At only 7 years old, a few household chores allowed young Pete to ditch his bodyboard and buy his first surfboard. Back in the days wetsuits didn’t do a great job and so he could only surf in the summer.
Then this little guy from Tofino, British Columbia grew up and evolved at an international level. He may find himself wearing boardshorts and surf the most beautiful waves in the world, he is always happy to come home. Addicted to the feeling of gliding on a wave, you’ll always find him in the water whether it rains or snows.
Pete is the ultimate cold-water surfer.
Surfer: PETE DEVRIES Young pete: ASHER DEVRIES Cinematography / Edit : NATE LAVERTY Additional filming: JEREMY KORESKI / MARCUS PALADINO / DREW AUSTIN
Rip Curl Europe is thrilled to announce that the sensational young French surfer Justin Becret is joining its Team!
Justin, who grew up in Seignosse in the Landes department, was just 8 years old when he first started riding the powerful waves generated by the rough bottom of the local beach breaks. At an early age, he developed a passion for competition, travel and big wave surfing, making memorable free surf memories on awesome waves such as Mullaghmore, Jaws and Pipeline.
“It’s with great pleasure that I will join Rip Curl which headquarters have been close to my home in the South Ouest of France. I grew up watching the brand sharing some great values like performance, best technology and consistency, values that I also share. To be part of this amazing Team gives me that extra kick to go out and achieve my goal, be part of the World Tour as soon as possible, and I want to thank Rip Curl for trusting me with this project,” explains Justin Becret with enthusiasm.
The young French surfer has already shown great maturity in his approach to competitions (#3 at the World Junior Championship in 2019, several times French Champion and European Junior #3). He’s a determined competitor with a highly convincing technical background, combined with a mental attitude as solid as a heavy barrel at Les Casernes, his favourite spot. Justin is prepared to do what it takes to achieve his goals: he follows an intense physical training programme and frequently tries out innovative coaching methods with his mentor, Richard “Dog” Marsh, who was himself world #8 in 1992.
“It’s excellent news that Justin is joining the Rip Curl Team. He’s a talented surfer with great potential. We are pursuing and will continue to pursue our policy of promoting surfing by supporting athletes and events. With Justin, Kyllian Guerin and Teresa Bonvalot, we have a complementary, competitive team at European level, a team that embodies the values of our brand,” explains Mathieu Lefin, President – Rip Curl Europe.
Everyone at Rip Curl is eager to welcome Justin Becret to the Rip Curl Team and share his Search with him!
Jonathan Gubbins has been called the most-barreled person in the world, he spends more time in the tube than most London commuters. Check out his mind bending edit he roars through The Grower…
From the four corners of the Kingdom they came, chisel-jawed, keen of sight, fleet of foot with waxing hand primed and ready for battle. To be fair, that’s a slight exaggeration but there were a couple of Scots who now live in Cornwall, at least one Welshman who goes to the gym and a whole mob of troublemakers from North Devon. Some of whom didn’t need corrective eyewear. Oh, and the Cornish from the WEST west. But more on that later.
Anyway, the time had finally, FINALLY come for the first gathering of the BLU family following a couple of barren years that most of us will be happy to see consigned to the history books – a new start in a new year and a NEW venue. A beautiful venue. One of the jewels of West Cornwall. Porthmeor Beach, St Ives! The onsite facilities provided by Saints Boardriders made the whole deal that much sweeter.
The forecast had been on the ‘vertically challenged’ side in Cornwall with monotonous regularity for a while, and it took two swings at this one to get the contest under way. Even the reserve date didn’t look promising, and it took a brave decision by the committee to call the event on. They were repaid for their ridiculous optimism with just the faintest whisperings of a swell that, against literally all the odds, made the weekend not only contestable but astonishingly good fun.
Saturday morning saw most of the car parks within a mile radius stuffed full of vans, single fins, groms, beards, floppy hats, single fins, more groms, single fins etc. Some familiar faces, some not so familiar and some from way back when. All were welcome, all were keen to surf. The tide eventually drained out far enough for the long, long lines of swell to start spilling over into surfable waves and the biggest entry Single Fin division for many a year hit the water. Without any wasteful hyperbole, the amount of nose-riding that followed in the next few hours was so vast that even the hint of a turn was greeted with confused delirium. I have never seen so many toes over so many noses. By the quarter final stage it became clear that Day 2 was going to be a blinder. Standouts in the early rounds were goofy-legend-from-way-out-west Mikey Lay, Welsh wizard Elliot Dudley, Sam ‘Blimey He’s Erudite’ Bleakley, Ashley ‘The Comeback Kid’ Braunton and the three mega-groms Arthur Randell, Lukas ‘Oh no, he longboards as well’ Skinner and Ted Pearson, who made the most of their substantial weight advantage.
