Number 10'S

We've been checking this spot for the past year. 
Carve have published a few empty shots I've taken of it in the past but we've had no way of riding the beast. I knew it had some serious potential but yesterday it went bonkers!!!!!!
Mat, Egor, Mitch had a ski up here and finally everything came together

Two Covers - Toby Donachie & Aaron Reid

These were surprise covers, weren't expecting them and didn't think the images would make the cut. 

A lot of the shots from this trip were last minute panic pics, we nearly didn't  go in on this occasion, so glad we did, within 5 minutes Toby had a right, cover of Carve, and Aaron had a left, Cover of Tonnta. Its funny how things pan out. Some days when its perfect you cant get shit to come together, and then when its crap, two covers in five minutes!!! Well done boys!

Quik Pro 09

I recently got back from Shooting the French CT for Quiksilver.

Quiksilver put on an amazing contest, the surf was a bit of a let down, but the parties more than compensated. Not sure how they are going to top that next year!

Nike 6.0 House

I spend a lot of time in France. Im usually kipping on a friends floor, in a tent, or in a self catering apartment, so the chance to go and stay at the Nike 6.0 pad in Capbreton France was an oppourtunity that I wasn't going to turn down. Luxury house, loads of freebees, French beachies and Europes best surfers to shoot. Easy money!

As with every trip it was a testing experience. It was completely flat for five out of the seven days, I had four groms to organise, one small poky car between five of us, and there were about a million people waiting for the swell.

Everyone had no problem waiting for the swell to arrive though, the house we were at was amazing. Fully stocked kitchen, big pool, Playstations, Redbull, internet and an amazing atmosphere among the whole team. It was a week of relaxation, panic, destruction, flared tempers, overindulging and laughter, and that was before we even saw a wave. 

When the swell arrived, like true professionals everyone turned on, and what resulted were two days of festivities in and out of the water.

Until this trip I had never considered myself as getting old. I feel fitter than ever, I have no interest in getting a pension and my gut is yet to appear. But those little swines definitely aged me!  

Lloyd Cole Interview

How’s life Lloyd?

Yeah life’s pretty good. Off to Newquay on my brothers stag do this weekend cant wait, after that I’m going to Bali for a few weeks and then the Europeans straight after that.

How’s the summer been, have you been surfing lots or snowed under with work?

It’s been good, did that trip to France with you, and scored some amazing waves.

The surf at home this summer hasn’t been great, we’ve had waves but generally onshore 3ft, but its Wales you know, the winds have been wrong for the good spots but we’ve had waves.

How was that trip? Were you surprised we scored decent barrels in France in July?

Yeah scored, it was really quiet which was weird, and La Graviere was pumping. A bit of a shock to the system going from 2-3ft Langland to 6ft heavy grinding barrels. I got home and I’m sure I had whip lash I went over the falls that many times, but it was good, I got into the swing of things in the end and really enjoyed it.

How’s work been?

Works been all right, I work with my Dad so its not to bad, so I get to go surfing and stuff, as long as the works looked after.

Yeah you seem to be quite the business man, first running Sand Bar ( Swansea boozer he ran with his brother James) and now a family run storage business, called ‘Store It Wales’, sounds like a lot of work to me?

Ha, yeah it’s ok. My Dad is really laid back, he’s happy for us to surf. There are five boys and one girl so we’re a big family, only three of us work for my Dad though.

Tell me about the Sand Bar.

My brother and me ran it for about two, three years, great times, partying, drinking, and surfing. But we sold the lease and moved on before we became alcoholics really.

You must have some cracking stories about some of the boys misbehaving in your pub?

Yeah, there was kind of a dungeon bar downstairs that was kind of our hang out, the LSD boys. There were many of nights we’d crawl out of there with the seagulls singing to us. It was basically the LSD clubhouse.

Who came up with the name LSD, and what does it mean?

Langland surf division, not sure who came up with it about 5 or 6 of us I think. 

What happened to the LBR?

The LBR, oh R.I.P!  There were a few core surfers in the LBR. They wouldn’t let us enter two teams into the Wilkinson Sword Welsh inter clubs, so we started up out own club the LSD. Then about a year later they tried to hand us the LBR over but we’d already set our club up. I used to surf for them in the juniors, they were the best surfers but they wouldn’t let it go and when they finally did it was too late.

What do you mean hand over the LBR?

They wanted to give us the club because everyone way joining LSD, to keep the LBR alive.

Who was the biggest drinker?

There were some big hitters, who are bigger hitters now. Long Stroke Mccord, Rad Al, Sanchez (not Pancho off dirty sanchez, they are big boys, they could consume a high volume of alcohol.

Who was the worst behaved? Ever bar any of the boys?

Narr, they always said sorry the next day, I should have barred myself a few times though! (LAUGHS) It was a good laugh, controlled sometimes and out of control other times but that’s what made it all fun I suppose.

