Waves amongst Mountains

Nestled within the picturesque village of Dolgarrog and the rolling hills of North Wales as a backdrop, is the surfers’ playground, aptly named…….Surf Snowdonia.

Since its opening back in 2015, it’s been the name on every UK surfer’s lips and the pros & cons well documented.

For me it was my second visit and I was joined by two good friends and a frothing Irish team rider Eoin McCarty Deering, all keen to see what the mechanical wave had to offer.

In comparison to our mellow 4hr road trip, Eoin’s route to the wave park is a story in itself……..a 2.30am ferry from Dublin, hitchhiking with the Irish army (en route to Sweden) from Holyhead to Bangor, joining up with a group of Irish football supporters on their way to the Euro’s and the last leg, a lift to the wave pool by the resident electrician. It’s clear to see that Eoin was desperate to get a bit of SS action.

After our brief coffee fueled wait, it was our turn to have a piece of the action. What proceeded was an afternoon of fun, as the four of us traded wave after wave in our 2 x 1hr sessions. It’s surprising how many waves the lagoon generates in an hour. We were well into double figures each, that opening up a post surf debate for us comparing this to a session at your local, busy beach break.

The evening was spent chilling out in the onsite bar/restaurant area, talking tales and planning our next adventure. The delicious food, great atmosphere and a few cold beers topped off an amazing day. One last thing for us to do was walk the few hundred meters around the lagoon to our onsite pod accommodation, perfectly positioned for a bird’s eye view of all the surf action.

The place is a great for those wanting to have fun, catch plenty of waves and perfect those frustrating manouveres. The staff we met were all friendly, polite and happy to offer assistance when requested, making the trip that little bit more enjoyable.

It’s definitely worth giving it a go and plans are already in place for a return team trip later on in the year.

Surfing definitely is fun

Elusive presents…..The Tripple Ripple

The Tripple Ripple is a “fun” 3 board speciality event allowing surfers to display their skills across a variety of boards, single fin, twinny & thruster.

The comp will consist of 4 women, 4 junior & 8 open competitors, each supplying their own boards for the event. The subsequent division winners will then be pitted against themselves to claim the overall title. “The Tripple Ripple Champion”

Maximum of 16 competitors, entry is £20 and on a first come first served basis.

Note: Maximum length of any board is to be no longer than 7′

There is also a planned beach clean and BBQ

 

Charlie Rio joins Elusive family

Jersey local & current British Schools U/18 shortboard & longboard Champion Charlie Rio is the latest addition to the Elusive team.

Already a seasoned campaigner on the World Junior scene, Charlie will compliment an already talented line up of team riders.

We are all stoked and look forward to an action packed 2016/17.

 

 

Jordan Reed “My Go Pro Winter”

Team rider Jordan Reed has spent the last few months exploring and scoring some great waves at a few of his local breaks. Armed with a Go Pro and a few mates, Jordan captures the fun & exciting times. Sit back and enjoy……………..

 

One Day…featuring Tom Anderson

One Day is the first in a series of videos featuring our team riders & ambassadors……….we hope you enjoy.
Big thanks to Auction for the Promise Club for the excellent soundtrack,Odd1Out Productions for putting this together and Steve Horn for the additional footage.
The full length interview with brand ambassador Tom Anderson is also due for release very shortly, watch this space.
www.elusivesurf.com ‪#‎surfingisfun‬ ‪#‎coldwatersurfer‬

No rest for Auction For The Promise Club

Cornish rock/indie band Auction For The Promise Club have been keeping themselves busy in 2015, playing extensive live dates across the UK and fitting in a bit of studio time to launch a few tracks.

You should be able to catch them on a few upcoming gigs in the new year:

Jan 23rd  – Exeter Rugby Club

Mar 4th – The Palladium Club, Bideford.

Mar 5th – London (venue TBC)

Check out their latest video to “Instincts”

http://www.auctionforthepromiseclub.com

Tweets by AFTPC

https://www.facebook.com/auctionforthepromiseclubmusic

 

 

Back to back wins as Morris retains the Elusive Open title.

Elusive open of Surf 2015. 7th November, Coney Beach, Porthcawl.

It couldn’t have been a worse start to a surf event as heavy winds and near horizontal rain hampered the early light set up, but as the contest progressed, the clouds disappeared making way for some well deserved sunshine. The early difficult conditions improved as the tide pushed in past the harbour wall, to reveal some clean faces and peeling waves, this provided a platform for a dazzling display of surfing in all categories.

