Over 200 people flock to Belly Boarding World Championships in Cornwall

PA

More than 200 people donned their retro togs for the 9th World Belly Boarding Championships 2011 in Cornwall this weekend.

Tourists and locals flocked to the Chapel Porth beach for the event, which was started in 2002 as a memorial to the late Arthur Traveller, a Londoner who holidayed with his wooden board at Chapel Porth every year.

PA

A belly board is still a common sight around the Cornish coast and is firmly rooted in surf culture.

Designed to be pushed off from a standing position as a wave approaches the rider, the plywood board is ridden laying down on the belly.

PA

According to the the Daily Mail, the craze was sparked by British soldiers returning from the Great War, who copied the Hawaiian 'Paipo' board and regaled stories of surfing from the islands, as well as Australia and South Africa.

And it certainly still provides a big dose of family fun to this day...

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