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Local

Aug 03 2016
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CHANNEL ISLANDS SURFING FEDERATION

By Local No Comments

News Release – on acceptance of the sport of Surfing to the Olympics Games 2020

Subject: British Surfing to participate in the Olympic Games 2020, Tokyo

9/8/16

NEWS RELEASE

Today, in Rio de Janeiro, it was announced that member nations of the Olympic Movement voted in favour of the inclusion of the sport of Surfing in the Olympic Games 2020 in Tokyo.  Surfing is one of five new sports to be included and provides a platform for British surfing to excel on the world stage.

In anticipation of this exciting decision the surfing Federations from across Britain, today, announce the signing of an agreement that forms the foundations for the future development of the sport across the British Islands and enabling a British Olympic Squad for 2020.

Within the British Islands the governing bodies for the sport of surfing consists of the Scottish Surfing Federation, the English Surfing Federation, the Welsh Surfing Federation and the Channel Islands Surfing Federation, each of which manage the sport in their own jurisdiction.

The Federations have gone from strength to strength; managing their own regional programmes and management of teams at British, European and World level.

The formation of British Surfing Union of Recognised Federations (‘BSURF’) unites the Federations to develop future British Squads. BSURF will create a framework outling how the governing bodies will come together to prepare, select and manage a future British team when required. The BSURF agreement offers each home nation a model for collaboration and mutual support.

“Surfing in the Channel Islands has grown from strength to strength over the years. Junior development in both Islands has increased with the view to not only maintain a presence at European Championship level but at International level as well. This announcement is excellent news for British Surfing and something that all Channel Island surfers can aspire to.”

“For the sport of surfing, these are very exciting times, and the surfing Federations now embark on a journey to build an effective strategy and development plan that will prepare British athletes for the world stage in readiness for the Olympic Games 2020”. says David Ferguson, President of the Channel Islands Surfing Federation.

For further information please contact:

David Ferguson President of the Channel Islands Surfing Federation Tel 07797726496

Feb 05 2016
Love0

Sea Fever

By Local 2 Comments

(altered, adapted and extended by Kevin Hinshaw with acknowledgement and due respect to John Masefield 1878-1967)

A Tribute to Keith Ogier- Surfer and Cobo man (and boy). 

I must down to the seas again, to the glassy sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a surfboard and a skeg to steer her by,
And the rail’s chime and the waxed grip and the white waves breaking,
And a light offshore on the wave’s face, and waves there for just for the taking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a glassy day with my surfboard trimmed and sliding,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and all the sea-gulls crying.

I must travel far seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the surfer’s way and the explorer’s way, where empty waves are rife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when this long ride is over.

I must to our Surfer’s beach , sadly now washed away,

Where we’d BBQ and sing at night and sit and lie by day,

With long-boards high against the wall and us low to try to warm,

From too long riding chilly waves, sent forth from a far off storm.

I must to the seas again, to the lonely sea and sky,

To watch the surfers from the shore, and say a last goodbye.

To recall those heady days of youth, when life was just a game,

Surfing is still a special thing, but maybe not the same.

Oh to take down my board again, from its dusty rack,

And wax up and paddle out and sit right out the back;

And swing the board and paddle fast, as a wave doth hove,

And ride to shore hooting loud, into the reef’s alcove.

Pick up my board and sit by Jan, with my family and friends is best,

And watch the sun slip slowly to sleep, gently in the west.

 

Oct 05 2015
Love0

The 2015 Guernsey Island Championships

By Events, Local No Comments

UPDATE: Just another reminder to everyone that we will be looking to hold the 2015 Island Championships this weekend and the following one (on Saturday and Sunday 10/11 and 17/18 October.) Competitors for the MEN’S OPEN should check in at Portinfer Carpark at 8am on Saturday morning. We will look to run the Open through the day and hopefully the Longboarding event on the push at Vazon this Saturday, The Masters division is also a possibility although that will be later in the day. Conditions permitting we will run the Vets and the Ladies event on Sunday morning at Vazon with the Junior events being held the following weekend. The swell is looking really promising but things are moving around a lot out there so stay tuned to Facebook for updates closer to the time.

If you would like to enter, please send an email to [email protected]. The entry fee will be £5 per division. Please note you MUST be a member to enter. Membership for 2015/2016 is £20 for a senior individual. Entry fee can be paid on the day however we would appreciate your commitment to the event as early as possible to assist with heat preparation.

If you would like to be notified by email, please send your name and contact details to;
[email protected]

We hope to see as many of you as possible participating in this event!

There will be a further announcement about the Junior Series in due course.

Apr 25 2015
Love0

Fun comp postponed

By Events, Local No Comments

Well mother nature might not have played ball today for the Autism Guernsey charity competition we had planned but the mouth watering array of boards from long ago was worth turning up for. We hope to run the event either next weekend or on the bank holiday after so keep your eyes on the Facebook feed for all the updates. There’s still time to get involved so get your team together and send your team details to [email protected] this week. The more teams the better and remember it’s strictly a fun event for Autism Guernsey so please get involved.

4 Divisions, One team member for each (although if you can only get a team of 3 together one surfer and do 2 divisions)
Finless
Longboard
Board shaped in Guernsey 
Pre 90’s board

40 minute heat per division.

Jan 27 2015
Love0

Snappy snaps

By Local No Comments

We got sent in these pics from late 2014 by a keen photographer who apparently wishes to remain anonymous. Thanks for sending them in and we hope you keep them coming. Same goes for anyone else out there, if you’ve got snaps you want to share we’d love to see them.

IMG_3673 IMG_3536 IMG_3386 IMG_3365 IMG_3337 IMG_3332 IMG_3315 IMG_3270 IMG_3261 IMG_3249 IMG_3233 IMG_3220 IMG_3691

Jun 25 2014
Love0

Mash and Mike shaping up

By General, Local No Comments

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.

Mar 06 2014
Love1

Rob Holden Invitational Night Surf

By Events, Local No Comments

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.

IMG_1867IMG_1868

Feb 25 2014
Love0

Thumping waves for the Open

By Events, Local No Comments

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.

Jan 09 2014
Love1

Magic Monday

By Local, Swells No Comments

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.