For years now, people have been heralding the return to longboarding as a return to the heart and soul of surfing itself. Whether this is true, like the rest of the world longboarding has moved on. In this respect, Lee Ryan’s book provides a refreshingly forward-looking and modern approach to the subject. That is not to say that the author does not give due respect to the wisdom of those who have gone before. But what he does is to thoroughly demystify the subject without in any way diminishing it. In doing so he provides both an entry level text for the beginner and also an advanced manual for the expert. The breadth of the book is also impressive and covers the technical aspects of both the equipment and manoeuvres with nuggets there for everyone. This is a real gem of a book in which the passion the author has for both surfing and teaching shines through in every page.

So what’s new in Volume 2?
More great tips and advice from professional longboarders including multiple British and European champion Ben ‘Skindog’ Skinner and 2009 ASP World Champion Harley Ingleby.
Ever wondered what board dimensions the top professionals ride? – find out inside.
Want to turn pro one day? Learn how international longboard competitions are judged.
Find out why a full round house cutback is one of the most difficult moves on a longboard.
Watch video clips of the pro’s to help you understand the manoeuvres in real time.
More great photo’s from the world’s best lensmen.

Want to fast track your surfing? Visit www.shortcuttolongboarding.com to find out more and download two free chapters.

There is a very thin line between spectator and contestant… if there is a line at all. Anyone can enter and have fun …and that’s much more interesting than watching some very talented surfers surf by themselves from one of the sponsor’s tents. The last addition to these events is the Onda Longa Longboard Festival.

After a long waiting period (1 month), it took place on March the 27th, the second to last day of the waiting period. The reason: because it breaks deep inside one of these fjord-like Rías that dot the Galician coastline, Monte Pedrido needs a combination of huge swells, spring tides …and on a weekend. Luckily even during one of the worst winters in recent history in terms of waves, Galiza is never short of huge swells and, after some close calls, the event could take place right before the end of the waiting period. The wave itself isn’t high performance friendly at all, even for logs. It is the closest version of a cold water Waikiki you can find around here: very soft, hardly much a wall and reforming endlessly; hence the name of the event: onda longa (Galician for “long wave”). And so the format of the event was quite simple: everyone surfed together wearing a distinct shirt -or tee-shirt- that helped identify the rider and the winners were sorted out later after a nice dinner.

Check the Onda Longa 2010 video clip from suso ben.

And check all the action and photos HERE .

Niegà

It’s probably clear to anyone who reads my ramblings on here that i think style is important when you surf. I think everyone has an innate type of style, a natural look to the way they surf, be it smooth as silk like Dane Peterson, nonchalant like Lopez at pipe or just plain different like Alex Knost.

Although it is possible to work at surfing in a certain way, it always looks slightly contrived compared those who are lucky enough to have good style naturally. Obviously “good style” is a very subjective judgement and to a certain extent a personal assessment.
I’ve spent a lot of time watching video of people surfing, both other peoples films and the footage that went into my two. After a while it’s very easy to identify different people from the way they move, the body positions they adopt, even if they are riding similar equipment, doing similar things, on similar waves.

I’d like to think i am at least a little smooth when i surf but in the interests of self disclosure i must admit to my own weird style quirk (besides having funny shaped toes). I seem to point my index fingers, especially on my left hand. Don’t ask me why, i’m not sure it is crucial to successful balancing, but i do it on a skateboard or a snowboard too. I’m telling myself it’s that attention to even the tiniest part of body english that helps me look like i know what i’m doing out there but i’m probably grasping (pointing?) at straws!

A.C.L. stands for Asociación de Clubes de Longboard (Longboard Clubs Association) and it ran an amateur circuit of longboarding and festive events all over Spanish beaches a few years ago.  Some of these events have grown way beyond the A.C.L. such as the aforementioned Salinas Longboard Festival, while others have been one-year wonders. And it seems that 2010 will be interesting as, along the Salinas event in August, the Málaga Surfing Club and the local longboarding brand CeCe Surfboards are holding the Tarifa Noseriding Festival on Europe’s southernmost beach during Easter (1-4 april). Note that it is a mobile and noseriding-only event.

As I write these lines I’ve heard of other festivals that might be held all over the coast and that will be announced shortly. So… wax your logs, iron your hawaiian shirts and start training as soon as possible.

Niegà

or why you shouldn’t be wearing  a leash on a log!

I’m quite opinionated about most things, surfing included.  I think style is important, in the sense that the way you surf a wave and the equipment you choose to ride is a reflection of your personality and that the aesthetics of the lines you draw on a wave are important.

I love longboarding, particularly the traditional style of logging, a pursuit where looking stylish and making the difficult look effortless is part of the point.

I am a firm believer in riding longboards without a leash, unless you’re a beginner, likely to lose your board and kill someone of course. I’d go so far as to say that if it’s big enough to need a leash you should be riding a different board.

Perhaps you agree, perhaps you think that’s controversial. In fact the most recent surfers journal has an opinion piece telling us it shouldn’t matter, but hear me out & see if i can convince you.

However, I’ve been thinking for some time now that I really should be entering more competitions, so with the prospect of good waves I entered myself in the Jesus Longboard Classic.

On my arrival in Polzeath, early Saturday morning, the sun was smiling down and the surf was small but glassy, setting the scene for a classic autumnal day.

With cash prizes on offer, the Jesus Longboard Classic is a popular event and all the well-known names in competitive longboarding turned up. What I enjoyed about this contest was not only that the level of modern longboarding was so high, but also that some of the juniors and open guys chose to ride more traditional equipment, which I think illustrates the open-mindedness of today’s longboarder.

