Relentless Energy Drink Boardmasters in association with Vans takes place at one of the UK’s finest surfing spots – Fistral beach, followed by the music festival at Watergate Bay. In recent years Boardmasters has truly become ‘Cornwall’s Festival’.

2012 will once again welcome the world’s surfing elite across three events:

• ASP Men’s 6 star Event
• ASP Men’s Longboard 3 Star World Tour Event
• ASP Women’s Longboard 3 Star World Tour Event

The Vans Summer Sessions will return again showcasing the best skateboarding and BMX has to offer. Look out for are exciting new plans to be unveiled in the coming weeks.
Music is high on the agenda as always, sourcing the best acts the Boardmasters fans want to hear. The Relentless Energy Drink Beach Sessions return with 3 nights of live music at the Fistral Beach site, while the Watergate Bay site will host 7 stages of exciting acts to be announced shortly. With increased camping facilities the weekend of live music becomes even more accessible than before.

Year on year the Boardmasters strives to enhance the event, not only for fans of the festival but also for the town of Newquay and Cornwall County. This is achieved through working closely with the relevant parties including the town and county councils, the emergency services, residents associations and local business.

2012 will once again see application for steady growth across the event in terms of capacity at the music festival site at Watergate Bay and its neighbouring campsite. The increased accommodation should allow a comfortable entry for new visitors to Newquay, bringing with them increased spending and vital repeat tourism.

The Relentless Energy Drink Boardmasters in Association with Vans returns to Newquay, Cornwall from 8-12th August 2012.

Tickets for the event will go on sale Monday 27th February.

“Crossings” contains no frills nor photos — this is a very basic, text-only, black-and-white tome. Cover design by Trevor Gordon. If you’d like a copy, you can get one from Kew in person for $20 cash. Otherwise, via US domestic mail, they’re US$26 each (priority flat-rate shipping); international orders are US$38 per copy (also priority flat-rate shipping). You can email Kew at peatpub@gmail.com with any questions or concerns. You can send payment, using the email address, via PayPal. Be sure to include your mailing address.

Through The Whisky Barrel – Trailer from Allyn Harper on Vimeo.

Spring time sadly reveals the true severity of the marine litter issue. After a long winter of storms, before local council beach cleaning operations begin for the summer season, the accumulation of litter can often seem at its worst. The amount of marine litter found on UK beaches has almost doubled in the last fifteen years, with with a shocking 1,969 litter items found on every kilometre of coastline*. Typical examples of marine litter include rubbish from beach users, sewage-related debris, waste from commercial shipping, nets and fish boxes from fishing vessels and medical waste.

SAS Big Spring Beach Clean events will be led by SAS Regional Reps with confirmed locations including in Cornwall, Devon, Wales, Scotland, Dorset, the South Coast and the North East. Please log on to www.sas.org.uk to view beach clean locations and full details.

The SAS Big Spring Beach Clean helps tackle the growing problem of marine litter with the help of regional reps, supporters, SAS members and coastal community volunteers. This year SAS is encouraging dedicated volunteers to organise their own beach clean events, offering support and equipment to help empower communities to take positive action to protect local beaches, surf spots and waterways.

SAS Big Spring Beach Clean events also confront the worsening marine litter crisis through the promotion of SAS initiatives such as No Butts on the Beach, Return To Offender and Think Before You Flush. These encourage further individual and corporate action once the beach clean has finished ultimately helping reduce the amount of litter finding its way onto the beach can into the sea.

Hugo Tagholm, SAS Executive Director says: “Over the past few years SAS has seen a dramatic rise in the number of community volunteers getting involved with our beach clean programmes. Communities want to play their part in tackling the marine litter crisis affecting beautiful beaches everywhere, a visible indicator of the ecological disaster happening in our oceans. The SAS Big Spring Beach Clean empowers communities and educates the public on making an on-going positive difference to coastlines.

The Big Spring Beach Clean will take place between 11am and 2pm on 24th & 25th March 2012, so get ready to roll up your sleeves for UK beaches.  For more information on confirmed locations or to register your event please contact Steve Hagan on 01872 555 950 or email projects@sas.org.uk

The CYPHER is available in two entry systems, chest zip or back. Both featuring FIBER LITE and BIO FLEECE THERMAL NEOPRENE and our FLEXMAX SEAL seam sealing. Add to that new and improved BEAD LOCK SEAL on all models, THERMAL SMOOTHIE and HYDROSHIELD in back zip styles, and you have the warmest, most flexible and lightest weight cold water suit available. This one has Chest zip entry is 3/2mm thick and RRP £220 and YOU can win it!

To win this suit just answer the following question;

What is Dane reynolds blog site called?

Answer in the comments below.

