Surf Nation

Pororoca surfing

Having surfed the Severn Bore I have a fair idea of the murky joys of river surfing. But this looks murkier and even better.

Taj Burrow wins Billabong Pro Jeffrey's Bay

I blame the rain. There's been a lot of it about lately. Here, rain-delayed, is news of the likeable Taj Burrow's win in the recent Billabong Pro at Jeffrey's Bay.

West Australian surfing superstar Taj Burrow (AUS, Yallingup) has trumped eight-time world champion Kelly Slater (USA, Florida) to win the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay in South Africa. In high performance 1.5m waves, the 29-year-old defeated Jeffreys Bay favourite Joel Parkinson (AUS) and current world number one Mick Fanning (AUS) en route to the ASP World Tour Final, setting up a clash of the titans against Slater. Despite Slater posting the highest heat total of the event in the Quarter Finals, It was all Burrow in the 40-minute clash, locking in an 8.50 on his second wave before sealing Slater's fate with a radical 8.00 score in the final 10 minutes.  Rare mistakes saw the Floridian surfing freak hand Aussie Burrow his second win for the season. The final slate had Burrow 16.50 to Slater 6.17 out of 20.00

Surfboats set for Saturday

This Saturday I'm heading to south Devon for my sister's wedding. No surf for me but duty calls. An hour or so's drive away North Devon will be hosting a rather different kind of event. Here's Andy Cox with the lowdown for the next surfboat jamboree.

This Saturday sees the highlight of the surfboat season with the National Championships at Saunton Sands on Devon’s north coast. The entry of some 35 teams (24 men’s and 11 women’s) reflects the burgeoning interest at grass roots level and the higher profile the sport has enjoyed since becoming involved with the Amateur Rowing Association. About half of the crews are from some of the premier rowing clubs in the country including Molesey, London, Nottingham & Union and Marlow. There is no doubting either their rowing pedigree or their technical acumen, but with the long range swell forecast predicting waves in the 3-4’ range, some of the debutants could be in for a rude awakening.

To subs, grammarians and careful readers: an apology

It has come to my attention that this blog is not as typo-free as I would like. Indeed, some have even alleged that it is in danger of becoming a haven for the errant apostrophe, the infelicitous metaphor and even the dastardly split infinitive. This, though, is not true. I will fight them on the beaches, in the skate parks, in the Sennen Cove car park and in The Logan Rock on a Friday night and I will cast them into the abyss that is my first novel, one that deserved its literary oblivion and which was lost by one agent and condemned by another ("frankly, I would be astonished if anyone, anywhere, ever publishes this novel" was his verdict).

In all seriousness: sorry for the occasional error. This blogging business does cast the writer as his or her own sub-editor and sometimes the duality is not as harmonious as it might be. Talking of harmonious things, I was chatting to my mate Pete last night. We met in The Logan Rock and he regaled me with tales of just how good Sennen was early yesterday morning. "Where were you?" he asked. Well, I was at home, up early to start work. I worked all day and got to the beach briefly to pick up my elder son after he'd finished surfing. Needless to say the waves were good and the sun was shining. What is harmonious about that? Nothing for me, that's for sure; work got in the way of surfing and sadly that's what happens for a lot of us. But Pete is teacher and has all summer to go surfing whenever he likes. So do my kids. And that is harmonious.

Martin Potter inducted into Surfers' Hall of Fame

Friday 27 July sees the induction of 1989 World Champion Martin Potter to the Surfers' Hall of Fame. Pottz blitzed pro and free surfing in the late 80s with pioneering aerials and a style that was at once smooth and explosive. Better still, he was British. Well, he was born here anyway, though he grew up surfing in South Africa. Pottz will be joined by fellow inductees Sofia Mulanovich (the first South American to win a world title), legendary shaper Al Merrick and Hawaiian charger Bruce Irons (winner of the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau in 2004 at 40ft + Waimea). The ceremony takes place at Huntingdon Beach and is the brainchild of Huntingdon Surf and Sport founder Aaron Pai. Inductees are chosen for their impact on surfing and dedication to the sport, and include luminaries such as Laird Hamilton, Jack O'Neill, Lisa Anderson and Kelly Slater. This year's ceremony marks the 10th anniversary of the Surfers' Hall of Fame - and Pottz is the first British surfer to join its ranks. Here's hoping it won't be too long before there are some more.