Despite a delayed start the contest ran like clockwork and as the sun started to fade the final hooter of the day sounded to wrap up an exciting day of surfing action.

Back to back wins saw Alex Morris, Max Payne & Emily Williams retain their Open, U/18 and Women’s titles respectively, Swansea’s Connor Griffiths picked up the Longboard title.

It wouldn’t be a contest without these guys and a big thanks goes to all; Bob & Anne Blythe, Stuart Bentley, Craig Burrows, Ray Samson, Coryn Daniel, Tim Aylet, Linda Sharp, Johnny Hillman and the CS crew, the Welsh Surfing Federation, Welsh Coast Surf Club, Hi-Tide Porthcawl, Bridgend Tourism, Ffion Matthews and  the SAS crew for organising a  fantastic beach clean. All the co-sponsors: Diplock Surfboards, Obsessive-Disorder, Koston Skateboards UK, City Surf & Skate Cardiff, Flow Surf & Skate Porthcawl.

Full results:

Open Men: 1st Alex Morris, 2nd Rhys Poulton, 3rd, Harry Cromwell, 4th Seth Morris.

Women: 1st Emily Williams, 2nd Gwen Spurlock, 3rd Frankie Pioli, 4th Jessica Tuckman

U/18: 1st Max Payne, 2nd Jack Mathias, 3rd Logan Nicol, 4th Dylan Ward

Longboard: 1st Connor Griffiths, 2nd Elliott Dudley, 3rd Greg Norman, 4th Steve Horn

Photos: Jonathan Payne

9th Annual Elusive Open of Surf returns to Porthcawl.

7^th November, Rest Bay, Porthcawl.

Co-sponsored by Diplock Surfboards, Obsessive-Disorder hardware, Koston Skateboards, Flow Surf & Skate, City Surf & Skate, and supported by the Welsh Surfing Federation, the Welsh Coast Surf Club, Christian Surfers and Bridgend Council.

In conjunction with the event, there will be a 2 hour beach clean between 12.00 – 14.00 supported by Surfers Against Sewage.

Full updates are available via our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/elusive.clothing

Scott adds a touch of va va voom!

Team rider Scott Eastwood rocks up to a glassy Summer swell in the Vendee region of France and takes full advantage.

Anderson bags 2015 Welsh Senior title

Surfer/Author & Elusive ambassador Tom Anderson surfed his way to Senior Welsh Champion. In a hotly contested division and faced with challenging 4 – 5′ pumping conditions, Porthcawl based Tom delivered the goods to fulfil a lifelong dream.

Congratulations, a well deserved result!

Full competition results:

U12…
1 – Luke Hutchins
2 – E-Jay Cogger
3 – Eli Perrin-Davies
3 – Luke Barfield

U14
1 – Jo Morris
2 – Seth Morris
3 – Jack Mathias
4 – Luke Barfield

U16
1 – Cieran Hughes
2 – Jack Mathias
3 – Seth Morris
4 – Jo Morris

U18 Boys
1 – Rhys Barfield
2 – Arran Bright
3 – Cieran Hughes
4 – Logan Nicol

U18 Girls
1 – Emily Williams
2 – Niamh Mathias
3 – Bethan Lewis
4 – Ffion Hughes

U18 Longboard
1 – Arran Bright
2 – Oscar Arnold
3 – Harry Williams
4 – Tom Horn

Ladies Longboard
1 – Hazel Ilett
2 – Breige Lawrence
3 – Angharad John
4 – Georgina Lewtas

Woman’s Open
1 – Jo Dennison
2 – Emily Williams
3 – Gwen Spurlock
4 – Niamh Mathias

Bodyboard
1 – James MacGregor
2 – Emily Arnott
3 – Owen Alexander
4 – Logan Nicol

Longboard
1 – Rafie Gaskell
2 – Connor Griffiths
3 – Arran Bright
4 – Josh Hocking

Seniors
1 – Tom Anderson
2 – Chris Seage
3 – Rudi Perin Davies
4 – Chris Griffiths

Masters
1 – James Jones
2 – Mark Vaughan
3 – Brad Hockridge
4 – Greg Owen

Grandmasters
1 – Chris French
2 – Mark Vaughan
3 – Rob Silvey
4 – Chris Griffiths

Kahuna
1 – Chris Griffiths
2 – Brad Hockridge
3 – Colin Bright
4 – Ian Thomson

Open Men
1 – Rhys Barfield
2 – Alex Morris
3 – Mark Vaughan
4 – James Jones

photo: Mark Vaughan