ONE of the first surfers in Bournemouth will be honoured today during a special ceremony at sea.

Roy Macklin, who helped to create the Wessex Surf Club in 1964, will be commemorated by members of the surfing community during a Memorial Paddle Out on Boscombe Beach at 1pm.

Roy died on Saturday, January 14 following a short illness.

Anyone who enjoys surfing or uses a stand-up paddle board is invited to bring a single flower to place on the waves.

A wreath will be laid by the club.

His daughter, Elayne Attard, said the club was created by five people including Roy, his brother, Cyril and Tony Beale of Beales department stores as a reaction to the sport potentially being made illegal in Bournemouth.

She said that they only way to get round the issue was to form a club and show support for surfing safely in the area, which was formed in the home of Tony Beale.

Roy went on to serve as the club’s chairman from 1966 to 1976 and helped to back the sport in Bournemouth to grow in popularity.

Ellayne said: “Dad used to play water polo for Bournemouth Swimming and Waterpolo Club and a match was cancelled one day, so he went surfing instead.

“The five people who formed the club put in a lot of work in 1960s and 1970s and they used to put on competitions, which were televised for people to watch.”

She said that her father had a life-long dream of going to Hawaii, which was fulfilled just a month before he died.

Explaining the event, Gary Elford, chairman of Wessex Surf Club, which boasts around 60 members, said: “Roy was one of the first surfers in the area and it is a tradition for surfers of note to recognise their lives.

“It’s a mark of respect for somebody in the surfing community.

“We will have a memorial ceremony on the beach to the west of Boscombe Pier and then we will wade out and form a circle before laying wreaths and flowers.”

For more information on the club which Roy helped to create, search for Wessex Surf Club on Facebook.