Bellyboarding, bodysurfing, skimboarding, SUP surfing, foil surfing, mat surfing and even bodyboarding these days all make up the fringe surfing landscape. Fringe surfing being alternative ways to ride waves rather than just shredding on your standard surfboard. As we slide into full on silly season, where low pressure system swell senders become fewer and farther between, these other disciplines are ways to make use of the UK’s lackluster high season junk we mostly get. Of course, every now and again Mother Nature bucks the trend and delivers a thumping pulse (maybe combined with glorious sunny weather). But it doesn’t happen often and so if you want to maximise your fun in the brine perhaps it’s time to look elsewhere – at least for a few weeks.
Fun’s the name of the game with these activities. If you start taking it too seriously then there’s really no point. After all, the furrowed brown face of surfing’s what you’re trying to escape by adopting a different way to slide. Still smacking the water in frustration? Then you’re possibly a lost cause and may need to sit it out until autumn. For most who try one of these alternative wave riding machines, however, it’s all stoke with often the person (or people in question) suddenly viewing their local spot in a new light. Discovering you don’t need perfect conditions can be revelatory. In some cases (such as with foil surfing or mat surf – as we know from speaking to committed individuals) – this new fringe surfing lifestyle becomes THE main focus. And why not? Again, if it ends being more fun than trying to pilot your toothpick surfboard round a break then so be it. The main thing’s that you’re getting wet and loving it. Life’s too short, after all…
Dick Pearce & Friends Surfrider summer mint bellyboard
Sadly we can only ship bodyboards/bellyboards/skimboards to UK mainland addresses (not International or N.I. & Highlands). Shipping costs around for a £15 tracked 2 day service via Parcelforce / DPD depending on location.
Bellyboarding can be a lot of fun – especially if the surf’s blown out and onshore. You don’t need to be out of standing depth to catch a ride and the whole experience can be as hardcore or chilled as you like. And it’s arguably less exertive, needing little in the way of arm paddling power. Instead, riders launch into a wave upright and surge towards shore (mainly) on the white water. It can also be practiced in lifeguard patrolled surf zones (unlike surfing) as there’s less likelihood of you taking others out.
With this in mind NCW is now stocking Dick Pearce & Friends bellyboards. Summer’s just around the cornerand having a bellyboard (or two) in your ‘toy box’ will ensure maximum fun being had by all the family at the beach. And for the hardy bellyboarder the off season can also be just as much fun!
Note: It’s not just big kids who can enjoy some bellyboarding fun either. For younger sliders the Mini Puffling will the go to DP&F bellyboard. Being shorter and a little wider it’s a great choice for your nippers, or equally for those wanting to travel with compact kit.
‘The story of “surf-riding” in the UK cannot be told without the Pearce family.
In 1929, Charles Pearce took over a tannery in the small town of South Molton in Devon and set up a manufacturing business. When he first saw ‘surf-riders’ on the local beaches in the 1960s, he began to experiment with making the boards himself in the family’s tannery workshop. He was pretty good at it. In the years after the Second World War, Charles Pearce and Sons’ wooden boards became a fixture on the beaches of the Southwest.
Dick Pearce took over the family business when his father died. Perfecting the design and overseeing the production of thousands of boards, loved by those who rode them, Dick was a true champion of British bellyboarding, For fifty years, he stuck to the family’s time honoured production methods and materials and he refused to compromise on quality, ever. Even in the face of competition from disposable, imported, polystyrene bodyboards, Dick continued to make boards that people would treasure.’
£69.00
One other benefit of fringe surfing antics is a lot of these disciplines don’t require the rider to jaunt off paddling outback. Take belly boarding as one example. Standing in the shallows is fine, whilst you wait for your wave. This is great for families – especially families with younger, smaller children. It means mum, dad and offspring can all be in the same spot, enjoying the ocean together. And that kind of experience is gold.
So if you’re fed up with surfing’s lack of fulfillment through the UK’s summer months. And angry at Neptune not delivering. Perhaps it’s time to switch your tack and look at a fringe surfing discipline. Who knows, if many do the same thing it might end up being mainstream ways to ride waves and not so much on the periphery.
For anyone searching for gear that suits fringe surfing activities (as well as surfing proper) scope out NCW’s webshop where you’ll find all the goodies to enhance your sessions –
https://www.northcoastwetsuits.co.uk/shop/