Northcore East coast drift 08: Snow and surf.

This Easter morning of the Northcore East coast Drift surf competition saw some areas of the UK East coast covered in over 4” of fresh powder so a snowboard competition could have been an alternative if the swell hadn't shown as forecast. Fortunately the waves did arrive and there was a strong turnout with surfers competing from Tyneside, Scarborough and Lincolnshire at Scarborough's South bay which held a cleanish 2-4ft swell with strengthening cold NW winds making conditions more challenging as the day progressed. With 35 surfers competing there were Junior, shortboard, longboard and veterans division heats held throughout the day between 10am and 4pm, with the finals held in difficult high tide waves influenced by a heavy seawall backwash which competitors tackled head on.

All the final winners were from Scarborough with the winner of the Juniors, James (Riv) Kirk, the Veterans winner was Ian (stix) Kirk with Mark (grom) Dickinson winning both the shortboard and Longboard open, receiving a Northcore shortboard as first prize.

NORTHCORE EAST COAST DRIFT SURF COMPETITION IS ON THIS WEEKEND

The forecast is for a 6ft+ Northerly swell with offshore winds so competition organisors have given the thumbs up for the go ahead of the Northcore East Coast Drift, which hopefully see some of the regions best surfers competing in conditions which look really promising

This year will be the first Northcore East Coast Drift surf event to host an Inter-clubs competition between, Tynemouth, Saltburn, Scarborough and Lincolnshire surf clubs. Northcore Europe Surf Co. spokesman says of the event “We're holding this years event on the 23^rd March at Scarborough's South Bay and we're really pleased to be getting involved by supporting the competition with a few prizes. Surfing in the NE area is no where near as main stream as it is in Devon and Cornwall, the scene here is much more at a grass roots level with less corporate involvement. The conditions in the North East are harsher with colder water and air temperatures being common and the infrastructure isn't as well developed, but the waves can be as good as anywhere in the South West and the year round surfers here are amongst the most dedicated and hardcore in the country”

Northcore Team riders in Local press

Scarborough Evening newspaper recently wrote a short article about the Northcore East Coast Drift surf competition to be held this Easter Sunday 23rd March and they featured two of our team riders Joss Wescombe and Ryan Hammond. For more info on the comp click here

NORTHCORE WELCOMES BRITISH JUNIOR RIDER, KATHLEEN SPEARS TO THE TEAM

Northcore Europe officially announced yesterday the signing of Kathleen Spears joining their surf team as the womens National Team Rider.

Kathleen is a talented young surfer, with a massive to desire to prove her self both in the water and out. She grew up in Croyde in North Devon, with the local beaches and reefs as her training ground, and from a young age she has been training under the watchful eyes of her parents and older brother. Kath has been a part of the British squad since she was 12. In the recent years she has made a name for her self by becoming the youngest Open womens English Champion that there has ever been. She competes full time on the UK Pro Surf Tour and also competes in some WQS and ASP pro juniors along the way. As well as competing Kath manages to fit in a full time College course where she studies surfing and business Cornwall.

In the last few years she has traveled the world with coaching and photo shoots taking her to locations like Hawaii, Dominican Republic, Morocco and more. On these trips she has shown her passion for not backing down from bigger waves and is always pushing her limits. Kathleen is a dedicated young athelete and definately a name to watch out for in the future!

Northcore™ are a British based, European surf & boardriding company with a global outlook. Northcore only work with the very best people in the industry from riders, right through to our ISO approved manufacturers. Everything Northcore™ does reflects its roots in hardcore cold water surfing producing tough, practical products and custom surfboards all of exceptional quality, integrity and design.

Northcore East coast drift surf comp 2008

There are a number of local surf clubs taking advantage of North Sea swells and this Easter four of them will get together for the Northcore East Coast Drift. This year will be the first Northcore East Coast Drift surf event to host an Inter-clubs competition between, Tynemouth, Saltburn, Scarborough and Lincolnshire surf clubs. We're holding this years event on the 23^rd March at Scarborough's South Bay and we're really pleased to be getting involved by supporting the competition with a few prizes. Surfing in the NE area is no where near as main stream as it is in Devon and Cornwall, the scene here is much more at a grass roots level with less corporate involvement. The conditions in the North East are harsher with colder water and air temperatures being common and the infrastructure isn't as well developed, but the waves can be as good as anywhere in the South West and the year round surfers here are amongst the most dedicated and hardcore in the country.

Check out the attached flyer for more info.

Lewis Clinton's Hawaiian Diary

Lewis, our national team rider is presently on the Northshore of Oahu...the global epicentre of surfing (lucky man) and he's written a diary piece for us below. The picture is of lewis surfing Haleiwa a few days ago:

"I got to hawaii in the evening on the 26th of febuary and woke up the next day to the north shore pumping, i'm staying about a 2 minute walk away from sunset so i could hear the waves all night. The surf has been so good, last week pipeline was as the locals were saying 'As good as it gets'.

The weather has been great too havn't had a drop of rain which from what i heard from people before i came is pretty strange. The day before last i paddled out at pipe on a smallish day, was soo cool just to be out there i managed to nab a little backhand keg aswell so i'm well stoked! yesterday the swell picked back up and there is meant to be a real big swell coming tomorrow so it should be wicked to watch pipe work again.

On monday there was a kinda medium sized swell and it was clean so i took the opportunity to paddle out at sunset to get a closer veiw of such a sick wave, i used a old brown 7'2 i found in the house where i'm staying. When i got out there it was bigger than expected haha i took off on one got to the bottom and stacked it, then decided that was enough for me and just sat in the channel and watched for abit. Overall so far i've had a bloody sick time and have some sick surf just stocked i've got 3 weeks left of it".

Lincolnshire beach clean

I was pleased to help out with a beach clean this weekend, which saw national organisations and locals join together to clean an area of Lincolnshire beach close to the mouth of the Humber. The particular beach area is a black spot for rubbish and is located at an area called Donna Nook which the US military also use as a live bombing range (so anything looking like bombs weren't touched!!

The Marine conservation society were involved and helped out with surveying the crap that was collected (which included tyres, plastic bottles, shoes, tarpaulins etc) and supplying equipment. The local coastgaurds and RSPB were also involved, collecting and helping haul stuff away. The event was also filmed by a Corporate finance company who provided collection bags. It was also great to see local kids involved, enjoying themselves despite chilling Northerly winds!.

Check out the links above for more info about the organisations involved.