Here come the waves

Unreal forecast for the next week. Big Big swell hitting Guernsey today, tomorrow could be alltime!

Black Project Fins Luderitz film

A new edit from Black Project fins on our Luderitz Video

http://vimeo.com/82157448

Luderitz Video

Our Luderitz Video is completed.

I hope you like it, we have tried to make it a bit different from other films posted.

https://vimeo.com/81156005

Channel tv clip from Namibia

http://www.channelonline.tv/channelonline_guernseynews/displayarticle.asp?id=508341

This is the link to Channel TV were they posted a clip from Namibia.

BBC still to come

Post Luderitz

It's only 1 week since I have been back from Luderitz, feels like a month, but there is no rest for the wicked.

I have always trained myself when I can't get on the water. Either running, biking or swimming but I have decided to change this year. I have joined the gym and we will see how that unfolds over the next few months.

I am 3/4 of a stone, almost 5kg, lighter than last year. It made a big difference in getting going in the canal BUT there is still more to loose. It is very noticeable that the days of the big super heavy speed sailor has gone. By super heavy I'm talking about over 110kg.

When in the past we competed the courses were never as broad as Luderitz. It's easier to get going on a tight reach then a broad reach, the sail does more of the work on a broad reach then on a tight reach exhausting the wind so the less need for a big lump holding down the sail.

We didn't get strong winds this year so couldn't compare what difference a sailor at 110kg would have over one at 95kg. There were three outstanding sailors there this year that always were at the top and one that had one good day. When I was there apart from the top 3 the next 5 were all tightly bunched within 0.5 knots of each other. I won't mention any names because more than likely I'll upset someone so I'll keep quite.

I am 112kg, 2.02cm tall and on my best day with 25 to 30 knots of wind I used a Patrik Diethelm speed 43 with 61 litres of volume, Neil Pryde Evo5 6.4m sail and Black Project Fins X50 which is 20.4cm long. I had the X55 ready in my PD custom speed 41 which is 19.3cm long. I also had a 3.5kg weight jacket on and reached a speed of 45.52 knots. With a sail that big you are starting to have a lot of drag, it's 10% bigger than my next size down. Unfortunately being that heavy meant I needed that size to get going on such a small board.

The weight jacket makes a huge difference in keeping you locked into position. I only used it one day as the other days had less wind.

It's all about your overall balance concerning weight, board size, fins & sail size (I hope this is coming across the way my brain is thinking it). I went to Luderitz to break records and travelled with a 41 and 43 cm board 5.4, 5.8 and 6.4m sails. The 6.4 was taken just to get on the water if the wind was light, the 43 board to get a couple of warm up runs then swap onto the 41 with the 5.8 but hopefully the 5.4 to get some big speeds. As it turned out I only sailed the 6.4 and 43.

If I had been lighter I may have been able to swap to the 5.8 sail and been a bit faster but on the other hand we weren't expecting only 25 to 30 knots of wind and no records could of been broken in that wind strength.

So the decision has been made to shed the pounds and see the difference. My thinking is that there won't be a down side to being lighter as I can put more lead in the weight jacket.

My goal now is 105kg with the advantage of putting on a 7kg weight jacket. Lean and mean seems to be the way forward.

BUT NO ONE SAID IT WOULD BE EASY, WISH ME LUCK

Gym session 1

Luderitz conclusions

How to sum up my trip to the 2013 Luderitz speed challenge:- NO WIND!!

That is not completely true but it wasn’t anyway as good as last year.

I travelled out to Luderitz with Pierre Bisson again hoping to break the British windsurfing speed record, currently held by Farrel Oshea at 48.80 knots 56.15 mph. My best speed from last year was 48.21 knots. We were also going to make a video diary of the trip, flying with Aurigny to Gatwick, van from Gatwick to Heathrow, 12 hour flight to Cape Town then a 14 hour drive up through South Africa into Namibia, through the Namibian desert to a small fishing village / diamond mining town called Luderitz.

2013 has seen me change sail and board sponsorship to Neil Pryde Sails (the current world record holder) and Patrik Diethelm Boards (ranked 2nd in the overall gps speedsailing rankings). Patrik had specifically made me a custom 41cm wide by 2.30m long speed board for the purpose of breaking records. The board was designed to sail with 5.8m and 5.4m sails in winds from 40 – 50 knots. I also took a production 43cm board and 6.4m sail for training purposes when and if the winds were lighter, 30 to 40 knots.

