerous than football (hereafter, soccer). The Times' Body and Soul supplement has had a look at the research, and tells me this morning that researchers at Rhode Island Hospital conclude that competitive surfers have an injury rate of 6.6 significant incidents per 1,000 hours. This contrasts with 2001 research from the same journal indicating that the injury rate for soccer players was 35.3 per 1,000 hours. Apparently, knees are the most commonly injured items in both sports. Just as I was reading this, a news alert at www.surfersvillage.com came through, reporting that actor Robert Hays - Ted Striker in Airplane - narrowly evaded severe spinal damage after a surfing accident on Kauai on Christmas Eve. The Hays incident would suggest that surfing is, indeed, an "extreme" sport, but just how dangerous is it? Well, in the interests of making a lasting contribution to medical knowledge, here is a list of injuries I've acquired over the past 20 years. I'll set the scene by saying I'm 40 and have loved soccer and surfing for the entirety of that time. I'll also admit to having been a competitve soccer player, albeit in lowly amateur leagues, while never having progressed beyond surfing for the pure love of it. The list goes alphabetically in order of sports that I've pursued.

On the need to know the sea

I popped out to buy some provisions just now and alighted upon Issue 16 of Cape Cornwall Compass, an informative and well-edited freebie for West Cornwall. In it, the following, quite wonderful transcript of a 1995 conversation between a US Navy ship and a British authority is reprinted:

British: Change your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
Americans: Recommend you alter your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.
British: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.
British: Negative. You will have to alter your course.
Americans: This is the USS Lincoln. The second largest ship in the United States Atlantic fleet. Three Cruisers, eight Destroyers and numerous support vessels accompany us. I demand that you change your course 15 degrees North. THAT IS 15 DEGREES NORTH OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.
British: This is the North Cave Lighthouse. NOW WILL YOU **** OFF!

The murky wave above - photographed at dusk during one of the recent monster storms and not working for anyone save the insane - may be a secret spot but, rather fortunately, it's not too far from one of the watch stations manned on a volunteer basis by Coast Watch, the publishers of Cape Cornwall Compass. Each year these people help the Coastguard and the RNLI haul hundreds of people who should know better out of the sea. Here's hoping the US Captain was just having an off day. Somehow I doubt very much that he knows his rights from his lefts...

It's official - you can win money if a great white shark is caught off British shores in 2007

There I was fretting about a few seals, and now I learn that Totesport is offering odds of 25-1 that a great white shark will be caught off British shores in 2007.
See www.surfersvillage.com/surfing/25521/surf-news.htm for the story, which comes just over a week after a serious attack near Melbourne, Australia. Peter Galvin, a 25-year-old Australian surfer, suffered repeated bites to his leg as he sat in the line-up, before managing to fight off the shark. For years, I've delighted in the fact that shark attacks off the British Isles are about as likely as snow in the Sahara, but Totesport's odds suggest I shouldn't take anything for granted. And this scary video offers another reminder that as surfers, we're only ever guests of the seals, sharks and whales whose waters we play in. Even, as here, when the action is taking place in a swimming pool.

The truth about surfing and smoking

It's not cool. It doesn't help your surfing. It's a waste of money. It gives you cancer. It creates litter. It makes your lungs heave for just a three-second hold down. You never sit out the back thinking "I wish I'd had another fag, better go in and get one." These days, no one else smokes. You're on your own, a pariah carving a swift line to your own doom.

That's what occurred to me yesterday at Praa Sands. Nice and clean, about 3-4ft, the kind of waves that are just pure fun. But a tendency to recidivism and a lot of house-sale stress has led me to score, in just six stupid weeks, a cigarette tally that outweighs my wave count for the year. I smoked with the kind of commitment that, if applied to more constructive ends, would have got me to the top of Everest. Or out the back at Pipeline. But at Praa Sands, all those fags took their toll. With fitness levels as finely tuned as a milkfloat, my session was an act of futility. Wave after wave escaped me, and those that didn't turned round and had a laugh once they'd left me gasping for breath in the impact zone. When I finally staggered back to my car, it was to find that those helpful souls who police Cornish car parks in the depths of winter had clamped it. Good men, I deserved it.

The house is sold, the stress is over, no more cigarettes. Because here's the truth (and I say this to a lot of younger surfers who, in this day and age, should know better): of the two activities - surfing and smoking - only one of them makes any kind of sense.

An Irish reef takes its toll

Here's a reminder of what can happen when you come off the top at an Irish reef-break, only to look down and find that you've run out of water. A technicoloured upper thigh, hairline fracture of the hip, oodles of pain and enforced time out of the water. The surfer in question has asked, through gritted teeth, that his modesty be preserved.

Why you shouldn't ever believe the Internet

Here's a great, familiar clip of Mike Parsons from the Billabong Odyssey DVD. However, the same clip is also posted here on YouTube, with numerous commenters sadly reporting things like : "This is a real video. The surfer died when the wave covered him. The force of the wave knocked him out, causing him to drown" This is, of course, not true...