Fleetwood Saturday 26th May 2012

Now that i have been back in work for 5 months it has meant i am restricted to getting on the water at weekends and usually there has been wind during the week and once i get time off at the weekends there has been little to know wind and i can't remember the last time i got out on my smaller kit at a weekend as i'm usually on my Raceboard and 9.5m but last weekend i made the trip up to Fleetwood in Lancashire which is a spot that since i have heard about i have been waiting to try out once the right wind direction was forecasted which has to be a North Easterly through to East South East. 

On Saturday i finally saw the forecast was right but as low tide was at 10am it meant an early start from Birmingham, getting up at 4am and on the road by 4.30am. I had arranged to meet Mark Bailey at his house and then share the rest of the drive up as Mark has sailed here before so could give me the low down on the location. Arriving just after 8am we saw the winds were around 15-20 knots and there was sunshine with little to no cloud cover so i knew this was gonna be a great session on the water. Chris Bates also made the trip up so it was good to catch up with him as well. I decided to get my Mistral Screamer 95 ready with a 36cm Vector Fins Maui SL9 Alfa fin and rig my new 7.5m KA Koncept, get into my wetsuit and hit the water. The Koncept this year has a shorter mast and longer boom so more low aspect and I've been dying to get them on the water since i got them.

Heading down the beach i should have watched where the guys launched as you have to stick to the rocky parts, which i didn't and what looked like dark sand was in fact mud so i had to get through ankle deep mud to get on the water, definitely won't make that mistake again. On my first run down the channel i kept close to the channel buoys to make sure i didn't hit any of the sand bars and i soon became apparent that the wind direction was pretty square so i knew there wouldn't be any big speeds today. The new Koncept is awesome though and yet again Jesper Orth has improved an already great sail. It's so stable in the gusts which now were gusting upto 25 knots meaning i was was massively overpowered but the sail stayed rock solid and once going just wants to keep accelerating and the cams rotate like there not there. On some of my runs on the day i tried some slingshots off the wind for a few seconds to see it's potential broad off the wind for when i am at West Kirby and i'm stoked with the surge of acceleration you get in the initial bear off and the continuing acceleration from the sail, can't wait to try the smaller sizes :-D

After a couple of hours i was knackered sailing so overpowered for the first time in so long so i headed in for a rest and while on the beach the wind speed started to drop so i called it a day but happy i made the trip up. As the wind was so square i only managed a couple of 29 knot peaks but as the Screamer is more of a freeride board i was happy with my speeds and now i need to get a few more sessions on the 7.5m to get in more tuned so hopefully i won't have to wait as long to get out on it again. If you want to try out the new Koncepts get in touch and i'll hopefully be able to meet up with you so you can get the chance to try these awesome sails for yourself.. 

The picture at the top of the post was taken by Mark Bailey 

2012 Mistral Boards being tested in the South of France

Checkout a video with Anders Bringdal and a few others testing the new 2012 Mistral Boards

UKWA Inlands Round 1 & MWA Round 2, Pitsford Reservoir, UK April 21st & 22nd 2012

Last weekend was the first round of the UKWA Inlands and also the second round of the Midland Windsurfing Association Race Series. I finished work on Friday afternoon at my usual time time of 12.15 and went home, got a quick shower, packed the van and got on the road. As with most of the UKWA National and Regional events Pitsford is close to Birmingham where i am now based and is only 45 miles away so only took me around an hour to get there and i arrived at 4pm. As i was one of the first competitors to arrive i got a great spot to get parked and got my gear sorted out. As i didn't get a chance to put sail numbers on my new 8.5m KA Koncept that was my first task and once that was done i rigged up my 10.5m Raceboard Sail and 9.5m KA Koncept as the forecast was not showing winds above 15 knots all weekend and fitted a 50cm Vector Maui Fins Canefire fin to my Starboard Phantom 380 Race. Around 7pm i headed into Brixworth, the local village next to the reservoir to get some food and found a great pub called the George where i had some good food and after a couple of beers headed back to my van to get a decent nights sleep ahead of the weekends racing.

I awoke early on the Saturday morning to see there was a little bit of wind, around 5-6 knots so i went a registered and got some breakfast and at 10am we were called out on the water for the first race. The wind was pretty gusty and shifty as is usually the case here which made for some great racing in the 2 races we had before lunch and i was finding i was usually in the wrong place at the wrong time when the shifts were coming through which was annoying but it was the same for everyone else. After lunch we were called back onto the water for another race which was held in similar conditions but i was beginning to read the shifts a bit better and made up some places but i made the worst mistake you can when racing by missing the gate i had to sail through before the finish which meant all the hard work i put in during this race was undone and instead of moving up a couple of places in the overall rankings i had to count this as my first disguard of the events. Soon after the finish the wind dropped right off and the race officer made the call to postpone racing for the time being and once i made it back to the shore i saw my sail was ripped and when the call was made to go back on the water and this was the sail i needed i had to unfortunately miss the 4th race. I was disappointed with this but that's racing sometimes and you have to accept these things happen.