Did you become the usual beer bellied landlord while running the place?

Yeah! It was definitely time to move on in the end.  We had a kitchen there,  lasagna, gammon egg and chips, all day breakfasts! There was a cook and beer on tap whenever you wanted it basically, dangerous!

I’ve heard that you’re also quite the romantic. Something to do with a helicopter?

How the hell did you find out about that? HAHA (LAUGHS). Yeah, it was a bit of a whirlwind romance, a week before I was going to Oz I bumped into a girl from school that I grew up with. She was a professional dancer and was on her way to Slovenia for four weeks, after that she came over to Oz. Then, four months later we were in Bali and we got engaged in a helicopter above Ulus.

Haha, thats classic. What sort of professional dancing ?

I dunno some sort of musical back up dancer not sure how to word it properly.

So not a pole dancer?

I wish, she's actually taking pole dancing classes!

So shes teaching pole dancing?

No she's learning how to pole dance.

So she's going to be a pole dancer?

Haha, no! She goes with a few friends, just a bit of fun and something different to do to keep fit.

OK, got it! Where did you get married and go on your honeymoon?

Got married in Morgan’s hotel in Swansea and Honey mooned in Thailand.

Why aren’t you on facebook?

Funny to should say that Will, signed up last night.

Haha, its one of those things I usually stay clear of, but I’ve lost contact with a lot of people, so many of the boys I used to surf with down in Devon and Cornwall. I lost my phone the other day, lost all my contacts, it’s just the easiest way to keep in contact with your mates.

Usually the people not on face book have some dark secrets or no friends!

Nar no secrets, and yeah I’ve got a few friends, I checked before I left the house, think I had 10 requests, but that not many is it?

Not really. How many friends do you have?

I don’t know I only started in last night! (LAUGHS) I still can’t work out how to add friends, my Mrs has had to show me.

What’s your average week entail?

Ummm, work Monday to Friday. Surf if there’s surf. My wife Emily is a personal trainer (AT A GYM?) so we do a bit of circuit training with a few of the boys down the beach.

Do you feel that surfing in Wales gets overlooked by the magazines and surf industry?

I think it does. I think it’s easy to forget about us. All the companies and all the hype is down towards Newquay. But I suppose if your hungry enough for it you can always pester people, make yourself know around the contest scene. It would be nice to have a bit more coverage up this way.

Do you ever get the urge to move away from Swansea and its lack of quality waves?

Everyday I think. When you wake up somewhere and there’s waves, the suns shining, it gives you a buzz, makes you want to jump out of bed. But with the summer we’ve had its not encouraging, we have such long winters and then the summers been and gone before we know it.

I once heard Sam Lamiroy say that it’s a myth that the Gower reefs get waves!

I wouldn’t say it’s a myth, but you’ve got to be on the ball. We get really good waves though, maybe not to the standard of the Irish reefs and Porthleven, but if its on, its on, we do get good waves!

Would you say there's a stronger sense of camaraderie among Welsh surfers than Southwest surfers?

I’d say so, whenever you go away for a team event. The Welsh seem to be the most strongly bonded team compared to all the other teams. We’re all very proud of being Welsh and surfing in Wales. For most us surfing our home break is more of a social thing, get to catch up with all your mates, quite a close-knit community.

You're 3x Welsh champ – does that say something about your competitive instinct?

I’m very competitive. I grew up with four older brothers that all surfed so that was competitive, and not just with surfing, I had to compete for my food, stop them stealing my clothes, so I grew up being very competitive.

I kind of took a different path from contests, I still like to compete, but its finding the balance between making a living, being married, setting up home and not wasting all my money traveling around Britain surfing in contests to make myself feel good.

 With that, why have the Welsh deserted the British contest Scene?

In the 80’s and 90’s the Welsh were a dominant force. Rob Blyth has been competing on the junior circuit but at the moment its just Nate and Vanghanie when he can be arsed.

I’m not sure about the older crew, most can’t really afford it or have responsibilities. With the groms there seems to be a lack of drive at the moment, there are a few that are showing promise but mainly in the local contests. The thinking with kids at the moment is that if their Mum or Dad cant take them they’re not going to go. I mean maybe not now but when I was younger, 13, 14, if there was a contest in Newquay I’d be ringing around, scabbing lifts off Dan Harris and Guts, staying with mates,  spending all my money, I’d get down there anyway I could.

Is the Welsh interclub rivalry still strong?

Yes. It’s kind of hard at the moment because it got cancelled this year due to lack of waves, but if it’s on every club in Wales wants to win it.

You have a lot to do with the welsh team and coaching these days, do you feel that surfing in Wales is going in the right direction at the moment?

