A few years ago we featured an article on a project making surfboards from seaweed, Charlie Cadin is back. This time with the help of bees, could this be the way forward to reduce the environmental impact of surfboards?
“I have made a resin from beeswax, it’s the only 100% bio-based and fully biodegradable resin on the planet, disappearing in one month when buried. This reduces the environmental impact hugely, and when combined with a wood or recyclable foam core the possibilities are cool. The biggest thing to me about this project is that it is so simple and cheap to do, hopefully encouraging people to try making their own boards, as glassing can be scary at first.”
There is something happen right now in the British surfing community the like of which we have probably never seen, and that is a huge rise in the number of groms surfing, and at a really high standards. Not only are the numbers and performance growing, the surfers are coming from a large number of ’hubs’ and they are all connected from the top of Scotland to the south of Cornwall, and from west Wales to east England. Competitive yet supportive.
It is quite something to see! And with an approachable role model like Lukas Skinner leading the the way it is only going lead to good things with competitively, but more importantly on a social and community level.
Will Bailey investigates the rise and rise of groms clubs.
In recent years British Surf clubs have undergone huge changes. The days of exclusive, male dominated clubs, prioritising socialising over surfing are fading fast, replaced by an era of inclusivity, skill development, and elite young talent. Today’s groms are already at the standard of past professionals by the age of 10, and are setting new standards for British surfing.
In the past older surfers viewed groms as an annoyance, inexperienced children filling up the lineup, lacking etiquette or skill. For years, these attitudes slowed youth development, framing surfing as an adult lifestyle rather than a structured sport for all ages. This mindset effectively restricted young surfers progress, limiting the potential of British surfing’s next generation.
However, (fortunately) the culture has shifted. Gone are the days of the grom abuse and bullying. Surf clubs increasingly recognise the importance of youth, valuing their enthusiasm and potential to drive the sport forward.
As groms, we all experienced the dreaded ‘grom abuse’. Strangely and slightly concerning but it was kind of a right of passage, to be expected and tolerated.But now, as a Dad I’m more than happy to see the complete turn around in the attitude towards groms/ children. They are welcomed with open arms, generously given preference, allowed to go on any wave they choose, and basically have the support of any and every lineup, well most lineups! Don’t drop in on a grom or you’re dead!
Supporting and encouraging junior surfers has become central to club goals, recognising that the strength of any surf club lies in its commitment to developing and protecting the youngest members.
Younger members, and their parents, represent the future of the club and its community. If junior members don’t feel valued or can’t see opportunities for growth, they’ll naturally gravitate towards other sports or clubs that provide a stronger sense of connection. This scenario is common, but it is avoidable, with the right approach.
However, surfing in the UK poses unique challenges that set it apart from other sports. Unpredictable ocean conditions, the cold, and a lack of controlled environments make it difficult to organise structured activities, which is a key factor for engaging young surfers and their families. Creating a sense of continuity and building enthusiasm for a sport that often requires braving cold water and inconsistent waves is tough. Recognising this, British surf clubs have begun focusing on building an inclusive environment that keeps the sport fun and enjoyable, socially engaging, and encouraging for young surfers.
There are clubs out there all over Britain that are over coming these problems and growing the member numbers month on month.
But it’s no easy task. It takes a huge amount of organisation and funding. The clubs rely on volunteers and fundraising for the majority of their support. So effectively the more members a club has the stronger it will become, and the British surf clubs have exploded in member numbers.
Clubs like the Newquay Boardriders. Established in 1969 by the late John Owen and Neil Harris, they have weathered decades of change to become one of the UK’s finest surf clubs. Today, the club is thriving, with record high participation and a new generation of young talent coming up through the ranks.
Newquay Boardriders has produced world class athletes before, Luke Dillion, Russ Winter and Spencer Hargreaves stand out, but the current momentum suggests an even brighter future.
Among the rising stars is Boardmasters Men’s and Junior Champion Lukas Skinner, whose impressive performances have drawn admiration from the global surfing community. Lukas competes at a world class level, with extraordinary consistency and remarkable competition stats. His success sets a new benchmark for the club’s younger surfers, inspiring them to reach for the sport’s highest levels. NBR has seen record success in recent years with junior members claiming the majority of national titles and filling team England spots to represent the country, among those are British women’s and junior champion Lauren Sandland, English and Ripcurl Grom Search Champions, Sunny Ingram (U16), Lila Skinner (U14), Harvey Waters (U12) and Ellie Hickie (U12) just to name a few.
