Chris Thomson grew up on the Isle of Wight, learning to surf at an early age with one dream, ‘surfing’. Chris left school at 16 and went to Newquay to live his dream, he became a surf coach and had a successful competition career with big name sponsors O’Neill and Fat Face before starting ‘Errant […]
Mar 23, 2012 | Categories: Surfer Profiles, The Nineties | Tags: archive, Argentina, auction, Australia, Bali, beach, Billabong, blog, BPSA, California, Cameo Sports, Canada, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Chris Thomson, compton, Compton Bay, Costa Rica, Criag Holland, Dean Bowden, Dylan, Errant, Errant Surf, Fat Face, Fistral Backpackers, France, Gambia, Hawaii, history, Holiday, Holidays, IOW, Isle of Wight, Japan, Josh Jupe, longboard, Los Locos, Mexico, Morocco, Nasal drain, Newquay, Nick Thomson, Night Surf, O'Neill, Orkney Islands, people, photo, photographs, portrait, Portugal, Sailing, Saturday Job, Sea water, Singapore, Smash, social hub, South and North Maldives, Spain, stoked, surf, Surf Coach, Surf Trip, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, The Noughties, The Offspring, Theresa, Tom 'Rappas' Ramplin, Tom Ramplin, Uruguay, waves, wetsuit, Whitecliff, Whitecliff Bay, wightsurfhistory | Comments Off on Chris Thomson
The Isle of Wight Surf Club team headed down to Woolacombe last weekend for the 2011 British Interclub Championships. Matt Harwood had put together a strong team with Doug Richards, Josh Jupe, Chris Mannion, Mark New and Craig Sharp joining him. This years event was being scored differently to previous years with only one day to fit everything in and there was only one heat for each team member. During free surfing the boys looked good, but during the heats they couldn’t seem to find the high scoring waves. Local knowledge paid off for the teams from Devon coming out on top. With the Island scoring 2nd’s, 3rd’s and 4th’s in their heats it wasn’t enough for a podium this year. In the Masters category the old timers in the team faired better, Craig and Chris showing that experience was the key coming 2nd overall.
Nov 07, 2011 | Categories: The Noughties | Tags: 2011, archive, beach, blackley, blog, British Interclub Championships, Chris Mannion, compton, Compton Bay, Craig Sharp, Devon, Doug Richards, Dougie Richards, IOW, IOW Surf Club, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight Surf Club, Josh Jupe, Mark New, Masters, Matt Harwood, North Devon, November, November 5th, paul blackley, people, photo, photographs, portrait, stoked, surf, Surf Trip, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, The Noughties, waves, wetsuit, wightsurfhistory, Woolacombe | Comments Off on 2011 British Interclub Championships
Open – South Coast Surfing Championships
The Open was very close throughout the event with some great waves being ridden in difficult conditions. Josh Jupe was definitely amped up for the final smashing a couple of big back hand snaps and punching the air after landing them. Matt Harwood looked very determined putting in some high scoring rides but James Ranson took the title of 2011 South Coast Open Surfing Champion with almost the last wave of the final.
Well done again to Matt Harwood and all the IOW Surf Club team for putting on a fantastic event. Also a huge thank you to Graham Taplin head judge and Raff and James Cave for judging to. Thanks to Claire and Amanda Crook for admin, and Bobby DK and Jamie Whittle for marshalling, Oliver Harvey and Nick Martin for organising, James Ranson and Chris Mannion for water safety. Thanks to Rapanui, Monster, Wight Trash and Island surf for prizes and to Paul Knight for making the trophies. Also thanks to Monster for the bbq and drinks and not forgetting all the competitors who did the South Coast proud in very difficult and heavy conditions and thank you to all the spectators who braved the weather.
The Wight Surf History are pleased to have been a part of the 2011 South Coast Surfing Championships, gaining funding from the West Wight Landscape Partnership for judges, banners, stickers and t-shirts for all competitors. A big thank you to the WWLP from Wight Surf History and the IOW Surf Club.
