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It's simply not tennis old bean and I am not talking about strawberries and cream with a glass of pimms on the grass!

 British tennis sinks to new lows and questions are being asked, how and why?  To those that know, the answer is simple, sport in the UK reflects the unjust economic barriers facing many in current day British society.

This paragraph from the telegraph is classic > '....Yes, Andy Murray skipped a weekend at the Vitas Gerulaitis Tennis Centre, but shouldn’t the LTA have more to show for all the millions that they have spent over the years?

The Lithuanian’s annual budget is roughly the amount that flows out of the LTA’s bank account every day of the year, and yet Britain still lose to a nation whose previous claim to tennis fame was the ancestry of Vitas Gerulaitis, who used to play under the American flag...' (By Mark Hodgkinson in Vilnius, Published: 6:00PM GMT 07 Mar 2010, Entire article here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/daviscup/7392803/Davis-Cup-Great-Britain-suffers-new-tennis-low-with-defeat-in-Lithuania.html)

Tennis in the Uk is all about strawberries and cream, pimms on the grass, British players who never make it to the final of Wimbledon (Andy Murray is Scottish not British apparently). The one chance of gaining success in Britain is breaking down barriers to sport and making it inclusive rather than 'exclusive' the evidence appears to support the facts that despite over 10 years of labour in power sport is unfortunately becoming more exclusive.

The problems are going to get far worse over the next few years with the pending cuts after May whichever party gain power. As the first level of cuts are always on non statutory areas within Local government which of course is sport and recreation. An example of cuts can be seen here in Swansea with the proposed closure of the Indoor Tennis Centre.

PIC: BBC ONLINE SERVICES full article can be seen here > Save Swansea Tennis Centre on BBC News

Anyway the election is looming use your vote to make changes in your community and the future may get better here in broken Britain > 

 

Glorious Swansea Bay and Gower a must visit destination

Much cheaper here than Europe with two pints to the price of one in Euroland and in some pubs 3 pints to one makes Swansea a great place for stag and hen visits or weekend breaks that will not break the bank!

I took the first shot with my phone yesterday after walking back from the indoor surfing lessons and the rest on trip out to Rhossili Bay, Gower at sunset >

 

 

For more info on our surfing lessons or booking a taster session > Click on picture below

Chop hopping requires a different talent, let us hope the Bell rings much louder!

I am so glad that I did not stay up last night and watch the chop hopping, am amazed that the pros opted to go in the water as it looked total pants and a step back to the bad old days of surfing in the worst places at the wrong times of year.
We want to see the best waves with the best pro surfers not chop hopping, hopefully Rip Curl will do better and order some large walls for the bells classic and then the best surfers will shine.

Watch the final if you can be bothered to via link below >  http://www.quiksilverpro.com.au/heats.aspx#/172/545/

RIP Mad Mike Kent

Above my father in law Mike Kent a man of many talents, surfing at his beloved Aberavon beach, Swansea Bay. Surfing was not his only passion as he was also an avid supporter of Swansea City FC. Here is the local Swansea papers article and several tributes to the Gower surfing legend > Swansea evening post

RIP Mike love Amy & Simon

 

The after school junior surfing academy at Caswell Beach restarting mid April, book your place now

 The famous junior surfing academy is now taking bookings for mid April onwards, if you are a parent, guardian, youth group leader or school teacher and fancy doing something different this year with your young people then bring them to Caswell Beach, Swansea for surfing education classes.

More information can be gained from the following links below or by picking up the current 'whats on' magazine here in Swansea bay area and look for the advert below (Click on image to enlarge) 

Junior surfing academy Frequently asked questions 

Easter holidays junior surfing is starting up again

Junior surfing pictures and videos 

 

For more info on our surfing lessons or booking a taster session > Click on picture below

 

Back on glorious Gower, no rock falls or landslides just gently rolling waves ideal for learning in

We went for a walk around the Gower coastal path yesterday, the sun was shining and a small ground swell rolling gently on to Caswell Beach, Swansea.

Caswell and Rhossili Bays are simply the best places to learn in Europe and possibly the world due to the soft nature of the waves and the beach environment being so safe. I have spent the last two months travelling around the surfing world and looking at various surf spots that people learn at and must say, I am hard pushed to compare any to the above for your first surf lesson and next step surf session.

Put it quite simply, learn to swim in the shallow end before working your way to the deeper water! (Which could be one of our surf trips to Portugal in the winter of 2010)

For more info on our surfing lessons or booking a taster session > Click on picture below

 

Leftfield are going to be at the Relentless Boardmasters in association with Vans in Newquay, Cornwall on August 7

Newton Faulkner and Seasick Steve among other starts to co-headline Friday 6^th August, Newquay in Cornwall

Message boards, on line forums and good old fashion word of mouth have been buzzing since last week’s announcement that 90’s dance legends Leftfield are due to headline the Saturday night of this year’s Relentless Boardmasters in association with Vans in Newquay on August 7.

