Strong Nelson Showing

The 30th Anniversary Go for gold surfing contest went down in awesome surf conditions at Cobden over the weekend with the Nelson Contingent competing well.
The first day saw near perfect 3ft Cobden with a few of our crew making semi-finals in divisions whilst the others missing out by the most narrowest of margins. Joe Leeper particularly unlucky needing a score of a mid 4 but time ran against him with sometimes lully sets.

(above): Marco "alofa" Edwards, smashing it.

Jackson Gregory surfed amazingly on Phil Stanton's old NSP shortboard (wtf?) In his junior heat but unluckily had a near impossible draw with current south island top 2 Cody mcCusker and Hugh Ritchie, posting 7's and 8 point rides. Liam Buttner also faced the wrath of the close judging calls missing out by o.3 pts on progressing to the semis in the juniors but the harshest decision of all fell against Jackson in the longboard semi-final missing out on making the final by 0.01pts........
Final standings for the boys below
Liam Buttner: 9th Juniors
Marco Edwards:6th Juniors,24th opens
Jackson Gregory:5th Longboards, 9th Juniors,
Mark Nichols: 17th opens,6th seniors
Joe Leeper: 17th Opens

(above): Joe Leeper laying down the law.
A massive special thanks to the sponsors who helped us out with travel costs including Hogeys Surf, Bruce Design and Build and R&R Sport,
(above): Jackson Gregory Swagger

Shit Surfers Say

Saturday Snappers Footage

Saturday morning at Snappers although looking rather average was captured on film by the man himself Bill Evans.
For a copy of this flick us an email and arrange or drop off a disc.
Some stills coming soon Stay Tuned........

New Year, New Direction.....

Welcome to 2012.... and if you follow the Mayan calendar welcome to our last year, the last page, the grand finale. Many different authors and prophets point to the year 2012 bearing some kind of cata-chlysmic event so lets make the most of every day just incase !!!
As the title suggests a few changes this year with the club more so looking for input from others as to what is exactly up with Nelson Boardriders as a club. What do we want it for? A few of the tribal elders getting their feathers fruffled at the thought of occasional club contests all be it fun ones of course. The younger ones searching for more in the club perhaps more finger pulling from them? A sometimes general stalemate in club motivation quite often coinciding with flat surf conditions.. and just a general wanting from myself for others to get more involved.

Its pretty easy just to say "ÿeah its a stupid idea having a surf club in nelson anyway" , but at the same time..... is it? Perhaps more club action during these flat spells may keep the motivation lingering longer.....
As stated on the old website version, Nelson Boardriders was created to provide unity within our surfing commmunity, there are no alterior motives regarding popularisation or promoting of surfing in Nelson.

From a personal point of view 2011 saw the development of Blenheim Boardriders and a big congrats to those guys who have really "got their shit together", I personally felt a little embarassed at the lack of commitment to our club compared with theirs.
I mean, our club members paid money to join so surely they must want some kind of voice?? Or then again maybe expected something for nothing???
At the same time as once stated by Dunedin Rob, even if the club sits around and does nothing its good to have a body of people together so that if ever anything does become a problem in our surfing community then we do have a voice and a leg to stand on.

Anyhow, its your club too so dont be afraid to get involved.

A quick correction of results from our club comp before I go with Levi Maxwell actually finishing 3rd in the opens not 4th. Relegating Mike to 4th. An apology from myself as these results count towards the Nelson/Marlborough points series.
Included are some photos from a semi secret destination. Although the destination is not that secret, you will have a semi of a time trying to get there !!!

Peace.

Merry Christmas

Seasons Greetings everyone, A big thanks to all club members who have helped out through the year, through rain, hail and shine and helped keep the "surf city" dream alive.
At the end of the day its all about having fun and thats exactly what we do.
Theres no point going through life being all angry and claiming to be the local of everywhere now is there!
Theres always another wave, another day, and thats what keeps us coming back.

Whatever your plans this festive season be it a trip down the coasts or just hanging in Nelson make sure to put a smile on your dial. We look forward to seeing friends from the past appearing back on our shores ( yes Brett that means you ) and we look forward to surfing in less to no rubber. Just to kick things off it looks like Huey is throwing some Cyclonic action straight up into our holidays and the frothing has already begun.

Look forward to the New Year and from myself personally thanks for tuning in.
Loving it or hating it a year average of 70 hits per day aint' bad.
A last thank you to John at Hogeys for his ongoing club support.

Peace Haóles

"Quotes" of the year.

As we head into the festive season lets look back on some of the lighter sides of
Surf city life with these undeniable quotes of the year.

1: "Isnt it amazing how the older you get, the more attractive older women become"..- by anonymous.

2: "I just like the suggestion that I might be stoned" - anonymous

3: " Fuck Slater, Imagine me out there !!!" - Gary "Kelly" Miller

4: "Oh wow this board is a lot like my Webber" - Richie "Vass" Barry

5: " Is that what everyone is saying?? " - Russ Bruce ,

Club Comp a wet success...Full Story

Despite the inclement weather a hardy crew pressed on through piss-sisting rain on Sunday and despite a few late withdrawals everyone present managed to enjoy themselves in weather only really enjoyed by Ducks and Surfers in that order.
The call was made on thursday night to run on Sunday rain hail or shine so it was suprising to see the amount of late withdrawals with people texting from the warmth of their beds asking "whats happening"... Anyhow, bitching aside the day went off without a hitch once again and the hardy crew reaped the rewards of a long day at the bank.
Jackson Gregory's mum Jeanne never let the groms down constantly arriving throughout the day with comfort tools including hot water bottles, Hot drinks and Toasties for this effort she even recieved a spot prize! A makeshift Cadet heat was held after 4 guys under 16 turned up from Blenheim and although the boys struggled in the lineup they were all stoked at their first introduction to contest surfing.

The mornings waves were an inconsistent 1-2ft but by the turn of the tide the swell started to jack around midday and the wind dropped leaving the finals to be contested in lumpy but glassy 2-4ft with one Bomb set coming through in the open final destroying all competitors and a few hundred muttonbirds left everyone a little spooked also.

Unfortuneately Olin Pilchers BBQ never got to be lit due to the weather and a makeshift presentation was held in the carpark afterwards. A massive thanks to Hogey from hogeys Surf and Miff and Alina from R&R along with all those who helped on the day.......You Know Who You Are!!!!!


(above): Blenheim Boardrider Levil Maxwell(right) and Nelson's own Geoff Noble making light of the dull condtions in the judging booth on sunday.

Summer Schnapper Classic Results

Longboard: 1st Geoff Noble (Nel)
2nd Levi Maxwell (Blen)
3rd Jackson Gregory (Nel)
4th Wesley Smith (Nel)

Masters35+ : 1st Richard Norton (Blen)
2nd Hamish Simpson (Nel)
3rd Paulo Devia (Nel)
4th Barry Kingston (Nel)

Open: 1st: Mark Nichols (Nel)
2nd: Richard Norton (Blen)
3rd: Mike Lindstrom (Blen)
4th: Levi Maxwell (Blen)

Junior U20: 1st: Mike Lindstrom (Blen)
2nd: Jackson Gregory (Nel)
3rd: Marco Edwards (Nel)
4th: Ash O Donnell (Ble