Advanced plus with Flying fish.

I've just arrived back in England after spending the last month out in Vassiliki. Sorry I haven't been very active on here but if you check out www.clubvass.com I've been doing some blogging on their site about what I've been up to.

The last week I was out in Vass I passed my RYA advanced plus course which brings me on to how I got in to this whole teaching thing..

How I got into this whole world of instructing which brought me on to competing was through a company called Flying Fish. After going on holiday with Club Vass when I was 17 I was certain that I was going to do one of their courses the previous year. Flying Fish run intensive instructor training courses in Vass, some of them take beginner windsurfers to start instructors in 6 weeks. I did a fast track course of 4 weeks when I was 18 out in Vass and it definitely helped me get a foot in the door and meet all the guys working there. It was also then that I got my first taste for freestyle windsurfing, I learnt to Vulcan that summer and have been hooked on it ever since.
After a brief stint working for Mark Warner in Kos I went to Dahab, Egypt for the first time to complete my Intermediate course. I knew it was going to be hard to get a job working for Club Vass without this qualification and lucky for me and a few close friends I had met in Vass we had the perfect opportunity to do it. The guys heading the operation up in Vass Andy Barnes and Becky Ellis were running the course and we all had an awesome week. So with my Intermediate planing course under my belt I approached Club Vass pretty much begging for a job.


Its been five years nearly since I passed my RYA Intermediate planing course and for the last 3 years I've been trying to fit in completing my Advanced plus course. Its been difficult as they normally only run one course a year and it always seemed to clash with an event. This year everything fell into place after a bit of help from Ollie and Barnsey. Its no secret that I've been teaching Advanced windsurfers on a few occasions before the course but I still felt it was completely necessary to get it done and after not doing a course for five years I was keen to see how much I could learn from it. It was a great opportunity to brainstorm with Barnsey and other experienced instructors about anything from kit to teaching techniques. Barnsey gets his nickname "The Oracle" for a reason as he really does know almost everything about anything. I had an amazing week! Learnt a lot and also thoroughly enjoyed myself. After the course I was pretty disappointed to be leaving as I was keen to inject my new found knowledge into some unassuming advanced group.

I wanted to write this update as a bit of a thank you to Barnsey and Becky as they have hooked me up over the years and they really do an amazing job. Make sure you check out www.flyingfishonline.com for info on all the courses they run. You will have the time of your life!!!

For me now its off to Hayling Island for the National Windsurfing Festival. Also stopping over in Hove this evening for a tow in session at the Ion cable park with Brawzinho, Bubble and Simmsy!!!
Big thanks to Jay Haysey from www.globalshots.co.uk for the pictures.

Also Laura Slater for the final picture.