Ex Moroccan Magic
RAF Waveriders Surf development squad
Expectations were high as boards were piled roof high in the back of the van in the dark to begin
the 5 hour journey from RAF Sat Mawgan, Newquay up to Gatwick. As more passengers were
collected en-route, the van was ready to burst by the time day broke.
The all bar 2 of the 12 members of the surf development squad arrived eager and in plenty of time
for the flight to Taghazout, Morocco. The final 2 (no names required) scraped the check in, looking
a little worse for wear, claiming the traffic was bad… people had their doubts!
Morocco had been chosen as the destination for the Waveriders bi-annual worldwide surf training
trip. Taghazout is the premier destination for surfing in Africa and boasts several world class surf
breaks in close proximity to this tiny village. Good constancy and warm water has made morocco a
must on the world surfing trail since the early 60’s. Large swells push in across the Atlantic
throughout the winter and light up this desert coastline with numerous right hand point and reef
breaks, its not uncommon for travelling pro’s to spend weeks training here away from the world
circuit… and we were there too.
The group consisted of RAF surfers from all over the UK and beyond, 10 short boarders and 2
body boarders and were split into 2 hire vehicles on arrival at Agadir that evening. The
accommodation for the trip were 2 villas in the centre of Taghazout, about an hours drive north of
the city of Agadir. The village is basic to say the least, 2 restaurants, (neither of which sold alcohol)
a few apartment blocks and more surfboard repair shops than you could shake a stick at, over the
next 2 weeks we would certainly discover why!
The villas overlooked a break known as ‘hash point’, and on the first morning the eager surfers
were on it at first light. A huge swell had hit only days before and the waves were still chest high
and clean. The morning session ended by paddling around the point known as ‘panoramas’ to
taghazout beach as the tide became to high for the reefs in front to work. After a quick lunch, Chris
‘Mrs’ Wilce decided to surf the inside section just in front of the apartments, which broke onto the
rocks, which according to him looked ‘makeable’. How wrong he was. Whether it was the entrance
to the water (achieved only by jumping off rocks) or surfing the wave which broke over an
extremely shallow rock line, the end result was not good. After a few waves he returned to the
apartment with an interesting new feature to his board, 2 large holes where his fins used to attach
to the underside and several larges cracks to match. Fortunately most people had brought at least
2 boards for exactly this reason.
The idea of the trip was to develop the RAF’s surfers who compete in the annual tri-service
competition, by surfing often larger but significantly more technical waves which are far less
common in the UK. These waves are in abundance in Morocco, waves which break with perfect
shape over very shallow reefs or wrap around jagged headlands are sculpted by the light offshore
breezes to create the perfect faces for surfers to enjoy. However as we were to find out, it’s not all
like the films!
It was evident from the start that we weren’t the only surfers to be aware of the quality of waves in
Africa, from rails of surfboards at every corner to the groups of long haired travellers that populated
every street café, the real challenge was to get waves to your self. Most surf spots in the UK are
beach breaks, meaning they break in several places along the beach where sand banks are
formed beneath the water. In morocco however, there are very few actual beaches and most
waves are formed by rocks or reefs which always break in exactly the same place. This means
there is nearly always 1 perfect spot to take off and everybody wants it! The military plan was to
simply beat people to it, alarms were set in darkness, being changed and in the water for first light
was the order of the day.
As the first week passed the best breaks nearby became firm favourites. A reef break called
‘Mysteries’, ‘camel point’ and ‘banana point’ a few hundred metres away from the village produced
consistent right hand waist to head high waves. However all had their challenges, some could only
be entered by climbing over rocks and other claimed several more boards as people continued to
check the depth of the water as they surfed. However the world renowned ‘Anka point’ still
remained elusive. Anka’s is named after the Anchor factory that used to be on the headland above
the break. It can produce Double overhead, heavy waves which rear up from nowhere and smash
onto the headland. The take off is extremely fast and steep and has a real risk of serious injury if
you get caught between the breaking wave and the rocks, watching the several professional’s who
were there at the time was incredible as they took to pieces these monster waves. Needless to
say, we were waiting for a slightly smaller day.