On Sunday morning we woke to see not much wind, around 5 knots like the previous day but with wind forecasted to pick up i waited until the last minute to see which sail i would need. My 10.5m was now available again as i had the chance to fix it once the sail had dried but at the last second before hitting the water for the 5th race at 10am i grabbed my 9.5m KA Koncept instead which turned out to be a good decision as not long after the wind started gusting up to 15 knots which now made the racing interesting and my weight was not now so much of a disadvantage when the wind was up but in the lulls i was finding that i was loosing ground but i still got some better results than the previous day in the 4 races that were held before the race officer called it a day.

I finished 17th Overall, 5th Master and 1st overall in the Raceboard Unlimited Fleet (UKWA Inland Ranking) and 8th Overall, 3rd Master and 1st Overall Raceboard Unlimited Fleet (Midlands Windsurfing Association Series Ranking) which i am a little disappointed with as i know i can do better but hopefully a future events i wont make stupid mistakes or have any damage to my gear. The next event now is the UKWA Inlands Round 2 at Bewl in May so i'll hope to see some of you there

Round Hayling, Hayling Island, UK 6th April 2012

On Thursday 5th April i headed down to Hayling Island for the annual Round Hayling Windsurfing Marathon which was to be held on Friday 6th April getting there at 8pm where a met up with Jon White at the Inn on the Beach where he was camping in his Camper Van to give him a bit of info about getting round the Island. Lea Spencer was also down to compete in his first ever slalom event that was to be held at the Inn on the Beach on the Saturday and Sunday. After catching up over a few beers i drove over to the Hayling Island Sailing Club where i had booked accommodation. Usually i sleep in my van but after seeing the forecasted temps of minus degrees overnight i decided to book into the rooms that Hayling Island Sailing Club have on offer and at 20 pounds for 1 night they are very good value.

I woke up at 7am and went out to my van to move it closer to the waters edge as the car park was full last night and the first thing i saw was ice on the windscreen so the decision to stay in the accommodation looked to be a good one. Not long after David Gollick from Windsurfingfins.co.uk arrived as he was going to have a stand set up displaying the fins he has for sale so i help him set everything up and after we were finished doing that and after some bacon sandwiches i got my gear ready for the race. Unfortunately the forecasted wind was only showing 4-6 knots which meant another slog around the island so i rigged up my 10.5m Raceboard sail and got my Starboard Phantom 380 ready and waited for the start of the race at 12' o clock.

We all gathered by the race tower of the Sailing Club just before 12 and waited for the starting gun which when sounded there was a mass beach start as the race started and we all headed towards Northney Marina and Langstone Bridge. As we had Northerly winds the first leg was a long beat up the Harbour :-( so i decided to head up the left side with about half the fleet as there didn't look like too much wind in the middle and the other half of the fleet went up the right. Unfortunately this turned out to be a bad decision as once they got over the right hand side there was more wind and they got a decent lift and once i realized this i headed over the right myself but it was too late by now and the front runners were a good distance ahead. The beat up the Harbour itself was not fun as the wind was shifting all over the place making headway difficult and i must have put in over 50 tacks to get up there but after 1.5 hours i finally was able to turn west towards Langstone Bridge. As i approached the bridge i remembered from what to do from last year which was to try and carry as much speed as you can and at the last minute grab the uphaul, lower the sail to the water and drift under the bridge and then up haul the sail on the other side.

Now the wind was behind us which made the next leg through Langstone easier and as the tide was now with us this made getting though the Harbour towards the ferryboat Inn at the entrance to Langstone Harbour was alot easier than last year. I managed to make up a few places here that i has lost on the first leg before the bridge but the front runners were nowhere to be seen. I reached the entrance to Langstone Harbour about 2 1/2 hours after i started and as i passed through the second gate i was told they were stopping the race there. I was gutted to be told this as i knew i could have got along the sea front and to hear i was only 1/2 an hour behind the leaders made being stopped here harder to take.

I managed to finish 19th overall and 7th in the Silver fleet which meant at least this year i had result after not finishing last year and this has made me more determined to finish it next year and use what i have learned over the past two years to make this happen. For me now the next event is the 1st round of the UKWA Inlands and 2nd Round of the Midlands Regional Raceboard Series at Pitsford on the 21st and 22nd of April so i hope to see some of you there

MWA Round 1 Hollowell Reservoir, Northamptonshire, UK March 24th 2012

On March 24th i made the short trek over to Hollowell Reservoir in Northamptonshire from Birmingham for the 1st round of the Midlands Windsurfing Association Race Series. As i am now based in the Midlands in the UK this race series was one i wanted to take part in as quite a few of the guys i race against in the UKWA national events take part so it is great practice for the national events.

