Hopefully the last crap photo - who am I kidding?

Thank you all for the jokes about the skanky photo of myself in the Plymouth herald today. The mug shot accompanies my final current affairs column for the paper (sad day), so for the sake of future generations lets hope all copies with such photographic devilry are torched beyond recognition.

Wind’s making a mess of the surf today; Sunday looks alright though with hardly any breeze, a decent swell, and maybe even a spot of sunshine. I’m off to shop for a New Years Eve costume – the theme is leisure wear or extreme chav depending where you’re from.

Buzz like Baz

The following is a seasonal ballad inspired by Baz Lurmann. So feel free to read in an American accent or even dance if it makes you happy. Merry Crimbo.
Boys and girls of the class of 2007, if there was only one piece of advice I could offer you for the future, safe sex would be it. The long term benefits of contraception have been widely proven by scientists where as the rest of my advice has no evidence more reliable than my own misadventures.

Do something that challenges you everyday, and don’t be scared to fail. Talk. Don’t mess with people’s lives, and likewise don’t put up with people who are thoughtless with yours. Joke. Don’t waste your time being competitive, sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind, but in the end your race is a one man mission. Remember your first gig, and forget your last exam - if you live for work get a hobby. Forgive. Keep your old photos, throw out credit card applications.
Don’t worry what people think about your image. Dream. Enjoy the crazy fashions of your teens; you won’t appreciate the freedom you have until it begins to slip away. Trust me, one day you’ll recall your GCSE days, and appreciate how much opportunity lay before you. You’re not as different as you imagine. Surf. Even if you never use a board, enjoy the power of the waves. Honour. Don’t worry over spilt milk, and avoid panicking about the future. But if you do, remember worrying is only as effective as trying to jump across the channel. The true difficulties in your life are likely to be ones that blindside you, like losing friends before their time, witnessing the terrors of war, and realising our greed sees millions starve whilst good food rots. Be aware. Spend time with your family and never take them for granted. Hollyoaks is not real. Be kind to your brothers and sisters, they’re your roots, and the people most likely to stand by you in the face of adversity. Run.

Don’t stress yourself hunting for love, it’ll find you when it’s ready. Remember relationships are based upon sacrifice and solidarity. Aspire. Be the best person you can, and eventually life will reward you. Mates will come and go, but hang on to the precious few you call true friends. Don’t compare cars, houses, or wives, and remember the older you get the more you need the people you care about. Respect. Live anywhere once, but leave before it makes you hard; enjoy your home town but don’t let it make you stale. Explore. See the world, but learn to accept we’ll probably never all be able to live together like decent human beings. Read.

Don’t feel bad because your job isn’t considered high flying; take pride in everything you do. Listen to advice, but take it with a pinch of salt. Beneath every pinstripe suit and each grubby overhaul is a person as fallible as the next guy. Teach. Remember petrol prices will rise, bubbles will burst, governments will mislead, privatisation will fail us, and we’ll all grow old. But when we do we’ll pretend that when we were young petrol was cheap, money could be made, governments were honest, and trains were on time. Respect the elderly.

Be your own person, forge the future. The possibilities are endless, but success rarely comes easily. Stretch. Maybe your partner will make dot com dollars, or scratch a million on the lottery, but you never know when you might stand alone - Work hard. Never give up, and take help where you can. Exercise. Keep your body healthy as you only have one shot. Never read gossip magazines, they only make you stupid.

Maybe be you support gay marriage, maybe you don’t, maybe you’ll have tea with the queen, or lounge on the beach at 85. Maybe you’ll adopt, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll run a drama group on Tuesdays, but ensure you leave a legacy. Care.

What ever you do, don’t big yourself up too much, or scare yourself either. Your choices owe fate a favour, and so do everyone else’s. Save a life. Respect the environment, and the oceans we treat with disregard; there is no going back. Recycle. Tell your lover you love them, and never leave your heart unspoken. Treat the system with caution, but be patient with the human cogs. Don’t watch too much reality TV. But most of all trust me on the condoms.

