Ocean the classroom at Salt Shack school

SALT SHACK SURF SCHOOL: Back in Gisborne, Holly Quinn (third from left) has set up a surf school with brother Jay (fourth from left). On Saturday they ran a a class for (from left) Tracey Walker, Claire Youmans, Hannah Kohn, Gina Robinson and Mags Middleton-Echave. Picture by Paul Rickard

After five years on the Kapiti Coast where she ran the successful Salt Shack Surf School, former national surfing champion Holly Quinn has set up the school in her hometown of Gisborne.

Holly and brother Jay — members of one of New Zealand's most prominent surfing families — started up the original school at Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast in 2017.

“Waikanae has a really long, flat, easy learning beach,” she said.

“I noticed no one was using it so I started up a volunteer surf club with Jay. A few families had started to form a volunteer surfing club so I got them into coaching courses.”

Based in England (Newquay, Cornwall), where he was bidding to make the Great Britain surfing squad for the Tokyo Olympic Games, Jay returned to New Zealand and helped out with the Waikanae-based surf school for six months.

He is eligible to compete for Britain because mother Pip is from Wales.

Jay later returned to Newquay but came back to Gisborne and is working with the Salt Shack Surf School.

For many learners in the Waikanae courses, surfing was a completely new experience.

“It involved a lot of confidence-building,” said Holly.

“We had kids who hadn't surfed before. Some were from Feilding and a lot were internationals. Mums brought their kids but in the end the mums wanted a go.”

Holly set up the Gisborne school this month.

Most of the five students in the group have surfed before but the Salt Shack Surf School is open to all levels of ability.

Holly and Jay planned to properly launch their school in summer but have already had many inquiries.

“Jay arrived last week and will work weekends with me,” said Holly. “When summer comes we'll pump up the numbers and maybe look at taking on another coach.”

Surfing runs through the Quinn family.

As a competitive surfer, Holly came to national prominence in the 1990s. She was New Zealand junior champion in 1997 and 2000, placed second in the under-16 division of the world junior champs in Bali in 1996 and was national open champion in 2002.

She retired from surfing competitively in 2004 but last year secured the Wellington women's title.

Jay created history as the first Kiwi to claim a world surfing crown — the under-18 title at the world junior champs in Sydney in 2001. He won national titles in all junior age groups, collected three open national titles (2008, 2011, 2013), competed professionally on the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and most recently won Wales, British and European championship titles.

Older brother Maz Quinn was New Zealand champion in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2006, won the Billabong pro junior series in 1996 and made the World Championship Tour in 2002 — the first New Zealander to do so. He was also the first Kiwi to win a WQS title (in 1999).

Father Gary is a former president of Surfing New Zealand while mother Pip played a leading role in promoting women's surfing including helping to start the Women on Waves movement in the 1990s.

Maz and Gary are life members of Surfing New Zealand.