In 2009 the TTRide Instructors had a ball at Perranporth. The high tide and big swells made for perfect swell boarding conditions.

September is here and the beach is starting to get really quiet. Uncharacteristically the waves so far this month have been pretty small however the weather has more than made up for it! We've had some scorching days on the coast down here and coupled with small swells, it has been a fun month so far.

Last weekend saw the first Academy Surf and Yoga weekend go down an absolute treat! We lucked in with great weather and perfect little waves, ideal for coaching in. Our 5 students spent the mornings in the sea, either learning the basics or improving their techniques, before having a quick bite to eat and getting down to some mind and body time with our Yoga and massage therapist Nathalie of Nalla Yoga.
So good was the weekend that we have decided to make this a regular feature down at the Academy for the 2010 season!

We've had a few lessons going out over the last week or so and its a lovely feeling in September having the water all to yourself, sun out and still some long days! Everyone is starting to wind down now though and make plans for Winter escapes...my trip to Indonesia is looming ever closer and I still have a whole list of things to sort through before I go off jet setting!

Well if you are around, get ourself down to the beach as its a beautiful time of year...the sun is hot hot hot today and I'm about to nip in for a quick swellboard session!

See you in the water....

Well, September came around without much notice. One minute it was Bank Holiday weekend and we couldn't see the forest from the trees, next minute there were no trees left to see!

The first week of September has been a pretty rough affair with strong winds straight out of the NorthWest (our devil wind) and some sizeable waves to boot! Looking forward into next week we could be in for some September treats...looks like a high pressure is going to perch itself tight on top of us making for some light and offshore winds and there is a nice little groundswell due as well.

The holidays may be over be we are still all go at the Academy with lessons all week. I have been busy putting final touches in place for the events we have got lined up this month! The Surf and Yoga weekend on the 12/13th is filling up nicely and we are getting quite excited about it. It is a step towards broadening our services and the girls we are working with are so enthusiastic about it all.

The TTRide Performance Camps are also a new edition this year and again another branch in what we offer as an Academy of surfing. We have recently be doing a lot of video analysis of eachothers' surfing down here at the Academy and the benefits from it are huge. Being able to identify exactly where a problem is occuring and do drills to remedy this makes the jump in improvement much more rapid and we are all seeing the benefits!

Off to the airport in Newquay now to pick up the 1st arrival for our 'Riders' weekend down here. A pre-cursor to the Worldwide trips, this weekend should be a blast and I'm looking forward to meeting the guys and girls who I'm going to be traveling with for 3 months over the winter!

Stay loose and surf easy

Sam

Afternoon to everyone reading,

Hope all is well and people are making the most of the weather and waves we have been getting! I know its been on and off with the sun and rain but we've had worse! I for one have been in the water plenty, with some good sized waves as well! Had a mid to high tide session at Perran last night with some great banks even in the onshores!! Best I've seen for a while at that size.

Forecast is looking pretty interesting for the week ahead! The size of the swell means we have targeted all lessons around the high tide as the currents are pretty strong at low! Good for all the advanced surfers though with some pretty shallow sandbars rearing up every now and again.
Bank holiday weekend (fingers crossed) is shaping up to be a blinder! Warm weather, good waves and some fairly favourable winds to boot! Last weekend of the summer proper and then we are back to sleepy little Perranporth!

With September approaching quickly I have been putting together a couple of events for the Academy. We are running 2 day Performance Surfing Camps throughout the first 2 weeks with a load of specific surfing drills, fitness and training routines and also video coaching. Its quite exciting moving the Academy in this direction and and opening a few new doors. I have been researching and planning the days carefully so we can give the best possible coaching!

Also on the 12/13th we have our Surf and Yoga special. A weekend of relaxing, surfing, yoga and massage to all ease the mind and de-stress after a hard summer or before work starts again!

Well, time for a quick arfternoon paddle I think! Looks like it will be hard work but it all keeps the fitness levels up!!

Sam

Summer is still here doing its thing here....wet and dry, big surf and small surf, busy then quiet.

I am getting itchy feet to get back in the water on a shortboard. The past few sessions have been softboard banaza's with all the local crew getting stuck in to some epic sit down rides and such. Forecast looks small through the early part of the week with a good sized groundswell pushing through for the end of the week! Fingers crossed we'll have some waves over the next weekend, maybe even get a birthday surf in!

Other news and TTRide have taken a step into the semi professional world of surfing, sponsoring North Cornwall surfer Jordan Dean (see pic). Jordan is a talented up and coming surfer from the Padstow area, who is the first to join the new TTRide Team.