Plymouth's New Surfboard Factory

Plymouth’s New Surfboard Factory
As Plymouth’s only consistently producing surfboard shaper I’ve reported on Luke Young quite a bit over the years. When I started my column in 2003 Luke had set up a surfboard shaping bay at the back of Mutley Plain in Plymouth, then later on the brand moved over to Mountbatten. Now, after time away from the city fine tuning his shaping with some of the world’s top shapers, Luke has found his way back to Plymouth.
At 29 years old, Luke is one of Europe’s youngest professional surfboard shapers, plus he’s already managed to accrue an invaluable 13 years of experience. November saw the launch of his new factory, so naturally I headed down to check it out.
Luke has spent the past three years working with various surfboard manufacturers in the South West, and has also been fortunate to hone his skills with a number of internationally renowned shapers. Pat Rawson from Oahu, Hawaii, and Rob Vaughan of Billabong surfboards, were both key to the development of Luke’s shaping. Besides cutting it with top shapers, Luke’s broadened his board building skills. As well as spraying with Nick Williams who’s responsible for some of the finest graphics ever seen on a surfboard, Luke’s been laminating with renowned craftsman Phil Northey.
Tired of commuting to Kernow, Luke decided it was about time he built his own factory closer to home. Located at Battisford Farm his new setup is on the outskirts of Plympton, just off the A38 Devon Expressway (not far from the Lynham Inn). Having cased out the swanky new joint and given two thumbs up, I picked Luke’s brains on the state of English surfboard production.
For me the step between backyard board manufacture to fluid scientific design is big one, and I don’t think you’ll find anyone arguing that Luke hasn’t accomplished that transition with flare. Don’t get me wrong Luke’s always been a guy of high standards, but in the past he was just a good local shaper, so it’s nice now to see his boards cutting next to some of the most renowned craftsman in the industry.
Over the past eighteen months imported surfboards have taken over a large part of the learner market, whilst new age manufacture techniques have been crushing the little UK shapers from the other end of the spectrum. With depressing industry statistics in my minds eye, I was surprised to see Luke’s traditional style factory busier than ever. During our chat Luke discussed his work ethic, explaining that he thinks it’s ‘essential to be able to complete every aspect of surfboard manufacture to an extremely high standard’. Whilst he operates like this for peace of mind, I think it’s really promising for the future of British shaping, and the reason why Luke’s a growing presence in local stores. By keeping quality high, English shapers can earn the reputation of other respected trades men like carpenters. With time showing lots of imported boards to be of poor build quality (particularly those shipped from Asian conveyor belts), English workmanship could win the long race. It’s similar with cars, we all appreciate the effort Audi, BMW, and Mercedes put into their vehicles to make them drive better – why’s riding a surfboard any different?
From custom spray jobs upon mals to ultra smooth gloss polishes on retro boards, Luke builds boards for pros and novices alike. Plus if you fancy getting hands on, why not get Luke to show you how to shape - I built my own and learnt a lot doing it. You can find Luke’s boards in the Billabong Store, Plymouth and Wild Waters, Plympton. For further details contact Luke Young Shapes on 07789 663693, or log on tohttp://www.lukeyoungshapes.co.uk/.

Photo credit: Mike Meal photography

What a surfer wants!