The body which represents surfing in Great Britain is undergoing fundamental changes with the dual aims of: -

i)      invigorating, inspiring and connecting with the British surfing population, and increasing participation across all age and ability levels throughout the country, and
ii)    implementing performance development strategies with the view to producing a British World title contender within the next 10 years.

These are the aspirations of a new board of directors who have recently signed up to the re-branded Surfing Great Britain (SGB) organisation.

Leading the charge is new SGB chairman, former British and European Champion Nigel Semmens from Newquay.

Nigel says: “While we have a massive amount of surfing talent in this country, male and female, we haven’t had someone competing internationally for a number of years. To reach the same level as someone like Kelly Slater, we need to have a more structured approach which puts a premium on top quality coaching and commitment, and which seeks and obtains sponsorship that reflects the massive interest in surfing in Britain.”

Kelly Slater (USA) is the current ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) World Tour champion. The last British representative to compete on the elite tour was Russell Winter from Cornwall, whose performances a decade ago met with serious acclaim from surfing professionals from the sport’s traditional hotbeds of Hawaii, Australia and California.

While the SGB’s new board of directors is determined to harness the array of talent among British surfers in order to find successors to follow in the footsteps of Russell Winter, they will also be actively looking to make surfing more socially inclusive – working at grassroots level with a view to increasing participation in the sport at a young age, supporting local clubs and schools throughout the UK and developing surfing within the PE curriculum where possible.

The board is comprised of individuals who have a history of surfing and industry experience, and, along with SGB’s newly constituted acting executive officers, the rebranded body amounts to the largest and most knowledgeable group of experts ever assembled for a British surfing organisation.  Athletes, coaches, environmentalists, media specialists and surf industry representatives have joined forces to breathe new life into SGB, with the aim of securing formal National Governing Body (NGB) status as soon as possible.

Some of the country’s top surfers, including former British champions Gabe Davies and Sam Lamiroy from Newcastle, former Welsh champion Lloyd Cole and Scottish champion Chris Noble, are committee members and will be taking an active role in the progression of British surfing. Well-known surfing journalist and author of Surf Nation, Alex Wade, has also helped in the reshaping of the new body.

Alex Wade says: “There is tremendous energy and excitement behind SGB as it seeks to push British surfing forward to the next level. By the end of year in which the Olympics returns to Britain for the third time, we expect to be well on the way to achieving NGB status. As such, SGB will be looking after the interests not just of the elite surfers who are good enough to turn pro but everyone in Britain – from Thurso to Brighton, Tynemouth to Swansea and Portrush to Perranporth – who loves to ride waves. There is tangible good news already, too: we have landed a European contract from the NEA2 Project which will go towards the development of a national governing body.”

And, as Nigel Semmens says, there is a pressing task: “Our immediate goal is to try and get sponsorship for a team of youngsters to compete in Panama in April this year for the World Junior Championships. We are working with drinks company Calypso, who have been very supportive to us in the past, and we hope to get through the selection process and get our team together as soon as possible.”

The pack contains:

- 1 bottle of Patxaran ( basque liqueur originally made from the blackthorn or sloe berries )
- 1 bottle of Txakolina ( a dry tart white wine )
- 2 -shirts
- 1 beanie
- 1 Bota ( the traditional goatskin bottle of the Basque shepherds)
- 1 pack of traditional basque chocolates
- 1 Txapela ( traditional basque hat )
- stickers
- and pimientos

Entrants have to be over 18!!

All you have to do is name the British and Irish surfers attending the event in the comments box below.

Find out more about the Billabong Mundaka Challenge

http://www.billabongpro.com/mundaka12/

http://www.billabongpro.com/mundaka12/videos-view/mundaka-challenge-2012-trailer

Machado has been on the Reef program since 1998 and has been one of the top competitors on the world stage since the early 1990s. Machado’s long reign on the ASP World Championship Tour included a second place finish in 1995 and eight elite Word Tour victories, including the Pipeline Masters in 2000. That year he was also inducted into the Surfers Hall of Fame.

When asked about his new deal with Reef, Machado stated, “Reef has been like family over the years. I’m blessed to have such support and killer product and get to do what I love to do. I’m Looking forward to this next chapter.”

It was on Paul Blackley’s Wight Surf History Site that the story of Archie Trickett and his home made surf equipment that the BBC found their story. Archie was a pretty smart chap by all accounts and made himself a surfboard and wetsuit by hand – you couldn’t buy them back then. With his wife, Betty, they built a wooden house and spent weekends surfing at Compton, driving their by motorbike with the surfboard on the sidecar.

The best part is that Archie never threw his old stuff away, and Betty was enthusiastic to share his story with others. So the Isle of Wight Surfclub & Rapanui helped put together a day for Countryfile: Ellie Harrison (presenter) gives surfing a go at our most popular West-coast beach, Compton and the Island’s best surfers took Archie’s old board out in the waves again. It was really quite a special day to not just have some living history there, but to try it out first hand and bring it back to life.

