Raglans Report from Rovin Richie
Hi bros.
Glad to hear you all had a blast down the old Success, hope you got wasted
and had some serious fun. Well done again to Pete the Yank, keep surfing my
friend!
well, here is a summary of N.Z, the Raglan World Championships and other
stuff, with a few pics to follow.
Although off to a slow start, our team gained momentum throughout the comp,
achieving their best ever results and earning huge local respect.
Unfortunately ben Skinner perforated his eardrum a few days beforec the
comp, but, in true Brit spirit, battled on (with the aid of blue-tack, gaffa
tape and a blue swim cap, much to everyones amusement!) As it happened Ben
and Elliot Dudley from Wales, met in round 2, which meant at least one of
the UK team would progress to round 3.
Elliot pipped Ben by 0.1 and went through.
Next up was Bleakers, our local boy from Sennen / Gwenvor taking on big name
Zac howard from California. Sam came out tops with a combination of good
wave selection, a smooth style and a real hunger to win. Everyone being
blown away by his paddling speed!
heat 16 saw Lee Ryan up against Frenchman Thibault Dusserat. British champ
Lee was on top form, progressing comfortably to round 3.
The next round saw some tough draws for our three remaining lads. Elliot had
a shocker against Braziliann Alex Salazar, bailing out at this point. Sam,
up against last years World champ Colin McPhillips, finished his contest
stoked with his best ever result and a phat pay cheque to boot!
With Sam and Ben rushing off to the warmth of the Canaries for the
Europeans, this left Lee with heavy competition fighting all the way against
South African Jason Ribinck. lee beat Ribinck's pregressive surfing with a
style and grace appreciated by the judges and spectators, Unfortunately, lee
lost to Dwayne Desoto in the fourth round, with some questionable judging
stopping our champ from continuing to the quarters.
The final was a close-fought affair between good friends, Beau Young and
Joel Tudor. Joel, styling as ever, was unlucky with a lull in the closing
minutes which meant Beau already had enough points to take the title, much
to the delight of dad Nat Young, who was present.
For me, this was a great opportunity to watch and get to know some of the
worlds best Longboarders and a few of the sports legends, and it was great
to be there supporting the Pommie contingent!
Out-of-the-water activities.
Moonlit drunken garden-Rugby results:
England v France: England (naturally!)
England/France v Kiwis : Kiwis (a serious game complete with Haka and
multiple injuries, shit those boys could play! well done the Kiwis.)
Sorry for delay of updates, be in touch soon
Rich
Our time in Nz. is coming to a halt.So here is the low down in brief.
In at Christchurch, bloody freezing! down to Queenstown for snowboarding.
Off to Fiordland for fantastic views, snow caped mountains and an eathquake!
Round south point, saw single surfer on 15-20ft, too big for me.( Tautuku )
Up to Dunedin for 1st surf, retro board only, courtesy of Down the line, a
Nigel Semmens.
Scored St.claire 4-5ft heavy and St.kilder 2-3 hollow AS. Cold, fur seals
and sharky but no sightings.
Big thanks to Blaine Wait, R & R, for local knowledge and help.
Up to Christchurch, sumner bay point, mellow 3-4ft. Still on retro soul
surfin & stretch 5s.
Ah where did I get to. Into the north Isle and windy Wellington. No surf .
up to New Plymouth via the surf highway 45.Onshore most days but scored
small clean ones as well at Fitzroy beach, joined the New Plymouth
Boardriders club and scored some good times as well thanks to Arch & Mark
joint owners of the legendary "Lost in the 60s". ( thanx to Arch for the
local knowledge & the 2 o'clock special.)
Off to the long awaited Raglan, pre comp days, the biggest, longest,
coolest, crapping myself waves ever + I'm goofy! comp As in my report. Thanx
to Bleakers, Elliot, La-roy and "skin dog" for such a BALL.
Last surf was Piaha, another world renowned spot. Steep drops and busy.
Off to the great Aus this Saturday, I'll try not to rub the rugby in too
much.
Mel hope this sums up trip so far.
Luv to you and Lea!!
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Glad to hear you all had a blast down the old Success, hope you got wasted
and had some serious fun. Well done again to Pete the Yank, keep surfing my
friend!
well, here is a summary of N.Z, the Raglan World Championships and other
stuff, with a few pics to follow.
Although off to a slow start, our team gained momentum throughout the comp,
achieving their best ever results and earning huge local respect.