To the layman the difference between a 5.8m sail or a 6.4m doesn’t seem much but in terms of speed that 10% extra sail size makes a huge difference, as does the extra 2cm width on a board and with smaller boards you use smaller fins which have less drag. Everything adds up to slower speeds with bigger equipment.

The event is staged on a manmade canal 5m wide and 800m long at the perfect angle to the prevailing winds that blow off the Namibian desert out to sea. The canal is open for a one month period from the 21st October until the 17th November with competitors allowed to book 1,2,3 or 4 weeks use of the canal. A lot of the competitors are professional windsurfers and can book in 4 weeks but for me that is not an option, family and work commitments have to come first (that’s quite hard to convince the wife of but true).

We arrived in Luderitz on the Monday 4th November and although they had some fairly good winds in the first week but nothing strong enough for a new world record. The second week they had none at all, very unusual for Luderitz. The forecast looked great for later on in the week, everyone saying how lucky we have been arriving at the right time but as with any weather forecast it normally changes.

We had 25 to 30 knots of wind on the Wednesday the 7th. Not great but a good chance to familiarise myself with sailing on the canal. 6.4m sail and 43cm board, 43.84 knots average over 500m and a peak of 46.09. Not great but it does take a bit of time to get used to sailing on a canal that has no room for mistakes, one slipup and it’s a crash into a solid sand bank at 50mph and more likely than not broken bones.

Thursday the wind had died but Friday it was back blowing 23 to 28 knots. Back out with the 6.4 and 43cm and in less wind but now familiar with the canal I was dialled in, 45.52 knots average and a peak of 47.27. 6th fastest 500m gps speed posted for the day. All the times for the top 6 were very close and considering the conditions I was very happy with the result.

With a sail that big 45 knots is very quick, I was starting to get very excited about what I could achieve with more wind. The year before I had days when I was sailing slower with smaller sail sizes in stronger winds.
Unfortunately by the Monday people were already talking about changing their flights as the forecast was so poor. We decided to wait until the Wednesday forecast before making any decision. Of course as with weather forecasts Wednesdays forecast for the last weekend looked great and “of course” by the time the weekend came the wind had nearly gone. We had one more sail on the Sunday but in very light winds 42.66 average and 44.44 knots max, still very fast conditions for most places in the world but not what we were expecting from Luderitz.

Conclusions

I could have sailed slightly faster with a bigger board than I took as this would have got me into the course faster but the goal was to break records and the equipment I took was for that purpose.

45.52 knots using a 6.4m sail is an incredible fast speed.

The video we took has turned out fantastic and I have to send a big thank you to Pierre Bisson, GsyPhoto.com. A truly gifted sports photographer (not bad at landscapes too, needs to practice on not getting the van stuck 5 miles out in the middle of a desert though). I couldn’t have done the trip without him, travelling light for a windsurfer but with two boards, 3 sails, 3 booms and 5 mast, 110kg of excess baggage is no easy thing. He also drove the whole way there, I don’t know if it is because he likes driving or hates my driving.

Big thanks to Auringy Airlines for their help in getting me to the UK.

Neil Pryde sails for supplying me with the fastest sails on the planet, Patrik Diethelm Boards for the fastest boards, Black Project Fins for our ongoing development of speed sailing fins, Billabong wetsuits (Namibia water is cold), Chinook booms and GsyPhoto.com.

Special thanks to Catherine, Jacques & Luke Ogier.

Luderitz Town

Old railway station

Saying goodbye to Luderitz 2013

Canal Start

Take off

Luderitz 9th Nov

The forecast all week was looking good for today but with each day it slipped backwards a little.

We ended up with 25 to 30 knots of wind, not great but because the canal is at the perfect angle the speeds were up there with some of the best of the year. It's only because it's Luderitz that the competitors want more.

I sailed my Evo 5   6.4m sail all day with my PD 43 and Black Project X50. Great combo and I was pleased to get 45.5 knots over 500m and peak at over 47 with such a big sail.

Most sailors were on 5.8 sails but I couldn't get going on my 5.8 in the gusty conditions. I have never witnessed so many aborted starts as today. 