The club’s reputation extends beyond the UK. It is now recognised internationally as an excellent club. In January 2025, Newquay Boardriders will make history as the first British surf club invited to the prestigious Usher Cup competition at Snapper Rocks in Australia. Where Lukas Skinner, Fynn Gillespie, Jowan Pegg and Lauren Sandland and Team Manager Mikey ‘Sheriff’ Durkin, will represent the club and Great Britain at the highest international level.
The club attributes its success to the dedicated Committee members and local businesses who are involved. The club is fortunate to receive funding for projects, from our young women initiative and giving them a space, while also providing financial help to our top athletes to compete internationally and give opportunities to members to gain qualifications and further their career prospects.
By introducing children to surfing from an early age through weekly Grom clubs, training opportunities with top level coaches,water safety, fun social events and running fundamental grassroot level surf contests, such as the Northshore Pro Cadets. Which sees competitors from as young as 4 through to 13 battle it out in their divisions over 3 events throughout the year. These contests are pivotal in the development of our Groms and gives them access to learn everything they need to become our future champions. Competitions like these would not be as successful without the vast expertise of the people volunteering and running them, including NBR Vice Chairman, UK pioneer surf legend and top judge Gary Collins and British, English and UK Pro Tour Champion Zoe Sheath, who has been the club’s Contest Director for all of NBR’s events for the last several years.
Broch groms
At the other end of the country there is the Broch Surf Club situated in Fraserburgh on the North East coast of Scotland. It is another UK club that has seen a surge in grom participation and high performance levels on the junior front.
Local Broch Surf Club surfers such as Lola Mitchell (16), Callie Cruickshank (14), Gabriel Noble (14), Sebastian Ballantyne (13) and Kai Cruickshank (12) have achieved UK podium successes across the high profile junior events such as the Ripcurl Gromsearch and Boardmasters and are all current Scottish Junior Champions in their respective age categories.
Callie Cruickshank by Leigh Brown/ Only fins
It wasn’t so long ago that you could go up to Scotland and there might be a handful of local surfers surfing to an advanced standard. Now, in Fraserburgh in particular, the groms are shredding, competing and winning against the best young athletes in the country.
They’ve really done something right. I spoke with Russell Cruickshank, and again they have focused on the younger members. Just like in England, the national body of Scottish surfing (the Scottish Surfing Federation) have organised a series of junior surf events throughout the year. Each event is hosted by a local surf club and focus on youth participation and performance development.
These junior surf events are run at an exceptionally high standard with all judging, officiating done by ISA qualified judging panels, online live score support and use of priority boards (from U12 years upward) It has provided a fantastic platform for the youngsters to progress into the sport of competitive surfing.
These events don’t cost a lot to host, most of the funds can be raised easily through local councils and businesses, but they take time and commitment. This input from the clubs has paid dividends with the results, member numbers and the development of Scottish surfing .
Broch Surf Club do a number of training sessions and club surf trips around Scotland to support their elite grom crew. Training sessions and trips focus on trying to find the best waves, fun and some performance feedback sessions through video analysis. It’s all voluntary run supported by the older surf crew from the area. Over the whole of the UK, Scotland is definitely on the fastest trajectory with results, talent and club members. It really is an exciting time to be a Scottish grommet.
A Welsh club that has seen a major change in direction change is Pembrokeshire Surf Club. It lay dormant for several years, and has now been reformed by Welsh Junior Team Coach, Phil Sadler. Phil runs Pembrokeshire Surf School and has merged his already establish sessions with the club. Numbers have jumped from 10’s to 100’s. They run weekly training and coaching sessions, competitions, and provide a fun competitive pathway for the juniors. To date the grom coaching programme has provided the juniors for over half of the Welsh team, for the last five years. Surfers such as Josie Hawke (14) 2024 U14,16,18 Welsh Champion, Euan Buick (18) 2024 U18 Welsh Champion, 4th in U18 GB Cup in Jersey. Seth Reed U18 Welsh Longboard champ.
Senior club members such as pro surfer Seth Morris and seasoned competitors Ryan Thomas and Georgina Lewtas regularly offer to help inspire the groms at training sessions. They along with other volunteers are what helps push the club forward.
Phil runs the coaching at cost price so it is affordable and encourages the kids to come weekly. The main focus is on fun and educating the kids in all aspects of surfing, and then as they progress a more structured approach. Exploring different breaks, using all types of boards, skating, photo and video analysis and regular fun comps. What the club is doing has had a massive effect on membership numbers and also the standard of surfing coming from West Wales.