After a week in Taghazout the guys were taking turns with the ‘travellers tummy’ to put it politely
but certainly pushing the standard in the water, the body boarders were enjoying shallow reefs and
getting barrels galore. Whilst the short boarders were taking turns to photograph and film each
other, aiming to critique and improve everyday. For the regular footers, right hand breaks were
allowing them to practice cutbacks, off the lips and suspect barrels, with the question of ‘did he
make it out?’ often being raised over the balcony debrief. For the goofy footers, right hand waves
offer the opportunity to hone the skill of the back hand snap, a move that produces speed and
apparently lots of spray off the top, often the spray wasn’t quite what we’d hoped!
During the middle weekend of the trip fell remembrance Sunday, and even though we were far
away from home, the military in us all dictated we should show our respects in a fitting way. A
paddle out is a long established way for surfers to remember and honour their friends and loved
ones and seemed a very appropriate way to show our respects. The 12 guys paddled out at hash
point, formed a circle in the water and carried out a 2 min silence to remember.
A large pulse in the swell was predicted for the start of the second week and hopes were high. It
appeared, albeit only for a day and the sheltered spot of banana point was the obvious choice. 6-8
foot waves reeled into the bay with perfect shape, each identical to the last. The wave simply walls
steeply and continues to break like a conveyor belt for what feels like a lifetime down the coast.
The 20 min paddle back to the point was always worth it. No photos are available for this day for 1
simple reason; no one was going to miss out! The session lasted several hours until it was too dark
to see the water around you, which made the rocky walk back to the car interesting to say the
least. When we arrived back to the villas we discovered the other group had found out just how
shallow the water was at the same spot. Dom ‘splash’ Godwin got wiped out and had his armed
trapped between 2 rocks just beneath the surface, the power of the water then rotated his body
over the top of his arm, snapping it just above the wrist. A metal pin and 6 screws were to be a
constant reminder of just how dangerous the sport can be.
Preparations had been excellent for the competition to be held during the start of the second week.
Competitive surfing can be a whole different challenge and one that we knew we needed to
improve on after missing out on the tri-service title this year to the Navy by a single point. Our
Moroccan contact Rashid had arranged a small team of Moroccan surf instructors from the local
area to compete against us in a team event. The Surfers are paired up in 30 minute heats with
your 2 highest scoring waves being counted at the end of the heat. The RAF team were on fire,
relishing the small but clean waves of the break known as ‘La Source’. Team riders Ali Johnson,
Glenn Balloch and Danny Sanderson all surfed with style but some of the Moroccan surfers were
simply too good. Ex pro’s Younes and Hassan were clearly loving the opportunity to free surf, and
show that the locals were the real masters of this place, and after a full day of competition, team
Maroc were given the narrow victory over the RAF. The lessons, tactics and competition skills that
the RAF members learnt are invaluable, being able to surf against Ex professionals who still have
masses of ability helps develop all of our members strengths and weaknesses in a competition
environment; this will be taken forward to the next inter-services. The competition also helped the
RAF members develop relationships with the locals promoting the RAF in a positive way and what
it does in a positive manor.
Towards the tail end of the trip the swell decreased, Tamri beach approx 40 mins north around
cape Ghir ensured there was always somewhere to surf. If it was flat in Taghazout, Tamri would be
pumping and several days produced perfect chest high hollow waves, although it would be 50/50
whether you would be rewarded with a great ride or an absolute hiding, but that’s why we love it!
With only days to go, confidence was high and was time to tackle Anka’s, the swell was more
manageable, still head high on set waves and the power was always there. Entering and exiting
the water was just one part of the challenge, either a 500m paddle out along the coast or take your
chances with the slippery urchin rocks between waves, not one to get wrong! Once you’re in its
easy, just paddle harder than the other 40 guys wanting the same wave and don’t mess it up or
you are on the rocks, no pressure then. The guys did well considering there’s nothing like it at
home to practice on, you just had to commit.
After 14 days of surfing at least twice a day, we had 8 damaged surfboards, 1 head injury and a
broken arm, every inch of bodies were aching and everybody was ready to get home. Anybody that
thinks surfing is easy and a bit of a jolly is welcome to give it a go. Just remember, paddling is like
swimming against breaking waves for hours on end and the ride can only last seconds before the
paddle starts again. Fins are sharp when they cut you, boards are solid when they hit you and a
square foot of water can be like a brick wall when it smashes you, but when it all goes right and
you get a good one, there’s no other feeling like it! So who’s in for next year?!?!
If you are interested in Learning to surf or improving your skills, get in touch with Mr Mark Leigh,
the centre manager for the RAF Waveriders at St Mawgan on 01637 857465.
Article by Sgt Matt Hills.