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Top pro surfer appointed Patron to British Surfing Museum
by Peter Robinson
07/04/2008:// Quiksilver and Gravis rider Gabe Davies, who holds multiple British and national titles, has agreed to join the not for profit organisation and will help out with publicity, advice and special events.
We asked Gabe because we believe he is the perfect role model for British surfing, said museum founder and director Pete Robinson, his recent achievements alone riding some of the biggest waves in the world off the coast of Ireland mean his name is already legendary.
He has his own great history of British surfing, with his many competition wins and performances in oceans the world over but more than that he is a forward thinking man with great credentials. Gabe is someone all surfers of all abilities can look up to with admiration.
Gabe has been surfing since the age of eleven, taking to the waves at his home beach of Tynemouth in North East England. He now divides his time between the UK and South West France where he lives with his wife the best selling fictional author Lauren Davies.
The British Surfing Museum, sponsored by Oxbow UK, is in detailed talks with a trust in Cornwall and plans to establish a permanent home by 2010. Among its many artefacts, the museum owns more than 100 original British surfboards that create a complete timeline of the last century of surfing in the UK. Its research has recently uncovered remarkable footage of stand-up surfing in Cornwall in 1929, plus references to surfing taking place in England in the mid 19th Century and evidence that Captain James Cooks crew tried surfboards when they first made contact with Hawaii in 1778.
Gabe Davies said: One of the most unique and fascinating aspects of surfing is its history and its heritage. Every surfer feels he or she is a direct descendant of the sport of Hawaiian kings. We all share that special connection with the ocean. The British Surfing Museum is the best way for myself and others to view our heritage first hand, as well as to help educate, and of course protect the roots of British surfing. This is something I feel proud to support and I'd encourage participation in the museum at every level.
The surf museum project was started in 2003 by 47 year old Robinson, who runs ITVs community broadband internet service ITV Local, and currently operates a series of touring exhibitions visiting surfing communities around the UK.
Next dates are May1st June 14th 2008 at Red House Museum in Christchurch, and June 28th September 7th 2008 at the National Fishing Heritage Centre in Grimsby.
As well as appointing Gabe Davies as Patron, the museums steering committee has now been expanded to include Doug Wilson - one of the founders of 1960s surf company Bilbo, World Champion kite-surfer Kirsty Jones, Surf Nation author Alex Wade, surf writer and journalist Alf Alderson, and Neil Watson from East Anglia who cut his teeth in surf publishing in the 1970s with seminal titles that included Ripple and Surf.
For the latest museum news log onto http://www.thesurfingmuseum.co.uk
The 2008 Beachley Classic got underway this morning, completing Rounds 1 and 2 as well as the opening two heats of Round 3 at nearby Freshwater Beach in clean two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves
Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, has officially announced her retirement from full-time competition, effective at the end of the year
Former Exeter University student Josh Lewin first heat at the Ocean and Earth Pro in the Canary Islands has been delayed because the 2ft surf was deemed uncontestable
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