Three Rights Don't Make A Wrong

BUT THEY CAN MAKE A LEFT!

We hit the road with the Raglan Surf Academy late in 2018 bound for wherever the forecast would lead us . . . but what lay ahead on this adventure lay far beyond anyone’s expectations!

The latter half of 2018 had been rather cruel to the students of the RSA with the West Coast being buffeted by large swells and westerly quarter winds - what this meant was the country’s most consistent quality wave Manu Bay had been their saviour for close to six months. And while this sounds far from a unpleasant experience to go through, as some would see this as a bucket list dream experience. When you’re lucky enough to be enrolled in a school programme which specialises in developing your surfing and you haven’t surfed a beach break or gone right for half of the year, that can create a ‘Groundhog day’ mentality.

As in previous years, we’ve always supported the Academy as we believe in supporting and helping nurture the future of our sport. Together with the support of the teachers and the school board, we spend the entire year dangling this carrot in front of the students with the criteria that if you make your grades you get to hit the road, bound for who knows where!

While the Academy is now in its 20th year and the NZ Surf Roadies go well beyond that, personnel obviously change from year to year, but one of the focus points of the roady is to go somewhere different every year and test the groms outside of their comfort zones. Usually the call is leftuntil the last minute to ensure the forecast is stable. Sometimes that means a two-tothree-hour drive, or anywhere as far as ten. Head teacher Dean Hishon, who basically came up with the concept of the Academy all those moons ago, still thrives on these roadies and he loves to drive, so drive he does!