Monty Cole
Brody Reay
Another thriving community surf club is Budewaveriders which was founded 12 years ago by Martin Reay, Lee Norman and Charlie Green. Over its time its seen current GB surfers Stanley Norman and Ellie Turner progress through the junior section of the club. Alongside these hugely talented short boarders, current WSL longboard tour competitor Emily Currie has also progressed through Budewaveriders comps and sessions.
The club prioritises grass roots development of young surfers with beginner and intermediate sessions, with the recent addition of their new advanced development squad coached by X-Big Wave Tour female charger Tammy Smith from South Arica.
Betsie Reay
Their crop of young surfers coming through the ranks include Issac Friend and Coco Arthur who both train with the England squad along with rising new talents including Betsie Reay who is ranked 2nd on the Junior Surf Series. With inspirational role models like Jobe Harris, giving their time back to the club as coaches and judges, the new school of groms from Bude are aspiring to be like their heroes and take it to the next level.
British surf clubs show a shift toward inclusivity, youth engagement, and skill development, fueling a new era for British surfing. Clubs like Newquay, Bude, Pembrokshire and Broch embody this transformation, providing structured pathways from beginner to elite levels. By prioritising junior members, these clubs ensure that young surfers feel supported and inspired to pursue the sport, despite the challenges posed by unpredictable conditions and physical demands.
As Newquay Boardriders makes its historic appearance at Australia’s Usher Cup, it reflects a new global respect for British surf clubs that are now recognised for talent and reputation. British surf clubs are shaping the next generation of surfers to reach new heights not only in competitions but also cementing a life long love of the sport, securing British surfing’s future on the world stage.
This vlog will take you on a wild ride with all the behind scenes footage and everything in between what it takes to surf the biggest wave in the world.
An international field of talented young surfers wowed 8x World Champ Steph Gilmore today at The Rip Curl GromSearch International Final, covered by Sun Bum in Bali. Gilmore was on the judging panel when stand-out female Ziggy Mackenzie unleashed some explosive forehand rail surfing in the silky 3ft waves to easily win, signaling her intentions for finals day.
“What an epic day! It was amazing to see the next generation ripping and setting a new standard,” said current world number 5, Molly Picklum. She continued, “Tune in tomorrow to see me and Steph Gilmore on the microphone during the live webcast.”
The format of the event mimicked the WSL’s Championship Tour surfer-on-surfer heats, giving competitors a chance to experience what it’s like if they make it to the elite ranks. Considering over two thirds of the existing Championship Tour is made up of previous Rip Curl GromSearch winners, that experience should prove very valuable in the near future.
Other winners in the 16 & under Girls Round 1 included South Africa’s Louise Lepront and the USA’s Eden Wall who, despite missing the seeding round due to volcanic ash in Singapore, displayed zero signs of jetlag against local Indonesian Jasmine Studer.
The 16 & Under Boys field also delivered high-energy action with Dylan Donegan (ESP) nailing a buzzer beater in the dying minutes of his heat to sneak through, while defending champion Lucas Skinner (GBR) posted the highest scoring heat total of the day to secure his spot in the quarter finals.
Round two continued for the Boys in the afternoon with the first eliminations for the event taking place. Dylan Wilcoxen (IND) advanced with some incredible fin throws, while Rory Dace (ZAF) also impressed with proper man carves. In the 16 & Under Girls, Rosie Richardson (AUS) performed some high-impact single turns to advance to the quarterfinals, alongside #RipCurlGromSearchOnline winner Catalina Zariquiey Vegas (PER).
Some incredible matchups have been set up for finals day tomorrow.
The Rip Curl GromSearch International Final 2024, covered by Sun Bum kicked off on Tuesday, November 12th with finalists winning through from participating countries across the surfing globe to come together to showcase the future of surfing. Proceedings began with a vibrant traditional Balinese opening ceremony, followed by the athletes were presented with custom rash vests, each featuring their name on the back.
Day 1 of the event (Wednesday, November 13th) started with an early Search mission to find uncrowded waves for the opening seeding round. The day was a success delivering 2-3 foot, bowly right-handers with an uncrowded line-up. Event Director Harrison Mann decided it was the perfect opportunity to run the seeding round as a non-elimination round, with two 4-person heats per division to determine the seedings for Round 1. Athletes were scored based on their best wave.
“It was definitely worth the gamble today,” said Harrison Mann. “We scored some super fun waves with no one around. The standard of surfing was insane, and today was just a sneak peek of the fireworks we have in store for Friday and Saturday at Pererenan Beach.”
Judging the seeding round was panel of surfing royalty with 8 time world champion Stephanie Gilmore, Olympian Molly Picklum & ex WCT surfer Rosy Hodge.