What a surfer wants!
December is the time when mums start to read up on surfing in their desperate quest for gift ideas. Now we all know the likes of Indo boards, ding repair kits, and Miss Reef calendars are safe bets for young surfers at Crimbo, but what do you get the surf addict with everything. This week I’ve been window shopping to hunt out great gifts, but to make sure I was on the right track I caught up with Wild Waters boss lady Paula Barbour.
Respecting age and wisdom we’ll start with the gifts grandparents might like to buy. For big gifts always consult family members, as you’d be surprised by all the paraphernalia we young folk have stashed away. Branded socks and underwear can be pricy, but always go down a treat. The Plympton store has Animal three packs of socks for less than a tenner, and if you’re fancy a hunt, TKMax occasionally gets the odd surf bargains. Wallets, jewellery, and wetsuit apparel like gloves, are perfect to plump up the stockings. Following in the footsteps of Billabong tools, a novel gimmick available this year is Rip Curl dog tags (£7.50), which have internal wax combs and bottle openers. For the ultra lazy shopper (or less able wrappers) many wallets these days come in fancy looking display cases, and start at about £20 for brands like Ripcurl and O’Neill.
When shopping for the ladies, luggage is Paula’s top recommendation, with surprisingly funky day bags from £24. Whilst the missus informs me Ripcurl’s tartan jackets are the thing to have. For the more mature surfer, a ‘tide clock’ is a practical gift that looks stylish too, plus they’re pretty reasonable online. Surf art is another sensible idea for any sophisticated brothers in law. Chain Store Athena, sell lots of works by local company Ocean Publishing, but if you check out the smaller surf shops most have cheaper selections. If however you fancy parting with a bit more cash, for a penny short of a hundred quid you can get your hands on a ‘street surfer’. I tired one of these things out at a recent trade show; it was a real laugh and definitely makes you consider the lines you carve. The Wild Waters staff seemed pretty keen on these too, but although I’ve heard tales, I’ve still not seen a demo yet!
Obviously surfing is a complicated culture, and we live in an age obsessed with brand – with this in mind if you’re thrilled to discover a £10 wetsuit lurking in the corner of the local Harry Tate Store step back and consider your purchase carefully. If you have a relative who surfs through out the winter, their wetsuit will cost a minimum of £120 new, or it won’t be suitable for our waters. In short they’ll freeze. Wetsuit sizing is also important, and brands vary significantly, many surfers favour particular brands for a reason. I like O’Neill because the medium size is quite slim, where as I need a small with the wider Billabong suits. Similarly some surfers love built in hoods, and others are phobic about them. West Wetsuits offer some solid basic options with women’s winter suits starting from £135, and for little while longer Wild Waters can organise tailored sizing – handy if you’re struggling to find your size. If you’re buying some else a wetsuit this Xmas, please do some research, find out their dimensions, and always keep the receipt.
As its Christmas, lots of lucky individuals will be acquiring their first board, so what are things to watch out for? Learner boards vary dependant on rider’s size and weight, so shopping around for advice is the key to your success. It’s also sensible to have a lesson before you consider parting with your cash. Minimals are recommended by most instructors as they offer lots of volume, which means they’re buoyant and paddle well. At the same time minimals offer manoeuvrability, but best of all their typically nice and solid to take all the knocks. During my interview with Luke, I decided to quiz the knowledgeable board critic on buying for learners. We agreed, that looking around is the key, so don’t just buy a board off the rack of the first shop you go in. Talk to shop assistants, board shapers, and any surfers you know to build a picture of what is best for you; an appropriate board can make learning fun, rather than an uphill challenge.
Lastly as it’s the festive season it’s also a good idea to point out that there is lots of decent second hand boards out there, have a browse online, check out the classifieds, and maybe even invest in a yellow paper. Make sure you know what you want, avoid boards with heavy creases across them, and always check that the stickers aren’t hiding nasty holes.
It’s never been so easy to find surfing gifts, as Plymouth is bustling with surf apparel. Besides Wild Waters, other established stores to check out include Surfing Life, Quiksilver and Billabong, plus the new Gul shop has loads of clothes. Happy holidays – see you in 2008!

Photo Credit: Mike Meal Photography

Seasons greetings sea dogs!