Yeah it’s getting stronger, it’s going to take us a few years for us to get back up to the standard of the other British Lads. We need to do a lot more coaching in Wales, coaching, video analysis, heat drills. In Newquay every grom seems to have a coach even if it’s just his Dad, they’re having group sessions, filmed, analysed. They are thinking about their surfing! Not just, I got a sticker on my board, I’m sponsored, excellent, I’ll just do a few comps and surf in the Welsh team. We have to get out of that mentality and think of the bigger picture.

Why did you GET INVOLVED IN TEAM COACHING?

When I grew up there were a lot of people that coached me. I wanted to help out a few of the youngsters and pass on what I was taught. I only really started last year, I went to Morocco with the Worlds and really enjoyed it. But the main reason is to help develope welsh surfing.

Any young super groms that can turn heads? Are there any that can whoop some English?

They can definitely turn heads, more on a local scene though, we’ve got a few years to catch up at the moment. There are a few that are showing promise, Dan Breson, Billy Sharpe, Max Tucker, George Schofeild.

What are your plans for the winter?

We usually go away for Xmas and New Year but that’s out of the window because a close friend is getting married, It going to be quick trips somewhere, definitely to warmer climates.

Any shout outs

JP for making me good boards since I was 12, Santa Cruz and all the boys in Double Overhead. Also my wife for training me and being understanding with my surfing, and all the LSD boys.

Joss

France July 09

 

Up until about a month ago, the summer was going just fine. June was blazing hot with the bonus of some good swells, and I'd been surfing and shooting photos all over the place. Sunshine, barbecues, parties, balmy evenings...what more could you ask for?

Then came July. In theory July should be the hottest month of the year...but this being Britain it turned out to be cloudy the entire time and wet. Very wet. There’s a town in the Himalayan foothills called Cherrapunji which has the highest annual rainfall in the world, but I think we surpassed their monthly average by about 900 inches. The optimistic hope that summer 2009 might be an all-time classic quickly disappeared down the drain with a pathetic gurgle. I began to feel a burning need to get out of the country lickety-split before I become a permanent fixture propping up the bar in my local.

For us Brit surfaholics the obvious destination for a quick getaway is France. I'm a big fan of the place in the autumn months but I normally write off July and August due to lack of swell, ridiculous crowds and high costs. However, faced with the prospect of enduring yet another horrendous British summer I decided it was time to make a run for it. With a decent swell heading towards southwest France, I collared Lloyd Cole and we made a plan to fly down and meet up with a load of British boyo's who were already down there revelling in the waves. 

Forty-eight hours after booking our flights we were blasting down the autoroute from Bordeaux, heading for Hossegor. It didn’t matter that our hire car was about as powerful as Thom Yorke (with a whine to match), the main thing was that we’d left all the cloud and rain behind. Back in Wales we’d virtually been aquaplaning along the roads; here in France, midday mirages shimmered on the baking tarmac. I wound down the window when we got to the toll booth at Capbreton and inhaled the sweet smell of pine trees and scorched grass. Oh yes, this was proper summer weather.

After a quick surf, we found a campsite and checked in. I normally try to avoid camping – there's something about being constantly damp and using your clothes as a mattress for a week that doesn't really to appeal to me anymore. Plus I hate those Teutonic new age hippy types who who think it’s cool to play bongo drums at two in the morning. But July is peak season in France, apartments are expensive, and the pound is virtually worthless at the moment...so we were camping!

We whipped up our tents and discovered to our relief that our neighbours were not German bongo-playing dole bludgers but the Williams family from Swansea (among them 15-year-old David Williams who won the recent Rip Curl GromSearch at Porthcawl). What’s more, they had a massive barbecue on the go! Within minutes Lloyd and I were tucking into some very tasty chicken kebabs, and David was eagerly waxing up for the following morning’s photoshoot.  

France is a brilliant place to spend the summer if the jetstream is shafting the British Isles like it did in July. While Blighty gets buffeted by unseasonable gales and rain, France basks in the sun and its Landes coast is pounded by classic summer swells. 

A sizeable contingent of Britain’s top young rippers were down for the month, among them Jayce Robinson, Dane Hall, Lyndon Wake, Stu Campbell, Luis Eyre, Jack Whitefield, Toby Donachie, Rob Webster-Blythe and Billy Norways. The lads had been travelling around competing at ASP Pro Junior contests and chilling in France between events. You can understand why they choose to hang out in France – hollow waves, warm water, offshores most mornings, fun nights out, and enough distractions on the beach to warrant ten hours a day sunbathing. It goes without saying that French girls are not like the fake tanned, tracksuit-wearing chavs we get in Wales.

We were up before dawn the next day. It was a fresh, cool morning without a breath of wind. We headed straight to the bakery for coffee and croissants, then checked the surf. Our new pal Dave jumped in with me and Lloyd, and we met up with Matt Capel and Gabe Davies at the beach. 