The Episode is on this Sunday at 7PM, BBC 1 – definitely worth a watch.

The Isle of Wight Surf Club is one of the oldest surf clubs in Europe – the Island has been surfed since the sixties – and thanks to Paul Blackley, a local surfer, all of the Island’s surfing heritage has been recovered and collated in one place – the Wight Surf History Project.

The Isle of Wight Surf Club had been disbanded for years by the time this came along but with Surfing becoming more and more popular, Rapanui decided to reinvest some profits in it as a community project. Now with a solid membership, a series of competitions and tournaments plus a learner-programme that took 90 beginners surfing for free last year, the Surf Club resurgence is going strong.  There are a handful of surf businesses and a dedicated bunch of individuals involved in running the club now and we’re stoked to have been able to help get it back on its feet.

www.iowsurfclub.com

The Nixon Surf Challenge presented by Vans and Monster Energy will be heading to the volcanic island of La Graciosa in the Canary Islands from February 13-19.

After last year’s Surf Challenge in the arctic waters of the Lofoten Islands, the invite-only event will head to warmer temperatures of La Graciosa where once again, surfers will come face-to-face with the unexpected as they explore one of surfing’s hidden gems.

Home to only 700 inhabitants and small enough to explore on foot, La Graciosa has developed a mythical reputation among surfers. For years, locals have been going about their business quietly, gorging themselves on world-class reef breaks on a day-to-day basis. This February, the Nixon Surf Challenge 2012 will pave the way for 14 of Europe’s most explosive surfers to charge the little-known slabs of La Graciosa.

A far cry from high-stress competitions, the peer-judged and scoring format of the Nixon Surf Challenge regularly draws top talent from around the world year-after-year. With a non-traditional scoring system, the event is uniquely relaxed with an emphasis on free-surfing and style. The Nixon Surf Challenge creates an ideal environment for participants to showcase their skills and creativity and has become a favorite stop along the tour circuit for many.

The invited surfers will no doubt benefit from the local knowledge of Nixon team riders Jose Maria Cabrera and Jonathan Gonzalez – two of the Canary Islands’ most successful exports. Speaking after the list of invited riders had been announced, Gonzalez had this to say: “It’s always a pleasure to welcome friends, old and new, to the Canary Islands. I’m really looking forward to sharing the waves with the guys, and especially with anyone who hasn’t been anywhere like this before – it’s a unique spot, for sure.”

After the success of last year’s event in Norway, the team is determined to try and re-capture the spirit that accompanied an unforgettable week in the Arctic Circle. While it couldn’t be any more different from the Lofoten Islands, La Graciosa is bound to deliver the goods.

The Nixon Surf Challenge 2012 confirmed attendees include:

Jonathan GONZALEZ (CNY)
Jose Maria CABRERA (CNY)
Manuel LEZCANO (CNY)
Joan DURU (FRA)
Benjamin SANCHIS (FRA)
Fergal SMITH (IRL)
Eric REBIERE (FRA)
William ALLIOTI (FRA)
Marlon LIPKE (POR)
Marc LACOMARE (FRA)
David LEBOULCH (FRA)
Nicolau VON RUPP (GER)
Gony ZUBIZARRETA (ESP)
Frederic ROBIN (FRA)

To find out more about the Nixon Surf Challenge 2012 and get regular updates, exclusive footage and pictures please visit:
Nixon.com/surfchallenge/

About Nixon:
Founded in 1998 in Encinitas, CA, Nixon is the premium watch and accessories brand for the youth lifestyle market. Focused on making the little stuff better, Nixon began with a small line of team-designed, custom-built watches sold exclusively in specialty boardsport and fashion retailers. Currently distributed in over 45 countries, Nixon’s product range has grown to include select men’s and women’s softgoods, leather goods and custom headphones. For more info, please visit: Nixon.com

About Vans:
Vans supports and promotes surfing through a full line of surf apparel and footwear via events such as the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing™ and through sponsorship of many of the world’s top surfers such as Joel Tudor, John John Florence, Leila Hurst, the Gudauskas brothers and Nathan Fletcher. For more information on Vans’ surf happenings plus footwear and apparel, visit Vans.com & Facebook.com/vanseurope

About Monster Energy:
The number 1 by-unit sales energy drink in the United States, Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it surf, skate, BMX, ski, snowboard, snowmobiles, MTB, wake, MX, SX, off-road, trial, FMX, WRC, MotoGP, Superbikes, Supermoto or insane distance jumping – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Ripper, Monster Khaos, available all over Europe. Our army or riders and bands dig ‘em – so will you. On the Net at Monsterenergy.com