There is a new system with starting now that there are so many sailors.  You get handed a stick, who ever handed you the stick is in front of you in the queue to have a run on the canal.  You then hand the stick on to someone else and so on. The stick can change person 10 times in 10 seconds but as long as you remember who handed it to you then you know your position. It works quite well but you don't get as many runs in as last year and it's a bit more of a lottery if you get a lucky run in the gusty conditions. If you have to abort your run because you can't start before the corner into the strip then you have to go to the back of the queue. This could mean having only 1 run in one hour. It happened to me three times, it's quite intimidating when you have 15 of the worlds best sailors all queuing behind you waiting for a run.

Overall I'm happy with my speeds, believe me it wasn't easy conditions. Just waiting for more wind, so far it has been no where near the wind strengths of last year.

This is one of my favourite pictures of this year. Pierre working his magic again.

Luderitz 8th Nov

Such a better day and completely unexpected.

The forecast was for lighter winds than yesterday and the organisers decided yesterday that they wouldn't open the course today. It was also a open day for the local schools this afternoon to come down and have a look at what is going on.

Pierre and I were editing till about 12.30 when Pierre said it looks kind of windy. The plan was to have lunch then down for the open day but we decided to check out the canal first. when we got there it looked good enough to sail so I rigged the 6.4 Evo 5 and the PATRIK 43 and went for it.

First run 42.95 knots average over 21 seconds, (the 500m timing wasn't set up so it was gps only). Pierre took some video from the end of the canal then we dropped the back door of the pickup so I could sit on it and he drove me back up the course, me holding the sail out the back. The run was similar to yesterday and didn't feel great so I added another 2.5 cm of downhaul to the sail and put on my weight jacket with 3.5kg of weight. The wind was definitely lighter than yesterday but boom the run felt great, over 44.6 knots average 21 seconds and 45.93 top speed. The difference was extreme you actually feel more powered up with the weight and extra downhaul. you could tell the wind was lighter as sailors who had no problem getting going yesterday could today.

The winds yesterday were forecast 22 knots gusting 28 knots that means 32 gusting 38 at the canal, today was 20 gusting 25, tomorrows is 24 gusting 32.

Tomorrow is the windiest day forecast since we have been here however the weather pattern is good for next week with the wind decreasing on Sunday then building again. The forecast for next Wednesday is 21 gusting 28 but that might increase, it may decrease as well though.

We'll see what tomorrow brings but I am a lot happier with the setup now than I was first thing this morning.

We did a lot of video today and GoPro action.

Luderitz my first day

Great to be back in Luderitz.

We had some wind yesterday and it was great to get going.

I started with my Evo 5 5.8 on my Patrik Speed 43 but soon realised that there wasn't enough wind. after 2 runs I swapped to my 6.4 and had my fastest time just under 44 knots for 500m. Not great but good to get back used to the canal.

When being driven back up to the start I noticed everyone rushing over to the leeward side of the canal.    Sophie had a unbelievable crash being lifted 20m into the air by her kite and dumped on the hard sand. She is stable in hospital sustaining a badly broken leg, hopefully nothing more. The whole atmosphere around the canal changed, just felt sick in the stomach.

The course was closed and rightly so while the ambulance took Sophie to the hospital. It was opened again 1.5 hrs later for gps and half an hour after that for timing. I waited for the timing to re-open before  going back out but the wind was dying fast, just two more runs before the died.

I sailed only 5 runs and tried out 3 fins, the X type, XLS and prototype. I think I'll keep to the X type.

There were some good speeds done and posted on gps but the last time I looked at the timing board by the canal I was 4th fastest. That has certainly changed on gps but I don't know if they were done outside of the 500m timing when I wasn't on the water.

The forecast yesterday was for good winds Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday. know that has changed and it looks like we will only get wind tomorrow, slightly stronger than yesterday. Fingers crossed.

Take off before the corner into the course. boom!!

BBC INTERVIEW

This is a better clip from the BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-24750329

BBC Interview

There can't be much news around, the BBC asked if they could interview me before my trip to Namibia. When they say I hold the British 10m speed sailing record they meant to say the British gps 10 second record.

ITV tomorrow

Boom height luderitz

Why do you have a low boom speed sailing?

Sailing fast is all about taking your weight off the board and taken up by the sail. This reduces the drag on the board.

Historically tall sailors have been faster, not always the case though Eric Beale & Olivier Auge weren't the tallest but very fast, however they are out numbered by the tall fast sailors, Pascal Maka, Bjorn, Anders, Roddy Lewis.

Being tall allows your center of gravity to be out over the water and off the board. Lowering your boom does the same thing, it lets you hang out further over the water. Jurgen is the the best I've seen at this.

