Monday, February 28, 2011

Feb training

Not as much on the bike as January but more sailing, still on the wave gear at the moment.

170 miles on the bike, 16 miles running and 10 miles swimming. What has stopped me is a throat infection that went on and on. Four days of not being to swallow food or water and a weight loss of 7 pounds, just feeling drained. The unfortunate thing is I came back training too early and as of yesterday my throat is sore again. A huge forward loop in dead onshore winds on Saturday that horribly wrong has seen my right knee swell to the size of a football. Anti inflammatory drugs and rest is called for.

On the up side.

My new Hot Sails GPS's should arrive in the next week, my new Black Project Fins came last week, new Starboard Isonic Speed 53 and slalom 90 the week after next and then it's down to some serious testing with every combination of fin, sail and board. The new Chinnook booms and extensions are fantastic, so light they make a huge difference to the rig feel.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

EUROPEAN TOUR

Windsurfing European Speed Championship Tour 2011
For 2011 the European Speed Champions will be decided from the results from participating National events.
Criteria for Tour
• Based on the results of accepted European National championships.
• The Male and Female competitors’ tour winners will be crowned the European Champions.
• The best of three results to count for the ranking, if a tie exists, then the riders fastest speed will decide.
• All events to count as a factor of one.
• Additional prize money and timing systems will be used by organisers to encourage higher profile sailors.
• Before an event is accepted as a counting round of the tour the local organiser must agree to accept minimum standards of speed competition.

ET Minimum Standards
 Fixed course over a minimum distance of 250 m with starting gates
 Accurate timing system, Navi GPS and GPS results pro as minimum standard
 Minimum speed of 28 knots achieved at least 3 times by 20% of the whole fleet, to qualify as a counting round.
 Event to run for a minimum of 5 Days on a fixed date
 A minimum of 2 months notice of event with published NOR and confirmation of entry by organisers one month before.
 Competitors have to be fully paid up members of the ISWC to get a European tour championship ranking. This does not exclude them from their National championship as long as they are members of their National association.
 Off shore course wherever possible
 Includes a Junior Fleet where ever possible
 Encourage festival style with clinics etc if possible
The Countries that have agreed so far to the standards and wish to take part are Belgium, Sweden, UK and Germany. Dates and details to follow.
Invitations have been sent to Spain, France, Austria, Holland and Ireland who have shown an interest in being included. European Riders who wish their nation to be included please contact your national speed championship organisers and ask them to contact us.

SUP here we come


Just got my first SUP and can't wait to get in water. Years ago I used to surf and I have always been into wave sailing, SUP seems the logical next step. Guernsey has some great surf breaks, reef breaks that are perfect for SUPing. We also have some huge off shore breaks that I have looked for 20 years and thought about sailing them. The problem with the offshore breaks is that when it is windy enough to sail, being 3 miles off shore without a support boat because its too windy doesn't sound so good. SUPing however is a different story, jump in a rib and shoot out there with the SUP.
I'll keep you posted.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Feb wave action

Thanks again to Pierre gsyphoto.com for some great February action









Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Jan 2011

January over and I've clocked 440 miles on the bike, 26 miles in the pool and 12 miles running and some great wave sailing. Come on February!

Speed Tour 2011

News on the grape vine is that the 2011 Speed European tour has been approved in principle,just the details of the rules to be agreed.

Interested parties are from UK, Belgium, Germany, Spain (Tarifa), Holland, Austria and Sweden.

Fuerteventura is a strong possibility for a World Championships. This will be a stand alone event as a one off world cup.

Another place showing interest is Dakhla in Morocco, possibly for a production worlds.

Obviously all is to be confirmed.

Speed has never looked so good.