Surfladle

 G’Damn, this cold is COLD! At least it’s Friday evening and the Weekend is looking fun.. depending upon your point of view! 

 It may be nice in the Sun but there have been far too many low temperatures recently with a minus figure involved. Every morning this week it has been well below freezing (-8C at home this morning) and the sound of slow cranking engines, which will be another ‘bygone’ as leccy cars take over, has ensured that winter is making its mark and taking its toll. Earlier this week I received a WhatsApp from Niels and Zoe Larsen , who were the people behind Magic Touch Windsurfing Sails and Boards, made in Penzance for ‘many years’ but they now reside in Denmark and have just endured 16 days of useless snowfall (no Downs to go play on where they are) with constant below freezing temperatures, so our mere ‘chilling’ is of a minor consequence. Still, it’s all change shortly as this weekend brings us our next dose of Atlantic wet and WINDY weather. More on that in the weekends weather..

Another name from the past came up earlier today, when a chap called Peter Hone from Barcelona emailed to ask about an article I ran ages ago on one of the UK’s favourite Kiwi board shapers, Mr John Brookbanks of Brookbanks Designs . I won’t go into John’s history but I think I am right in saying that he was involved in the Kiwi steel boat building industry and the various glass fibre techniques that came with that, before turning up in the UK and getting involved with the Hayling Windsurfing fraternity. From which I believe the making of his own and then boards for others, finally ending up in a unit in Tangmere. Note. I think he made a better living out of producing camera housings for use on the North Sea oil rigs. Anyway, during the emails with Peter I mentioned another member of the H.I.fraternity,  namely Gerry Anderson, another well known name from the past if you needed your board repaired, as he was based in Rowlands Castle, near Emsworth. Peter said that he remembered Gerry having a favourite story about his time in F1, which went along the lines of when he had to make a mould of an infamous driver’s backside.. a certain Ayrton Senna..  to construct the glass fibre seat pod. That got me wondering if anyone else knows how that story went.. please post it if you do! As for John and Gerrys whereabouts, anyone know? 

I mentioned last week that we had been adjusting SUP board pricing and this week another board, along with a bunch or gaggle of paddles, have been reduced… worth a look if you are in the mood to get ready for Spring! 

https://www.surfladle.com/inflatable-boards/gladiator/gladiator-pro-104-2021

https://www.surfladle.com/paddles

We also have a SUP board come home that has been on loan for a few.. years.. and if anyone is looking for a faster board for paddling around on, how about this one…A Nah Skwell SCOW! The SCOW is a bit of a weird beast but it did tick a lot of boxes for most people who wanted a fast but reasonably stable board. This is what Nah Skwell had to say..

The Nah Skwell Scow 12'6 Race - Faster than you can believe, more comfortable than you can imagine, lighter and cheaper than you thought possible!Anywhere we go, weekends are now SUP racing days. Whatever the board-size category we have yet seen, we only watched pointed-bow boards for racing…. and asked WHY? Time for Nah Skwell then, to retain its reputation for design and innovation, by offering a totally different shape, in search of more performance from an easier ride!

Inspired by " Scow " yachts and their more rectangular shape, the Nah Skwell Scow Race 12'6 aims to erase the inherent drawbacks of a "traditional" pointed bow! The Scow design really works - Simply, we have made a board with cutting edge race winning performance, and put a load of fun and accessibility back in!

More stable: when a board is " pinched " at both ends, then any sea way makes it loose stability. With a wider outline forward, the Scow offers much more comfort than any racing board to date; the " row " effect is tamed down and the board is much less susceptible to side-winds and swells.

Slightly heeled: where a pointed-bow board requires to be paddled very flat - which is proving quite difficult as the miles go by and /or the water becomes choppy - the Nah Skwell "Scow" shall happily settle on its full length paddle-side rail, with a slight heel - much less tiring for the rider and significantly enhancing performance in the process!

A downwind beast: more stable, our Scow accelerates on the smallest bumps! No more burying the bow down into the back of a wave, with the inherent yaw, loss of control and…fall off! The Scow's nose remains above water in virtually all conditions, and really helps in lengthening the 'surf ride' on every wave. 

What more could you want for a spot of distance paddling! A SCOW is 12’6” long, 27.5” wide and has a depth of 5”. Volume is approx. 240lt and comes with a 21cm Power Box fin.  I think this is an Epoxy Wood version, weighing approx. 11kg (we can weigh it to check). Condition looks good, no repairs noticed and just scratches on the rails from paddle strokes and pebbles. A clean will improve its looks but it arrived here late this afternoon, so no time to do it. So, how much for the beast.. does £295.00 sound fair (we do not want to carry it in and out of the shop every day!)? A trial before buying can be arranged but not sure about the next few days! Read on.. 

OK, the weekends weather and Tides.

Saturday, kicks off straight from the start with Storm Isha bringing a day of 16-28kt (mix of Guru and Met stats)  Sou’Sou’West wind with a top temp of 6°C (if it was above 10°C it would be a cracker). No rain and the tide is High at 06.05hrs on a 5.3m, so Low around midday. 

Sunday, Isha gets going, with 23-41kt Sou’West but by late afternoon the forecasters suggest we will have a ripping 32 -55kt (Guru say 59kt) which carries on through the evening and into Monday morning. No rain shown during the day but there will be showers early in the morning and later in the evening.  An Amber warning for Wind has been issued for our area on Monday (Sundays is Yellow) but I think that refers to the high wind speeds expected at the end of Sunday evening and the early hours of  Monday morning. Top Temp for Sunday is… 12°C! Truly Scorchio. Sundays High Tide is at 07.20hrs on a 5.1m.

And that’s it for this week. I will post ‘Shakey’s Beach Vid’ tomorrow morning (on Facebook) and then get the deck chairs and sun lotion ready for the hot weekend ahead. Have a good’un!