It isn't always the best option however. When the sea is rough you won't be able to keep control of the rig and the board will bounce all over the place.

Canal conditions are the only occasion when you can drop the boom real low. Also when the wind starts really blowing then you'll want to have more control with a more orthodox boom height.

Any more queries add a comment and I'll see if I can answer.

Luderitz 2013

One week tomorrow till I leave for Luderitz and with all the times posted I can't wait.

Lots of questions being bantered around, is the canal as fast, what equipment choice etc etc.

My thoughts so far from what I have seen (my thoughts / may be wrong in some peoples eyes / not meant to offend)

The canal looks better than last year, straighter and with a better cleaner windward edge. Speeds haven't been as fast yet but the big boys are still on their big toys. Antoine hit 50 knots with a 5.8, Patrik (mid 49's) is right up there on a 5.6 and Anders and Hans hit 49.

The windier it gets more often than not the wind swings broader and the rolling chop gets worse. If the chop gets up than you have to increase the size of your fin which slows you down, also the fact you are bouncing over chop will slow you down as well. So with Luderitz there is a compromise between wind speed, angle and your fastest run. If you can catch the right time between the wind increasing and getting broader before the chop get up your styling.

Is it easy to get top speeds in Luderitz? NO

I have heard a comment from one rider that it is easy to achieve fast speeds in Luderitz, we have to define a fast speed.

Everyone who hasn't sailed Luderitz before would get a faster time if they went, I'm pretty sure of that. Is it easy, you certainly don't just turn up and go. 50 knots is I believe what most people in the windsurf world are thinking of as a really top speed. I believe there are no more than 10 people in the world who can achieve that.

The first obstacle is that you have to have your gear spot on before you go. That's very difficult because you only get Luderitz conditions in Luderitz. You have to have some collaboration with others to get it right, that's easier this year as everyone knows what was used last year.

Luderitz canal is the fastest stretch of water we have but I have sailed on flatter water at West Kirby, Southend and even Fuerteventura and they are certainly not as daunting. It's not flat flat like a sheet of corrugated iron and I would say it's not easy.

Last year I travelled with 49 and 44cm boards and sails from 5.2 - 6.6, I never used the 5.2 or 6.6. My new fins got lost in the post so I only had a Black Project X45, 21.9cm long.

Equipment:

Sails: We know the Prydes and Loft sails are working well this year, we've also got to presume that Severne will be up there as per last year. I'll have the Evo 5.4, 5.8 & 6.4m2 sails.

Boards: Max size needed for me, 43cm, I'll also have a 41 and 39. (the 39 if it blows 55 knots) Antoine has a new 40 and 42 and I think from the pics something smaller, Anders and Jurgen a 39 and 41 (also something smaller), Patrik 37 and 39, Bjorn and Hans like to keep it all top secret (heads up, it's too late to give anyone an advantage, now share a little!)

Fins: There are two camps here, narrow swept or small triangle. Last year Antoine, Anders, Patrik were narrow swept, Bjorn and Jurgen small triangle. Antoine has stated that his 18cm from last year is the fastest so far this year. My starting choice will be the Black Project X55 (19.3cm) in the 41cm board and X50 (20.4cm) in the 43. I'll change to test the XLS 17.3cm and 16.5.

Every part of your setup can make a huge difference that is why I have tried to take some of the need to test out of my setup equation. My Neil Pryde Evo 5's are tested and we know they are fast, my PATRIK DIETHELM boards are shaped by not only one of the fastest men in the world but also the only shaper to sail the Luderitz canal and a history of shaping world record boards stretching back years. I have a fin quiver of 8 ranging from 16cm to 20cm in 3 different styles which is the only thing I'll have to experiment with.

Fingers crossed,

Can I be one of those to record over 50 knots - I hope so. I think I can but only time will tell.
Have I the best equipment there is - YES
Am I in shape - Yes (I didn't say what shape) I'm 5kg lighter than last year which I hope will get me into the run quicker.

Choosing a Fin

Black Project fins asked me what goes into choosing a fin?


The smallest fin you get away with will be the fastest.

Some sailors swap and change all the time, I know within the first broad reach if a fin is going to work or not.

To get the fastest fin you have to consider, sail size, water state, board size, angle to wind your runs will be.

Asymmetric fins are the fastest but only one way.

The broader the course the more rake you want on the fins leading edge, the tighter the course you want a more upright fin.