Victoria Muñoz Larreta (ARG) kicked off the day with strong rail surfing on her forehand and committed finishes, earning a solid 6.67. The Girls 16 & Under opening round was dominated by goofy-footers backhand attacks. Louise Jane Lepront(ZAF) and Jasmine Studer(IDN) both performed tight backhand snaps in the pocket, with Jasmine scoring the highest girl’s score of the day—a 7.77 for two powerful backhand re-entries.
The U16 Boys were eager to get into the action after watching the girl’s performances. Lukas Skinner started strong with multiple good scoring rides, showcasing his quick rail game and aerial attack. However, he solidified the first “excellent” score of the day—a lofty air reverse on a set wave, earning an 8.17.
The final seeding round of the day was action packed with multiple excellent scores. Lucas Cassity kicked things off with an 8.33 for a huge straight air into an air reverse off the end section, but Dylan Donegan stole the show with a combination of powerful rail turns and aerials, earning the highest score of the day—9.0 for an incredible ride.
The day wrapped up with an exciting all-star tag-team competition featuring Stephanie Gilmore, Molly Picklum, and Rosy Hodge, each leading their own teams in a 6-surfer, 50-minute heat, with a double whammy surfer to finish. The heat was action-packed and close until the very end. 14-year-old Aditya Somiya (IDN) stole the show for Team Rosy with an 8.5 for three critical turns in the pocket. Despite Steph Gilmore‘s 8.7, it wasn’t enough to stop Team Rosy from winning the tag-team event with a total of 45.75 points. Team Steph finished second with 41.65, and Team Molly came in third with 30.75.
Round 1 action will kick off tomorrow morning at Pererenan Beach at 7 a.m. with the Girl’s Round 1. The surf is forecasted to be 3 feet and super clean, giving the groms a chance to showcase their skills on the world stage.
Keep up with all the action on LiveHeats and live broadcast for finals day on YouTube and watch the first episode of Rip Curl GromSearch International Final 2024 – Episode 1.
Following 5 hugely successful events held around the country the 2024 Surfing England Junior Surf Series came to fitting end in Newquay. Now in its third season the finale saw a fantastic day of teaching, fun and surfing at world famous Fistral Beach on Tuesday 29th October.
From the outset the Junior Surf Series has been about creating a fun set of club supported events to encourage new as well as established surfers to get involved and gain contest experience in U12 & U14 categories.
Tommy Hamilton
Invites were sent out to every series competitor who’d either won a division or placed 2nd if the winner had already qualified, and that’s how 18 frothing groms found themselves assembled on Fistrals famed sands looking at great waves excited for what was to come.
The day kicked off with a classroom competition training session with a focus on priority surfing led by one the UKs most experienced priority judges Kerry Powell. An engaging informative session took place with lots of great questions from the youngsters.
Next it was time to hit the sand with Team England Junior coach Beau Bromham taking the athletes through warm-ups and training routines.
Ellie Hickie under 12 girls champ.
Then it was time to hit the water with the groms launching in to practice priority heats and a chance to rack up priority experience and build their competitive knowledge. When not in the water, the groms took their turn at the priority board, learning the intricacies of paddle battles, assigning priority and what makes an interference.
For each division there could only be one series champion, and emerging from seriously hard fought finals it was Ellie Hickie and Harvey Waters who took the crowns in the u12 Girls and Boys divisions. In the U14s Seb Whitely put on an impressive performance to take the boys title and Lila Skinner came out top at her home break to become the Girls Junior Surf Series Champion 2024.
Harvey Waters under 12s boys champ.
‘It’s epic to see the Junior Surf Series giving these groms a platform to develop their competitive surfing and showcase what the best juniors in the country can achieve’ said Ben Powis, CEO at Surfing England.
‘The series has always been about growth and learning, new skills, new experiences, new friendships and the finals have illustrated that perfectly’.
“Talking of sporting inspiration, who better to crown the champions and dish out the prizes than English Surf prodigy Lukas Skinner.”
Surfing England Tour lead Phil Williams said “A fantastic end to another exciting year of the Junior Series, the standard over these three years continues to improve, but the fun and community continues to be a key part. This year we went to new locations , worked with fantastic surf clubs, and we can’t wait to start planning for 2025’
Day 1 of the event (Wednesday, November 13th) started with an early Search mission to find uncrowded waves for the opening seeding round. The day was a success delivering 2-3 foot, bowly right-handers with an uncrowded line-up. Event Director Harrison Mann decided it was the perfect opportunity to run the seeding round as a non-elimination round, with two 4-person heats per division to determine the seedings for Round 1. Athletes were scored based on their best wave.
Ellie Hickie under 12 girls champ.
