Competition Surfing vs Free Surfing : My time in Cornwall



 
My first surf competition and why free surfing is better !

Hey everyone, how's it going ?! I've recently returned from a surf trip to Cornwall with my university for the BUCS Surfing Championships. I thought I'd tell you about my time and experience !

Before we get into that, make sure to check out my previous blog post and if your new, be sure to look at the introduction to my blog so you know what to expect !

As I mentioned, I've just returned from a surf competition in Cornwall, and it's safe to say I've got mixed feelings about surfing in competitions after this one ! 
Once a year Universities from all across the UK descend on the town of Newquay, Cornwall, for a weekend of surfing and general shenanigans. 
The waves at the competition venue that weekend were waist high and winds were blowing straight onshore. A complete mess ! Normally I wouldn't bother getting in the water if conditions were this way however, as I was competing, and had no choice but to surf ! Minutes before my heat, torrential rain started and the onshore winds started howling, making the sea all but unsurfable. The claxon went and I was forced to get in and try and get a score to get me through to the next round. I then spent the 15 minutes of my heat being battered by the waves and constantly paddling against a current to try and stay within the competition area, indicated by two flags roughly 100m apart. For the first time ever, I felt sad or even angry seeing someone else surfing a wave. Because I knew it was directly costing me my spot in the next round. 
By the end of the ordeal I'd caught one low scoring wave which didn't get me through to the next round and I left feeling completely deflated. Especially as I'd had to wait all day for my 15 minute slot to surf in terrible waves. 

The next day at the had been reserved for the second round of heats, which I hadn't made. Leaving myself and three other surfers completely free to travel around Cornwall looking for a better place to surf than the competition beach which remained unfavourable for surfing. 
We drove around 40 minutes to the south coast and found a spot where the waves were head high and the winds were blowing straight off shore. Absolutely perfect ! After the day we'd all had yesterday, we were completely made up, we all threw our wetsuits on and ran into the sea, surfing until we couldn't feel our arms after all the excited paddling. 
This weekend showed me exactly why I think free surfing as apposed to competition surfing is the way to go. If I'd have made it through the first round of competition, I'd have been stuck at the competition beach forced to surf substandard waves. Instead, I was able to and find a beach with much better conditions and have a considerably better time. 
I touched on it before, but when I surf, I love watching my friends or literally anyone catching waves and performing well, however during the competition, this was not the case. This wasn't a feeling I enjoyed and as much as I'm a competitive guy myself, surfing for me is about enjoying spending time with other surfers and being happy about someone else catching a wave and doing well.

Despite my competition experience, I had an amazing time in Cornwall, and I'll likely compete in the BUCS competition again next year. However between now and then I have no plans to compete before then !

To finish this post I thought I'd share my favourite free surfer's channel. Born and raised in Hawaii, Nathan Florence is known for travelling the world chasing the biggest and scariest waves. Recently, he was in the north of Scotland as there was a big swell on the way. A week later he was back in Hawaii surfing the first winter swell at the world most famous break, Pipeline. Nathan's a perfect and extreme example of the freedom free surfing gives you. Without surfing in competitions, Nathan Florence is unrestricted, travelling the world in search for the most perfect waves he can find without being told where or when he has to surf. 
Nathan Florence's Channel.


Thanks for reading, see you next time, 

Oli, 

Empty Peaks Surf.



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