Thankfully we had a lot of Family and friends to help us move, especially as we had to test the timing equipments and get the course doug into the bank at Southend. We’d only started to unpack boxes when a lorry turned up with a log cabin; suddenly it feels like there’s too much to do before Christmas. Unfortunately the week ended on a low with the death of our dog Arry.
What a hectic week. The timing equipment for drivenbywind arrived on Saturday, they’ve done a real nice job with the set-up, and easy to operate. As much as I was pleased to see them, it meant missing out on a good days sailing on Saturday, but then Sunday made up for it. And if that wasn’t enough, we’ve just got a moving date… next week.
Apart from hitting the gym for a few hours every morning, I’ve hardly left the house. Catching up and preparing for the record attempt at Southend kept me behind closed doors all week. But once the entry form went out to those pre-registered riders I finally got time to get my new wave sails out of the box, timing was perfect for a windy end to the week.
Twenty-three people on an Island, and they’re all family, sounds like the start of a reality show. Before we went we were warned it would all end in arguments and tears, how wrong they where. I already consider my self lucky with the amount of travelling I’ve done over the years, but without exception this family holiday was a trip way beyond my expectations, simply the best.
I’ve been away with big groups before, but never one like this. It’s a true family holiday, everyone from my Mum, Dad, brothers, sister, nieces, and nephews all boarded the bus for a once in a lifetime holiday. With so many sailors in one family we couldn’t go somewhere without getting on the water, it’s been a long time since I got on a boat, but Antigua changed that.
The spirit of Weymouth was the real winner this week. Over a hundred sailors entered the week and despite a light easterly wind nothing could dampen the spirits. Big sails and slalom boards ensured the timers had plenty to do. With 7.6 as my biggest speed sail I turned to the mountain bike for exercise off the water, but took a bit of stick for hanging with friends on the water.
My Wife often accuses me of thinking about nothing else other than windsurfing. While I have to confess she may have a point occasionally, the wind doesn't control everything in my life. I've been helping a friend with a couple of projects he's bringing to market, and yes its got nothing to do with windsurfing, well almost, Jonathan and the Grange were my first paying sponsor.
After the super conditions of last wek the nautical mile looked set to see new records, unfortunately the wind had other plans. With no chance of speeding down the mile we changed from water to wheeled transport and headed up north. With the needle edging off the dial it still took six hours before we finally passed through the gates of Namibia’s Etosha National park.
Walvis Bay delivered the best speed contest for the last three years. The winds maybe strong and constant, yet hardly ripple the other wise flat waters lapping the speed strip. So I guess the misery of the opening round could be forgiven, though I’m not sure I can say the same for the stunt at prize giving, who decides when old is old anyway.
The plane had hardly touched the tarmac when the phone rang, “the winds looking good up your way tomorrow, you up for sailing, plus I could also do with some pictures”. Harty had obviously been looking at my calendar; twenty-eight hours can feel like a long time, but not when you have to unpack, take pix, sail, and pack again to catch the next flight
Life seams to play games with me as the wind kicks in hard after the event closes. I took a couple of sails and a board to have a bit of fun with once the comp was over, guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to find it too windy for the smallest sail. After four hours of the most overpowered sailing I could remember, my arms felt two inches longer.
With just a couple of days at home it felt more like a pit stop, a quick change bags then back onto the airport runway. Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands will be home for the next two weeks, not that we’ll have much time for lounging around if the wind stats can be believed. The freestyleers were already living out there twisted lives, flipping form one distorted move to the next.
Speed Week at ClubVass isn’t all about big guys with even bigger sails. While speed still caries that image, it isn’t true, comfort and control win out over size and brute force every time. This was the third speed week we’ve had at ClubVass, speed maybe be the underlying theme, but the reality is we should call it Confidence Week except that doesn’t sound so good.
Ever had one of those weeks when you think everything is conspiring against you. Each time the results were printed out I seamed to slip down the rankings, printer and scoreboard just couldn’t agree. The wind finally fizzled on the last day to ensure we couldn’t finish the gold fleet round, that was until prize giving was over, then it kicked in and blew harder than we’d seen all week.
