Sam Bleakley is a British surfer, travel writer, filmmaker, presenter and longboard contest commentator. His published books include Mindfulness and Surfing: reflections for saltwater souls (2016), The Longboard Travel Guide: a guide to the world's best longboarding waves (2015), Surfing Tropical Beats (2011) and Surfing Brilliant Corners (2010). He has been a multiple British and European longboard surfing champion. Sam holds a MA in Geography from Pembroke College, University of Cambridge and a PhD from University of the Arts London and Falmouth University entitled Surfing Haïti, and a new wave of travel writing.
Surfing
Bleakley started surfing aged 5 in Cornwall. He rode shortboards until aged 15.Blog Adventure Activities Cornwall. Adventure-cornwall.co.uk. He won his first European Longboard Championship title whilst studying at Cambridge (Praia Grande, Portugal, 1999)."Cornishman Sport Down Memory Lane September 17". This is Cornwall (17 September 2009).Contender Sport The Observer. Observer.guardian.co.uk (26 February 2011). He retained the title shortly after graduating (Le Penon, France, 2001).John Buchorski wins UK WKD Lizzard expression session. Surfersvillage.com. Bleakley has won national, European and international longboard events. He has also won national and international paddle race titles.Sam Bleakley writes from Oxbow World Longboard final in the Maldives. A1Surf.com (26 October 2009). Bleakley is a commentator for the live broadcast at world longboard events for the International Surfing Association (ISA) and World Surf League (WSL).Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Writing and filmmaking
Bleakley's writing has been published in international magazines and newspapers including Conde Nast Traveller, The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Independent, Men's Health, La Repubblica and numerous specialist surfing publications.Resurgence • Article – Guardians of the Ocean. Resurgence.org. He has edited longboard specials in Carve and Wavelength magazines, and been a surf columnist in The Cornishman newspaper. In his writing he compares surfing to jazz.Extract: Sam Bleakley's Surfing Brilliant Corners New music reviews, news & interviews. The Arts Desk (19 September 2010).Surfing Brilliant Cornersd, By Sam Bleakley, photos by JS Callahan – Reviews – Books. The Independent (9 July 2010).
He has published five books on surfing and contributed to several multiauthor volumes on the topic (see Bibliography).Surfing Yearbook most comprehensive ever published. Surfersvillage.com (15 April 2009).the September project. Septembersurf.blogspot.com.
Bleakley has produced, presented, directed, co-edited and written numerous surf travel films including the Brilliant Corners surf travel series on emerging surf cultures. He has appeared in action sport DVDs, documentaries and television programmes about surfing and travel including the BBC's The Perfect Wave (2001) and Grandstand (World Surfing Games 2002), Channel 4's 360 series (2001) and ITV's Surf's Up series (2002).Serene agility. YouTube (19 November 2008). In the Brilliant Corners series Bleakley has directed and presented films on Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados, Liberia, China, Sierra Leone, Oman, Ghana, The Philippines, Mauritania, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, India and Senegal.
Bibliography Bleakley, S. (2020). Mindful Thoughts for Surfers: Tuning in to the Tides. Lewes: Leaping Hare Press. Bleakley, S. (2016). Mindfulness and Surfing: Reflections for Saltwater Souls. Lewes: Leaping Hare Press. Bleakley, S. (2015). The Longboard Travel Guide: A Guide to the World's Best Longboarding Waves. Newquay: Orca Publications. Bleakley, S. (2012). Surfing Tropical Beats. Penzance: Alison Hodge Publishers. Bleakley, S. (2011). Surfing Tropical Beats (Chinese edition). Haikou: Hainan Publishing House. Bleakley, S. (2010). Surfing Brilliant Corners. Penzance: Alison Hodge Publishers. Mansfield, R. (Editor Bleakley, S.) (2009). The Surfing Tribe: A History of Surfing in Britain. Newquay: Orca Publications. Manetta, J. (Contributing Editor Bleakley, S.) (2014). Looking For Something To Find. Mount Hawke: Toadhall Press. Zanella, N. (Editor Bleakley, S.) (2019). Children of the Tide: An Exploration of Surfing in Dynastic China. Milan: Grafiche Antiga.
References
External links Sam Bleakley Website