Changing plans & Essex session with Global!

So I was supposed to go out to Egypt a few weeks ago but have had a hectic stressfull time of making new plans. I'll start the story from the beginning. So during the summer fellow instructor Ric and I decided to split the work contract out in Dahab so he did the first three months he would work and I would do the rest and I was promised the job HOWEVER... As I'm sure a lot of you are aware Club Vass has been owned by the Tui group for the last few years on a loan basis and for the last two years we have been in the same operating group as Sunsail. Well as of May, 2010 Club Vass is going back to the original owners Tony & Rodger who first started the company and ran it very successfully for a long time.

So pretty much the job I was promised was taken away by Sunsail over some petty dispute over a board, not even a dispute just apparently an e-mail was in a un-approved of tone!! I had presumed their reluctancy to give me the job was that they knew I would be working for Club Vass again in the summer! Instead of just telling me they had no plan on giving me the job they made me jump through all the hoops applying online and even leading me on the hole time I was rushing around saying goodbyes making sure all my kit was here driving to Shoreham and back collecting the final bits so I was all ready before they had the decency to tell me!!! Colin Dixon who is managing out there and a very close friend of mine fought my corner the whole time but it wasnt enough! I had already left my current job and missed out on a ski holiday!! So winter plans ruined what was I to do???? Looking on the plus side- Exciting times coming up this summer with Club Vass back with Tony & Rodger all 100% brand new kit and some exciting new gadgets to help push the instruction up another level!! Very excited!!

So as there was the PWA event happening over in Vietnam in February anyway I decided to join up with Phil Soltysiak & Bryan Metcalf Perez and head over there for a month and get some practice in before the event! We both agreed that it felt like a waste going to a part of the world we had both never been too only for a week and also not looking around a bit. Well the plan now is to go via Bangkok on the way for a few days and leave our board bags at the starboard factory where due to some unfortunate circumstances Phil needs to collect some new kit!! Check the link for more info - http://issuu.com/philipsoltysiak/docs/stolen_equipment_2011_soltysiak

I have managed to get out in Essex however not quite the warm blue waters of Dahab but was good fun all the same. Jay Haysey (Globalshots) and Ed Sinclair came down the night before and it was great to catch up with them again, so after feeling not too clever the next day we headed to Clacton.
It was awesome to get out on my new gear- Skate 90 and 5.0 Ice. We had Si Crowther with a remote control flash set up on the beach to make up for lack of sunlight.

Globalshots

Globalshots, originally uploaded by Max Rowe K448.

One shot from the other day at Clacton! Just testing the Flickr photo stream though really!

New sponsors, pictures and more!!

So havent updated much recently mainly because I've been busy at work over the christmas period. Also because I've been in the middle of changing sponsors and waiting for the press release from them confirming the news! But now its all done and I have my new gear I just cant wait to get back on the water.

This sponsorship change is a massive step forward for me and also a bit of a dream come true really to be supported by the top brands in the industry and getting to sign an international contract. No more worrying about how Im going to pay for my kit at the end of year etc. Its what I was really hoping I would get after funding my own way around the PWA tour last year and hopefully this year I can prove myself even more to go on and be able to carry on doing it for a few more years!

Fanatic and North have made a big impact over the last year in the UK since Nik Baker along with his brother Ant have been behind the importing side of things. They really are one of the only brands making an appearance at every event and therefore one of the only ones really pushing windsurfing as a sport. When I first met Nik and Ant I could see that it was going to be a great team to be a part of, especially having these two windsurfing legends backing, supporting and hopefully helping me lead a successful career as professional windsurfer like they both have.

Some of you may have of noticed that I didnt actually spend that much time riding my sponsors board last year as they were unable to get round to registering them for the PWA events. This meant I have already spent a lot of time riding that Fanatic boards and I really believe that they are the best possible boards available for freestyle. When I first used them it instantly felt like a board I had been sailing my whole life! I have had a few goes on the Norths as well and they feel sick. I have been so impressed with how the rig fits together with all the North components and cant wait to get out on the water with it!

There were a few hard moments moving away from my first ever sponsor Spartan wetsuits but Mark was really understanding that I needed to keep on pushing my career forward and I cant thank him enough for the support he's given me over the last few years!

So its over to Ion wetsuits, clothing and accessories for me and I hopefully should be getting my gear in the post some point today. The gear really does look sick and I couldnt believe how flexible and warm my new strike series 5/5 semi dry suit was when I got out the other day.

Big thanks also to Farrel at Simmer and Ian & Doug at Boardwise for all their support last year!

So hopefully now I will be heading out to Dahab to work at Club Vass for a few months and also attend the PWA Vietnam event! Will get some pictures up very soon.