Nov 04, 2011 | Categories: The Noughties | Tags: archive, beach, blackley, blog, compton, Compton Bay, history, IOW, IOW Surf Club, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight Surf Club, James Ranson, Josh Jupe, Matt Harwood, paul blackley, people, Phillip Skelley, photo, photographs, portrait, stoked, surf, Surf Trip, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, The Noughties, waves, wetsuit, wightsurfhistory | Comments Off on Open – South Coast Surfing Championships
Here are a couple of short movies taken at the South Coast Surfing Championships 2011
Video by Joe Briscoe
Image and video care of Jeremy at Wight Review
Nov 03, 2011 | Categories: Surf Videos, The Noughties | Tags: 2011, archive, beach, blackley, blog, Chris Mannion, compton, Compton Bay, history, IOW, IOW Surf Club, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight Surf Club, Josh Jupe, longboard, people, photo, portrait, South Coast Surfing Championships, stoked, surf, Surf Trip, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, The Noughties, waves, wetsuit, wightsurfhistory | Comments Off on South Coast Movie Shorts
With the lack of swell forecast for over the weekend the South Coast Surfing Championships have been postponed until the back up dates of 29-30th October 2011. Anyone with any queries should email the Matt or Oli at the IOW Surf Club.
Today on the other hand saw a lovely little swell to hit the Island and Compton Bay saw many turn up to make the most of it.
Oct 13, 2011 | Categories: The Noughties | Tags: "jason swain", Al Reed, alan reed, archive, beach, Bert, blackley, blog, Chris Mannion, compton, Compton Bay, history, IOW, IOW Surf Club, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight Surf Club, joe truman, Josh Jupe, longboard, paul blackley, people, photo, photographs, portrait, stoked, surf, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, The Noughties, waves, wetsuit, wightsurfhistory | Comments Off on South Coast Postponed ’till 29-30th Oct
Rapanui Frostbite Surf Series Event 5 May Bank Holiday Monday saw the fifth and final event of the 2010/11 series take place at Sandown. After a poor run of swell no contest took place in April but a fortuitous Easterly wind-swell arrive at the start of May. With strong winds & currents it was going […]
May 11, 2011 | Categories: The Noughties | Tags: Al Reed, alan reed, archive, blackley, blog, Chris Mannion, Dom Arnold, Dominic Arnold, Doug Richards, Dougie Richards, Douglas Richards, Dylan Hamlet, Frostbite, Henry Holmes, history, IOW, IOW Surf Club, iowsurf.com, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight Surf Club, isurf, Jamie King, Jamie Whittle, joe truman, Josh Jupe, juniors, Kyle Abram, Mark New, Mart Drake-Knight, Martin Drake-Knight, Matt Harwood, May Bank Holiday, May Bank Holiday Monday, Nick Whittle, Oliver Harvey, paul blackley, people, Phil Skelley, Phillip Skelley, photo, photographs, portrait, Rapanui, Rapanui clothing, Rapanui Frostbite, Rapanui Frostbite Surf, Rapanui Frostbite Surf Series, Rapanui Frostbite Surf Series Event 5, Rapanui Head honcho, Robyn Forrest, Sandown, Sandown Bay, stoked, surf, surf clothing, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, The Noughties, waves, wightsurfhistory, www.rapanuiclothing.com | Comments Off on Fantastic finish to the Frost Bite Series
Recently, Rapanui has been proud to support the Isle of Wight surf Club. The brand contribute to the club financially, making rash vests and giving away all the clubs prizes, and their web development guys made and maintain the clubs site. The Surf club was re-established after the lads started chatting to Matt Harwood, local hero, who came over to wish the boys good luck when he heard about Rapanui – back when the company was still run from a bedroom. Along with Oli Harvey and a bunch of other Island surfers, Rob and Mart are excited about the recent positive happenings on the island surf-wise – “the surf club, the beach cleans, and other projects like Wight Surf History celebrating the Island surf culture is not just interesting – it really contributes to what we do at weekends. More friendly line ups, more mates and more waves. Island surfing has given us so much and these kinds of projects really do give something back, so we’re stoked to be a part of it”
