There’s not real purpose to this post, we just thought it was interesting to see Mash and Mike going through part of the shaping process to create another VEPO masterpiece. We hope to have a slightly more ordered and informative page on how to shape from start to finish in the future but for now just enjoy watching two guys who really know and love what they do get on with the job. If you want to get in touch with the guys at Vepo to order a new shape or get any awkward-to-fix dings sorted out you can contact them via their Facebook page.
Last thursday many gathered down at Vistas to see the presentation of the much anticipated and long-overdue Island champs awards.
Due to a mixture of testing conditions and the intermittent absence of various surfers and judges the contest window was ridiculously long but we got there in the end. Vistas at Vazon did the club proud with a good turnout on hand to see the coveted prize of Men’s Open champ go to a very worthy winner indeed.
As you will all have no doubt seen, the Open went down in thumping waves at Portinfer and the standard of surfing and commitment in such challenging conditions from all the competitors was truly outstanding. Both Dan Yabsley and Ric Smith were throwing themselves over one heaving ledge after another putting both their bodies and boards on the line. Johnny Wallbridge paid a high price for his commitment when, with 15 minutes still left on the clock he snapped his board clean in half and had to bow out early. Jake Warr stuck to the southern corner of the bay, a tactic that scored him some great wedges which he met with a series of thumping turns. However it was Tom Colley who shone brightest in the relentless slabs matching power with power and carving his way to a deserved victory.
The U14’s and U16s events were once again dominated by Louis Tostevin and he even ran regular under 18s champ Will De Garis pretty close to the line in that division but in the end Will’s strength and experience once again clinched the title that he has made his own for so many years. The conditions for the junior events were less than ideal at times although the final of the under 18s was once again held in some pretty challenging conditions so congratulations to everyone who took part.
Eleanor Harlow dominated the Ladies contest with fluent and intelligent surfing and Al Mitchell managed to hold onto the Masters title in solid, clean conditions at Perelle which were a joy for all the participants that day although Andy Torode did see his beautiful single fin go the same way as Johnny W’s doomed shooter in the Open final.
It was however, the Longboarding division that was possibly one of the most enjoyable to watch, where in clean and consistent 3ft conditions at T’Others Stu Blondel took home the crown. He was pushed every step of the way by Rob “Weather Fox” Plummer who danced his way effortlessly around his board and even threw in a few headstands for good measure. The result was incredibly close but the grace, flow, poise and sheer length of rides that Stu exhibited was enough to get him across the line.
Thanks so much for everyone who turned up to the presentation and congratulations to all the surfers who took part. A massive thanks to Yak Wax, Freedom and Breda who provided the prizes GSC is always incredibly grateful for your support.
We are looking to run more juniors events over the summer so stay tuned for more information.
RESULTS
U14
1. Louis Tostevin 2. Zac Taylor 3.Joseph Gaudion 4. Ethan Norman
U16
1. Louis Tostevin 2. Marley Montgomery 3. Owen Hunt 4. Liam Todd
U18
1. Will De Garis 2. Louis Tostevin 3. James Winter 4. Alex Bott
LADIES
1. Eleanor Harlow 2. Felicity Renny 3. Sara Lorabi
MASTERS
1. Al Mitchell 2. Dan O’Hara 3. Dave Hubert 4. Chez Merrien
OPEN
1) Tom Colley 2) Ric David 3) Jake Warr 4) Johnny Wallbridge
LONGBOARDING
1. Stu Blondel 2. Rob Plummer 3. Chris Ashwell 4. Johnny Le Noury
Many of you will know Jez Browning and his brother Nathan and father Richard, all cornerstones of the Guernsey surfing community. Jez moved to Portugal many years ago where he has worked as a surf coach before focusing on surf related boot camps, honing other surfers skills in waves of consequence. The first Bootcamp was back in 2009. The formula worked and since then they have been in great demand and have gone from strength to strength. Due to their success Jez was given the accolade of ASI level 4 Master surf coach. This is the highest surfing recognition you can get in the industry to date with only 6 others in the world that hold it. He also helps train and assess budding surf instructors.
Jez is always keen to get Guernsey surfers on his trips and with the Peniche in Portugal and then the Maldives coming up soon you’re guaranteed to get great waves and great advice. So if you’re keen to improve your surfing or just get some of the best waves of your life check out the newsletter or visit the UniSURFITY website
As you will probably have seen in the Guernsey Press, and thanks to the kind support of Project Hire and Sale, as well as the organisational skills of Dan Yabsley, The Inaugural Rob Holden Invitational Night Surf took place at Centres on Tuesday evening this week. Stu Blondel, Johnny Wallbridge, Dan Hewlett, Tom Colley, Ric David, Si English, Ross Yeates, Dan Yabsley, Will Jones and Al Mitchell all took to the water under the floodlights in fun 3ft clean conditions in memory of local surfer Rob Holden who tragically passed away in 2012. A good sized crowd joined Rob’s Family members Emalene, Elanor and Joe to watch and enjoy the celebratory vibe as the surfers paid tribute to a much loved local surfer. An amazing gathering and a privilege to be a part of.
