North Devon Journal July 2005
All-girl surf school a big success
Budding surfers enthused as they stepped out of the waves at Croyde, recently, following the Rip Curl Girls' weekend.
Despite the small waves, some could barely contain their excitment at having actually stood on their boards for the first time. Darren Burrett, founder and owner of the Croyde's surf school, Surf South West, said around 50 girls of all ages signed up for the all-girl surfing weekend, led by four female instructors.
Lorna Roy, 17, or Barnstaple got a surfboard a few years ago, and although she'd stood up before, hadn't managed to for long, and found the instruction very helpful. She said there were advantages to the all-girl sessions, too. "It's less intimidating, because guys can be quite coompetitive," she said.
South African Meg Peel, 20, is working in Parracombe as an au-pair, and had never surfed before. She also managed to stand on her board and said: "It was really cool I loved it, it was awesome".
Both instructors were delighted with the weekend's success, and Ness said: "It's been great to teach just women. They're very responsive, they listen, they've been a real pleasure - there's no holding back with them."
Plans are now afoot for a second weekend of this kind.
