Seb Smart

If you are familiar with the subtle nuances of UK Culture, you’ll be familiar with the movie Snatch. If you are familiar with Snatch, you’ll be familiar with Mickey O’Neill. Seb Smart is Europe’s nay the worlds surfing answer to Mickey O’Neill – “The sweet-talking, tattoo-sporting bare-knuckle boxing champion.”

Hailing from about as far South West as you can go in the UK, Sennen Cove a few miles away from Lands End. A corner of Cornwall defined by pirates, smugglers and fisherman and good waves. Seb is a pure product of his environment, the antihero surfing needs. With a polished style and power for days Seb Smart is a true original of the UK, and wider European culture both in and out of the water. A penchant for boxing, and a talented eye for art and storytelling capabilities of which many generations of Cornishmen before him would be proud, we gave Seb a call to find out more about what makes the man tick.

For those of us that don’t know you - introduce yourself! 

My name is Seb Smart, I am from the deep southwest of Cornwall. I enjoy a bit of surfing, a bit of skateboarding, painting and drawing and a bit of boxing although at the moment I’m on a break from that with the unnecessary damage that incurs to the brain cells… That’s me in a nutshell. 

Talk us through the scene in Sennen - your hometown. 

It’s a small fishing village, there’s an RNLI Lifeboat (UK volunteer Coast Guard) – a lot of locals join the lifeboat. Lot of other locals are fisherman. It’s a typical small seasonal seaside town really mate. The winters are long but the waves are good. The summer is busy with tourism which is also good, gives the place a good energy. I usually stick around in the summer and try and get active in the winter with travelling. It’s my favourite place to be. 

How does an average day pan out in Sennen Cove?

Wake up, look at the waves, see what’s going on. If the sun is out, you can chill at the beach, go in the sea. Go fishing. Go surfing. Most of us work during the day, there’s a few cafes and restaurants and crucially pubs. In the evening we usually end up at the Pub, they do quizzes and have bands on sometimes. If the waves have been good, you can get up early, surf all day and get down to the boozer for some pints and live music. It’s a nice pace of life, I like it. 

How do you feel Sennen slips into the UK surf scene? 

Sennen has always been quite cut off from the wider scene, even though we have good waves and some talented surfers down here. It’s quite underground down here. We’re a little far out. There’s a few lads down here that surf really well, one that was a technician and managed to win the UK championship – he’s one of my favourite surfers. I fell out of the contest scene, I found it was a bit cliquey and the waves on that scene are so hit and miss. Don’t get me wrong, if we had the waves of Hawaii and we hadPpipeline to compete at – I would be doing contests all the time. In the UK, we’re a long way from those contests down in Sennen. I had my run, won the British title as a youngster. These days I’m just sitting and waiting for the Padang Cup invitation but I don’t know if that is ever going to happen… 

I’m not really interested in the wider scene, I just focus on what is around me. I’m just waiting for another Occy or Tom Curren to appear on the international scene… As for the UK, it seems positive, there’s a lot of groms surfing and being hungry, some good talent around. 

Do you have any trips planned?

Through the summer I will stick around here and surf when the waves play ball. I had a little skate injury recently so been training a lot and trying to get fit again. Do a couple of little projects around here and get some work down, then from September onwards I want to travel – head out to Indonesia around then and try and score some good waves. I have never scored Desert Point so would love to head out there and score that. Chopes is on my radar as well. Also all the European nooks and crannies, always worth the time.

On boards, talk us through the boards you have been riding recently? 

I’ve been riding B.O.S surfboards, by Hugh Brockman – a local shaper close to me. We’ve basically got this outline of a classic 90’s shortboard which are usually really thin and pointy but we’ve added some volume and rounded it off a bit. Visually it’s a 90’s stick but a bit chunkier, to really focus on drawing lines. I’m pretty sick of short, stubby boards – I really like the idea of going long and drawing big lines and carves. I’ve been riding a 6’3 and a 6’6 recently and they have been going really well – nice drawn out shapes. 

You’re pretty proactive putting together edits, what have you been working on? 

For the last three or four years I haven’t really been doing any airs at all and have been focusing on different things. I’ve started doing airs again so I would like to showcase that in edits and knock out some more grimy, punchy edits with airs. There’s also a big wave spot near Sennen that’s pretty uncharted and I’ve been paddling out recently and surfing that – I’m kind of getting to know it now and I want to do a little video of that and put it on the map. No one really goes out there as it doesn’t seem doable but when you are out there it really is. I’m just waiting for the right swell. 

Who are your role models in and outside of surfing?

This is one of those questions where are after the call I’ll think of so many more… In surfing I have always loved Occy, he’s so powerful and so good on the rail – such a different surfer. I feel like the way surfing is going now with so many people doing airs, that Occy is more inspiration and relevant than ever. I was also watching footage of Rob Machado recently and that surfing is just phenomenal. 

Outside, I’ve always been a massive fan of Mike Tyson and Mohammed Ali. They are both bigger than themselves and bigger than boxing. 

I really look up to brothers both in and out of the sea. Sam is twelve years older than me and used to have to babysit me a lot, and part of that babysitting was teaching me to surf. He used to love Occy and had a similar style so I would copy his style. I was obsessed with watching him surfing. My brother Lew was the same but a bodyboarder, I was also obsessed with watching bodyboarding. When I was old enough to go on my own I used to take a surfboard and a bodyboard and down to the beach do both. I ended up sticking to surfing, it just felt faster. 

Your family has a rich seafaring history – talk us through that?

My Grandad was in the Royal Navy, then was a skipper on a tugboat on the Thames and then in the Merchant Navy. My dad was a Merchant Seaman as well from 16 years old until he retired. My family has always been at sea. In-between being in the Navy they would fish. My Mum is a Coalminer’s daughter from Yorkshire, her father died in the pit when she was 12. My brothers and I are the first surfers in the family. When we moved from Penzance, we were right in front of the waves and started surfing. 

How do you find illustrating and art as a creative outlet? 

Amazing. I’m not someone that can force anything. I fill my time with other things, but when I have the motivation and inspiration to paint I do it. It usually comes before I go to sleep, ideas will come to me and I’ll get a Canvas and start painting and before I know it I have something there. Every couple of months I’ll get really heavily into it. It’s an amazing outlet. Relaxing. Therapeutic. 

There’s a band called Wunderhorse and I did their little logo of this Devil Entity and I’ve been talking to them and planning to do a live painting on a big canvas whilst they are performing – I’m looking forward to that and I think I might do some other pieces related to that. A run of paintings. That’s the next thing I’m focusing on. 

And talk us through the boxing? 

It’s something my brother always did, and before he turned professional, I used to go training with him when I was eleven or so. It was amazing, got me out the house with him and would go training. Everyone was older than me and I liked hanging out with the older guys and training with them a couple of times a week. I just did it because he did it, I liked it. As time went on, I had a few fights, unlicensed fights, up in Essex when I was 17 or so and I won them and this tournament and that felt good and I really wanted to give it a go. During that time Sam, my older brother and I went to Australia – I hadn’t been surfing much as had put so much into boxing but then I really got into surfing again and boxing became something that I could step back into and not be the main focus.

A few years ago I had a fight again against a really talented boxer and I lost the fight. For a week after the fight I couldn’t remember anything and that scared me. I took so many punches to the head that I forgot everything and I decided to take a step back from it and just train and not fight. I love the training and hitting the bag, sparring a little but the fighting side doesn’t interest me anymore. 

What’s your record? 

Five fights with one loss. It’s alright. 

Any last words? 

Not really, just keep it real. I’ll leave it at that.