Wrecking the Severn Bore

There are two ways to wreck the occasional high-tide wave (or bore) that sweeps up the Severn River in the west of England: swiftly, or slowly. The slow way is described over here. It’s still theoretical. But the swift way seems to happen a lot, and it’s shown in the clip above. I surfed the Severn for the first time this week—not in the snow, thank God—and had a good time even though the wave was small. But only one wave rolls upriver every twelve hours, when it’s running at all, so if you miss the wave, you’re done surfing.

On Tuesday, with only a handful of people in the water near the Severn Bore Inn, no fewer than three motorboats came buzzing along just ahead of the wave. Their wakes cut up what little power the bore had that morning and completely screwed up our rides. Rumor has it that a celebrity chef named Gordon Ramsay (or his cameraman) was in one of the boats. I wouldn’t know Mr. Ramsay if he fried my butt cheeks; but the bore enthusiast who took this video said the pilots of all those boats knew their Severn and should have known how to navigate it without wrecking the wave.

Consideration, people. That’s all I have to say. It’s one thing when other surfers act like kooks and ruin a session in the water; it’s another when the cooks kooks are in charge of an outboard motor.

UPDATE: Crucial footage is at 3:22, but watch the whole video for context. Thanks to Neil.

UPDATE 2: Gordon Ramsay’s people say they had nothing to do with it, also according to Neil. Good. But who was in the boat? If you know, or if you have any stories about the origins or history of Severn surfing, and don’t mind being quoted in a book, post them over here.

UPDATE 3: More British surf blogging above.

     posted 11 April 2008 by Michael Scott Moore

  1. Mike,
    If you want to know the history of surfing the Severn Bore, you need to talk to Donny Wright. He made the film ‘Longwave’ which chronicles the story of bore riding from it’s birth on the Severn in 1955, through it’s spread across the world to France, Brazil and China. Look at www.thelongwave for details of DVD and www.stillstoked.co.uk/contact_info/ for contacts.
    Respect
    Stu

    — Stuart Ballard    Apr 11, 02:22 pm    #

  2. Further to Stu’s comment, the film he talks about is the one which was being shown on Sunday night at the Inn. If I remember correctly, you were there at the time??

    — Neil Law    Apr 11, 03:08 pm    #

  3. Thanks for the contact info. I did see the film at the Inn. And took notes. I’ll talk to Donny; but any stray anecdotes are welcome.

    — Mike    Apr 11, 03:33 pm    #

  4. Boats have as much right as surfboards to ride the crest of the Severn Bore. They are all water craft and fall under the same rules and regs – a surfboard has no more right to the wave than a motorised boat (PWC aside of course). So quit the moaning and share and share alike!!!
    Longwave was good – except for the obnoxious bore-riders that think they rule the river!

    — Facts not fiction    Apr 14, 03:16 am    #

  5. Erm, were the bore riders obnoxious? Most of them were perfectly kind as far as I remember. And we’re not talking about the law; we’re talking about basic consideration. The boats were there because of the surfers, either to film them or ferry a few from spot to spot, and if the roles were reversed, if longboards could do something to flood your outboard motor and force you to stall every hundred yards, completely ruining your day on the river, you’d be moaning too. Justifiably.

    — Mike    Apr 14, 09:55 am    #

  6. That’s a very interesting point of view. “share and share alike” is a moot point , as the manner in which the boats were used prevented any chance of sharing at the places where I shot the video, and contrary to point 6 on this document, http://www.gloucesterharbourtrustees.org.uk/boresurfing.pdf, it presented a clear danger to others in that at least one surfer, who had travelled a very long way for the chance of riding the bore was pitched into the banks by the wake of a boat.

    Again, as far as “sharing and sharing alike” goes, the many spectators who came from nearby and far afield to view this natural spectacle had a wasted journey because of the boats.

    I can’t speak for the bore-riders, because exactly who they are is open to some interpretation. The bore-riders club, of which I was never a member, is as far as I am aware, defunct. I am a pretty regular surfer..ok, bodyboarder, on the river,and there are many who turn up at some point during every set of tides,but I doubt any of us would claim any kind of seniority.

    Other than that, all I can say is that your attitude speaks for itself.

    — Neil Law    Apr 14, 10:05 am    #

  7. Look how good that wave can be. It’s at around 3.30 on this vid. To be fair it’s easy to get nailed there, but I think there should be a prize for the first person to get covered up in that brown barrel.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2fPjZ999qs

    — Stuart Ballard    Apr 16, 12:11 pm    #

  8. Yep, that’s a good wave. Last year? I knew I should have gone over for it in 2007. Here’s the video embedded:

    — Mike    Apr 16, 07:17 pm    #

  9. already conquered that dirt cowboy ;)

    — silver sucka    Apr 16, 10:36 pm    #

  10. I’m working on it Stu. As I keep telling everyone, that section is sponge territory.. I just need to convince the wave of that now.

    — Neil Law    Apr 17, 10:13 am    #

  11. Mike,
    have you seen this?
    Bit old now, but it really does show some great bore surfing on a wee board – http://www.surfline.com/video/video_player/video_player.cfm?id=4356

    — Stuart Ballard    Apr 28, 04:21 pm    #

  12. Thanks Stu. If there’s a longer film of that, I’d like to see it.

    — Mike    Apr 29, 07:26 pm    #

  13. It was done by Jon Rose, a Californian pro and his mate Kieth Randall from Hawaii. It was just so funny having two guys like that on the river and they were as excited as 9 year old boys at doing something new. They’re intention was to make a half hour TV program out of there trip but I don’t think they ever did. They were here for a week the first time and Jon came back a year or so later with a photographer. Sweet little film though isn’t it and great to see someone really bashing it.

    — Stuart Ballard    Apr 29, 10:27 pm    #