Every once in a while you meet somebody that really impresses you – somebody that knows who they are and where they are going, somebody who has an aim in life and importantly, a plan on how to get there, somebody that possesses a talent that amazes and inspires at the same time. Well, this is what happened when I met a young man called Lewis Stritch!
Lewis contacted us about sponsorship a few years back, but at that time I had only just entered the market with Curve Surf and was not really in a position to support him – however, I did promise that we would keep him in mind and would see how he progressed over the next couple of years.
So a couple of months back I decided that having entered our 3rd full year of trading and having got the Curve brand established as a credible surf brand here in the UK, I was ready to dip our toes into the sea of sponsorship. I wanted to support a young, rising star in the surf world and I wanted to give something back to our local area too, so preferably somebody relatively close to us and a person that would be as passionate about our great products as I am!
So, true to our word, I dug out Lewis’ email address and dropped him a line to see if he was still interested in becoming a Curve Surf sponsored team rider. Lewis immediately said “Yes, please” (I think he’d thought I’d forgotten about him!) and I arranged to meet up at the cafe at Crooklets Beach, Bude, Cornwall (Lewis lives 30 seconds walk from the beach!) to thrash out a deal!
Upon meeting up, I was introduced to a truly passionate longboarder and a prodigious talent. Lewis finished 3rd in the Great Britain Under 18 Longboard rankings last year and has just completed his secondary education at Budehaven 6th Form College, where he has been studying for a BTEC in Outdoor Adventure. He is about to begin University life at the University of Plymouth, studying Surf Science at the Newquay campus. He recently competed at the Atlantic Watersports Event in Croyde, coming 2nd (by 0.1 point!) and will be participating in the BLU National ranking events at Gwithian, Polzeath and Watergate Bay later in the year. He also hopes to compete in the upcoming European Longboard Championships in Spain.
On top of all this, he is a thoroughly nice young man AND has the looks of a teenage heart-throb! Perfect sponsorship material! 
Seriously though, I am really stoked to have Lewis on board with the Curve team and I shall do everything I can to help him achieve his surfing goals and ambitions. Thain Leisure has supplied Lewis with a complete Curve Surf Travel package to support him in his quest for Longboard glory! This package includes a full set of Curve Boost day bags for his longboard quiver, a Curve Overstayer for travelling and assorted Curve surf travel accessories to make his journey easier and more comfortable. In addition, Lewis will be using Surf Gel to prevent any wetsuit rash and his boards will be cleaned and prepped with Blue Goo/Xtreme Cream by Onitpro.
We’ll keep you up-to-date with Lewis’ competition events and results via our Facebook and Twitter feeds.
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