@midlifeboarder Q&A – bellyboarding confessions with Robert Ayres.

Fringe surfing has gained in popularity during the past few years. No longer are surf breaks just for surfboards. These days you’re just as likely to see a hardy crew of bellyboarders, tray surfers, mat riders and other aficionados of weird and wonderful craft sliding on swells. One such individual is Rob Ayres (@midlifeboarder on Instagram) who came to NCW’s attention after purchasing a wetsuit from us. Rob likes a sideways slide on the aforementioned artisan craft. But what really pricked out attention is his Surfogan project. Read on to find out more.

The set up.

I am a kook; a complete newbie; a dry land dweller until I had to move to Cornwall 18 months ago for work after losing my job due to COVID in 2020. As soon as I got here I had an urge to get out and get wet but no idea how or what would be the best way of getting some stoke with limited skill, in the smallest amount of time.

A colleague of mine suggested trying bodyboarding as surfing would be a long road to go down and I didn’t fancy having a long board strapped to the top of my car permanently. Being a logical type of person I did some research on bodyboards and found that 1000s of these are dumped at local beaches each year and end up in landfill. Working for a company that promotes sustainability this didn’t really sit well with me, so I looked for alternatives. This is when I came upon bellyboarding. An easy way of getting out in the waves with limited skill, and a more sustainable option.

So with an NCW wetsuit and some basic kit I bought a Dick Pearce & Friends belly board and headed off to Fistral for one of their meets. That was the point where everything changed for me. I was hooked. Not only can you get out and have fun in the waves with no skill whatsoever, but there is a whole community of like minded people looking to do the same thing.

It was amazing. Yes, you start off launching into waves at hip height sliding on the white water, and for a lot of people, this is fantastic. I, on the other hand, saw others sliding down proper waves on all sorts of surf craft. This was my introduction to fringe surfing and the fringe surfing crew. Fringe surfing is generally seen as using anything that isn’t a surfboard or bodyboard to slide down a wave. From belly boards of all shapes and sizes to hand planes to inflatable mats, anything is possible if it will slide. The array of equipment is astonishing and the craftsmanship that goes into them, is incredible.

Most are made of wood of some fashion and these pieces of wood are handcrafted to make some amazing kit. 10 months into my surfing career and I have ten different surf craft. 3 hand planes, 5 belly boards (although I am waiting for delivery of one, and have another that I am testing for a builder), a piapo and a paulownia wood board all the way from Australia. All of these combined cost me about the same as one decent surfboard. Different boards for different waves, so I tell my wife.

This is true though, the bellyboards I tend to use on waves from 2’ to 4’. Anything over 4’ and I usually use my paipo or paulownia board. Having these different pieces of surf craft have taken me from white water sliding, to getting out back and having a go on some proper waves, and it gives an option for every kind of condition. Paddling out back, stand up surfers still give the look of “what the hell are you doing back here on a piece of wood?”, right up to the point where I’ve taken a wave and slide down the line straight past them. There is an increasing following for this kind of wave riding as well. There is a whole community in Cornwall, and other parts of the UK, that are dedicated to the art of fringe surfing, and I couldn’t be happier to be a part of that crew.

The Surfogan.

This brings me to Project Surfogan. The Surfogan was my daughter’s toboggan, that as a teenager she is far too cool for now. It was destined for the bin. I turned it over and saw the rails underneath and that is where the whacky idea of trying to get a toboggan to surf came from.

Testing has been done on the bare bones of the craft, and it sank. Water gets over the back lip and floods, so a better solution was needed. Having now consulted experts in the fields of board building, surf craft and the just plain crazy, a plan is being hatched to fill the centre with foam and then marine ply over the top. Hopefully, this should give enough buoyancy for the rails to do their thing and get me down a decent wave. This is an ongoing project, but I can’t wait to walk down the beach with the Surfogan under my arm and paddle out back with the other surfers. The look on their faces will be priceless I’m sure.

Thanks go to North Coast Wetsuits for the encouragement and stickers, I’m sure when it is finished Mark will be joining me for a slide on the Surfogan.

Padstow and Harlyn.

Living in Padstow, Harlyn Bay is my normal beach of choice and I have had some amazing fun on a piece of wood with 2-5’ waves here, but there are also usually meets at different locations on the north Cornish coast with fellow fringers.

Boxing Day 2021 we took over Great Western, completely riding out the stand up surfers who had enough of us all and went somewhere else. That was an epic day with everyone hooting and hollering as one of us caught a good wave or calling out that a wave was incoming. A proper sense of community and inclusion.

If you haven’t tried it before then get hold of a bellyboard, whether you’re a seasoned surfer or complete newbie, there is so much fun to be had sliding on your belly inside a wave. Stick a board in the back of your car and go for a slide. Whether it’s a DP&Friends, or a Sharkboy Rocket give it a go. I warn you though, it is addictive!

You can check out more articles like this over on NCW’s blog here.