A punchy new swell was pounding La Graviere as expected, but it was still a bit dark and the tide was too low. We did the usual check-ten-spots-before-you-make-a-decision routine...and then went back to the first one. La Grav’ was looking a whole lot better by this time, and the first guy we saw on a wave was Jayce Robinson, who got an absolute smoker. We were straight out there. 

As well as Jayce, young Brits Dane Hall and Rob Webster-Blythe were going for it in the grinding overhead barrels. But even in summertime the lip at La Grav’ comes down like a guillotine, and within five minutes both Jayce and Matt were back on the beach with snapped boards, cursing their luck. Gabe, on the other hand, was having a ball, picking off some absolute bombs and flashing victory signs at me as he sped through barrel after barrel. Lloyd was also getting some solid ones, happily throwing himself into the hollowest lefts coming through. Adopted grom Dave was charging too – for a 15-year-old lout from Swansea he gave it a good dig.

Incredibly we found ourselves virtually alone on our peak for a good two hours, a situation you’d never expect in Hossegor in the middle of July. I couldn't understand where all the other surfers were. I kept expecting to see a load of German wannabes come running down the sand and start floundering around on the inside. But there were no Germans, no Frenchies, just the four of us and a few naked wrinklies. 

We later found out that the bulk of Hossegor’s surfing population been at another spot a few kilometres down the coast. Apparently there were 50 people on one peak and fights in the water. The locals there like to keep the place hush hush, and  French photographer Alex Laurel returned to his car to find his tyres slashed. Charming. All in all I think we got lucky that first morning! 

The next two days saw a drop in the swell so we spent our time surfing fun little beachies, bird watching and overdosing on pastries. The best place to kill some time in Hossegor is the Café de Paris, where you can spend hours just watching the world go by. It’s weird how a town centre crossroads and a bunch of people doing their shopping can hold your attention for a whole afternoon. Coffees turn into beers, and the next thing you know you’re waking up face down in the sand.

On subsequent days we hooked up with Luis Eyre and Stu Campbell for a couple of sessions. They were staying with the O’Neill European team in Hossegor, and driving around to the various Pro Junior contests at the weekends. Unfortunately, even with the power of FaceBook, we didn’t manage to rendezvous with them on the barrelling mornings. C’est la vie. 

Lyndon Wake from Croyde was also down for a few weeks with his girlfriend Corrine, and the couple were loving the French summer lifestyle. I was well impressed by Lyndon’s surfing – he looked really sharp and was nailing some stylish turns. I’m sure some of the credit must go to Billabong Euro team coach Carwyn Williams, who’s done a lot of training with Lyndon over the last couple of years. 

The days passed quickly in a blur of fun sessions and frenzied snacking. I don’t know about you but I could live the French cafe lifestyle until I collapsed with exhaustion...like French president Nicolas Sarcozy did just the other day, in fact! Baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolat, slices of pizza, croque monsieurs, huge cups of coffee, froth-topped glasses of 1664, bottles of vin rouge, shots of Pernod...it can’t be good for the arteries.

All too soon it was nearly time to leave, but another pulse of swell was due to hit on our last morning, so we still had one last roll of the dice. And thankfully our luck was in! 

We got up at dawn to find glassy overhead barrels pounding La Graviere for the second time in a week. I was frothing. For a photog, getting in the water before the sun rises and knowing that you're about to score big time is about as exciting as it gets. Lloyd, Matt, Dave and Gabe were also fully amped and keen to re-enact the session we’d shared at the beginning of the week. Unfortunately my hopes of shooting the Under 21 crew came to nought as they’d all buggered off across the border to Sopelana for the next Pro Junior comp. Duh!

The session got off to a bad start when Gabe snapped his board on his very first wave. He was gutted and scampered off home to get a new board. Matt had more luck and began picking off some beauties. He's got his barrel-riding down to a tee, taking off super late and setting it up perfectly every time. Lloyd nabbed a few perfect ones too, getting really deep on a couple. He seemed a bit less gung-ho this session and waited patiently for the bombs; I think Gabe’s  strategy of careful wave selection had rubbed off on him. Again there wasn't much of a crowd. Maybe that bank down the coast was firing again? Or maybe the French just don’t do dawnies? I dunno.

We hauled ourselves out of the water around 10am, feeling tired but satisfied. I was relieved to have got the shots I wanted, and the boys were stoked with the barrelfest they’d shared. We had no time to hang around talking crap though, as Lloyd and I only had two hours to get back to Bordeaux airport for our return flight. Luckily everything went smoothly for a change and we rocked up at the check-in with sandy feet and time to spare. 

On the plane, while enjoying some well-deserved Stellas, we watched the clouds thickening and turning grey once again as we crossed The Channel. However, even the miserable outlook couldn't diminish the euphoria we felt from having completed a successful mission.