To keep everyone’s excitement levels to the max we can announce that on the Friday 6^th August we bring you not one, but two headliners of the highest calibre to top off what will be an extraordinary weekend of live music in Cornwall.

Organisers are delighted to announce that the headliners for Friday 6 August will be Brit award nominated American blues man Seasick Steve and the chart topping, million selling, acoustic troubadour Newton Faulkner.

Seasick Steve is a man who needs no introduction and is no stranger to the event after he played a Relentless Beach Session back in 2007. Since then we have witnessed Steve become a household name and one of the hottest ‘new’ artists around, the result of being catapulted into the public consciousness following an electrifying performance on Jools Holland’s Hootenanny.

Since then, he’s won the 2007 MOJO award for best breakthrough artist, sold-out major shows including a prestigious Royal Albert Hall date, charmed every festival from Glastonbury to Latitude, became the oldest Brit Award nominee in history and his most recent album ‘Man From Another Time’ entered the charts at #4, making it his highest charting release to date.

So as if having the legendary Seasick as a headliner wasn’t enough the main stage will be closed on 6 August by firm Cornish favourite, Newton Faulkner.

Newton Faulkner has had a hugely successful past few months. With his already gold-selling second album Rebuilt By Humans debuting at number three in the official charts and storming straight in at the top spot on ITunes, and his biggest Mar/April tour already sold out.

The follow up to 2007’s number one, million-selling, debut Hand Built By Robots, is called Rebuilt By Humans for a very important reason.  At the start of 2009 Faulkner broke his wrist and dislocated his entire right hand. A bad enough injury at the best of times, but if you’re a guitarist – and a virtuoso finger-picking one at that – it’s catastrophic!

One extremely intricate operation later to save movement in his hand and Faulkner was sneakily playing guitar again, his own form of DIY physio. He was back doing what he loved. Newton Faulkner had been rebuilt by humans.

Buoyed by radio play, Hand Built By Robots became a rare and precious thing: a word of mouth phenomenon. The same can easily be said for its follow up.  It is phenomenal: ‘Won’t Let Go’, propelled by driving strings and an urgent, jump around backbeat, is already a live classic, as anyone who heard it at last summer’s Glastonbury and Latitude festivals will attest, not least because Faulkner plays the song accompanied by a tape of the backing track, which he whips out of his pocket and sticks in a cassette player.

Live, if you haven’t already witnessed his genius you are in for a treat. Faulkner is a one man band with his inventive, tech-savvy ways of triggering and presenting some of the backing tracks which were crafted in the studio for these big, bold new songs which are guaranteed to be massive crowd pleasers on the Newquay cliff top.

So how does Newton feel about sharing his headline status with Seasick Steve? ‘’I can’t wait to do Boardmasters with Seasick Steve, the man is a legend!’’ 

Tickets are now available on general release via the website, www.relentlessboardmasters.com and, with more than 30 bands per day across three stages (full line-up details to be announced in coming weeks), are without doubt the best value festival tickets money can buy.

Day tickets are just £35 while a weekend ticket is £60 or £80 with 2 nights of camping.

For tickets go to www.relentlessboardmasters.com

Relentless Boardmasters in Association with Vans returns from 4-9^th August 2010 
 
The Relentless Boardmasters in association with Vans is Europe’s most famous surf, skate and music festival and over its 29 years has welcomed the biggest names in those fields. 2010 will be no different. Nowhere else in Europe can you find the best of the best at one event. RBM takes place across two sites, in Newquay, Cornwall and the highlights are as follows:

Set in possibly the UK’s most beautiful festival setting, the RBM Music festival takes place over two nights from 6-7^th August on the cliff top at Watergate Bay. The festival, over its 4 years has witnessed some of the biggest acts to ever play the South West. Acts such as Razorlight, James Blunt, Feeder, Funeral For A Friend, Groove Armada, Pigeon Detectives and 2009 headliners The Streets and Cypress Hill have all taken over the main stage.

The RBM Music Festival has now grown since its formative years and now consists of 4 music stages offering a diverse line-up for all music lovers. From fist pumping punk and metal on the Vans ‘Off The Wall’ Stage to the cutting edge eclecticism of the Relentless Energy Stage.

The Relentless Beach Sessions, 4, 5 and 9^th August, have become one of the most popular events at the RBM. In the most intimate of venues, the Fistral Beach Bar, a bespoke venue built for the RBM, music fans can watch some of the best in established and up and coming music talent, just a stone’s throw from the Fistral sunsets over the lapping Atlantic waves.

