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KiteSurfing
  Surfing is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and is now practiced pretty much everywhere that has a coastline with waves. Captain Cook discovered the Hawaiian kings riding waves hundreds of years ago - now the sport has a World Series and has become a multi million dollar industry. The sport of surfing involves riding waves while standing up on a surfboard. A surfer must paddle their surfboard from the beach out behind the waves are breaking. The surfer then has to paddle back towards the shore in an attempt to 'catch the wave'. Once the wave has picked up the surfer and their surfboard, the surfer gets on the board in various ways (see Styles) and is carried towards the shore. In competition, performance is assessed from style and feats on the board.  

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Painted by Pascal Jean Delorme The Sport     History  Terminology  Boards Technique  Forums  Waves

Surfing Styles  Bodyboarding,  Kneebording,  Surfboarding  River-surfing   Bodysurfing
  Bodyboarding
    The board is usually in the 38-44 inch range and is made of foam, typically with a slick, 'surlyn' bottom of some sort and shaped to a hydrodynamic form. Riders ride prone (on their stomachs) or drop-knee (on one knee). Riders typically wear fins to propel them better for catching waves. Bodyboarding is geared towards more radical manoeuvres  including aerials off the top of the wave - el rollo, 360, ARS, backflip, cutbacks, getting tubed, inverts, airs.   Bodyboarding
  Kneeboarding
    Done on a board around 4 feet in length while kneeling on both knees; the technique has some advantages over bodyboarding for some manoeuvres like riding the "tube"
  Surfboarding
     Done standing on a longer board, which has a "skeg" or stabilising fin at the rear;  
      Shortboarding 5-7 foot, tricks: cutbacks, getting tubed, airs off the lip
      Funboard 7-8, tricks similar to shortboard.
      Longboard 8-14 foot, tricks: nose-riding, hanging 5, hanging 10, getting tubed, helicopters
  Skim surfing
     - rides the waves breaking on the shore. The skimboard can come in various shapes from a round circle to bullet shaped.
 
    - surfing on a river that has tidal bore waves such as the River Severn. Can be done with both a surfboard and a bodyboard.
  Bodysurfing
    involves riding the wave with no board at all. The body is used as the surface which will glide on top of the water
  History of Surfing

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  SurfArt.com starts with the 'Revival of Surfing' and covers the sport in Hawaii in the 19th and 20th century, with many articles covering the roots of surfing in that country.
     Surfing Goes International "surfing first came to California in 1907".... Read on
     The Fabulous 50's  "the golden Age of Modern Surfing"
 Surfing for Life  start with Captain Cook covering the History of Surfing and bring the information right through to the modern era.
Pro Surfing History  The Association of Surfing Professionals traces events from 1983. Tour de Force by Chris Mauro
Californian Surfing History
  Willis Brothers California '62
  Jim Lucas and California '64 onwards "pioneered big wave surfing lessons on the North Shore of Oahu"
Surfing History and Culture from Soul-Surfer cover the development of the sport from the early times, 3 or 4 thousand years ago, including developments of the board
General Information
Professional Surfing top
  Developed from tournaments in the mid 70's,  a tour of professional surfers evolved into  the World Championship Tour, with over 60 internationally rated events being held in prime surfing sites. Two tiers of rating were introduced with the Top 44 taking part in the elite events. More information from 'About ASP' in the Association of Surfing professionals
UK Surfing  Cornwall top

Contact our UK Surfing Libarian, Matt from Extreme Horizon if you need help with this section
  British Surfing Association BSA
English Surfing Federation  (on the Devon Great Outdoors site)  ESF  needs membership for full access
ASP Europe  - Professional surfing's governing body offers details on regional European contests and longboard news.
Surf Lifesaving Association of Great Britain    Official site -provides membership and beach safety information as well as information about National Surf Lifesavers Day, training and youth education, news, calendar, and related links.
 
