Happy New Year!!!

So since my last update after leaving Jeri I headed to Icaraizinho for the Club Ventos press trip. We had an awesome week and got to do loads of cool stuff including suping through the mangroves and some bull cart racing! Luckily we were just spectating the racing as it looked pretty dangerous. I had visited Icarai last year and had forgotten how amazing it was, I was definitely regretting not spending more of the trip there! We also got the chance to do a Heli-shoot which was pretty exciting! I had no idea how close the chopper was going to be and on one occasion had to bail from a ponch attempt because I thought I was going to hit it!! Unfortunately I cant reveal all the pictures yet as the magazines containing the shots are yet to go to print. Try not to laugh watching this poor dog get mowed down by one of the carts! Luckilly he was alright!!


I'm lucky enough when I get home that I can jump straight into some restaurant work over the Christmas period. The 60+ hours a week has kept me busy enough but I have still managed to get out on the water a couple of times! My new ION winter gear was waiting for me at home and its been relatively mild so no excuses. The most interesting session were the two absolutely howling days last week, possibly the windiest two days I've ever sailed. The first was at the Ray, Southend with Reece and Whitey. I was ridiculously over powered on 4.2 but I wasnt the only one as Whitey was attempting to sail a 6.2 with his 63ltr speed needle, he gave up in the end and settled for sharing Reece's 4.2 and 95 freewave and he still got 37kts on that!!!!

The next session which is where the pictures were taken was from a few days later at our local spot Point Clear. I'd woken up late and Whitey was there already waiting to get a few shots so I rushed out on 4.2 as it felt windy. You cant see the water from where you rig so I got a massive shock as I was nearly blown over attempting to walk down into the water. I did two runs max. before deciding that an 89ltr was far too big and quickly ran in to get my wave board. To be honest in the gusts I was still struggling to even go along in a straight line comfortably. It all made a bit more sense when Whitey jumped on my 72 twin and flew off the beach!! All in all a few interesting sessions to keep me entertained before the next trip!
Talking about the next trip I had a bit of a last minute change of plans. We were expecting the first event to be Vietnam in March, however once the PWA calendar arrived Narm had been re scheduled for December!! Happy days this meant I had enough time + money for the moment to justify a trip to Cape Town. So without hesitating the next day I was already booked up for a month from the 23rd Jan. Very excited as I've never been on a proper wave trip before so it should be interesting!! So my next update will be from there!
Cheers to the Whites and Bethany for the pictures!

Jeri done for another year!

Coming back to Jeri now for the third year in a row I knew exactly what to expect and once again it didn't let me down! Just 4.2 & 4.7 and I probably could of got planing everyday in the last 5 weeks. I've been a bit slack on updating on here as I haven't had internet in the house which to be honest has been a nice change. Also when its windy everyday there didn't seem to be much more to say other than ohh windy again! The level on the water has been ridiculous as well with 10 of the top 20 in the PWA all here at one point!

A few weeks ago we had an awesome trip to Camocim which is a river mouth two hours way. I don't think its possible to find a flatter spot! I visited there last year for two days and it was epic so decided to go back for four days, which is probably about as long as I'd like to spend there. The sailing is amazing but there's not much to do compared to Jeri, its a small city and I think we must of been the only gringos in town as we were getting lots of funny looks! It was nice to get some new combos on the super flat water. Some of the local kids from the spot are absolutely ripping as well which was great to see.

Apart from that and a day trip to Lagoa Azul the majority of the trips been in Jeri. This year we rented a house that was a bit further out of town but we got a great deal on it and I would recommend doing that to anyone who's considering going for more than a few weeks as you can save loads of money compared to staying in a pousada!

I've been working on a few video projects whilst I've been here so there should be some clips on the way soon!

Fortunately the trips not quite over yet as I've just arrived in Icaraizinho for the Club Ventos press trip. I'll spend the next four days here before heading home to sunny England. There's some exciting stuff planned with the potential of a Heli-shoot which could be entertaining!

Sorry for the lack of pictures but the Internets just too slow...

New video!

