World Bellyboarding Championships

The World Bellyboard Championship is a celebration of how surfing began in Britain more than a century ago.

Surfers of all ages gather together on Chapel Porth beach near St Agnes with wooden belly boards to ride.

Surfers from as far away as New York, Denmark and Australia have taken part in the event in previous years.

Now in its 8th consecutive year, the event is organised and hosted by the National Trust.

The event has gone truly global in recent years with entrants from Australia, New York, San Francisco and British Virgin Islands.

Robyn Davies, contest director
The celebration of all things connected with the art of traditional wooden board riding is held on the first Sunday in September.

Two friends came up with the idea for the event in 2002, to remember a holidaymaker from London, the late Arthur Traveller, who used to bring his wooden board to Chapel Porth every year.

Keen surfers Chris Ryan, who's the National Trust Car Park Attendant at the beach, and Martyn Ward, an RNLI Lifeguard Supervisor, have seen their creation take off from its small beginnings.

Robyn Davies, contest director and NT surf guru says, "The World Belly Board Championship celebrates all that is good about surfing! This event brings a communal stoke factor back to an ever growing sport.

The National Trust feel it's really important to highlight the pressures put on the coast and the beaches and what better way of doing this than by dusting down your old plywood stick, grabbing your brand new shaped model or unveiling your homemade creation and heading down the beach for a whole load of fun!"

The first surfers in Britain are believed to have been soldiers returning from the Great War in the 1900s. Stories of surfing from South Africa, Australia and Hawaii led them to copy the Hawaiian wooden 'Paipo' boards, which had no fins.

When Captain James Cook and his botanist Joseph Banks sailed into the Hawaiian Islands in 1778 they recorded sightings of natives riding waves stood on wooden boards.

Records show that it wasn't until the late 19th century that Hawaiian surfers travelled to California and ridden waves.

More info: http://www.bellyboarding.co.uk/

Vibram Five Fingers Footwear

Vibram Five Fingers Footwear

For those who crave the sensation of running barefoot but want the protection and grip afforded by running shoes, Fivefingers are the solution. Those who have used them are truly converted to this new way of running, feeling more in tune with nature and reaping the benefits of improved balance and agility.

Vibram Five Fingers are available from Chelston Direct.com

Five Finger footwear can be used for a variety of activities from fitness training and yoga, to running and trekking, to kayaking and sailing.

Surfing on the Lincolnshire Coast

When thinking about surfing we think of far flung exotic beaches, not necessarily the Lincolnshire Coast.

According to the Lincolnshire Surf Club it's a growing sport with more surfers being seen in Lincolnshire.

The Lincolnshire Surf Club was established in 2006 to bring together the growing band of surf enthusiasts enjoying the Lincolnshire beaches.

These include traditional stand up surfers but also body boarders along with kite and wind surfers.

Matt Strathern from the Lincolnshire Surf Club said: "The club's primary function is to bring together like minded individuals. Lincolnshire and the North Sea isn't readily associated with surfing but with regular Northerly groundswells and prevailing SW offshore winds the conditions here can be good."