Beach Wizard a central point for all surfers to be able to share their local knowledge with each other, allowing travelling surfers to select suitable European destinations to feed their desire of discovering and surfing new waves
BoardUniverse Surfing good quality e-zine containing news, resources and information on surfing in Europe; featured articles, forum,  world tour updates, location reviews, environmental considerations.
UK Portal from Britsurf  with links to beach web-cams, shops, weather, surf conditions, bulletin board, magazines, clubs and contests
SurfStation Uk site; club links
Surf System surfing condition reports around the UK
SurfLink, covering European interests in world championship professional surfing
Carve magazine online e-zine
Coldwatersoul  including UK weather and wave
Coldswell for UK and Ireland
SURF Magazine
Surfsystem  selection of the very best surfing waves in specific locations throughout the UK and Ireland, up to 7 days ahead.
Surfers Against Sewage  - campaign for cleaner waters (UK based)
Irish surf conditions from Surf System
 
    Cornwall
    Surfing Cornwall  aims to give you the best information for all the surfing beaches in Cornwall, as well as a map to find them.
Cornwall Surfing from BBC Cornwall beach guide, news, surf conditions, events, galleries
 Cornwall Surfing Message board  from the BBC have your say, ask where to surf...
Where to surf in Cornwall  from Cornwall Calling
Newquay Uncovered  Ezine for Newquay, the UK surf capital. Bringing you all the latest news, reviews and stories. Bringing the surfing community closer with pictures, chat and messages. Also get Newquay Uncovered on your mobile!
Surf Newquay find information on Newquay and surrounding area, surfer or not; Surf Newquay Forum
Surf and Surfing Images from Cornwall Photo Gallery
Watergate Bay surf club  news, events, calendar, web cam. shop
 
Australian Surfing top
N. American Surfing top
New Zealand Surfing top
  New Zealand Surf wide coverage of the sport especially the events; web cams, weather, knee boarding, body boarding etc; Bulletin board, Virtual tours ; learn to surf  - online help, NZ surf clubs , with links.
New Zealand Surfing Guide (under development)
     Wind Surf New Zealand (part of above site) where to go, tutorials, links..
Surf Life Saving New Zealand
Dash  "the essential read for the healthy kiwi woman" with useful articles for women entering new sports
 
Other Countries France  Asia top
  Canary Islands  Surfing guide with pictures, beaches, maps, weather, contests, news, forum, and links.
Calima Surf Camps & kitesurfing  Lanzarote, Grand Canaria (and also Brazil) Surf trips, kitesurf, windsurf, diving, capoeira and adventure holidays with accommodation near to the beach in all destinations
Costa Rica Surfing Travel Guide Surf break descriptions, reports, pictures and maps
 
France
Surf 4 all French surf community with all you need for surfing France (in French)
Damien-poullenot a famous surf photographer in France, presents several surf pictures ordered by reports and surf destinations
 
Asia
Surfing Thailand Phuket and Asia. Phuket surf and beach reports and weather forecasts, learn to surf info, surfing vacations and holidays, surfing pics and wave cams, travel information for Thailand
Surfing in Thailand Forum, surfing info, questions and answers or just surfing in general.
 
Mostly Commercial surfing sites Gear  Locations  Other top
 

Gear
Freakfish Surf Shop / Surfing Forum Online Surf Shop & Forum  
 Jacks Surfboards has been one of Orange County's premier surf shops, offering huge selections of surfboards, surf accessories and surf apparel. Also has some useful resources
 
Locations and surfing opportuities
 www.121surfcoach.com offers surf lessons for the individual, from complete beginner though to contest standard. They also offer surf holidays to destinations all around the world from a boat trip to the Maldives to surfing in the Caribbean to tripping around the USA
Surfing Holidays and Vacations World wide Surfing Vacations, Packages, Camps and Centers. Lessons & Instruction. Used gear and equipment. Forums, Classifieds & Reviews. Surfing Destinations and locations. Directory of surfing schools & accommodation. 
Calima Surf   Lanzarote  We offer surf house at 50 meters on the beach in the natural park of Famara . Surf and kite schools, cars hire , etc
   Surf Lanzarote   surfing, windsurfing and kitesurfing holidays on the Canary Islands, Spain
A page on the San Diego Surfing Academy
Surfing the South Pacific  Surfing holidays, vacations, including surfing to Australia, Fiji Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Tonga, Cook Islands, Samoa and other areas within the Pacific region
 
Other
SIMA - Surf Industry Manufacturers Association
Kahuna Video Productions  - longboard surf films by Mike Clancy; California, Florida and Costa Rica, with most of the action focused on Santa Cruz 
Further Information? top

If you need further information, fill out the details below and submit to Jason, our surfing Librarian
Please make sure you have checked out the links on this page before you contact him.