Roller Coaster

Roller Coaster

Gearoid McDaid’s 2023/24 season has been a rollercoaster. After recovering from a major injury, he made a strong comeback with a second-place finish at the European Championships. However, the following months brought mixed results, testing his resilience. In 2024, Gman surfed some of his best waves of his life at Mullaghmore but suffered a setback with a serious shin injury. Despite this, he remains determined, using his recovery time to rebuild and return stronger for the next winter season.

Life is a roller coaster! An interview with G Man. Film by Clem McInerney.

What were your plans for the 23/24 season?
My main goals were to catch as many good waves as possible and try to qualify for the Olympics. I was fired up after a tough year with injuries, but although the winter wasn’t great, there were still some standout moments.

Do you set goals or take things as they come?
I definitely set goals—qualifying for the Olympics and pushing myself in bigger waves. Balancing competition prep and chasing slabs at the same time is tough, so I had to adjust based on the conditions.

How were you feeling going into the 23/24 season compared to the previous year?
I felt much better this time around. The year before, a hip tear slowed me down, but it also pushed me to focus on strength training. Unfortunately, I got injured again, but it was just bad luck.

What were your highlights?
Coming 2nd in the European Surfing Championships and those special sessions at Riley’s, just me and Conor Maguire. Towing each other into bombs with no one else around was unbeatable.

What were your low points?
Losing in the Olympic qualifier after starting strong. The forecast turned bad, and I struggled in sloppy waves. Now, my leg injury has been the biggest setback, but I’m hoping to be back for the winter swells.

How did you feel after the injury?

It hit me hard at first—I was worried I’d miss the whole winter. Luckily, it doesn’t seem as bad, and I’m hopeful to be back soon.

What’s next, and what have you learned from this?

I’m learning to take things as they come and enjoy life outside of surfing, like playing golf. It’s been a fun summer of golf and cruising, which has helped me slow down a bit.

Cornish birthdays galore / Newquay surfing celebration

Cornish birthdays galore / Newquay surfing celebration

Last weekend saw a memorable set of birthday celebrations as Rock’s Sharp’s Brewing Co joined with Carve Magazine, Newquay Boardriders and Lusty Glaze to celebrate all of their collaborative milestones.  2024 is Sharp’s and Carve’s 30th birthdays and it’s the 55th year of Newquay Boardriders and the 25th for the team at Lusty Glaze Beach.  So, the Cornish surf community joined together to celebrate the 140 years of milestone success.

Whilst the sunbeams worked their Cornish magic, the surf wasn’t quite as epic as hoped. However, several local teams were undeterred, and they took to the waves for some fun challenges in the Carve X Sharp’s Offshore Pilsner Tag Team Surf Competition, organised by Newquay Boardriders.

Looe and Newquay ruled the results tables with the following placings overall: 1st Looe A (Captain Ed Smith), 2nd Newquay Boardriders A, 3rd Looe B and 4th Newquay Boardriders B.

Then from 6pm onwards, the joint Birthday Social kicked off with the surf comp prizegiving followed by DJs Pete Isaac of Jelly Jazz and Bude’s B Side Social Club taking to the decks.  Partygoers enjoyed a mix of funk, soul, breaks, and beats, alongside the stone baked pizzas and hot and cold drinks that were available all day and night for those on the beach. 

Tracey Griffiths of Lusty Glaze said, “This was a rare opportunity for the Newquay and Cornish surf community to come together and celebrate, and everyone involved had a really brilliant time.  It was great to stand back in the sunshine, with the surfers in the water, and reflect on everything we’ve achieved with our brilliant team here over the last 25 years. It was also great to be with the awesome people from Carve, Sharp’s Brewing Co and Newquay Boardriders and just feel the good vibes. Thanks to everyone who joined us.” 

Steve England, Editor of Carve Magazine, says, “We can hardly believe it’s been 30 years that we’ve been producing and printing the mag.  Over those three decades we’ve published 224 editions and also a whole load of books.  Sometimes you do need to stand back and consider all the work, faith and investment that’s gone into all that – and to take time to celebrate.  When we heard it was also Sharp’s 30th celebratory year, it just became the no-brainer thing to get us all together on one of the Newquay beaches for a surf contest.  Then we found out about the Lusty Glaze and Newquay Boardriders’ anniversaries too and it just all chimed! What a day!”

Nick White, Brand Activation Manager, at Sharp’s Brewing Co, says, “We’ve loved working in partnership with Carve, and its sister magazine SurfGirl, over the decades and we’ve got the same love for what we do in common, so it just made perfect sense to come together with the Cornish surf community on one of our favourite beaches – Lusty Glaze.  We are stoked that the crew at Lusty Glaze Beach suggested hosting an event to celebrate our birthdays in style. It was a super-fun contest with Newquay Boardriders and an epic night with our friends from B Side Social Club and Pete from Jelly Jazz providing the beats.”

Zoe Sheath of Newquay Boardriders said, “We may not have had the most momentous surf ever, but we certainly made the most of it and all our involved surfers had an utterly brilliant day and night.  55 years of club surfing is certainly an achievement and Newquay Boardriders has a lot of very exciting news and happenings to come in our 55th year.”

No alcohol drinking whilst surfing occurred during this event. 

Gallery Photos: Ben Hartley

Nathan Florence – Ireland

Nathan Florence – Ireland

It just goes to show, that local knowledge is everything, even Nate Florence has to pay to play every now and then. In his very own words "They call me nosedive Nate now." Props and respect to all the local crew out there, surfers and boogie tribes showing how it's done. 

UK premiere of The Cigarette Surfboard

UK premiere of The Cigarette Surfboard

Cambridge Film Fest will be showing the multi award winning The Cigarette Surfboard – a feature documentary using ciggy butts and surfing to build ocean mindfulness and stewardship 30/21 October.

The film explores the surfer’s responsibility to protect marine life, and also showcases what one can do to counter pollution in an age of greenwashing and shoulder shrugging on behalf of those responsible for pollution.

Director Ben Judkins will be there for a Q&A after the screening on 30th October, as well as an introduction before the screening on Thursday 31st October.

The film features a chat with two of Surfers Against Sewage founding directors Chris Hines and Steve England on the early days of the campaign and legends like Hugo Tagholm, Jack Johns, Easkey Britton, Rob Machado, Feargal Smith and many more.

“The Ciggy Board represents taking a problem and finding out how you can be part of the solution, but enjoying that process” – Jack Johnson

Full story here

More info here.

In Your Bones

In Your Bones

Great surfing, spearfishing, camping and cooking. Still after all these years, one of the most untapped regions on the planet, Australia, wild west territory, enter at your own risk!

Ten days in the desert, five boys one car.
Featuring: Alex McGuffin, Tom Corrie, Jack Knibbs and Luke Turley
Filmed/Edited: by Ryo Ridley

Tales from 10/10 – South West

Tales from 10/10 – South West

More action from one of the best days of the year so far at the reef, pretty sure there was a fair few sick days called in. But oh my days was it worth it.

With a powerful long-range swell hitting the UK last week, lighting up this Cornish stretch of reef, this and many other spots were firing.

Footage: Sonny Timson / Eye In The Sky. @eye_in_the_sky___

Surfers: Lukas Skinner, Harry Timson, Luke Dillon & More!