Seasons greetings sea dogs! The past four weeks began plagued with miserable winds, and poor swell which dampened our hopes after an epic autumn. Then with Christmas just around the corner, December threw us a curve ball, low pressure of the deepest kind, a depression that battered our coasts in what the press have dubbed ‘the perfect storm’. A crew of the finest big wave surfers from Britain and Ireland headed to Donegal to ride a swell estimated at 16.7 meters (55ft for us old skool Europeans). Duncan Scott the super stoked South African, was teamed with Plymouth Uni graduate Alistair Mennie (star of the Driven documentary). Alongside them jordie Gabe Davies worked with Donegal local Ritchie Fitzgerald. Crowds gathered on Mullagmore Head to watch as the committed surfers put their lives on the line for the ultimate thrill. Duncan seemed thrilled that all his years of training paid off, whilst Al’s being saying it was his best surf ever. What’s really cool, is it was members of the British Tow Surf Association that scored the waves first, because no doubt now Ireland will be the focal in the world of big wave hunting.
Besides Ireland cementing its reputation, November saw Mick Fanning claim his first Foster’s ASP World Title after winning the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro in Brazil. A deserved champion, Fanning’s win caused a storm down under, with numerous flash videos doing the round online. One thing is for sure though, I bet his countryman Taj Burrows is disappointed not to be the Ozzy wearing the crown.
In next month’s issue, look out for Firewire surfboards, and an exclusive interview.

60 seconds with Dragon’s Den contestant and inventor of the Ollypop surf aid, Olly Daglish:

60 seconds with Dragon’s Den contestant and inventor of the Ollypop surf aid, Olly Daglish:
Essex boy Olly got into surfing after studying International Business at Plymouth University in the nineties. Olly got the idea for his invention the Ollypop towel whilst working at a Cornish surf school. Constantly telling pupils to practice their pop up technique at home by taping lines on the carpet to mark where hands and feet should go, Olly’s brainwave was towel to help beginners get to their feet correctly. Ollypop is the only surf product to be showcased on the hugely popular Dragon’s Den. Although the TV investment bid was unsuccessful, Ollypop has been endorsed by the British Surfing Association! Olly’s local break is Trebarwith, and if he’s not surfing you’ll find him working - rumour has it he has another invention in the pipeline.

Here are Olly’s answers to questions on the BA surfboard ban:

1. Besides the obvious ‘inconveniences’ of flying with alternative airlines, do you believe the ban will impact significantly upon the industry?
It could change the industry quite dramatically, and if other airlines follow suit then it would be disastrous. I’m sure mass board manufacturers such as Surftech would benefit by setting up hire stations around the globe so that you can hire the same board shape and size abroad. But this in turn would ruin local board shapers and that would be bad for the industry. Plus what about travelling pros? I can’t imagine Kelly Slater charging Pipe on a hire board!

2,Do you think charging for boards would be a fair solution?
Only if they also charged for golf bags, bikes and other oversized luggage. If the problem is arising as a result of costs from damaged board claims then I think the best solution would be to train the baggage handlers to handle surfboards with care, or even fine them if caught taking out their frustration on poor innocent surfboards! Some airlines in Oz make you sign a disclaimer before flying absolving them of any responsibility for damaged boards, which on the face of it seems unfair but is a far better solution to an outright ban.

British Gold

On the contest scene October saw epic conditions at the O’Neill British National Open Championships. With one of the biggest number of entries in the contest’s history, and sizable clean surf lined up, it looked more like Le Gravier than Fistral beach.
Whilst plenty of Brit’s were tucking in to Sunday lunch, North Fistral was on fire. Spectators were torn between watching pros rip up the glassy swell, and scoring some waves at South Fistral. Needless to say between heats I snuck in a couple of short sessions. In the Women’s, Beth Mason a seventeen year old from Swansea earned her second title in a row. Beth’s strong surfing solidified her reputation as Britain’s number one, a big accomplishment for someone so young.
The men’s final kicked off later in the afternoon as the tide began to push for high, meaning the size backed down, and the waves became a bit fatter. Having watched the earlier heats I thought Alan Stokes might have pulled it out of the bag for the final, after his return from injury. Ben Baird and Reubin Pearce had also both shown form in the earlier heats, with Baird even taking the Senior title. Yet it seemed Newquay boy Mark ‘Egor’ Harris was the only one really on the ball, as the peak shifted. Egor caught a number of hefty right handers, before any of the other finalists caught a decent wave. The changing conditions were obviously difficult, but from the beach Egor was the clear winner early on. Reuben Pearce made a late bid scoring some worthy rides, but by this point Egor had the competition bagged, with the other surfers combo’d, meaning they each need two high scoring rides to stand a chance at the title.
When the horn signalled the finish, Egor was cheered ashore by his troop of local fans. At the beach presentation Egor told his fans: ‘I’m so, so stoked to be the British Champion! It’s a title I’ve always wanted and to do it on my home break is even better.’