Feb 11, 2011 | Categories: The Noughties | Tags: 7'6", Aggie crew, alan reed, All or futures conference, America, Apocalypse Now, archive, Bali, beach, Bembridge, big wave, big waves, Bingin, bio foam, biofoam, blog, Bob Drake-Knight, Bobby DK, Bobby Drake Knight-Knight, bodyboard, bodyboards, boogie board, brothers, cake & tea, cake and tea, California, Carlos Burle, Carlsbad, Centrica PLC, Ceri Williams, Chicama, child labour, Climate, Climate change, compton, Compton Bay, cool, Cornwall, David Brent, delaminated, design, designs, ding, ding repair, Eco-Friendly, Enterprising Young Brits Awards, environment, Fabrics, Fair Wear Foundation, Falmouth Uni, Falmouth University, Fashion, finishing ladies, Finisterre, flip-flops, football tournaments, Game, Games, Gaming, George Drake-Knight, Godrevy, Godrevy Lighthouse, Good Business Awards, Grange Chine, Gun, guru, Hang out, Hayle, hectic, history, Hot Buttered, house size barrel, ice cream, Impossibles, Indo, Indonesia, instalments, IOW, IOW Surf Club, Island, Isle, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight Surf Club, Jamie Whittle, Joby Wells, Josh Jupe, Leonard Cheshire Disability, Little Stairs, Little Stairs beach, longboard, Marine Conservation Society, Mart Drake-Knight, Martin Drake-Knight, Matt Harwood, MCS, mini mal, news, newspapers, niton, Office, offshore, old board, Oli Harvey, Oliver Harvey, Organic, organic fabrics, Peru, Play Station, PlayStation, Railway, Rapa Nui, Rapanui, Rapanui clothing, Rapanui FC, rapanuiclothing, Rash Vests, renewable energy, Renewable Energy Engineering, Road Trip, Rob Drake-Knight, RSPCA, sandals, Sandown, School, Search, shaper, Shaping, Skateboarding, slaps, Sola, South Carlsbad, St Agnes, Stewart Longboard, stoked, suit, surf, Surf Club, surf magazine, Surf Movie, Surf Search, Surf Shop, Surf Trip, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, Surfing Magazine, Sustainable, Sustainable Business, Sustainable Business Awards, sweat shop, swell, tea, The Noughties, Tony Hawks, top 100 Start-ups, Topshop, tube, tv, U.S.A., Unemployment, USA, waves, Wells family, wetsuit, wight, wightsurfhistory, wind powered factory, www.rapanuiclothing.com | Comments Off on Mart & Rob of Rapanui
The Isle of Wight Surf Club held the 4th event in this Winters Frost Bite series at Ventnor on Sunday. Conditions were difficult and wave selection was a quay part in scoring highly in heats. The semi finals saw Al Reed, Chris Mannion and Jamie Whittle get knocked out as the competitors found it hard to find high scoring waves.
The final came down to Matt Harwood (current leader in the championships standings), Joe Truman, Josh Jupe and Mark New. It was another closely contested final with Mark coming out the winner, with Josh 2nd and Matt 3rd. Congratulations to the Isle of Wight Surf Club and all the people who helped make this another successful event.
Feb 07, 2011 | Categories: The Noughties | Tags: 2011, Al Reed, alan reed, archive, Championship, Chris Mannion, Competition, February, Final, Frost Bite Series, history, IOW, IOW Surf Club, IOW Surf Club Frost Bite Series, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight Surf Club, Jamie Whittle, joe truman, Josh Jupe, Mark New, Matt Harwood, people, Phil Skelley, Phillip Skelley, photo, photographs, portrait, rapa, Rapa Nui, Rapanui, Semi, stoked, Sunday, surf, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, The Noughties, Ventnor, waves, wetsuit, wightsurfhistory, Winter, www.rapanuiclothing.com | Comments Off on IOW Surf Club Frost Bite Event No 4
Eco-clothing super brand Rapa Nui have put their hand into their pockets in these austere times and produced brand new competition vests for the Isle of Wight Surf Club. The club has had resurgence over the last year with a brand new committee and winter surf league.
