Gumball 3000 is proud to present their first sponsored surfer, Andrew Griffin. Griffin, whose influences include Dane Reynolds and Jordy Smith, has been surfing for 13 years. In that time he has come 2nd in the English Championship and has won the British Junior Championship and BPSA Pro Junior Championship. His favourite surfing spots are Staithes and Keramas but his local practising point is Holywell Bay with his favourite manouver being the Air Reverse. At only 22 his has accumilated many sponsors, including Rhino, Balin, Boardwalk and Kustom along with Gumball 3000.

News Update 13/09/2007

Three days North

It started off on the Friday when the charts showed a solid swell heaind down the North sea. As it was flat down in Cornwall, and had been for a week or so, a few friends and i decided to make the 8 hour treck to the North Eastern corner of England.

As most surf trips go, we followed suit and didn't get off on the time we were hoping too. The plan was to leave by 8am to get upto Cayton bay in ime for a surf that eveing. It was 10:30 by the time left Newquay. The 8 hour stint actually went quicker than we expected and by some kind of miracle we didnt break down in the old rust bucket VW transporter, which had just made it back from a 6,000 mile treck round Europe. When we arrived that evening we managed an hour surf before dark, in two foot mush, which was not what we went up the for. However we knew the swell wasn't meant to hit till the following day, so this didn't get us down. After the surf and a proper Northern steak and Ale pie we headed up another couple hours to Newcastle where Stu (the photographer) lived. That night the 3 of us cramed in the back of the van for a poor night sleep. Fortunately we rose to a crisp offshore wind and 2-3 foot of swell on Southshields beach.

Stu turned up at 7AM just after sunrise and we headed North to a few spots he knows. When we turned up there was a countless number of set ups, which was unreal in such a small radius. We surfed a 3 foot fun left hand reef that morning and then headed North to surf a beach break, right next to some Castle. The landscape in Northumberland was perfect for backdrops for the shots and we managed to get some good shots atboth of the waves. After the beach we headed for fuel and then back down south. The wind had changed a bit during the beach break session which wasn't in our favour, but luckily it died off a bit for an evening surf on some reef break which hadn't actually been surfed before. We watched this wave for a good hour before heading out as it was a super shallow slabbing righthander. After much anticipation a couple of us headed out to try and get a couple. This wave was only breaking in about 6 inches of water and then wen't straight onto dry reef. The take-off was impossible of a short board and only just makable on a bodyboard. I managed to get into a couple and pull in, but the photo's gave no justice to the danger of the wave. Although it wasn't actually that big i had one which sucked me backwards over the falls, and gave me some bad memories from an accident i had last November where i broke my back. Luckily i didn't get injured again but the wave seemed more trouble than it was worth, and with the camera broke i decided to call it a day. As i got out a few of the sets got better and the wave looked a lot more makable on the higher tide. The boys got out without too much luck but still had a good session watching one of the boadyboarders getting the good ones. It was dark by the time the lads got out, so we went for a quick curry and had an early night.

The next day the wind was a bit wrong and the swell was dropping quickly, so after meeting Neil from Gumball friefly in the morning we headed south to a well know reef above Scarborough. As we expected it was quite small but with a couple of 4 foot sets we headed out to try and get a souple of waves. The peak wasn't soo good so after about 45 minutes we headed in and hoped the tide would make the waves better later that afternoon. We then headed back out for a couple more however the waves had dropped to only a couple of foot, and we only managed to get a couple of photo's. All in all the trip was kind of fun but we didnt get the waves we were hoping for, so we thought a night out in Leeds before the journey back to Newquay. Before Leeds we thoguh a quick Pizza in Whitby would go down a treat, which it did but on out return to the van, we noticed the dreaded yellow Clamp. Only a £100 but kind of annoying as we only left the van for 5 minutes in what we though was a free supermarket car park. This kind of put a damper on Leeds and decided to not bother and drive home instead. A good effort to Graham for making it back with out falling asleep, especially after a few surfs that day and the 8 hour drive. It was 4 AM when we arrived home and straight to bed, to dream about the waves we thought we were going to score, but didn't.......

Maybe next time:)

News Update 28/08/2007

Throughout August we've had a mixture of sun, wind, rain along with a little bit of surf.  August is normally the flattest month of the year for surfing, but luckily we've had pretty consistant waves all be it small, and i have managed to get in the water as much as possible.  The Boardmasters contest meant Newquay was packed for the second week in August, but apart from that week and bank holiday weekend it's been a relatively quiet summer.  

On the bank holiday weekend i had the third leg of the BPSA tour which was held in Bude.  The week leading upto the comp, there was good waves and the comp was looking like it was going to have good waves too.  That wasn't the case though!  Luckily i was seeded into the third round so fortunately i didnt have to surf on the saturday which was barely surfable anyway.  The swell was then meant to come up on sunday, however it was still small but just about surfable in the morning.  I managed to win my third round heat (which suprised me considering the waves were so small.)  However it ended there and i had a shocker in my quarter final.  I can't wait for the day there are actually proper waves in a contest.  

Summer is drawing to an end now, and my favourtie month of the year is approaching.  September still stays nice and warm, but without the tourists and with the hurricane season, it means we get lots of swell.
Griffter

News Update 01/08/2007

Between April and mid July it seemed as summer would never come, the weather had been horendous and the surf even worse. It would either be completely flat or small onshore rubish, bar 1 or 2 days. The weather stations claim its to do with the obscurity of the golf stream not heading over Scotland (as usual), but only hitting as high as France, however things have finally started to take a turn in the right direction.

The last week in July, brought in long and hot, sunny days, and the beaches have been maxed out with tourists. The surf has finally started to show a bit more potential, all be it onshore, but at least with a bit of size. As a surf instructor, the tourists aren't all bad as they bring good business, however, during the weekends in town, you tend to see the darker side of them. Non the less its only a hand full of guy's who like to kick of with other guys who have a similar idea to them, which can be amusing as a spectator.

Now August has approached, the sun is still looking to stay and the surf is looking to pump, and there's nothing else i could really ask for. Although there has been all this Great White shark talk in the Newspapers, personally i think its just an advertising stunt, to bring people down to Cornwall to see the so called "maneater". It definately won't stop me going in the sea. Now I can finally get some shots for the magazines, as there's not been much oppertunity so far, and can get in the water as much as possible before the contest season starts again in September. Cheers and gone, Griffter!