With recently crowned Boardmasters and English Nationals Champion Emily Currie in the Women’s Open, it would have been reasonable to assume the result was only going one way. In a proper ‘hold my coat’ moment, up stepped Izzy Henshall to take the highest heat score in both the quarter and semi-finals. Game on? Sadly not. Due to a commitment elsewhere for Emily on Sunday and an abortive attempt to run the final in the dying light and rising tide on Day 1, destiny this time was firmly with Izzy. Her strong and smooth performance in the final put her firmly ahead of Sam Sunshine and Amelia Hewitson who were separated by the wafer thin margin of 0.1 points.
Unsurprisingly, in the junior divisions Arthur and Lukas claimed the lion’s share of the honours, with Arthur taking the U16s and Lukas the U18 Boys thanks to an almost supernatural ability to find super-long noserides that served up 5s and 10s like they were in a going-out-of-business sale. The U18 Girls division was short on entries, but definitely not on surfing talent. Izzy Henshall, Sylvie Puddiphatt and Eleanor Hewlett made a great contest of it in what turned out to be some of the weakest swell of the day. It was Izzy, with her super smooth goofy skills who prevailed by 0.34 points
The Masters and Grandmasters divisions, usually the well-attended stalwarts of the BLU, were also noticeably light on entries, with the Grandmasters being a straight final. Again, definitely no lack of talent with the seemingly ageless Sam Bleakley taking the Masters and Adam Chell victorious in the Grandmasters over timeless Robocop-of-a-man Colin Bright. In conclusion, great to be back, amazing surfing, good weather, great location, great people and just enough swell to make a cracking weekend of it.
Results Men’s Open 1st Michael Lay 2nd Elliot Dudley 3rd Evan Rogers 4th Lukas Skinner
Women’s Open 1st Izzy Henshall 2nd Sam Sunshine 3rd Amelia Hewitson 4th Emily Currie
Masters 1st Sam Bleakley 2nd Adam Chell 3rd Adrian Napper 4th Stephen Burley
Grandmasters 1st Adam Chell 2nd Colin Bright 3rd Ray Lee 4th Vikki Burley
U16 Cadets 1st Arthur Randell 2nd Lukas Skinner 3rd Teddy Nicholls 4th Sydney Randell
U18 Boys 1st Lukas Skinner 2nd Arthur Randell 3rd Ted Pearson 4th Sydney Randell
Lost Track Atlantic is a four-part series that takes you on the journey of a lifetime, from the far North Atlantic to the tropical, equatorial coast of West Africa.
Follow best friends, surfer Torren Martyn and filmmaker Ishka Folkwell in a search for waves and life long memories, as they journey down the Atlantic coastline in a customised old van passing through one of the most culturally diverse regions on the planet.
In episode 4, Torren and Ishka push on deep into the African tropics and stumble across a playful long sand bottom point. Experiencing the warmth of local village life, the boys realise shared waves, a good meal and conversation is about as good as it gets.
Save the date: 2-4 December 2021 the 10th edition of London Surf / Film Festival x Vans is on!
Bringing to the UK a hand picked line up of the very best surf films from across the globe and set against a backdrop of talks, art, icons, music, good times and more, London Surf / Film Festival is a must attend celebration of the cream of international surf culture, stoking the fires and drawing us all together.
Shorties deadline extended
With new dates announced, submissions to The Shorties short film strand have been extended until 15h October. Creatives from or based in the UK and Ireland are invited to enter their short films of up to 5 minutes in length that explore all aspects and angles of surfing and surf culture through documentary, comedy, action, art house, animation or anything in between – there’s more than one way to tell a story. Details HERE.
“We champion projects that bring fresh perspectives, whether through exceptional cinematography, story telling or surfing,” says London Surf / Film Festival Director Demi Taylor. “Surf filmmaking is not about big cameras, or big waves, it’s about big ideas.” Get your short films in now!
“Over the last decade, we’ve worked with the most exciting surf filmmakers to bring to the UK films that represent the pinnacle of our culture – inspiring documentaries, travelogues to stir the wanderlust and jaw dropping surf performance, and this year is set to blow minds,” says LS/FF Director Chris Nelson. “The pleasure has been in premiering those films as they’re meant to be enjoyed – on the big screen, in a stoke filled cinema of like minded crew! See you there, for the 10th Edition!”
London Surf / Film Festival was founded a decade ago by surfers and writers Chris Nelson and Demi Taylor. It began, where all the best ideas start life, around the kitchen table, in the deep mid winter, after a few good waves. The aim was to bring together the UK surfing tribes to share the stoke, the storytelling and the cream of surf culture; after 9 editions, some 225 film premiers, with art shows, live music, talks and a whole heap of good times, it has grown to become a must attend gathering for the global waveriding collective. LS/FF 10 x VANS 2-4 December 2021 londonsurffilmfestival.com
