Girls, drink, patriotism, troublesome mates, all-time trips and the fear factor. These were some of the topics we chose for a round-table discussion with seven of the country’s top young contest surfers while they were enjoying a super-duper freebie trip to Arugam Bay in Sri Lanka. Naturally, being seven of the country’s top young contest surfers they mainly talked about, erm, contests...but you can’t have everything.
FOLLOW THE SUN
Remember July? No? Well, if you don’t it’s because your brain has deleted all memories of that relentlessly onshore and miserably wet month. Either that or because you spent the entire 31 days pissed out of your head...which was probably the best way to deal with it. Barbecue summer? Yeah, right! Yep, July was a grim ‘un here in Blighty...but not so in France. Oh no, those flukey Froggies scored one of the best summers ever. Fortunately a few Brits got in on the action...
dropping bombs
The World Tour – on the surface it all seems to be going so well. The pro’s just scored amazing waves at J-Bay, Joel Parkinson is on fire and looks to be heading for a popular win in the championship race, and loads of new talent is breaking through. Yet there are rumblings behind the scenes, and all sorts of rumours flying around. Is Kelly Slater really going to lead a rebel tour in 2010? If so, who’ll jump ship with him? And what’s their beef anyway?
EXPORT GOLD:
SIMON WILLIAMS PORTFOLIO
Former St Agnes surfer Simon ‘Swilly’ Williams is one of the country’s most successful surf media exports. The Queensland-based lensman has been on more boat trips than Lord Nelson, and he could probably wallpaper a whole office block with the number of shots he’s had published. Here’s a squint at some of his best recent work.
THE GREAT BIG CARVE POLL
It’s great to hear what British surfers think about the burning issues of the day. Like, who’s the best surfer in the world? Who’s the most innovative? What’s the heaviest wave? And would Alan Carr be the man to breathe new life into the World Tour’s contest coverage? Check out the results of the mega online poll we carried out last month.