On arrival at 9am there was little to no wind but the forecast was showing it to pick up as the day went on to around 5 knots the race officer laid a box course as we all rigged up. As there was little chance of there being any strong winds the decision of what to rig was easy so i got my Starboard Phantom 380 Race with 50cm Vector Maui Fins Canefire fin ready and rigged my 10.5m Raceboard sail and registered and got changed as the first start was going to be 11am so i wanted to be ready. The first 3 races were held virtually back to back with a short rest between them in very testing conditions as the wind was only around 4-5 knots and very gusty but i had decent speed upwind keeping up with everyone but once off the wind i was finding it hard to keep up with the others as they weighed so much lighter (20kgs in some cases) than myself which i have known for awhile has been an issue for me but one i am working on trying to get my weight down to 80kg.

After a quick lunch we had another 2 races before the race officer called it a day and although i don't like these light shifty conditions i had great fun on the water with some very close racing between myself and a couple of the sailors. I finished the day 7th Overall and 1st in the Raceboard Unlimited fleet which is a good start for the year and hopefully i can build on this and get a decent final ranking once the race series has finished. The next event for me now is the Round Hayling on April 6th so i will hopefully see some of you on the water if your down there

Events I'm Competing In This Year

It's now time to decide what events i want to try to get to this year. I am now restricted to taking time off work at set times during the year when the Land Rover factory is shut and have to work at all other times it is gonna be hard to get to any Speed World Cup event's other than Weymouth Speed Week so for this year as it's a new job i have decided to concentrate on work for this year and then next year try and get to as many events as i can to get a good ranking. As i'm now working Monday to Friday getting to the Irish Speed Events is going to be impossible which i'm pretty gutted about as i would need to take 2 days off work which i am unable to do but i wish the lads well with the Irish Speed Championships and hopefully in the future i am able to make it over for some events.

Now i'm in the UK i will continue to do the UKWA Inlands and see if i can improve on my 10th place from last year and also as i'm now based in the midlands i will also do the the Regional Midlands events. I will also attend Weymouth Speedweek again and also the Round Hayling Island Marathon next month.

The events i'm planning to go to this year are:-

MARCH

Midlands Region Round 1, Hollowell SC, Hollowell Reservoir, Northamptonshire, England

(24th March)

APRIL

Round Hayling Marathon, Hayling Island, Hampshire, England

(6th April 2012)

UKWA Inland Series Round 1/Midlands Region Round 2, Northampton Sailing Club, Pitsford Reservoir, Northamptonshire, England

(21st to 22nd April 2012)

MAY

UKWA Inland Series Round 2, Bewl Valley Sailing Club, Bewl Water, Kent England

(19th to 20th May 2012)

JUNE

Midlands Region Round 3, Barnt Green Sailing Club, Upper Bittell, Reservoir, West Midlands, England

(9th June 2012)

UKWA Inlands Round 3, Oxford Sailing Club, Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire, England

(16th to 17th June 2012)

Midlands Region Round 4, Notts County Sailing Club, Hoveringham Reservoir, Nottinghamshire, England

(23rd June)

JULY

UKWA Inlands Round 4/Midlands Region Round 5, Whitwell Sailing Club, Leicestershire, England

(14th to 15th July 2012)

SEPTEMBER

National Windsurfing Festival, Hayling Island, Hampshire, England

(7th to 9th September 2012

Midlands Region Round 6, Location To Be Confirmed

(15th September)

OCTOBER

Weymouth Speedweek, Weymouth, Dorset, England

(6th to 12th October)

Midlands Region Round 7, Bartley Sailing Club, Bartley Green Reservoir, West Midlands, England

(21st October 2012)

NOVEMBER

UKWA Inlands Round 5/Midlands Region Round 8, Whitwell Sailing Club, Leicestershire, England

3rd to 4th November 2012)

As always i will have my KA sails available for demo at all events i will be attending. Come and find me at the beach, look for the KA Flags

Fresh Start And New Beginnings

I have to apologize for the lack of posts over the last few months but this is because in January i moved over to the UK to start a new job with Jaguar/Land Rover in Solihull, West Midlands and haven't had the time to post on here. After being out of work for so long it is great to be back in work and earning money again and I'm gonna miss Ireland but as there is no work there for me the best thing was to move to find work.

Thankfully my back is much better after completing my physio treatment. I also had it X Rayed to see if there was any damage and thankfully there was nothing found so after the last event in November i stayed off the water to give it as much rest as possible. To make sure that i don't injure it any more in the future i have joined the local gym to work on my core fitness and give my back more support so hopefully i won't have any more problems in the future.

I haven't had any water time since my back got better as i am now restricted to windsurfing on weekends due the the new job and each weekend had been pretty windless but hopefully i will get the chance to get out soon as my new 2012 KA Koncept's have arrived and they look awesome. I decided to get the 5.8m, 6.6m & 7.5m to replace my 2010 5.7m, 6.4m & 7.3m and got a 2011 8.5m to replace my 2010 8.3m, when i get the chance to get some photo's i will post them on here. Can't wait to get out on them.

Haven't got my new Mistral's but hopefully they will be here by the end of the month.

Not long now till the competition season starts with the Round Hayling marathon just a few weeks away so keep checking back and i will keep you updated as to how i'm getting on