September Surfacular & Team Training

Originally there was a competition scheduled for the 8^th and 9^th of September but unfortunately it had to be cancelled because the organizer was unable to get permission to run it. Someone thought that it would be nice for everybody to still come down and have a day of surfing together on the 8^th and calling it September Surfacular.. I’m not sure who named it! It was also decided that the England Team coaching day would run on the 9^th so that everyone who was on the Team could come down and have a weekend of surfing if they wanted to. As I have qualified for the Team this year I would be taking part in the Team training so I went up to Bude where it was being held for the whole weekend, camping overnight. I was desperately hoping for some nice weather and good surf as I didn’t really want to be camping in the rain and good surf is always nice.

Coming up to the weekend the weather forecast was looking good, really nice on the Saturday and getting a bit colder on the Sunday. But most importantly it wasn’t going to rain! The surf forecast wasn’t so good, quite small on the Saturday but to pick up during the night to be a couple of feet on Sunday.

The day before (Friday) it was decided by the organizers that they would move the social surf to Northcott Mouth instead of Black Rock because the surf was so small. It was a good job that they did as when we got there Saturday morning there was only a very small wave. It was high tide so most of us decided to give it a couple of hours before venturing out and as it was a really nice, hot day, hung out in the car park chatting while a couple of more venturesome surfers decided to risk the dumping surf, and the rocks that were only revealed when the waves drew back, to try and get some waves.

On the Saturday social surf there was also going to be a best wave competition but this was postponed till the Sunday as the surf was so small. The surf got a bit better as the tide went out and when I decided to go for a surf the sets were a couple of feet and although they were only short rides and one had to work hard to keep on them it was great to be out on the water with fellow surfers. After several hours of surfing I came in for lunch and the tide was fairly far out and the surf had dropped off. I had certainly gone out at the right time. After lunch I decided not to out again but sat on the beach and watched several other people surfing. Then about mid afternoon I decided to leave and have a look around Bude before finding a campsite to stay in for the night. There was a meal organized in a local Inn for anyone who wanted to go so we went and chatted to several people and then retired for an early night in preparation for the training the next day.

The weather on Sunday wasn’t as nice, a bit cloudier and it looked like it might rain before the day was out. We all met up at Black Rock car park and then had the best wave competition for a couple of hours and then everyone selected for the England Team met up and and had a talk before walking down to beach and getting on the water.

The coaching was really good. It was only the second coaching session I have ever had in surfing, it gave me several things to think about and to put into practice. The surf was a reasonable size and the weather wasn’t too bad, it was a nice day to be out.

Overall it was a great weekend, nice to meet up with everybody and go surfing with them, living so far south means that most of the time I don’t get to see them except when competitions are on.

Next Competition is a local one for me so not too far to drive!

JTG