It is an exciting step for the crew at TTRide and with the Academy as a base we look forward to guiding and coaching the young surfers to success. With a team of experienced coaches at the Academy it is a great opportunity for both sides, pushing the Academy's coaching program and developing the young surfers talents.

We are currently building a team of up to 10 junior surfers from all over the UK so if anyone has any recommendations please feel free to get in touch.

I've just had a look out the door and looks like the swell has picked up a little so a quick lunchtime session me thinks.

See you down the beach.

Sam

Hello everyone,

News just in.......Summer has arrived! It popped its head in yesterday to say sorry for being late and said it will more than make up for it by giving us a glorious next couple of months!

Thats what I heard anyway. I have to say it is nice to have some warm days with lights winds and swell around! The swell this summer has been uncharacteristically like winter, rarely dropping below head high, and peaking last week at a solid double overhead! This next week looks to be lining up a treat with some mellow swells pulling in, a high pressure sat over us (fingers crossed some good weather) and some late evening summer surfs!

Jabs' birthday and the TTR Summer Party went down well last Thursday. Pippa Williams opened up on the outside Rocks Bar @ Seiners with a great performance. I have know Pips for a while but have never seen her sing so big congrats...we all thought it was epic! DJ Finn then took the stage with some house beats, and last but definitely not least The Last Detail rocked the house! Cheap cocktails were flowing and great night was had by all!

Booked my flights to Indonesia last night. A quick of warning, if after you enter your payment details and click proceed the page goes back to the top, DO NOT click again!! Moments later I received two confirmation emails for the same flight!! Not to worry, a quick and flustered phone call later I got refunded and all is well and looking bright for 7 weeks in tropical surfing paradise!

Hope to see you down the beach soon

Sam

Hello from a slightly wet Perranporth!

The weather may be wet today but check out the waves! We have got a nice 3ft swell running with light offshores and some great sandbanks! All the boys are ripping at the moment as we've had plenty of waves recently. Myself and Will are about to sneak out for a quick power hour over the low tide so I'm pretty excited!

Waves are looking good all week with winds in our favour as well so make the most of it! If we cant haven't got summer weather, at least we've got waves to keep us pacified.

The weather forecast looks to be getting better from Mid week onwards (just in time for my day off!) and also in time for the next TTRide Summer Party @ Seiners. We have got a Ska band called 'The Last Detail' from London coming down! They will be playing outside on the Terrace bar @ Seiners from 7pm on Thursday 6th August so book that one in the diary. Its also our Head Coach Jabs' birthday then so I'm sure its gonna be a good party!

In the meantime get down the beach and enjoy the ocean!

Sam

Summer holidays.....Is it going to be good weather? Will it rain? Should we camp or hostel? All questions you should be asking yourselves! The weather over the last week has been on and off just like it does in Cornwall. Being a peninsular, thrust out into the Atlantic we are susceptible to any weather fronts milling around in the ocean and I'm sure everyone who has been to Cornwall knows it can be sunny one minute and torrential rain the next. But thats what happens down here and I guarantee you that Cornwall is not like cricket....rain doesn't stop play down here! Least of all surfing! We have had some cracking waves down here recently with some great little sandbanks throwing up some spontaneous sessions. The high tide banks here have been awesome for Swell Boards with all the local crew perfecting their 'Buddah and Coffin' rides, mixing it up with some headstands and 'cockroaches'!! Low tide has been more about the shortboards with TTRide Academy Instructor Chris Molde scoring some epic barrels!!

Thursday night is shaping up to be a beauty with the weather looking more promising and surf singer songwriter Ruarri Joseph playing at the Academy's partner hotel/bar Seiners! The last gig here with Richard Thomas went down a storm so hopefully this week should match up! Hopefully we shall see you all here for some drinks and a mouth watering BBQ!

We have some early summer deals going on down at the Academy as well so if you are looking to get into surfing now is the time. Pop in and see us or give us a call!

And in the meantime...get outdoors! It may be wet but its warm as well so no excuses!

See you in the water!

Sam

Hi all and apologies for the late entry.

Busy times down at the Academy this last week. With the school holidays creeping up on us quickly we are doing all the finishing touches to the shop, fixing any boards that need it and generally preparing ourselves for 6 weeks of no sleep! Things are already starting to pick up down here and the beach is busy everyday. We have got an 'A' team working this year with Jabs and Chris backing me up. Both the guys have been surfing for the most part of their lives and have made it a lifestyle choice to spend as much time in and around the water as possible! There is a lot of experience to be gained from these two and already they are getting recommendations from lessons...think I'm gonna have to step my game uo to stay ahead!