England

So since my last update from Sylt I didn’t really expect to report on that much windsurfing action until I got to Brazil. As it happens I’m writing this on the plane from Rio De Jeneiro to Fortaleza where im flying into before spending 6 weeks in Jericoacoara.

Surprisingly enough I’ve had loads of time on the water whilst I’ve been at home. I’ve even managed to compile a video with all my footage of sailing at home from September until now. This is a first for me, as I’ve never had enough clips from home to warrant making a video. Could be to do with the amount of time I’ve spent there over the last few years! But now with more events going on at home and having to travel from home to go to events I’ve definitely been spending a bit more time there.

The main spot featured in the video is Point Clear, St Oysth, Essex. It’s not a spot I sailed once whilst I was growing up but after getting to know Whitey ( Dave White ) he couldn’t understand why anyone would bother going anywhere else. So I checked it out a few years ago, I rarely sail anywhere else if I’m at home. It is amazing as far as flat-water freestyle spots go. The rest of the footage is from the south coast whilst I was down there for the competitions. Big thanks to everyone at West Wittering as they’ve been extremely accommodating in letting us sail there and helping out with photographers etc. Check out www.2xs.co.uk yet another amazing spot. The best day we had there I sailed on the waves at high tide with some epic jumping conditions before the tide dropped to reveal the freestyle “trench”. The other main spot is the Esso Garage on Hayling Island.

Anyway so I hope you enjoyed the video! There will be another one coming very soon after this trip.

Right so by the time I post this I will have hopefully of had my first session in Jeri. I’ve only packed my 4.2 & 4.7 as every time before I’ve never ended up using my 5.0. Board wise I’ve got the Skate 89 and Newave twin 72 so better hope its windy!!!

PWA Sylt 2011

No wind at all for the final PWA event of the year in Sylt! Not even enough to complete one round of waves, freestyle or Slalom. Definitely the contrast to the conditions we normally get on Sylt it as it was sunny all week. I made the road trip down together with Bubble and Bryan Metcalf Perez and we had fully loaded the van with three suitcases full of the warmest clothes we owned ready for the trip!

Even though there was no wind the event organiser put on a few tow in sessions to entertain the thousands of people watching on the beach. Unfortunately for me its pretty difficult to get your name on the list to compete in these and I just missed out on the first one. Lucky enough for me on the second one they let a few more people get involved. I have been training the tow in a fair bit over the last few weeks so was stoked to get a chance to do it. I didn't get through to the final but still had a good go at a Burner but forgot that you cant turn out 540 if you haven't got any wind in the sail!!!


Unfortunately the conditions got harder as the tow in went on and the PWA decided to reduce the fleet back down to 12 people as it made the show faster!!! There was a great buzz about the tow in because of the weather maybe the beaches were even more crowded than normal it put on a great show for everyone! There were definitely more people watching than if it had been 5.7 weather onshore and raining and the moves were probably more spectacular!!

The rest of the week was mainly filled with a lot of waiting around and a fair bit of partying! Back in England now and the forecast looks pretty good. Hopefully going to the south coast for the next few days then back to Essex for the weekend!!!

This means I finish the year in 19th overall which is ok but not as good as I was hoping! Would have been great even to finish a single elimination as I would of been able to discard my 25th place from Aruba! Pretty happy still considering the level on the tour at the moment. Just booked my flights to Brazil for 6 weeks at the end of October so hopefully with a bit more training I can get in the top 16 overall next year.

My results for the PWA season were.

15th Vietnam
9th Austria
13th Bonnaire
25th Aruba
17th Fuerteventura




Pics by JC/PWA

1st place UK freestyle championships, Poole

Managed my first ever event win this weekend at the Poole windfest. It was great to finally have wind at the event as the name has plagued it for the last several years! We got in three full rounds of competition in 20-25 knot winds. I took the win in the first round and then 2nd in the following two rounds which was enough to take the event. I was neck and neck with Bubble before the third round as we both had a 1st and a 2nd, fair play to Sims who was sailing well and beat me on a split decision to get the win in that round.
I think the week of wind before definitely helped me get into the groove of the UK conditions. The first day I was sailing on my 5.0 & 5.4 ID's on the skate 99 which was a great set up even in the gusty choppy conditions. On the second day it was a bit windier with some more swell about. Nik Baker was out in the morning doing some wave 360's!!!! I was using the Skate 89 and my 4.7 ID all day which has to be my favourite set up at the moment.