I had a fun warm-up surf at low tide, but my heat was the last of the day and the wave quality had faded a bit with the high tide. Nevertheless, I got through my heat in second place and into a place in the semis.

The surf picked up on Sunday and the wind was still in our favour. With good, clean, head-high waves, the standard of surfing was exceptional, and it was great to see the upcoming talent snapping at the heels of Bleakers, Skinner, Griffith et al. The women’s race was hotly contested too, and I drew former BLU Champions Dominque Kent and Nicola Bunt in my next heat, but with a couple of good waves I made it through to the final.

I was so stoked to make the final that I lost my focus a little, and with fewer waves coming through I made the mistake of waiting in the wrong spot for waves that never came. In the end I finished fourth, which was a bit disappointing, but I got a little trophy and came out of the experience with a more positive view of competitions.

Provided the conditions are right –and it looks like they will be-  the Zarautz Noseriding Festibal will take place this weekend (October 17 & 18). It’s a first …and we hope it’s not a last. It’s going to be all about noseriding, cross stepping and gliding. Bring your log and leave your air tricks –and your leash- at home.

Niegà

Celebrating its eighth anniversary this past August, the Vans Longboard Festival de Salinas 2009 has clearly become much more than a longboarding contest: it is, now more than ever, a gathering of the longboarding clans.

It all started eight summers ago when a small group of longboarders from Salinas (near Avilés, one of the beaches with a longest surfing tradition in northern Spain) decided to organize a longboard gathering/competition among friends. They wanted their little meeting to somehow mark the start of the summer vacations, so they decided that it should always be held on the very first weekend in August, when 98% of the Spanish population starts its well-deserved summer break. That first festival was an extremely informal event, not subjected to the rules of any international or national surfing body (and still is… mainly) and with a lovely tradition that has grown exponentially over the years: La Fotona. La Fotona (the big photo) is a group photo of all the surfers who make the journey to Salinas, posing along the beach, one next to each other and standing proudly in front of their weapon (log) of choice. Lately, and because of the huge numbers of attendees, a front row has had to be improvised otherwise not even the widest lenses can capture everyone.

Guille‘s version of La Fotona 2009. For more pictures of Salinas by Guille check HERE.

Salinas has everything to offer: a longboard contest that runs along the rules of any other contest (mix of traditional and modern longboarding), a couple of expression sessions, several board tests, some entertainment for the children (many longboarders bring their whole families in tow), crazy music nights with life bands until the wee hours of the morning (after all this is Spain), a couple of barbeques (Hawaiian shirt recommended), a couple of surf flicks normally screened either on the beach or by the pine forest, a night surf session, a huge grass camping area and a village with sponsors tents.

Many a big surfing name has visited Salinas over the years: Beau Young, Alex Knost, Mitch Abshire, Joel Tudor, Tom Wegener… and that’s only from overseas, as many a top longboarder from France, UK, Portugal and Spain visit regularly. You want to surf by yourself on your first holiday weekend? Don’t come to Salinas. Point in case: this year up to 399 longboarders signed themselves in… on top of which you should add lots of girlfriends, wives, husbands, boyfriends and children. And in spite of the somewhat funky sandbanks -and a day of strong winds and rain- they surfed lots (some in heats, most not), they drank beer (lots) and they danced to the sounds of The Fakeband and the Kings of Makaha (Smile couldn’t play due to bad weather). On top of that they checked the visiting pros and their styles, they met their heroes (Tudor, Knost…), they learnt how to shape an alaia courtesy of Tom Wegener, they watched some movies (The Present, Picaresque…) and hung out with each other. It is so addictive that –every year- some of the usual suspects drive over ten hours just to be there that weekend… before driving back those same hours on Sunday night in order to be at work on Monday morning; they are part of that 2% of the Spanish population that doesn’t start their summer holidays on August the 1st.

So now you know: what started as a little gathering of friends has become the biggest longboard event in Europe. Maybe not for the prize money nor the points and the rankings, but for the stoke it transmits to all the attendees. And be warned: it gets highly addictive.

To watch some fo the best photos of the 2009 Festival de Salinas visit the gallery of local photographer Guille A. Pando HERE.

Niegà

Ross Johns was half the team that produced the critically acclaimed Brit longboard flick “State of Play”. Since finishing that project he’s been hard at work on his own film, titled ‘Fusion’ and promising to feature a veritable smorgesbord of high level surfing on long and shortboards.

Ross has spent a lot of time sleeping in his car, clocking up the miles up and down the southwest, the northeast and even to a few slabs in Scotland (see the opening picture).

No official release date yet but keep your eyes peeled, it’ll be worth the wait when it’s done!

Trevelyan Garland, a.k.a. Trev, is part of this generation and hot on the heels of Skinner and Co. Early in 2009, Finisterre tipped Garland as one of the most, “underrated, young talents within the competitive long boarding scene” and soon got him on side, with his quiet determination and humility. “It felt great to finally get the title, it’s taken a lot of time and effort getting to the comps and trying to stay ahead. Now I am looking forward to the Autumn and hopefully some good swells back in Cornwall.”

Finisterre’s founder Tom Kay, speaks highly of Trevelyan. “We like his attitude, Trevelyan and his brother Charlie, have always been passionate about surfing and fishing. Following in his Dad’s footsteps everyone’s always recognised him as a great surfer on the way to good things. Here at Finisterre, we congratulate Trev on his win, and back him all the way.” Ernest Capbert, Finisterre’s marketing director praises his non aggressive competitive attitude. “His style is quiet and humble, he shows up to comps, straps on his gear, waits patiently, paddles out, get the highest scores in the heat, collects his winnings and walks off quietly in the distance”. It seems that the future of British Longboarding is in safe hands.