Development Days
On the last Saturday in April the Wales Surf Kayak committee ran its first development weekend of the year starting out at Newgale beach in Pembrokeshire in order to raise the profile of this niche sport and bring-on new talent. Coaching was provided by Paul Bramble of PB Paddlesports.
The day started with a round of introductions and a discussion of development goals. For this session all the attendees had at least some previous experience of surf kayaking and some had bought their own surf kayaks. It was good to see a range of ages from juniors upward.
For those that hadn’t brought their own specialist surf boats or just fancied a change there was the opportunity to try one of the team development boats. These sleek carbon-kevlar® composite boats with flat, planing hulls and wave-gripping rails require a bit of careful outfitting with a jigsaw of foam blocks but, once that’s done, they unlock the full potential of sea waves.
Surf boats fall into two main classes, the first of which is the shorter, high-performance kayak, with an array of fins protruding from the hull. It finds a natural home in the power-pocket of the wave and allows the rider to make blisteringly fast turns, lips, airs and do other tricks on the wave. The other class is the elegant, longer International Class boats that never have fins and rely entirely on their rails for grip on the waves to provide a more flowing ride.
Once on the beach we had a quick but important safety briefing – questions encouraged- including where to surf, signals from the beach and dangers to watch-out for (today it was mostly collision with other kayakers), what to do about it and how to avoid it in the first place. Then, for fun, to warm-up and loosen the joints we had a quick session of ‘fairground horses’ on the beach.
Then, out onto the water for a quick ten-waves worth of surfing to warm up and to have a look and gauge the needs of each participant. Conditions on the day were a little smaller than is usually ideal for surfing but, for today’s purposes, pretty good with the forecast of gradually increasing conditions throughout the day. The small waves allowed for a bit of fun and good concentration on technique without having to worry about what’s coming.
With ten waves over, a recall to the beach and then some suggestions as to how to improve and an exercise to try, then back into the surf. That was the pattern for the morning until lunchtime: out in the surf and then recall to the beach, either as a group or individually for comment and encouragement. Some came in under wave or paddle power in the boat, some came in pushing a boat having capsized and come out – all part of the learning.
As it turned out lunch time was at around low tide when conditions at Newgale tend to go a bit flat so there was plenty of time for lunch, tea, a chat, and a bit of recovery.
The afternoon session started out on the beach with a few games and discussion on the theme of ’surf etiquette’ which forms the highway code in the surf zone. This ensures that everyone shows good manners, can maximise the potential of a ride
and reduce the likelihood of collisions. Both board and kayak surfers follow the same surf etiquette.
The afternoon session followed much the same pattern as the morning one although one particular beach-based exercise must have baffled onlookers as they watched. spray-deck wearing people carrying paddles weaving along the beach in a series or wiggly lines in what I had heard described as ‘beach surf ballet’. Surprisingly good fun but you’ll have to come along to find out what that’s all about.
The afternoon carried on until everyone had had enough and retired to the car park for a debrief, to load kit and say goodbye to everyone not coming to the Sunday session.
Sunday brought an increase in surf conditions, so we moved to Whitesands beach near St. Davids which was better suited to the forecast. Given that everyone on day two had been with us the previous day, the bigger, running waves and clear, well-defined pockets (the powerful bit of green water closest to the braking part of the wave where surfers like to play) proved an ideal opportunity to build on the techniques of the earlier session and get a good look at the performance that the surf kayak could bring. A good time to try a critical-part take-off, bottom turns, top turns and maybe, if brave enough, try to catch the lip of a breaking wave for a fancy finishing manoeuvre.
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