Pictures by Dave White. Except the dodgy ones taken by my Dad!

Camocim! Now home..

So the end of the trip in Jeri was awesome! Together with Ali and Bryan we visited Camocim for our last few days, a river mouth a few hours up the coast. Unlike Jeri Camocim feels like a real Brazilian town with hardly any tourists it was a real experience to visit. We went to a traditional market one morning and together with Ali we were definitely the only gringos for miles and were getting some funny looks!! The sailing spot is situated over the other side of the river from the town so in the mornings we would rig up in our pousada cross the main road and sail upwind across the river to get there. It was definitely the flattest spot I've ever sailed! We filmed most the day and got some sick moves on camera including some triple combinations. To be honest it was so flat that if we werent filming it would of been really easy to get bored after landing everything I've ever done in about half an hour I was a bit like oh what now!! Also at the spot with us was the Swedish couple Anna Person and Peter Svenson who directed Four Dimensions so it was really interesting to get some of Peters creative perspective on what we were filming.

The local vibe at the spot was awesome and there was a bunch of 10-15 year old kids absolutely killing it! They were sailing on some pretty retro kit and still nailing some of the latest moves. It made me wish I had cleaned out my garage at home and brought a load of stuff for them. They only had a few sets of kit between them so they would be sat on the side waiting in turns to use it, some of them didnt even have harnesses and would still be blasting around and jumping in about 30kts! Bryan and Peter gave the kids a whole rig when we left and it was amazing to see the looks on their faces and if you visit watch out for the seriously powered up 10 year olds on a 4.5 firefly with an x9 mast!!!! I would definitely urge anyone planning on visiting the spot to take something for these kids as they have no chance of being able to afford any gear for themselves!

We spent one more day in Jeri before starting the grueling 35 hour journey back to London via Sao Paulo. All the footage is with Bryan the man behind Cold Water productions and the video should be ready around the new year and it will be sick!! We really tried to avoid making another typical Jeri video and almost didnt even film in Jeri itself!


So for me now its England for 6 weeks while I do some restaurant work to help save for the tour next year before heading back to Dahab where I will be working for Club Dahab. I have some big news that will hopefully be released in the coming weeks which I'm pretty excited about!

Icaraizinho

Just arrived back in Jeri after an awesome 10 days, 2 hours up the coast in Icaraizinho. The buggy adventure on the way was epic and the conditions were amazing with such a variety due to the reef and different states of tide. Wont give too much away as there will be a travel feature coming soon on Boardseeker but it was amazing! We got loads of filming done and I finally learnt a new move I've been working on for ages the Burner!! These photos are just screen shots taken from the filming but you can see the full res pictures in my Facebook album-

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=260140&id=509311949&l=fc2782ba01

Massive thanks to Club Dos Ventos! Check out

http://www.clubventos.com/html/pages/icaraizinho.php

It was really nice to experience some new spots and I'm sure there is so many more that are yet to be discovered on this coastline. The plan now is to spend a few days here in Jeri and then head to Camocim a river mouth about 2 hours away and stay there for 3 days. Some guys have just got back from a trip their and it sounds epic so hopefully we will get some sick footage!

1st Days in Jeri Video + Pictures!

So after around 30 hours travelling I finally made it back to the beautiful Brazillian village Jericoacoara. I was tempted to get the bus for the last part of the journey but when Chico Bento e-mailed me offering a ride in his new 4x4 I couldnt resist. In true Jeri fashion its been windy everyday so far and have even been using my 3.9 the last few days. We have also had a few days of waves so have been smacking the lip on my 90l freestyle board which is quite frustrating as couldnt get hold of a waveboard! Here are a few clips from a Go Pro which I borrowed from Club Dos Ventos-


Already having a minor problem with my back and foot so am going to take it easy for a few days to get back into it and make the most of the 6 weeks. The plan at the moment is to stay in Jeri for a month and then head to Icarazinho and hopefully some un-discovered spots for the last two weeks.

Sylt done 21st overall for the year! Now time for Brazil

So just made it back from sunny Sylt where the last event of the season was taking place. Unfortunately we only got one day of freestyle in meaning that it would be the third event of the year without a double elimination. This just means unless you have a very good seeding its hard to get a chance to improve your ranking. I went out in the second round of the single elimination against a very good friend of mine and now the world no.6 Phil Soltysiak so I wasnt to dissapointed and it meant that I would stay in 17th place and get me enough points so I could discard my result from Ausrtia. So I finish the year with a 17th an 11th and another 17th which gets me in 21st position overall for my first year on tour.

Im feeling really focused on what moves I need to learn for next year and cant wait to get out to Jericoaoara in a few days where I will be spending the next 6 weeks !! Check out my video from there last year -