The van has progresses and stopped all at the same time. Getting the back racked and ready took priority over seating; finally I got to go back on the water. Got to confess it wasn’t all it could have been, the day ended in a mile walk. With Karpathos only a week away, I’ll give my ankle that extra time to get to full strength.
Last weeks time in France taught we a few lessons. Time is a great healer, and I don’t give it enough time, though that’s a lesson I should have learnt before. But after driving my van around for years it took its first trip to foreign climes to make me realise it just not big enough. Ok it doesn’t normally get loaded like it did at the Defi Wind, but the cab just needs more room.
The week started out with a disappointment at 5am, but by the end of the week I’d travelled more than my fair share of miles. Guy Cribb called his Bournemouth to Brighton run for Monday morning; I tried to convince him to delay hang fire for a few days, the forecast was looking better and a little more from the south, plus I was trying to buy some time for my ankle could recover.
With the recent lack of wind I’ve been hitting the road with the mountain bike, but soon as it starts getting addictive the wind starts to show again. Home is perfect for anything from the North East, guess that’s why I ended up on the south coast without my kit where I joined Harty at Worthing Water Sports for an evening at the bar. Think we talked a bit as well.
The snow may have been thin on the ground this season, but Cervinia in Italy still had enough to cushion our falls, ok, maybe there wasn’t quite enough. With family and friends we made a good size group of twenty-two, and with the kids pushing us oldies (or was that the other way round) there was bound to be a few spills along the way.
I’m sure all Dad’s say it, “I can’t believe she’s 18”. Samantha may have turned 18 but she’ll always be my little girl. By the time I’d recovered from the realisation she’d moved in to womanhood, the weekend was here again. It was a real kids weekend, the boys had me a football again on Saturday, and then down to Hayling Island where Sam Stills was using my kit in the youth slalom.
No matter what you want the weather to do, it’s got a different plan. The last two weeks we’ve looking for stronger winds to get us flying across the water, but now we’ve jumped on a snowboard the weather is still playing tricks. Snow has have been in short supply all over Europe this year, but it’s the strong winds that kept us from the slopes, even enough to divert the plane to the next airport.
We started and finished the week starring at the reef as the wind left us wanting for most of the week. But then you don’t need a force 12 to hone your windsurfing technique; light wind training can provide the key to our high wind success. With Quayside leaving for home, it was time to move down to Club Dahab for their Speed Week, but then, its more than just speed.
“Whitey, you coming down, looks like Kimmeridge is on” When will I ever learn, Timo has no concept of time when it comes to driving, just to get near the beach at the same time it would call for a pre 6am start. The next call to Shaun and Chippy Dave didn’t get such an enthusiastic reception; they believed in a good forecast for home. My forecast was they just wanted stay in bed.
For the first time I've been suck for a picture, actually I've been stuck to the computer trying to get rid of the 250 spam emails that fill my inbox. If that wasn’t hard enough we had no wind making the gym the only escape, but after spending as little as twenty minutes in Timo Mullen’s gym in Pool, escaping was soon at the pop of my wish list.
Never thought I say it, but yes it was just too windy to sail. I arrived in West Kirby and was rigged and ready to go by 8:00 am, but I hadn’t considered that the sea would swamp the wall covering the lake with white water. Soon the car park had an international air as guys turned up from Holland and Sweden, all wanting to get a taste of what England could offer.
Last year we were all getting blasted but the fans at London’s International Boat Show, while I’ll miss the week, the weather has more than made up for the lack of indoor windsurfing. Unseasonable temperatures and great winds are more than making up for the lack of indoor action. We’ve sailed more days than not, and those I didn’t were spent at the show helping out ClubVass and Topper.
My friends said we were mad to move two week before Christmas, but believing it only takes three days to build a log cabin is mad. Last week everyone rallied around to move us, this week they were round again, but this time to protect us. No one trusts me with any mechanical tools, but then it’ll only take three days, so I should be in before Christmas… yea, right.
