{"id":2239,"date":"2009-10-01T14:14:51","date_gmt":"2009-10-01T13:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/driftsurfingmagazine.driftdigital.co.uk\/?p=2239"},"modified":"2009-10-15T10:38:15","modified_gmt":"2009-10-15T09:38:15","slug":"is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/driftsurfingmagazine.driftdigital.co.uk\/index.php\/archives\/2239","title":{"rendered":"Is This The Beginning Of The End?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"the-beginning-of-the-opener\"I don\u2019t want to be alarmist but could we be on the verge of losing one of our greatest freedoms: self regulation.<\/p>\n

If you think about it, most (all?) of the decisions we take while surfing (whether to paddle or not for a wave, where to paddle back through, etc.) come from a series of universal rules that we, surfers, decided a long time ago and have been enforcing universally. Sure, we all know a few beaches\/spots where these rules are applied differently depending on one\u2019s place of birth, skin colour, residence or are simply reinterpreted according to selfish interest. But right now, the only rules from the \u201coutside\u201d<\/em> world that apply to surfing are \u201cswimming zones\u201d<\/em> in summer. Steer clear of those and plunge into the free ocean, out of reach of any rules and laws except from surfing\u2019s own.<\/p>\n

But all this could be about to change. According to regional French newspaper Sud-Ouest<\/strong><\/a>, after the high number of surfing related accidents resulting in injuries that occurred on the Capbreton \u2013 Hossegor – Seignosse<\/strong> stretch of coast this last summer (up to 35% more than the previous summer<\/strong>), these City Councils are studying the possibility of setting up some sort of surfing regulation<\/strong>. A regulation that, they say, would mainly affect surf schools (they will have a designated stretch of beach each, so as not to have an excess of learner surfers in the same break) but also surfers with rentals and, presumably, little or no ocean experience.<\/p>\n

Although I\u2019m a bit of an anarchist at heart, I am not against some sort of regulation in the water. When you consider what happens at some beaches (not only in France, try the greater Bilbao area for more of the same) during summer it\u2019s nothing short of a miracle that there aren\u2019t a lot more, much more serious surf accidents. Boards flying everywhere, massive drop-ins, people dodging loose canon boards from fellow surfers who don\u2019t mind tossing them to the side instead of duck diving oncoming waves etc, etc\u2026 However we all know that once the \u201cpowers that be\u201d<\/em> start regulating an activity they have a tendency to go a wee bit too far<\/strong>; and surfing can indeed look very dangerous to non-surfers.<\/p>\n

\"the-beginning-of-the-end\"<\/p>\n

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No need to go to Hossegor. Check Donostia on a late September Friday afternoon. <\/em><\/p>\n

So I wonder: what could be next after they regulate surf schools? Will helmets be compulsory at certain breaks\u2026 or from a certain wave size? Will surfers have to produce so some sort of \u201cdriving licence\u201d<\/em> at some reefs? Will there be some sort of lifeguard in charge of regulating the number of surfers at each peak and, once full capacity is reached, make us queue on the sand and only let us join the crowd on a \u201cone in, one out\u201d<\/em> basis?<\/p>\n

Worrying thoughts indeed. Just in case let\u2019s behave ourselves this autumn. Let\u2019s not give them an opportunity to rule us too much.<\/p>\n

Nieg\u00e0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t want to be alarmist but could we be on the verge of losing one of our greatest freedoms: self regulation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[193,440,8],"tags":[514,515,293],"class_list":["post-2239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogs","category-felip-niega","category-on-the-road","tag-crowds","tag-dangers","tag-france"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t