BOARDMASTERS ADDS NEXT WAVE OF INCREDIBLE ACTS FOR 2018

With the clocks going forward and summer just around the corner, Boardmasters has today revealed another wave of acts set to perform at Cornwall’s own surf and music festival, with 41 incredible acts added to this year’s world-class line up including Editors, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Black Foxxes and Gwenno. They join headliners Catfish And The Bottlemen, The Chemical Brothers and George Ezra, as well as the likes of Rae Morris, Stefflon Don and Annie Mac for what’s set to be the biggest Boardmasters yet. Taking place this year from Wednesday 8 – Sunday 12 August at Watergate Bay and Fistral Beach on the sun-drenched Cornish coast, tickets for Boardmasters are on sale NOW via the website.

Birmingham rockers Editors will be taking to the Main Stage hot on the heels of the release of their sixth top 10 album ‘Violence’. Since bursting onto the scene in 2003, Editors have established themselves as one of the UK’s premier bands, their sound evolving with every release. With soaring vocals from front man Tom Smith, crowds are set to be entranced by a set featuring a mix of much-loved songs that span an impressive 15-year career.

Iconic trio Fun Lovin’ Criminals also join the festivities. Led by frontman Huey Morgan, they soundtracked the 90s with hits such as ‘Scooby Snacks’, ‘Love Unlimited’ and ‘King of New York’ and have had a remarkable five albums chart in the UK top 20. With an eclectic music style that fuses hip hop, rock, blues and jazz together with R&B, punk and funk there’s something for everyone when the New Yorkers head to Cornwall in August.

Rock fans will delight in the sounds of Exeter-based trio Black Foxxes who recently released their lauded second album ‘Reiði’, whilst lovers of electro beats will be treated to a set from award-winning Canadian musician, DJ and producer Tiga, a man often hailed as one of ‘the world’s best mixers’.

Festivalgoers can also expect an epic and extraordinary set from unique songstress Gwenno. The multilingual daughter of a Cornish poet recently released her second album ‘Le Kov’ to critical acclaim. The album, written entirely in Cornish, is a euphoric and playful body of work suffused with rich melodies tackling issues of identity, politics and minority languages.

Elsewhere, world renowned DJs will be filling tent floors as they bring the hottest beats to Cornwall this summer. Dance fans can look forward to legendary German electronic beat maker Butch and Chicago icon Gene Farris back-to-back with DJ and producer extraordinaire Doorly. Staple favourites on the local dance scene Light Layers will be returning to Boardmasters for the third year in a row, bringing their unique blend of bass and banter to Watergate Bay.
Also joining this year’s epic line up is rising star Mellah, the Peckham-based singer and producer garnering attention with his endearing and alluring indie tunes, garage rocker King Tuff whose eagerly anticipated fifth studio album ‘The Other’ is about to drop and alt-pop band Flyte who released their long-awaited and impressive debut album ‘The Loved Ones’ last year.

Other unmissable acts announced today include Low Island, the Oxford quartet who have racked up millions of streams over their first two EP’s with their colourful jazz-inspired sound, East London troubadour Holiday Oscar making waves with his breezy folk songs, and all the way from Byron Bay ‘tropical ambassador’ Bobby Alu, the singer, ukulele strummer and drummer known for his fusion of smooth harmonies, Polynesian inspired rhythm and unassuming summer grooves. Joining them are lo-fi psychedelic punk rock duo The Lovely Eggs, Sons of The East, Adam French, Samm Henshaw, Me and The Devil, Charlotte Carpenter, Josh McGovern, Sam Sweeney, Caro, The Lottery Winners, FEET, Lady Bird, Rental Wives, Annabel Allum, Bad Parents, HAUS, Colouring, LUCIA, Rews, Fizzy Blood, Trudy & The Romance, The RPMs, Bryde, DJ Proof, Shapes, Lion and The Alive.

Ticket Information:
Watergate Bay tickets on sale NOW
Boardmasters operates a tiered ticket system with price bands for tickets changing over time. Book tickets now to guarantee the best price! All tickets on sale now (Charger ticket includes bus pass, parking, VIP camping, Beach Session gigs, After Parties, Boardmasters t-shirt and tote bag)

For tickets and info for 2018’s Boardmasters festival of music and surfing in Cornwall go to boardmasters.com

Jordy Smith airs into a floating trash can

Jordy Smith airs into a floating trash can

Jordy Smith airs into a trash bin. Creative thinking to raise awareness, skills to pay the bills. Makes sense, no?

