Topcat
Name: Tim
Age: 28
Job: Analyst Programmer/Husband
Years Surfing: 11yrs
Habitat: Tongwynlais
Boards: 3
Quiver: 9ft Longboard, 7'3" Roger Cooper Min Mal(White with red flames), Blue 7"0' Maurice Cole thruster, 'CJ' Retro Fish - 6'4" x 20 3/4" x 2 7/8" Yellow glass with red fading to orange spray job.
Local Break: Was Llangennith, but now I'm a Porthcawl regular.
Places Surfed: (Wales) Llantwit, Coney Beach, Rest Bay, Langland Bay, Caswell Bay, Pete's Reef, Rhossili Bay, Broughton Bay, Horton, Newgale, (Cornwall) Watergate Bay, Fistral, Woolacombe - aged 7yrs on a polystyrene board! Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
Worst Wipeout: Big day at Llangennith - caught a double-up wave, messed up the takeoff and got dumped by a huge lip. Held under and taken almost all the way into the shore. I had resigned myself to drowning but eventually surfaced on the inside with a dislocated shoulder. Took one small breath then got hit by two other monster lips before putting my shoulder back in place and catching a coffin ride in. Sat on the beach for half an hour but didn't go back in that day...
Favourite Surf Films: Dog Town and the Z boys, Wordz.
Best Surfing Experience: Surfing clear glassy waves on a sunny evening with two people I knew, with the sun red on the horizon and seagulls swooping through barrels. If I close my eyes I can still remember the sweet smell of the dunes!
Favourite Manoeuvre: Floaters, squatting barrel rides, sitting on beach.
Worst Surfing Habit: Getting annilated by clean up sets and being far too cautious.
Weirdest Surfing Experience: Having something BIG swim past my leg whilst sitting out the back at 'gennith. All I know is it felt very powerful and scared the life out of me!
Other Interests: Lots of things really...never short of something to do. I spend most of my time surfing of course, but also participate in extreme DIY, off-road gardening and endurance reading. I have been know to kick a football around now and again, play a bit of pool and snooker, ride a skateboard, and sometimes throw myself down mountains (well, steep hills anyway) on a downhill bike.