Kathleen Spears in Oahu

Follow Kath's adventures in Hawaii on her blog:

http://www.kathleenspears.com/html/hawaiian_blog.html

Kathleen Spears selected for World Surf Games

Congrats to team Rider Kath Spears who has been selected for the team going to the World Surf Games in Equador late March early April 2009. Right now as part of her training she is on the Northshore of Oahu, wisely avoiding the sub-zero British weather!

Exploring the Orkney Islands

Big waves, unsurfed/undiscovered locations, huge swell windows, vast ocean fetch, endless variety of set ups, constant waves....its like a mini-Hawaii, so who wouldn't want to go to the Orkney Islands?!

For those who dont know, the Orkneys are a group of islands situated north of Scotland and the fabled reefs at Thurso. They lay on the same latitudes as Northern Canada and Greenland but although the islands do get bitterly cold in winter, the gulf stream tempers the climate and the ocean enough to mean that icebergs and polar bears arent local hazards!

We were lucky enough to visit one of the outer islands recently, partly to visit friends and partly to check it out for a possible future Northcore team trip and after days of looking at maps and swell charts I was dreaming of the seemingly limitless surf possibilities.

The main drawback other than the aforementioned cold, is the length of the journey there, for us it meant a 450 mile road trip, a flight, a cross island drive, a ferry and a long walk, which meant that we could have flown to the other side of the world in a similar amount of time. The journey is worth it though as the huge skys, vast seas and remoteness of the Orkneys is stunning.

The drive around the whole island we were staying on is only about 45mins and a few potential surf spots can be seen from the road but most are well hidden and all involve long walks across steep fields, stone walls, dead sheep and streams. Winter swells regularly reach 20ft+ (it was only a 12-14ft swell when we were there) and all of the spots we saw were rock reef set ups, some only accessible by boat or PWC. This place is hardcore!

I'm not going to give away anymore for now but watch this space for a possible trip in 2009.....

Northcore Team riders in Euro Junior surf championships, Morocco

We'd just like to wish team riders, Kathleen Spears and Lewis Clinton all the very best as they compete as part of the English Junior Surf Team in the European Surfing Championships, this weekend. The Championships are being held near Agadir in Morocco between November 28th and December 6th.

Watch this space for more updates....

New Distributor for Benelux

Northcore Europe are pleased to announce a new distribution partnership with Peak Distribution based in Holland. Headed by Jordi De Koning, Peak Distribution are now working with the full range of Northcore products supplying retailers in the surf markets of Holland and Belgium.

In the last few years surfing has really taken off in the Northsea nations of Holland and Belgium and the values of the Northcore brand and the quality of products have been readily embraced by the ever growing band of local surfers.

Jordi DE Koning said of the partnership "Peak Distribution is stoked on this new cooperation and will help spreading Northcore’s top end products in the cold water area’s of Holland and Belgium."

For more information on stocking Northcore's products in Holland and Belgium contact:

peakdistribution@gmail.com

Northcore Rider Kathleen Spears wins 2008 BPSA Welsh Open

Congratulations to Kath Spears for picking up first place in the womens division of the 2008 BPSA Welsh open. Weather and waves all came together for the event which also saw Kath collect a prize cheque for the highest scoring wave of the womens comp at huge 9.07!

*Image Vici Walker/UKPSA

British longboard club championships are a great succes

The British longboard club championships held at Scarborough's South bay last weekend were a great success. The Scarborough Malibu club always host well organised, friendly and professional events and this one was no exception. The comp was held in conditions which ranged from classic 4-6ft offshore in the morning to 1ft crosshore waves in the afternoon. The event was well attended with the North Devon Based "Hotdoggers" club securing first place, followed by Scarborough in second and the Royal navy surf association taking third place.

Image Copyright Northcore: Ryan Hammond, North Yorks local and Northcore sponsored rider