If he can pull this off, you can put your litter in bins… Savvy?

Tramore Junior Championships

The Tramore Junior Championships is the second of six events on the 2018 Irish Surfing Junior Tour. It is also the 2nd selection event for the Irish Junior Surf Team to compete at Eurosurf Junior 2018.

Tramore Junior Championships

U18 Boys
1st Samuel Reichel Co Sligo Surf Club
2nd Jack Scott Rossnowlagh Surf Club
3rd Peter Healion East Coast Surf Club
4th Callum Condon Tbay Surf Club

U18 Girls
1st Una Britton Rossnowlagh Surf Club
2nd Sasha Moore Tbay Surf Club
3rd Ruth Whelan Gtown Surf Club
4th Helana Paran West Coast Surf Club

U16 Boys
1st Eoin Lally Bundoran Board Riders
2nd Tom Breen Tbay Surf Club
3rd James Power Tbay Surf Club
4th Danny Hedley Easkey Surf Club

U16 Girls
1st Bea Greenberg Rossnowlagh Surf Club
2nd Sarah Moore Tbay Surf Club

14 Boys
1st Conor Donegan Santos West Coast Surf Club
2nd Finn Richardson West Coast Surf Club
3rd Luke Ennis Tbay Surf Club
4th Jai Widger Tbay Surf Club

U14 Girls
1st Alex Fanning Tbay Surf Club
2nd Jude Lee Tbay Surf Club
3rd Yasmin Moore Tbay Surf Club
4th Easkey Moore Tbay Surf Club

U12 Boys
1st Dylan Donegan Santos West Coast Surf Club
2nd James Cloney West Coast Surf Club
3rd Thomas M Flynn Tbay Surf Club
4th Henry Ferguson Killiney Bay Surf CLub

U12 Girls
1st Akiya Moore Tbay Surf Club
2nd Evelyn Moore Tbay Surf Club

U18 Bodyobard
1st Joe Breen Tbay Surf Club
2nd Ben Maher Tbay Surf Club
3rd Akiya Moore Tbay Surf Club
4th Finn Richardson West Coast Surf Club

U18 Longboard
1st Luke Ennis Tbay Surf Club
2nd Ben Maher Tbay Surf Club
3rd Tom Breen Tbay Surf Club
4th Darragh Flynn West Coast Surf Club

U18 Girls Selection
1st Una Britton Rossnowlagh Surf Club
2nd Sasha Moore Tbay Surf Club
3rd Sarah Moore Tbay Surf Club
4th Bea Greenbery Rossnowlagh Surf Club

U18 Open
1st Dlyan Donegan Santos West Coast Surf Club
2nd Conor Donegan Santos West Coast Surf Club
3rd Kilan Maher Tbay Surf Club
4th Fionn Robinson Rossnowlagh Surf Club

The 2018 Rip Curl GromSearch series gets fresh new stops

The Rip Curl GromSearch series has a fresh new look for 2018 with the addition of Jersey in the Channel Islands and Porthmeor in Cornwall. These events as well as the established event in Croyde Bay, Devon will determine this years’ champions. As is standard for all Rip Curl GromSearch events they will include boys’ and girls’ divisions in 16-and-under, 14-and-under, and 12-and-under age groups. Surfers receive points for their results in each event, which then count towards a National GromSearch ratings system. Each surfers top 2 results from this 3 event series are counted and the champions crowned. And this year there’s an extra top prize in that rather than having a European final the best under 16 boys and girls from each country will go straight to the International Finals to be held ‘somewhere’ epic - to be announced at the last minute.

“Everyone at Rip Curl is stoked to be able to add in the thriving surf community of the Channel Islands into this series. Last years’ event in Croyde was a real highlight of the whole European series and we’ll be crossing fingers hoping for more epic conditions there. The final deciding event will be at a new location in St Ives at Porthmeor beach which is of course a great venue and with the advantage of a September swell window it should be epic.” Joel Gray. UK Marketing.

