We've got two reports from our team paddlers at the Surf Kayak World Champs in Santa Cruz, first up one from Tamsin Green.



Just thought I'd drop a few lines to let you know how I got on at the recent Surf kayak world champs held in Santa Cruz Portugal over the past couple of weeks. This years worlds took place as part of the Santa Cruz Ocean Spirit Festival which saw among many things, A Ripcurl national surf contest, World Skim board championships, a stage of the Kite Surf World tour, various Portuguese national events and lots of music and beach based activities.

In the ladies High performance and long boat I placed 5th after some great surfing and difficult heats in great surf both large and small. I left feeling frustrated having surfed very well right up to the semis and struggling to find waves in both classes to progress to the final.

In the team event however I was able to contribute heavily with numerous first places to ensure that Team England took the crown of world champions for the first time since 1997 something that all team members are incredibly proud of.

May I take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support and watch this space for the next adventure which is a quick mountain bike trip to Chamonix followed by the British championships in Oct held this year in Wales.

Photos from the event can be found at www.photof8.co.uk

Many thanks again, Tamsin Green

Photos by Pete Copp



And another one from Andy McMurray.

Some things in life just go together. Toast, butter, mature cheddar cheese and branston pickle would be one that springs to mind quite readily. The other would be music, sunshine, waves, and surf kayakers. As a result the 2009 Surf Kayaking World Championships held at the Santa Cruz Ocean Spirit Festival was a great place to be this summer.

In the build up to the event my lack of knowledge of Portuguese surf conditions left me feeling a little bit sceptical. Looking through magicseaweeds’ historical data wasn’t too inspiring. Onshore winds and a swell height and period that wouldn’t get my usual breaks firing. However in situations like this it was great to be proved wrong. The only day there was no surf was the first day, and this was bearable as our airline had decided to leave most of our boats in Dublin. As the boats arrived so did the swell.

So the competition started and so did the jiggery pokery. The jiggery being that the organisers were trying to run a world championship event alongside a Portuguese national board surfing event (they have a high standard, awesome to watch) alongside a leg of the Kite Boarding World Tour. The pokery being the Portuguese have quite an easygoing attitude to running such events. Leaving the guys running our comp frustrated at times. Once things got into swing the heats progressed thick and fast. I surfed consistently through the pre-lims and into the main comp. Then it was safely through the 1st and 2nd rounds before I made my exit at the last 16 stage. As this was my first competition at this level I felt pretty good with that.

The team event started to get into the business stage at this event. Northern Ireland finished the first round in 5th place. Enough to qualify for the the second round where we placed 4th (only by the skin of our teeth, big-up-nuff-respect to the Welsh team). Job done. We were into the final day of the team competition. It was awesome to still be in the mix with the top teams of the English, Channel Islands and the Basque Region. We continued our trend and made up one place to 3rd. Not bad for our small country. The highlight here was to watch my girlfriend surf her IC boat into 1st place in her round, but then I would be biased!

A big thank you to Bev at Peak who hooked me up with the kit. A Neo-Skin top which kept me snug on those cooler early morning heats and a Free Ride deck which stayed dry and true despite the heavy beach break conditions.

So with all the competition over, for me at least, it was time to enjoy the music festival. Watch the individual finals. Jump into the pool at the closing ceremony. Enjoy more mental reggae music. Sleep in an airport. Come home and back to the simple things that go together.

Anyone got any branston?

(Posted on the 20th Aug 2009 by timb)

• British Raft Teams Training for Worlds
  (6th Jul 2010)
• Photos by Bostjan Marcina
  (2nd Jul 2010)
• Pringle update from Euros and Natural Games
  (1st Jul 2010)
• Slalom World Cup 2
  (30th Jun 2010)
• 2010 World Wildwater Racing Championships, Sort, Spain
  (30th Jun 2010)
• Wave Moves on HPP
  (26th Jun 2010)
• Teva Extreme Outdoor Games 2010
  (26th Jun 2010)
• Helen Barnes sets new World Record
  (25th Jun 2010)