Unfortunately I couldnt make it to all the events this year which meant I finished in 3rd in the overalls. Well Done to Sims for taking 1st and Bubble in 2nd. Hopefully next year I will be able to get to a few more!
The wind has still been relentless in England and I've been out the last few days full powered on 4.2. Ive started getting into the starboard tack jumping a bit more now so thats been fun. Also I had the best freestyle session ever at West Wittering the other day in the trench with loads of guys there that stayed down after the competition. I think the only spot that rivals how good it was is Camocim in Brazil and that's only cause you dont need a wetsuit!!!!! Lots of it is on Camera as well so hopefully the video will be coming soon.
Thanks to
Josh Wilmott
Gary Mercer
Bethany Mercer
Trevor & Carole Hibdige

For the pictures!

Check out Josh Wilmotts Video of the weekend!

More Windsurfing Videos

Windy England!

Last weekend was the National Windsurfing Festival on Hayling Island (NWF) It was the first time I've been to the event and it definitely wont be the last! It was amazing to see so many sails out on the water, there were over 400 people registered for the event and the majority were freeriders. www.nationalwindsurfingfestival.com For more info! I managed to win the night tow in session and come 2nd in the freestyle event which I was pretty pleased with!



Since the event finished the wind has been non stop! Check the videos at the bottom to see what I've been up to in more detail. After spotting the ridiculous forecast I consulted with Chris "Muzza" Murray and it was decided that I would stay with him on the south coast and not bother going back to Essex. On Monday we headed to Shoreham so I could collect a wave board and also make the most of the wind! Since Muzza was busy at home finishing of the video for the NWF we got to Shoreham a little bit late and the shorebreak was in full swing! Muzza paid the price for that one (Check the Pic!) Whilst packing up we were wondering it it would be possible to sail in the Widewater lagoon! I did a few runs but it was pretty shallow and the lagoon stunk once I stirred the mud up a bit. Check another Vid at the bottom of the page! I was pretty happy to stick a Skopu with only a 5 second run up!!!!

With the forecast looking even better for the Tuesday we decided a freestyle session would be in order, we gathered a big crew and headed off to West Wittering. It was absolutely howling and once we arrived it was hard enough to open the van doors let alone walk down to the water with our kit! It was gusting up to 50 knots and was easily one of the windier days I've attempted to freestyle in. Given the conditions we all landed some good moves but the crashes that went along with it were far more entertaining which is probably why the video got over 3,000 views in under 24 hours of being uploaded.
After the epic freestyle session I knew it was time to keep Muzza entertained and head on to a wave spot for the following day. Hayling Island was the most obvious option as when the tide drops a nice sand bar pops which the waves wrap round creating some nice straight on jumping. Now starboard tack jumping is most definitely not one of my strong points but one of my main aims for the year is to improve it. With Bubble and Muzza going for it I joined in; consequently my left but cheek is savagely bruised!!!! To make matters worse in the hunt for a flat spot I managed to sail over a sand bar that I hadnt spotted! I tried to resist the catapult which is always a massive error when your fins already in the sand and then went round the front so hard I snapped the head on my boom oooops! SO I had a lovely sail back with my boom wobbling around at the bottom of the cut out lashed on with my uphaul ( so glad I put that uphaul on for the tow in!! )
Not content we headed on to Witterings for another freestlye session! It was good but we were all feeling it a little bit. It looks windy again for tomorrow so check back for some more pics and videos!

Cheers to Dave White for the night tow in Pic & James Underwood for the Shaka at NWF pic.

Muzzas NWF video!


Muzza gets eaten at Shoreham!!!


Skopu at Widewater lagoon!!


Wipeouts at West Wittering!

More Windsurfing Videos >>

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.