You don't have to be Einstein, but it helps

Timing is everything, Albert Einstein (aka actor Gary Barber) was advised last week when he was given some tuition at the UK's biggest surf festival.

The event was staged in Newquay, at the "Rip Curl Boardmasters" meeting to promote Einstein Year (2005). It marks 100 years since his paper on the theory of special relativity - postulating that time slows down as you approach the speed of light.

Einstein Year is organised by the Institute of Physics to coincide with the International Year of Physics. A series of events sponsored by the institute will show how physics underpins everyday activities and how it raises fundamental questions about the world around us.

In surfing, speed, balance and board control rely on the laws of physics - a better understanding of which, argues the institute, could improve your performance.