"The Grom Search series is wonderful - the friendly, welcoming and fun atmosphere of the event is a perfect place for the juniors. Whilst the opportunity for trajectory to the global stage is rare and a major moment for those surfers that earn it” Nick Rees. Surfing England. Entry will open 6 weeks before the UK events via www.surfingengland.org and close on the Monday before hand at 5pm.  Information and entry links to the Jersey event can be found at www.cisurf.org or email [email protected]

General Info
Thanks to Rip Curl’s partners, Citroën, Smith, FCS, SeventyOne Percent and Gorilla, the European GromSearch series will be back in 2018 looking for the best European surfers under 16. Since its inception in Australia in 1999, the GromSearch series has continually unearthed the next generations of surfing stars and is now seen by most of the kids as one of the best and funnest event in the world.

Current WSL World Tour surfers (2017) who have competed in the Rip Curl GromSearch include, between others:
Gabriel Medina (Brazil), Kolohe Andino (USA), Felipe Toledo (Brazil), Jordy Smith (South Africa), Tyler Wright (Australia), Stephanie Gilmore (Australia), Sally Fitzgibbons (Australia)

The best Groms surfing the best European waves

This year, Rip Curl will travel to 15 spots in 7 European countries (France, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, Jersey, Italy & Netherlands) searching for the best up and coming surfers. 3 stops in Jersey, Portugal (Porto) and Spain (Salinas) will be added to the schedule.
The best Groms surfing the best European waves

The European GromSearch series has revealed some amazing talents in the past such as Ellie Turner (2016 European Winner and International Final runner up), Mathis Crozon (FRA) and Juliette Brice (FRA) (2015 European winners), Lens Arancibia (FRA) (2014 European winner), Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) (2013 European/World winner). This year, Rip Curl will travel to 15 spots in 7 European countries (France, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, Jersey, Italy & Netherlands) searching for the best up and coming surfers. This year, 3 stops will be added to the schedule: Jersey, Portugal (Porto) and Spain (Salinas)

All Rip Curl GromSearch events include boys’ and girls’ divisions in 16-and-under, 14-and-under, and 12-and-under age groups. Surfers receive points for their results in each event, which then count towards a National GromSearch ratings system. The best under 16 boys and girls from each country will go straight to the World Finals. 
The International GromSearch Finals will be held “Somewhere” in one of the best spot in the World in spring 2019 and Rip Curl will only reveal the location of the final a few week before the event to keep the excitement all the way to the end !

Bottle return scheme for England to curb ocean plastics


Plastic bottle by Andy Hughes, Dominant Wave Theory.

A deposit on plastic bottles and cans in England is a big win for the ocean, but it is just the start.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: “We can be in no doubt that plastic is wreaking havoc on our marine environment – killing dolphins, choking turtles and degrading our most precious habitats. It is absolutely vital we act now to tackle this threat and curb the millions of plastic bottles a day that go unrecycled.”

A deposit on plastic bottles and cans in England has been given the go ahead and could be implemented in a years time.
Plastic bottles make up 30% of marine debris, breaking down over decades and entering the food chain via fish, who think the micro plastics are food.

About 700,000 bottles a day are littered in England. (Check the roadside verges where you are).
The bottles then get blown into drains and rivers, and from there start their journey to the sea. Studies have shown a 15 pence deposit would encourage recycling and reduce littering by 600,000 bottles a day.

The recycling scheme also helps by isolating PET plastic (bottles) from other contaminants
Norway has the most successful deposit scheme, with 96% of bottles returned. The unclaimed deposits on the other 4% go to the running costs of the scheme.

Of course this is only start, but imagine if people could earn cash for clearing up plastics.

Ultimately plastic producers have to find a better biodegradable materials, and legal action will have to be taken to hold polluting companies accountable for their waste, but this is a start.

Searching for “The Dude’

So, who’d have thought there were so many Dudes in the world? Turns out there are thousands and thousands of bearded, long haired surfers over 40 who like beer!

I had no idea…

When this request was put out to press social media lit up with everyone tagging anyone with a surfboard, beard, long hair and indeed people with none of any of the requirements at all because apparently they’d “be good at this”.

One women tagged in a friend saying “ I know you don’t surf, you don’t have long hair and you’re 20 but I think you are in with a chance.”

Genius.

Funniest respsone to one of the funniest casting calls ever. Dude Army!

Know someone tag them in.. There is good money involved, plus surfing in an interesting location an beer.. did we mention beer?