On another note, the basking sharks are back around Perranporth at the moment. Myself and Jabs were discussing philosophy, life and which pub looked more inviting last night on the cliffs when we spotted what we first thought were dolphins. On closer inspection it turned out to be a basking shark so we grabbed some swellboards, a couple of masks and paddled out to find it. An 18ft basking shark awaited us with its mouth gaping open chewing up as much plankton as he could! We swam with the little fella for about 20mins, getting rides holding onto its massive dorsal fin and trying to dodge its powerful tail! It is quite breathtaking swimming alongside a fish that is at least 3 times the size of you, even if they are vegetarian! The skin on these fish is unlike most, in that they have a very tough and coarse outer skin, and pocked marked with scars they look prehistoric...a real life relic of time! Hope fully they will hang around for a few days and we can get some more action!

Also tonight is the first of the 'Surf and Songs' parties presented by Ticket to Ride and hosted by Seiners. Surf muso Richard Thomas is headlining and there are some tasty cocktails being made as we speak as well as an epic BBQ. Get on down here for 7pm if you are around, if not we'll see you next Thursday!

Sam

Walking around town this week I was speaking to various friends who also own businesses, and I came accross a phrase that was mentioned in nearly every conversation.......

..."They say its going to be a hot summer this year!"

I didn't give it any at the time but when out fishing yesterday (not catching anything I might add) I had a little think about this particular phrase and its meanings and connotations and where it came from.

As such I am going to make a few observations about the weather, the climate and the waves.

1) Being British automatically makes you "knoweldgeable" about the weather. We love to speculate about how its going to be an 'Indian Summer' or how "its the coldest Winter since 19 something or other".
Every year its the same, its either the coldest, wettest, 'flattest' or dryest season in 'X' amount of years. Now this made me think; is it actually the most extreme season in however long? Is it really going to be the hottest one this year? I wonder if we are just over looking the fact we are fairly close to the arctic circle and therefore natually experience extreme weather conditions. I mean we should count ourselves lucky really that we have a warm current called the 'Gulf Stream' warming our shores....look at other countries on a simillar lattiude to us and see if they get to spend days on the beach in any season!

2) Seasons are described by Wikipedia as "the major divisions of the year, generally based on yearly periodic changes in weather". Most prevelant in the temperate climates like in the UK, seasons are usually very distinct. I personally like the fact that we have such a diverse climate here. I think it keeps life interesting, makes for a huge variation of plant and animal life and allows us to appreciate each part of the year for what it is. Summer wouldnt be summer if it wasnt cold in winter, how many of us wouldnt get to see snow unless we travelled abroad. All these little things get lost in translation when us Brits talk about the weather.

3) Waves come and go. Yes, they are affected by the seasons. Autumn brings with it those well groomed, powerful swells born from hurricanes in the Carribean, along with warmish water and late season sun. Winter in all its fury lashes our coasts with cold, windy and brutal swells making us seek out the most hidden nooks and crannies to satisfy our needs. Spring has a buzz in the air, and sense of well being as we emerge from the dark months and the water warms and the swells pulse through. Finally summer, calm and collected or wet, windy and rough. Whatever the weather whatever the surf is like we will be in the water!

All this brings me to today and back to my initial phrase. The surf is flat, it has been for a while now and looks set to be the same for the next few days. The weather is aveage, warm, windy, cloudy. The season is summer. All is as it should be!!
Although there are no waves I have seen just as many people in the water recently as if there were waves. The fact that the sun is not out doesn't mean we aren't going to have fun outside and finally and to me most importantly, "Who are THEY?". Who are 'THEY' that tell us we are going to have a wet summer or a warm winter. Everyone says 'THEY' but no one tells me who says this.

Well I for one wake up in the morning and look out my window and the first things I see are the sky and the Atlantic Ocean. This tells me what kind of day it is going to be. I check weather forecasts (mostly for waves) and they give me and idea of what I can expect but if you expect to much you naturally get dissapointed. Blame the weather man, blame global warming, blame Britain but we all live here and secretly, deep down we all like the little things our weather allows us to do.

I am taking adaventage of the lack of waves and taking out a swell board and a crab line again tonight and I am determined to make Ray Mears proud of me!

See you out there and enjoy what we have on our little Island in the Atlantic and here's a little something to keep you stoked.