“Rapa Nui have been such an enormous help to us this, by donating the coloured vests we are able to run smooth and effective competitions on a regular basis” said Matt Harwood (IOW Surf Club Chairman). He went on to say that “We are an ambitious club that want to offer Island surfers a competitive arena, coaching of all abilities, a social focal point and a voice for island surfers in regards to the environment and our beaches. Rapa Nui has been instrumental in helping us with our web-site. We’ve already used the vests in our Frostbite winter surf series. They were well received by competitors and looked fantastic”
Rob Drake-Knight (co-founder of Rapa Nui) says “We are all about local projects and surfing and the ocean is a big part of our lifestyles. Rapa Nui is only too pleased to help the surf club. It’s just awesome to see our vests being used already in the winter Frost-bite series”
If you want to know more about Rapa Nui or the Surf Club check out rapanuiclothing.com and iowsurfclub.com.
Feb 07, 2011 | Categories: In Print, Surf Blogs, The Noughties | Tags: archive, beaches, blog, Competition, competitors, compton, Compton Bay, Freshwater, freshwater bay, frost bite, Frost Bite Series, history, IOW, IOW Surf Club, iowsurfclub.com, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight Surf Club, joe truman, Josh Jupe, Mathew Harwood, Matt Harwood, Matthew Harwood, niton, Ocean, Rapa Nui, Rapanui, Rapanui.com, rapanuiclothing, Rash Vest, Rob Drake-Knight, stoked, surf, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, The Noughties, Ventnor, Vest, waves, wetsuit, wightsurfhistory, winter surf league, Wood, Woody | Comments Off on Rapanui donate surf vests for the Frost Bite Series
Matt Harwood won IW Surf Club Frostbite event and leads the series, after putting in a solid performance last weekend.
Jan 13, 2011 | Categories: In Print | Tags: 2011, Al Reed, alan reed, Andrew Tyrell, archive, beach, blackley, Chris Mannion, compton, Compton Bay, Dom Arnold, Douglas Richards, Dylan Hamlet, Frost Bite Series Event No 3, Frostbite Series, Hanover, history, IOW, IOW Surf Club, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight Surf Club, James Ranson, joe truman, Josh Jupe, Luke Forrest, Mark New, Matt Harwood, Matt Townsend, Oliver Harvey, Ollie Harvey, paul blackley, people, photo, photographs, stoked, surf, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, The Noughties, waves, wetsuit, Whittle Brothers, wightsurfhistory | Comments Off on Harwood Surfs to Frostbite Win – County Press
Frost Bite Images by Rob Packham
Jan 03, 2011 | Categories: The Noughties Picture Gallery | Tags: Al Reed, alan reed, archive, beach, compton, Compton Bay, history, IOW, IOW Surf Club, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight Surf Club, isleowightrob, James Ranson, joe truman, Josh Jupe, people, photo, photographs, Rob Packham, stoked, surf, Surf Trip, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, The Noughties, waves, wetsuit, wightsurfhistory | Comments Off on Frost Bite Images by Rob Packham
Sunday saw event 3 of the Isle of Wight Surf Club Frost Bite Series. The Surf club had been patient through December waiting for a nice swell and this weekend was worth the wait. A small clean swell started to build on the Saturday and a few managed a session in at The Pearl or Freshwater Bay. Sunday saw a good turn out and I even got my first surf in January for a few years.
In the early rounds Josh Jupe, Chris Mannion, James Ranson performed well, but just missed out on the final. The final came down to Alan Reed, Joe Truman and Matt Harwood. All three got some great waves but it there can be only one winner. Matt Harwood just taking the win from Al Reed.
Some of the free surfing on show was outstanding, and Robin Forrest showed he is one to look out for in the future. Although James Ranson didn’t make the final he definitely stole the show by pulling off a ‘Backside, 360 air’ getting great cheers from the beach.
Jan 03, 2011 | Categories: The Noughties, The Noughties Picture Gallery | Tags: Al Reed, alan reed, archive, beach, blackley, blog, Chris Mannion, Competition, compton, Compton Bay, Freshwater, freshwater bay, Frost Bite Series, Greedy Reedy, history, IOW, IOW Surf Club, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight Surf Club, James Ranson, joe truman, Josh Jupe, Mark New, Matt Harwood, paul blackley, people, photo, photographs, Robin Forrest, stoked, surf, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, The Noughties, waves, wetsuit, wightsurfhistory | Comments Off on IOW Surf Club Frost Bite Event No 3