Moving house maybe a hassle, but missing most of the windiest week was the biggest breaker. We haven’t got the same space in the house, so I’m being banished to the garden and had to find something to house my office and gym. Searching the net it looks like log cabins are the best bet, just hope there as easy to put up as they say.
I knew it wasn’t going to be my day when couldn’t bring my computer screen into focus. But, by the days end, I would have had my mobile and wallet stolen, lost my record, turned my hair grey and be boarding a plane at gate 13. And before the twenty-four hours were over, I was up a mountain pass digging the car out snow.
Danni Aeberli called me from Switzerland, “what’s the forecast looking like, I’m coming over”. Actually the forecast looked reasonable all week, but some how changed every time I hooked onto the net it looked different. Everything was coming out of the north west which isn’t the best for home, but after I got the call from mini George and Hunty a trip to Cromer looked to be on the cards.
Prickly Pear is a tiny island just upwind from the Sunsail Centre and for a day it felt like ours. It’s been a fantastic week; everyone’s been having a fantastic time, though it has officially aged Granddad. The week ended with his birthday, not that I got to see much of it thanks to a brother in-law, two brothers and the rum bar. Always said I wasn’t the drinker in the family.
Danni Aeberli called me from Switzerland, “what’s the forecast looking like, I’m coming over”. Actually the forecast looked reasonable all week, but some how changed every time I hooked onto the net it looked different. Everything was coming out of the north west which isn’t the best for home, but after I got the call from mini George and Hunty a trip to Cromer looked to be on the cards.
The record attempt at Southend is gathering pace, can hardly believe how many people want to come. Never thought I’d get involved in organizing events, the amount of work that goes on in the background has surprised me, but now its all falling into place. I headed to Aberdyfi in Wales for the Boardwise demo, though at one point I thought I’d never make it over the mountain pass.
There’s something special about rigging in the dark, especially when the wind and waves come together, but catching the last gust as the sun went down couldn’t have rounded off a better day. While the rest of the week was relatively calm on the water, speed dominated my days. I keep saying that Southend-on-sea is the fastest strip of water in the world; it’s about time I stood by my words.
John Smalley’s name should have been recognizable years ago. I’ve raced down many a beach with him pushing me to the limit, but some how the wheels came off when the course opened. Everything changed in Namibia, but the seeds were sown in Sotovento. Frustrated with being held up coming into the course John realized there was more to speed than just going fast. Now a master of the art, he’s been renamed John Stalley.
The Topper worlds finally got under way, I couldn’t stay for the hole event but managed see few of the racers before heading home, not that I got to stay there long. Friday started the longest trip of my year. Namibia looks far enough on Google Earth, but adding the flight to Germany and the six-hour coach trip at the other end soon adds up.
Sportif invited me to check out a possible new and secret speed location, what I found was a water sports heaven on Paradise Island. Without Google Earth I wouldn’t have had a clew where I was going, but the Internet revealed more than just the location, the wind stats were nothing less than amazing, week on week of 30knot plus winds interspersed with the occasional calm day.
Sometime you can sum up a week in one word, “broken” just about covers it. I didn’t find my form this week, but then the Rene Egli rescue failed to find me ether, a 560m swim isn’t the perfect preparation for speed. Luck wasn’t running my way, was playing tricks, absolute zero for the first three day, light for the rest and kicked in like hell the day after.
Second week in Vass and the rest of the family have come out, its funny but the kids don’t windsurf anywhere else but in Vassiliki. This week turned out to be a real break through for Reece. He joined Joe’s group and it wasn’t long before she had him planning in foot straps and harness. Best of all I learnt that there is something better than windsurfing, windsurfing with the family.
Hardly had time to unpack the bags and Harty had me driving down to fire a few shots off for one of his next pieces for the windsurf, proper back in the day longboard stuff. What a day to do it on, only the best summer sailing of the year. Good and windy as it was, I had my best windsurfing day of the year a few days later.