In luderitz we are sailing on a man made canal 4m wide and about as flat as you can get, I’ll be using my Patrik Diethelm 41cm board with a 16 – 18 cm asymmetric fin. Type X or XLS. Sail size 5.4 to 6.4

In somewhere like Port St Louis the course is very tight, I would use a more upright slalom fin on a larger board Patrik Diethelm 49cm or 53cm with Type R 26-28cm. Sail size 5.4 to 7m

In Fuerteventura I would use a more swept fin like the Type S 26.5 on Patrik Diethelm 43cm or 49 board. Sail size 5.4 to 7m

In Karpathos I would use either Type R or RS 26-30 cm on a Patrik Diethelm 53cm board

The bigger the board the more fin choice there is, on a 110 ltr slalom board I could use 32 – 78 cm fins Type R, RS or S.

The smaller the board the more perfect the conditions have to be.

Horses for courses.

2013 CV / LUDERITZ IS COMING

Countdown has really started for Luderitz 2013, a lot of new and old speedsters will be there. Luderitz is now the meca for speed, with no more world cup events everybody is tuning up specifically for the outright windsurfing speed record. Hopefully we will get a world championships again to run along side record attempts. Looking back over my windsurfing career I sure have entered enough of them.
Curriculum Vitae

Name Martyn Ogier

Address Coin du Pecheur
Rue de la Maladerie
St Saviours
Guernsey
GY7 9RA
Great Britain

Email martynogier@cwgsy.net
Blog http://martynogier68.blogspot.com
Nationality British
Height 6’7”
Weight 240 Ibs / 110 kg

Sponsors
Billabong Wetsuits
Neil Pryde Sails
Patrik Diethelm Boards
Black Project Fins
Flying Objects
Chinnook

Results

2012
British GPS Speed Record
Max speed 50.20 knots
2nd British Speed Championships Weymouth
Top 10 GPS Speedsailing all time average speed

2011
49.5 knots max speed recorded Oct 7th 2011
2nd British Speed Sailing Championships
2nd UK leg of the European Speed Windsurfing Tour
5th Swedish leg of the European Speed Windsurfing Tour

2010 ISWA World Rankings
1st Anders Bringdal
2nd Martyn Ogier
3rd Bjorn Dunkerbeck

2010
2nd ISWA World Rankings
1st International Sailor German speed championships
3rd Weymouth International Speed Week Professional windsurfer

2009
After 12 years out of competitive sailing, I decided to I missed it too much and decided to return to international competition.
World ranking is now based on a roll over system from month to month leading to a final placing for the year.
20th World ranking after Weymouth (Highest ranked British sailor)
22nd Port St. Louis Speed Week (Highest ranked British sailor)
44th World ranking after 1 event (Highest ranked British sailor)
26th World ranking after Karpathos World Championships
4th Weymouth International Speed Week (Highest ranked British sailor)

1999
Retired

1998
Retired from speed sailing and concentrated on the exposure side of professional windsurfing

1997
8th Overall PBA Speed Tour (Highest ranked British sailor)
9th St Marie de la Mer Speed Week (Highest ranked British sailor)
11th Port Leucate speed week
13th Fuerteventura Speed Week (2nd Highest ranked British sailor)
Top 500m course speed 42.09 Knots 1997 Fuerteventura

1996
13th Overall PBA Speed Tour (2nd Highest ranked British sailor)
13th St Marie de la Mer Speed Week (2nd Highest ranked British sailor)

1995
10th Overall PBA Speed Tour (Highest ranked British sailor)
13th Tarifa O’Neil Speed World Cup
1994
2nd O’Neil Sail Sprint West Kirby
Back injury (2 slipped discs & spent 3 months lying flat - I thought I would never sail again)
1993
14th Fuerteventura Speed Week (2nd Highest ranked British sailor)
15th Overall PBA Speed Tour (2nd Highest ranked British sailor)
1992
4th Equal Overall PBA Speed Tour (Highest ranked British sailor)
3rd Brest Speed Week (Highest ranked British sailor)
9th Fuerteventura Speed Week (Highest ranked British sailor)

1991
7th Overall IWSA Speed Tour (Highest ranked British sailor)
5th Brest Speed Week (Highest ranked British sailor)

1990
10th Overall IWSA Speed Tour
2nd Tiree Wave Classic Expression Session

LUDERITZ FINS

The final piece of the jigsaw ready for Luderitz

http://www.blackprojectfins.com/products/windsurf-fins/type-xls-luderitz-special-asymmetric-speed-fin/

NEW PATRIK DIETHELM WEB SITE

http://www.patrikdiethelm.com/index.php/crew/team

Above is the link to the new Patrik Diethelm website featuring this happy chappy.

