Surf classroom proposed for popular spot in St Ouen’s Bay

• Surf coaching and sea safety classroom proposed for St Ouen
• Splash Surf Centre wants to increase size of business
• The current hut was nearly destroyed by winter storms last year
• Surf etiquette: Read the guide to good manners in the sea below

A SURF coaching and sea safety classroom could be created in St Ouen’s Bay if a local business is allowed to extend its current headquarters.

The Splash Surf Centre, which uses a small wooden shack next to the Watersplash restaurant and nightclub, has applied to Planning to add a small extension to its premises.

The business offers private surf lessons to Islanders and visitors over the summer season and longer group surf camp programmes during the Easter and summer holidays.

If approved the 31 square-metre shack, which currently houses a small office and some storage space, would be extended by nearly 50 per cent.

Splash Surf Centre owner and surf instructor Chester Mackley said that the extension would allow a classroom to be created where advanced coaching techniques could be taught.

Writing to the Planning Department Mr Mackley added: ‘It will also offer changing room facilities which are necessary for up to 120 children that can be present in one day at the surf school.

‘The extension will also be multi-purpose in that it will be used as overnight storage for all of our equipment.’

Mr Mackley added that the extension would also improve the site by reducing the need for excess storage in boxes, gazebos, trailers and vans, which are all used at the moment.

The application has received two letters of support so far and no objections.

Seymour Hotels managing director David Seymour, who owns the Watersplash, has backed the extension.

Writing to the Planning Department he said: ‘It is evident that with the rekindled popularity of surfing and an increase in the numbers of adults and children taking surf lessons, including organised school trips, the existing facility is at capacity, especially on wet and windy days when water-based teaching has to be curtailed and learning has to be shore-based.’

The president of the Jersey Surfboard Club, David Ferguson, added that having a beachside classroom would also allow more information about the bay’s potentially dangerous currents and rip tides to be passed on to visitors and locals.

‘The classroom facility will not only help develop junior surfers, but also act to highlight the importance of surf safety and etiquette within the whole of St Ouen’s Bay,’ he told the Planning Department in a letter.

The Splash Surf Centre sits next to the Watersplash restaurant and nightclub.

The waves that break in front of the popular nightspot are among the most consistent in St Ouen’s Bay, favoured by surfers from across the Island.

It has been a popular spot for Jersey’s surfing community for decades, with the surf centre’s headquarters – a small wooden shack – having played an integral part of the surfing scene since the early 1960s.

South African lifeguards started a surf school in the area in 1971, which combined coaching and sea safety lessons.

That tradition has continued with the Splash Surf Centre.

In February 2014, the Splash Surf Shack was nearly destroyed when heavy storms battered the Island for several days.

These basic guidelines were drawn up the Jersey Surfboard Club committee because they were concerned at growing problems of respect and safety in the water. They advise that the most important thing for all surfers to do is to use their eyes and ears, and notice what is going on around them. The rules are the same for all surfers, no matter what age they are. ?

• Don’t hog the waves. It’s not fair to try and catch every wave that comes along – you will only antagonise other surfers and earn a reputation as a ‘wave pig’ or ‘wave hog’. Even if you have the paddling power or a faster board that allows you to get to every wave first, remember to give as well as take. ?
• Share the waves and earn respect. Remember you are sharing the ocean not only with surfers, but also the marine life in it. Don’t practise competition tactics on those who enjoy surfing just for fun. The sea is there for everyone to share and enjoy. ?
• Don’t ‘snake’. This is when a surfer deliberately paddles inside a surfer who already has priority. There is a thin line between paddling for position and deliberately snaking someone. For example, if a longboard surfer was up and riding early and another surfer caught the wave inside as it reformed, he would be snaking. ?
• Don’t paddle in front of a surfer who is up and riding when you are paddling for the shoulder or unbroken part of the wave. ?
• Dropping in on another surfer is very dangerous. This is when a surfer drops in on a wave when another surfer already has priority. If it is done accidentally, the second surfer should pull out of the wave.[/breakout]