Unfortunately ben Skinner perforated his eardrum a few days beforec the
comp, but, in true Brit spirit, battled on (with the aid of blue-tack, gaffa
tape and a blue swim cap, much to everyones amusement!) As it happened Ben
and Elliot Dudley from Wales, met in round 2, which meant at least one of
the UK team would progress to round 3.
Elliot pipped Ben by 0.1 and went through.
Next up was Bleakers, our local boy from Sennen / Gwenvor taking on big name
Zac howard from California. Sam came out tops with a combination of good
wave selection, a smooth style and a real hunger to win. Everyone being
blown away by his paddling speed!
heat 16 saw Lee Ryan up against Frenchman Thibault Dusserat. British champ
Lee was on top form, progressing comfortably to round 3.
The next round saw some tough draws for our three remaining lads. Elliot had
a shocker against Braziliann Alex Salazar, bailing out at this point. Sam,
up against last years World champ Colin McPhillips, finished his contest
stoked with his best ever result and a phat pay cheque to boot!
With Sam and Ben rushing off to the warmth of the Canaries for the
Europeans, this left Lee with heavy competition fighting all the way against
South African Jason Ribinck. lee beat Ribinck's pregressive surfing with a
style and grace appreciated by the judges and spectators, Unfortunately, lee
lost to Dwayne Desoto in the fourth round, with some questionable judging
stopping our champ from continuing to the quarters.
The final was a close-fought affair between good friends, Beau Young and
Joel Tudor. Joel, styling as ever, was unlucky with a lull in the closing
minutes which meant Beau already had enough points to take the title, much
to the delight of dad Nat Young, who was present.
For me, this was a great opportunity to watch and get to know some of the
worlds best Longboarders and a few of the sports legends, and it was great
to be there supporting the Pommie contingent!
Out-of-the-water activities.
Moonlit drunken garden-Rugby results:
England v France: England (naturally!)
England/France v Kiwis : Kiwis (a serious game complete with Haka and
multiple injuries, shit those boys could play! well done the Kiwis.)
Sorry for delay of updates, be in touch soon
Rich
Our time in Nz. is coming to a halt.So here is the low down in brief.
In at Christchurch, bloody freezing! down to Queenstown for snowboarding.
Off to Fiordland for fantastic views, snow caped mountains and an eathquake!
Round south point, saw single surfer on 15-20ft, too big for me.( Tautuku )
Up to Dunedin for 1st surf, retro board only, courtesy of Down the line, a
Nigel Semmens.
Scored St.claire 4-5ft heavy and St.kilder 2-3 hollow AS. Cold, fur seals
and sharky but no sightings.
Big thanks to Blaine Wait, R & R, for local knowledge and help.
Up to Christchurch, sumner bay point, mellow 3-4ft. Still on retro soul
surfin & stretch 5s.
Ah where did I get to. Into the north Isle and windy Wellington. No surf .
up to New Plymouth via the surf highway 45.Onshore most days but scored
small clean ones as well at Fitzroy beach, joined the New Plymouth
Boardriders club and scored some good times as well thanks to Arch & Mark
joint owners of the legendary "Lost in the 60s". ( thanx to Arch for the
local knowledge & the 2 o'clock special.)
Off to the long awaited Raglan, pre comp days, the biggest, longest,
coolest, crapping myself waves ever + I'm goofy! comp As in my report. Thanx
to Bleakers, Elliot, La-roy and "skin dog" for such a BALL.
Last surf was Piaha, another world renowned spot. Steep drops and busy.
Off to the great Aus this Saturday, I'll try not to rub the rugby in too
much.
Mel hope this sums up trip so far.
Luv to you and Lea!!
Surf4theSoul Malibu Longboard Club of the UK
Surf4theSoul
A Nice wave down at Sennen last night and not too crowded.. heres a small pic of Andrew (Prowse) making a bottom turn just before dark..
Had a few nice waves.. Miss my Buddies catch ya all soon.
Mel
Monday, December 01, 2003
A Nice wave down at Sennen last night and not too crowded.. heres a small pic of Andrew (Prowse) making a bottom turn just before dark..
Had a few nice waves.. Miss my Buddies catch ya all soon.
Mel
Surf report
Northerly winds getting stronger through into Monday so feeling colder. Getting choppy/messy on the north coast but the swell is still there. Much cleaner on the south coast but smaller.
1-2ft on the south coast and 3ft plus on the north Coast water temp approx 12 deg
1-2ft on the south coast and 3ft plus on the north Coast water temp approx 12 deg