For more information, see The Surfers' Hall of Fame

Portrait of a Surfer: Orlando Pereira, Madeira

Last week I had the pleasure of being in Madeira. It was my second visit to the Garden Isle, a lush and vertiginious Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic. The first was made nine years ago, and although it occurred just a month or two before the slide in the Wrecking Machine days, I recall the trip with much fondness. Madeira is an extraordinarily beautiful place, its inhabitants are blessed with courtesy, kindness and oceanic expertise in abundance, and better still it is a wave magnet. Swell bombards the island from just about every direction, and its point break set-ups serve up waves of serious power and quality. This much was evident nine years ago, but in the interim I have read at least one article - possibly in Surfer, I cannot recall precisely - lamenting the "discovery" of Madeira by overseas surfers. The cognoscenti will also be aware of Jacob Holcomb's film Lost Jewel of the Atlantic, which traces the impact of coastal development on one of the world's greatest big waves, the right-hander at Jardim do Mar.

I returned to Madeira thanks www.madeiratourism.com, because Madeira is hosting its first international walking festival in January next year. On the plane I found myself re-reading Antonio Tabucchi's excellent Declares Pereira, a novel set in Portugal whose declamatory style - married to so subtle and modest a protagonist (Pereira, a journalist) - perfectly distils the author's opposition to anti-democratic regimes. And once on the island, the forces of serendipity meant that I spent a day in the company with a man who is one of Madeira's greatest surfers, Orlando Pereira. Here's what this Pereira had to say.   

Not a kingdom by the surf?

By popular demand, here's the Telegraph review of Surf Nation by Andy Martin. Also a few quick thoughts before you read it:

1. I have no axe to grind with Andy but when I read his review I felt aggrieved on behalf of British and Irish surfers. It seemed to me that he selectively cited blown-out days (that occur anywhere in the world) rather than mention any of the great waves I caught or witnessed in Surf Nation.

2. I agree with some of those who commented on my previous post on this issue - expertise in a given sport is not a pre-requisite to writing or commenting about it. If it was, we wouldn't have Norman Mailer's The Fight, still less John Motson.

3. The Fight is a classic, and so is John Motson. Without them our lives would be poorer.

4. Surf off at Sennen? Fine - it's two miles away for me - but a long way from Cambridge.

5. The problem with a surf off is, speaking for myself at least, that it won't make for much of a spectacle.

6. The surf off idea brings us back to what Surf Nation is about in the first place. It's not about me surfing, or Andy Martin surfing - it's about the characters who make up surfing on our shores and the great waves they surf. 

7. Andy was a bit cheeky in correcting me on mistakes that he's made himself (cf. p.14 of Walking on Water), without informing his gentle readers of that fact.

8. But anyway, that's enough thinking. You want to know what he had to say? Well read on (and thanks to Ian Smith for the photos, first of UK surf-skate legend Stef Harkon in a Brims barrel and then of another Brims' wall at last year's O'Neill Highland Open. These did not appear with the Telegraph piece).

Laird, Spence and Huck

The latest Huck is out. It contains an interview with Laird Hamilton by yours truly for which, as the following quote reveals, I suffered beyond the call of duty:

My condition, as I am about to meet the epitome of health, vitality and masculinity, could be better. The problem is that I was whisked off to a party thrown by Laird's sponsor, Oxbow, the previous night. This shouldn't have been a problem at all, but I am to free champagne what Laird is to big waves: totally fearless. I'll take on as many glasses as you like. Trouble is that unlike the Hawaiian waterman, I suffer for my art. Laird is apparently indestructible but come Thursday lunchtime I'm barely capable of stringing a sentence together.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Well, Laird fitted the bill and miraculously my head cleared. We had a fine old chat and he was the most engaging celebrity I've ever met. No arrogance, no airs, no pomposity, happy to talk, open and illuminating. Have a look at Issue 6 of Huck for the rest.

Laird was photographed by Spencer Murphy, with essential help from world-class photographic assistant Elliot Caldwell. Actually there's something there that doesn't add up but Spencer is the real deal in his field too. He currently has a show on at the AOP Gallery, 81 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4QS. It's entitled Wastelands, a title hewn both from T S Eliot's poem of similar name and the existence of contemporary urban wastelands. I'm bound to be a little biased, but Spencer's work is as affecting and moving as anything I've seen in a long while. Check www.spencermurphy.co.uk for a look or better still, if you happen to be in or near London, get along to the AOP Gallery.

Dawn Patrol - Perhaps the Best

By now, all things being equal, I'll be back from Madeira. I'm writing this last Sunday, so don't know if I am indeed back right now, if you're reading this today, i.e Saturday morning. But I hope I'm back, and I hope that the Dawn Patrol excerpts have kept you all amused while I've been unable to blog properly. Assuming that I am indeed back, I'll be back to my usual blend of incoherent verbiage, philosophical musings, recidivistic skate fantasies and a little bit of surf talk shortly. Meanwhile here is arguably the funniest of the Dawn Patrol sketches.

Dawn Patrol - Biscuit Boards