Llantwit boaties

Llantwit Boaties

 The surf boat is a four man rowing boat steered by a sweep (cox), the boats are of Australian origin and were originally designed for rescuing swimmers.  These days they are rowed for fun and competition.  A series of competitions are held throughout the summer mainly in Cornwall, Devon, and South Wales along with a European Championships held in different locations around Europe.  

The Llantwit Major surf boat crew have been going since 2005.  They have come on in leaps and bounds since they first restored a 30 year old wooden decked boat and rocked up at the Nationals in Fistral to try their luck in the 5ft surf.  Since that first competition the guys have been hooked on the challenge of taking on the surf, working as a team, getting the boat out beyond the waves and then racing back, hopefully through riding a wave all the way to the beach. The girls have dabbled and shown some good promise at times.  

The crew are much slicker outfit these days.  A modern boat was purchased in 2008, and the crew train throughout the Winter, they were unlucky to miss out on the medals at the European Champs in 2009 and came fourth in the UK league in 2009 (despite missing an event!). They are driven to do better in 2010.    

All abilities and ages are welcome, a more leisurely masters crew have also trained throughout the winter.  If you’re interested in getting involved, learning to row, to ride surf and to become a lifeguard then please contact the Boat Captain, Gethin on 01446 796330.  Further information on surf boat rowing is available at www.uksrl.co.uk