Acts to have graced the Relentless Beach Sessions include Enter Shikari, Seasick Steve, Sneaky Sound System, Beau Young, Pete Murray, Pigeon detectives and the Blackout to name a few. Many of these acts go on to become massive names in their musical genres.

Fistral Beach, the home of British surfing, is the venue for the 5 Star ASP World Qualifying Series surf event, the highlight of the Relentless Boardmasters in association with Vans. The World’s best surfers will descend upon Newquay for a chance to win their share of the $120,000 prize purse and even more importantly the points on offer to catapult them into the “Dream Tour” and a life of surf super stardom. Make no mistake, this is the only chance to see the World’s best in England. Fistral will also host the Relentless Aerial Assault whereby surfers are catapulted into waves via jet ski offering speed to perform manoeuvres never seen in standard contest surfing.

While surfing is the roots of the Relentless Boardmasters in association with Vans it is certainly not the only sporting highlight. Vert skateboarding has been a part of the festival for over 10 years and cements RBM as Europe’s leading event of its kind. 

The 2009 Vans Summer Session hosted the highest profile event to date with US heavy hitters Alex Perelson and Neal Hendrix making the trip across the pond to take part. While these guys are superstars of the sport it was no easy ride thanks to the European contingent highlighted by UK shredders Sam Beckett and Sam Bosworth. They will all be back again this year and with the progression levels of the two Sam’s expect some serious upsets!

2009 also played host to the inaugural Vans Summer Session BMX mini ramp competition. After a few years of vert skate demos it was clearly time to give the BMX’ers their own event and the mini ramp comp was born. Over 40 of the UK’s top riders descended upon the Beach Village on Fistral and the carnage ensued. Highlights included a fakie double tail whip by Ben Wallace and an outstanding winning runs by Wallace and Martyn Cooper, 1^st and 2^ndrespectively. They will return to defend their positions.

Elsewhere on the Fistral site is the famous surf village where you can purchase all the latest surf gear at great prices. Perched above the beach, the Relentless Beach Bar also provides the ideal location to watch all the action whilst enjoying a cool beer, BBQ and of course the Nuts Bikini Contest. Yes that’s  right, Nuts sift through the finest bikini clad babes and bring them to the Relentless Boardmasters in association with Vans to crown the Nuts Bikini Babe of the year.

The Relentless Boardmasters in association with Vans has something for everyone and is the ultimate staycation! (stay at home vacation). Go to www.relentlessboardmasters.com now to see why the RBM is the most unique event of its kind!  

For information contact info@sportsvision.co.uk 

For more info on our surfing lessons or booking a taster session > Click on picture below

 

Surfing then rugby makes for a super fun weekend

Surf is medium sized at the moment,but, the conditions are super clean and with all the carnage it is easy to find lonely spots to surf.

Today we are going to help prepare a friends house for the next storm and then go surfing. Tonight at 20.00 the six nations match is live on TV > Wales host France

Enjoyo!

 

For more info on our surfing lessons or booking a taster session > Click on picture below

 

 

Escape from a trapped village on Danger Island

pic courtesy Jornal Da Madeira

I was hoping to catch a plane today (weds) before the next storm hit us, but, the car we use broke down after a rock hit it. 

We all had to hike back into the village in the dark climbing through and over the rock falls. Which made for another adrenalin filled day here on danger island.

Early this morning we packed our gear and made the most of a dry period for a mad dash up the old road which was open. However, the rain was approaching and rocks had been falling during the night.

 Welsh artist Tony was driving like a demon to get us up and out of the firing range which claimed one locals life over the weekend.

 We got to the top and had a beer it was just gone 9 a.m and the relief of escaping from the village below, before the storm was evident.  Part of the road trip video is below a pic of our car full to the brim with boards and food.

If your on fb then click on link you may need to  log in b4 you watch > Escape up the old road on danger island

Picture below shows some rather large rocks that fell from the sky!

 
 

On Danger Island and more rain due!

Above is a small slide near the village, along the road a mile or so are much larger landslides which they are working on but some of the rocks are too big for the machinery they have here at the moment.

 I have been keeping track of flights out on easyjet which are running, but, the prices have gone up! Obviously because of the demand to escape from the carnage in certain parts of the Island here. (nice of them to make money out of a bad situation)  

Mind you, even if I booked a flight at the moment there is no guaran's that I can make it to the airport and at the moment, no one in the village want's to take the risk. They`re just standing looking at the cliffs, in the past it was the power of the ocean that scared them, hence the attempted destruction, with thanks to the Euro Comm' money of the jewel of the atlantic   (Mike suggested to them all in the bar, that perhaps they could take all the concrete from the ugly sea wall defences and use it to stop the bigger problem of cliff falls!)

Picture below is one of the roads further along taken from two different angles, it is quite clear from local news coverage that others are in greater need. RIP to those that lost their lives in a powerful display of nature's power.