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- Matt
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- Ric
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- Dan
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- Jake
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- Johnny
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- Tom
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- Jake
Here are a few more pics of the Open Mens comp held last sunday, taken by our resident lensman Pierre Bisson. Click here to see the rest of the portfolio at gsyphoto.com. Congratulations to all the surfers who took part, the results will be announced at the presentation evening which will be organised as soon as the last few divisions are completed.
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- Ross
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- Stu
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- Rob
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- Stu
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- Stu
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- Rob
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- Chris
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- Brad
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- Johnny
Here are a few more pics of the longboard comp on saturday taken by our resident lensman Pierre Bisson. Click here to see the rest of the portfolio at gsyphoto.com. Congratulations to all the surfers who took part, the results will be announced at the presentation evening which will be organised as soon as the last few divisions are completed.
Just a reminder to anyone who’s keen to sign up to the Guernsey Surf Club Fantasy Surf Clubhouse before the new WCT season kicks off at Snapper soon.
All you need to do is go to http://www.fantasysurfer.com/ sign up and then search for Guernsey Surf Club under the Private Search section. The Code is 1945. Good Luck
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- TomColley
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- Johnny Wallbridge
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- Jake Warr
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- Stu Blondel
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- Johnny’s board
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- Portinfer
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- Panoramic Potinfer
There are more photos on the way and I’m sure most of you will have seen these ones on the GSC Facebook page already thanks to the amazing talents of Pierre Bisson and James Machon but we thought it was worth popping them on the GSC site as well. Saturday morning saw some lovely clean 3-4ft conditions at T’Others and a good turnout for the Longboarding competition. Both semi’s saw their share of headstands and cheater fives with Chris Ashwell, Stu Blondel, Rob “Weather Fox” Plummer and Jon Le Noury making the final where the odd larger set saw the level of surfing raised even higher.
It was then decided that, weather and conditions permitting, the Men’s Open would run on Sunday afternoon. We were expecting solid conditions but I think it’s fair to say we weren’t expecting conditions THAT solid. When we rocked up to the car park we were greeted by heaving 8-10 ft faces with the odd larger set thrown in for good measure. After a quick straw poll all the competitors agreed that they wanted to surf but rather than having to risk life and limb coming in and out over the rocks and the massive swell for heat changes we’d run one 90 minute heat and put all eight competitors in at the same time (well seven to start with as Matt Le Maitre had to rush down from the boat and join the heat halfway through). From that we’d judge not only the winners but also The Biggest Wipeout, Best Manoeuvre and Most Committed Takeoff. As Jake Warr and Tom Colley first paddled out into the maelstrom and were shortly followed by Johnny Wallbridge, Dan Yabsley, Tim Gaudion, Simon English, Richard David we were unsure what we were going to get. As it turned out what we got was a phenomenal display of guts and ability from all the surfers. The beatings were plentiful but the commitment to get back out into the lineup saw the competitors rewarded with some incredible rides. With 15 minutes to go Johnny’s courage cost him his board as the white water snapped it clean in half, but only after he’d scored a handful of bombs. Hats off to the lot of you an amazing days surfing.
Just the vets and the masters to run now and we’ll be announcing the presentation evening after that.
Stay tuned for more photos in the coming days.
Hercules, Magic Monday, Christmas Day 2 … whatever you want to call it, the 6th January 2014 was truly a date to remember. After weeks of consistent swell we were treated to one of the most perfect days of swell in living memory. At 12ft and a swell interval of well over 20 seconds the Northern breaks roared into life as the West Coast Struggled to come to terms with the gigantic lines of swell. Richard Browning called it the best conditions he’d witnessed at L’Ancresse, Pembroke and Fort Le Marchant in all his 50 years of surfing. Lets hope we don’t have to wait that long for the next day like this … though sadly we probably will. Thanks to Richard for the snaps if anyone has any more please send them in.
On a cold and blustery November morning The Guernsey surfing community paid homage to one of the Islands finest and most inspirational surfers, Bob Warry, who sadly passed away recently. Both as a surfer and as a shaper Bob was one of the Pioneers of surfing not only in Guernsey but also the UK. The turnout for Bob’s memorial paddle out was phenomenal and a true testament to his influence on our surfing community. Along with Bob’s wife Phyllis surfers of all ages attended and Bob’s son Phil lead the procession out to lineup at Vazon to say few words and give thanks for this amazing man who paved the way for so many surfers after him.
We will post more about Bob’s inspirational surfing story in a coming feature which will touch on both his incredible talent as a surfer and how, along with Barry Hughes he formed Blade Surfboards.