SPEED 2013

It has seemed like forever but we're finally getting there. Some of the new sails have arrived and it coincided with a nice North Easterly force 5. Under powered on the Neil Pryde Evo 7m2 but great fun. 1st time on the Patrick Diethelm 110 as well. I used my Black Project R37.5 which felt a little big, I'll swap it for my R35 next time. The board feels great, plenty of volume for me in light winds and definitely no need to go any bigger unless the Speed World Cup starts up again and I have to race on 9.5m2 sails.

My sail quiver is now 5.4, 5.8, 6.4, 7.0, 7.8. Any bigger and it would only be for world cup racing. Board wise - PD custom 41, PD Speed 43, PD Speed 53 and PD Slalom 110. Fins - Black Project X35 to X55 and Type R, Type RS.

Looking forward to posting some top speeds soon and Luderitz is creaping up fast.

Thanks to all my partners, Patrik Diethelm Boards, Neil Pryde Sails, Black Project Fins, Billabong Wetsuits, Chinook booms, Aurigny Airlines, GsyPhoto.com

NEW KIT

Almost there, the boards have arrived, wave sails have arrived, most of the race sails are on their way ( 5.4m - 7.0m ) It means that I'll be able to get some speed tuning in soon . The picture above is my first with a gro pro harness mount. More to come.

PATRIK DIETHELM BOARDS

New boards just in.

I have the PD speed 53 and 43 with a custom 41 on the way for my 2013 Luderitz speed challenge.

Beautiful boards, the finish is the best I have seen. Can't wait to get out on them. More pics to follow when my new sails turn up.

BOARDS

I would like to thank Starboard for their support over the last 4 years, 2013 is definitely turning out to be a year of change.

2013 has seen a lot of changes for my sailing career and now I can confirm another, I have joined the PATRIK windsurf team.

I met Patrik for the first time last year in Luderitz. Not only is he a fantastic shaper but also one of the fastest sailors in the world. Together we will design a custom speed board for me to take on Luderitz 2013. Patriks knowledge is second to none and his input will help me achieve my goals.

I will be sailing PATRIK production slalom and speed boards leading up to Luderitz.

Check out the PATRIK site here http://www.patrikdiethelm.com/

As soon as the new kit arrives I post some pictures.

2013 What happening

Big change this year.

I would like to thank HotSails Maui for the past 4 years, it has been great fun helping with the design of the GPS sails and we have had some great results including 2nd place 2010 World Speed Tour and breaking the 50 knot barrier with 50.20 knots.

Time to move on though and with the World and European tours drying up Speed sailing has become all about maximum speed and that means Luderitz.

I have joined the Neil Pryde team for 2013 and will be concentrating solely on preparing for Luderitz. When my sails arrive and if there are good conditions forecast for West Kirby or La Franqui then I'll be on my way to post a GPS Speedsurfing time.

There are a few other events that I would have liked to go to like Le Defi but timing wise with equipment this won't be possible.

At the moment it's a case of staying fit, loosing a few pounds, getting out on the SUP and in the waves until I can start to tune my gear.

You have to be 100% with everything before travelling out to Namibia and although my results last year were good they aren't where I want them.

To turn up in Luderitz and nail it all by yourself is a hard task. Last year there were a lot of mini teams going on, not all on exactly the same gear but sharing some of the setup, the same board or fin or sail or Nationality. All very friendly but that sort of feeding off each other with fin size, sail setting etc helps a lot.

With one Luderitz trip under my belt the amount you learn is huge and I plan to put that to good effect this year.

Why always January

The year started really well. SUP and wavesailing lots of training feeling great then, as seems to be the norm with me, ILLNESS.

Its been almost a month now with a flu type virus are can't shift. Catherine has is, Jacques is off school with it. I think as one of us is getting better the others infect us again. I'm getting really pissed off with it!

That my rant over with. Doesn't help seeing speed times being posted from West Kirby, I'll be there soon I am sure. Lots of new testing needed to be done shortly.

Luderitz video

It's here, the one we've all been waiting for.

http://vimeo.com/56824357

Thanks to my sponsors and especially to Pierre for making the video.