Photo Mark Harris in Action, courtesy of Geoff Tydemann

Crash landing for Brit surfers

Mayday: UK surfers are in uproar after British Airways (BA) announced they will no longer carry surfboards. The ban comes into effect on Wednesday (November 6), and there won’t be an option to pay for carriage, something which has always been free with the airline. In response to this news the British Surfing Association has set up a petition to lobby the airline to reverse their decision.
Surfing is intrinsically linked with travelling, be it locally or long haul. Riding different waves is key to any surfer’s development, and international travel opens up an array of challenges for all abilities. Surfboards aren’t cheap however, so you can’t just buy a new one when you arrive at your destination. Furthermore there aren’t always hire shops, with most only offering learner boards anyway. Besides the relationship between surfer and surfboard is very personal, small variations in design can significantly impact upon performance – which explains why custom built surfboards are so popular the world over. Non surfers might not appreciate how large a hurdle banning surfboards on planes is; put simply, although BA is only one airline, the repercussions might have a huge impact on the surf industry as a whole.
British airways used to be at the forefront of travel for surfers, offering free transport of boards (which are classified as sporting goods), but more than that, in days gone by, the company ensured limited damage succumbed the precious cargo. In the past few years the quality of service has slipped, more and more boards have been damaged, if not broken. So what, you might say, the service was free, it’s a risk you take. The truth is however most surfers are willing to pay a reasonable fee for shipment if baggage handlers treated surfboards with respect. Just this January one of my own boards was driven over during transfer to the hold on a BA flight. The matter was resolved and BA reimbursed me for the damage, but the point is mishandled luggage should be nothing more than an occasional accident.
Sadly as numerous airlines (not just BA) treat surfboards worse than punch bags, some surfers have been taking the law into their own hands, filing false claims against the companies. Whilst it’s clearly bad karma, it’s safe to say that surfers arriving at the airport with pre-mangled boards, is far from an urban myth. Obviously the combination of hundreds of genuine claims compounded with a few bogus insurance scams, is enough to get any airline questioning the haulage of surfboards. So BA might not be quite as unjustified in their decision as the media has portrayed this week. Yet none the less they are being very unreasonable. If the company checked boards properly before take off, and then handled them with care in transit, where’s the problem. BA could even introduce a small fee to cover the expense of baggage handlers checking boards. So far the company are neglecting that the customer should come first. Statements by the company suggest surfers are merely two or three in every 100,000 travellers. Statistically this is probably true as most surfers don’t take boards to Las Vegas, but to some destinations during particular seasons surfers make up more significant proportions. Try flying to Morocco from London in January, I’d be surprised if there were less than 30 surfers onboard every flight.
Besides us ‘wealthy’ Europeans missing out on surf trips imagine the repercussions on local economies built around surfing. If we took 95 percent of the visiting surfers out of Newquay, you’d have a bankrupt ghost town – in less developed countries like Sri Lanka it could be far worse!
So, what can a bunch of surfers do? Well the British surfing Association are urging surfers to take a number of steps, the first being to sign an online petition at www.britsurf.co.uk. Besides this you can also join an online Facebook group, which you’ll find by searching under ‘British Airways surfboard ban’, finally surfers are asked to complain to BA directly. National Director of the BSA Karen Walton
said, "If everyone who surfs could take five minutes to go online and follow our recommended action steps then we will have a real representation of the swell of support for the reversal of this absurd decision.”
A number of surf companies have joined the cause boycotting BA travel, and at last count the petition was in the thousands. As judgement day nears, let’s all pray other airlines listen to our voice and don’t follow BA’s lead.