Karpathos may be a small island, but when it comes down to the wind stats it puts out high expectations. We’ve been here a week and there hasn’t been a day where we couldn’t sail, but so far we haven’t seen the supper strong wind that have lured so many to the island. As the green flag of competition was raised, the wind dipped below the racing minimum.
Normally I’d welcome the wind and rain of a traditional bank, but with the return to the water still a week away the last thing I needed was wind. It was even too wet to work on the van, and the legs wouldn’t let me go out on my new bike. The week couldn’t have ended more different, the sun brought out the summers essential mix sun cream and beer
The airports are trying to enforce a 22kg limit on all baggage, while there was stillroom for error I wanted to find out what the knock on effect would be for us windsurfers. We were heading out to Karpathos for the first speed event of the year, but before I leaving there was still time for a little weight loss of my own with some last minute biking with my brother.
Just returned form the Defi Wind in France, what an amazing event, the French really showed how windsurfing should be done. To be fair, I can’t imagine another location that could hold 700 competitors on one start line without the fear of loosing a few out to sea. The beach Gruissan seams endless and with the wind blowing dead off shore the eight-kilometre course is all about reaching at full speed.
The week started off feeling more like the Canaries than Essex as an unusually warm North East wind crossed out shores, but then it didn’t take long to find out you take what you can while it lasts. The opposite end of the week couldn’t have been more different, John Carter may have taken more than most to tie the knot, but his speech was worth waiting for.
Don’t know what happened to the wind; maybe be it knows its were getting to the demo season. The season’s openers were Quayside Windsurfers and Robin Hood, different sides of the country and looking at the forecast it was going to take a fare amount of luck to see any one planning. I can’t be in two places at once, so Simon Moore helped me out and looked after the boys at Robin Hood.
The week may have ended with a surprise for some, but for me it just kept getting better and better, and not just because the wind kicked in. Gaastra and Tabou have been on the up for a while, so much so they’ve outstripped the current delivery system. I’ve been looking for the perfect solution and with April 1st coming up the time seemed right to have a little
A few years ago you wouldn’t catch me watching football, but with two soccer crazy boys it’s become almost impossible not to catch the bug. Both are Manchester United fans so when I got a text “got you three tickets for tomorrow’s game” there was no way I could turn them down. Had I known we’d be sailing the next day in snow we may not have made it a one day trip.
Light wind practice again this week, but with the experience from Club Dahab’s windsurfing instructors we had plenty of reasons to get out and practice. Marco and Chris hit a good balance between instruction and practice, in the fickle winds we were dealt it’s all too easy to keep the theory sessions and hit information overload. While we want to improve our windsurfing, we shouldn’t forget it’s a holiday.
My week has been full of stars, Sylvester Stallone, Bill Wyman, and Paul Perry have all be a part of my week. Admittedly Sylvester was a wax model, but Bill Wyman was the real deal. But of the three names its probably the last that you’ll probably not recognize, but just add “Martial Arts” along side his name in a Google search and you’ll be wondering who is coaching who.
The Walvis Bay speed event in Namibia may have rounded off the year for me, but the article is just about to come out in the mags. Bill had a hard time choosing which pictures and wanted to use more but this is a busy issue. He wasn’t alone in requesting to see more of the pix, so I’ve uploaded hundreds in three groups to make it easier to navigate.
Clicking on windfinder.com and seeing the UK map covered with a blue tinge isn’t the best way to start the day, but somehow the constant winds have to get the average back down to normal. But at least it gave me time to catch up and figure out my new years resolutions were worth making.
Got to apologise for anyone that just couldn’t get out, but what a week. Mine started and finished in a garage, but in-between the wind just kept blowing. Sailing started with all the boys at West Wittering, and gradually moved east until I got back to my regular Essex haunt of Clacton, but not before finding a new spot and posting a new personal best on the GPS speed ladder.
We all make New Year resolutions that are soon forgotten as the year rolls on, so I thought where better to make mine, on the net where you can keep me true to them. While going faster is high on the list, its too obvious, my resolution is to do it properly. I can gybe and forwards to a fashion, but that’s just the movement rather than style. Better to sail away from each revolution than swim.
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