Injuries

My windsurfing year so far is a disaster.

 

When I came back from Namibia (Nov 2015) I went in to the doctor to get checked out. My arm had been put back in place in Namibia after the dislocation but I wanted to be fully checked over here.

 

The doctor I saw wasn't my GP, he was full, but I have faith in all the doctors so it didn't worry me. He referred me on to get a ultra sound on my ribs to make sure no internal damage was done to my organs when I broke 3 ribs. He also referred me for a cat scan to check that I didn't have any blood clots on my brain after being knocked out.

 

I asked about my dislocated shoulder and he told me that it was back in place and there isn't much more that can be done. It would be back to normal in 2 months.

 

Feeling a bit down at this stage I ordered three Goya custom wave boards as a treat for when I'm back on the water (Christmas time)

 

After Christmas I still couldn't lift my right arm so I booked into my GP. He was in shock that I hadn't had a ultra sound on my shoulder. 4 weeks waiting list for a ultra sound or go private in a week, I went private. The doctor doing the ultra sound could believe I had been left because there was no way the shoulder would repair with so much damage without surgery.

 

Another week to see a surgeon and another week to get booked in. The hospital theatres were closed for cleaning for February but they put me down as an emergency and in I went.

 

The operation to re-attach the muscle to the bone usually takes an hour, mine took 2.5 hours. Its the worst one he had ever seen, 7 rivets type things to pin the muscle to the bone and now 6 weeks of my arm in a sling. No driving, no anything with my arm to allow the muscle to adhere again then 6 month of physio.

 

One more week of the sling then I can start to work on the arm. We are off to Cancun a week on Thursday and that's where I'm planning my come back training.

 

I'm hoping to be back fit for Weymouth speed week this year. Have the summer on big kit slalom training and the odd wave session. No full out speed for a year or so though.

 

My gps recorded my crash a 51 knots. The ribs and shoulder were injured hitting the water. It's very dangerous!

 

Before I went I reckoned that someone could kill themselves on the speed strip, I realise now that the someone would be me. I can't tell you how off the scale the conditions were. You had (can't say any names) ex world champions too scared to run the course at the time I crashed. Later it died a bit and most had a run or two.

 

Summer waves

Nice couple of days in small surf at Pembroke Bay Guernsey. on-shore winds and 3' surf

FINS

I recently got asked to answer some questions on fin design. Hope it helps.

Apart from the obvious objective of ‘speed’, what tributes make a good speed fin?

Grip, you will never achieve fast speeds unless you have confindence that your fin won't spin out. Even more important then a fast fin.

Asymmetric or symmetrical - which is best?

Depends how many directions you want to sail.

You have two ranges of speed fins within Black Project, why is this?  

Ultimate speed on one tack. Ultimate speed on both tacks in all sea conditions

Do different weights of riders need different styles of fin, or just a different sizes?

Style of sailor would depict what fin size he would use. I am 115kg and have used smaller fins that someone 95kg on the same day. Board choice / width would make a difference but again I have used bigger board smaller fin than lighter guys.

Do different styles of fin work better with different boards and rigs, or is a good fin, simply a good fin?

Most definitely board to fin, not so much sail size. A good design is a good design in a number of sizes.

We were using 22cm fins quite comfortably with 6.4m sails for speed course use, what would be the ideal fin size for 5.5m record breaking conditions?

Board size will make the difference. In Luderitz I will use the same size fin for my 5.4, 5.8 and 6.4 if using the same board. The board is still going over the same water conditions. (6" chop in Luderitz. It's not flat water like everyone thinks)

Is fin flex important?  And if so, should we be looking for soft or stiff?

Stiff stiff stiff, in fast conditions a flexible fin is seriously dangerous.

What are the fundamental differences between a speed fin and a slalom fin?

A slalom fin will always be better at getting you upwind and onto the plane quicker. Speed is for downwind

Carbon vs G10, which is best?

A good G10 fin is as good as Carbon 

The base of the speed fins are quite short compared to the length of the box, which gives you range for positioning (forward and back within the box when shaping)….how do you decide upon this or do you just mould the fin into the middle of the box and let the board designer worry about that?

The board designer will be placing the box for the centre of effort of the fin to be in the middle of the box

NWF Weymouth pics / no pain no gain!

Weymouth NWF speed event

Challenging conditions at the NWF speed event. Stacked on 7m Evo and Patrik 110 yesterday in 3' chop. Then an explosion that ripped my sail in two. Big thanks to Moatt sails​ for repairing the sail within 1 hour of receiving it.

The rest of the day was on 7.8m Evo and Patrik 110, the wind had died a bit by the time I had got out on the course but quite happy with a 7th, a 100 ltr board would have been easier to handle through the chop.

Very close racing between the whole fleet. Today was 8.6 Evo and Patrik 135, should of taken the 9.6. Ended with a fourth today and 4th overall for the event. It has been my first time sailing on the Evo 7's and the first time on slalom and cambered sails since November. It took a bit of getting used to but very pleased with the way everything is working. Carrying a bit too much timber at the moment but as usual that's a work in progress.

Great event and what speed is all about. sometimes speed can come across as too elitist and that is not whites about. Speed has always been about all ages and abilities chasing their personal goals. Hats off to Alan Cross for seeing this and promoting speed.

The whole event has done what i wanted it to do for me, i have learnt a lot about the sails and fin / board combinations that i wouldn't have learnt free sailing in Guernsey. Now it's done to water time in Guernsey preparing for the next adventure.

SPEED TIME!

Just finished numbering up the new race kit.

Only one side this year, almost every speed strip I can think of is Starboard tack.

Wave gear has been taken out of the van and now it is time to concentrate on speed.

Big slalom sessions planned up and down the coast for training and the odd speed session when conditions arise. (not that often in Guernsey)

Speed board volume

Interesting findings today when I measured the volume of my 43 and 41cm speed boards. Always wondered how big my custom Patrik Diethelm​ 41 was compared to the Patrik production 43.

The 41 is 233cm long compared to the 43 which is 228cm.

I haven't used the 41cm in Luderitz during the past two years because the wind hasn't been great and I have been on the "bigger" 43cm.

Bigger turns out not to be entirely true. I constructed a plywood box 2.445m x 60cm x 14cm, filled it up and then pushed my speed boards under the water. The amount of water they displaced then tells me their volume.

The 43cm, to my workings, displaced 54 litres of water and the 41 displaced 58 litres.

Knocked down

Can't believe I have an ear infection. Started Friday and was painful all weekend, now it just feels blocked.

Training was really going well, every day up to a couple of hours in the pool or gym. Starting to get ready for the NWF speed contest in Weymouth.

 http://nationalwatersportsfestival.com/all-events/nwf-speed/

Can't wait, should be a lot of fun.

Lots of new kit to tweak before then though. Hope it warms up a bit and I can get out on the new slalom sails. Waves are going to have to take a back seat.

Grande Cru Classe

I have now been sailing for 36 years.

The first picture is from 1989, I had already been sailing for 11 years. I had been Guernsey Wave sailing champion and Slalom champion. Speed hadn't come into the picture yet. The second form 2013, same bay, same wave.

The third picture is from 1994 ish in St Marie de la Mer, my fourth year of speed and already an equal 4th place finish in the 1992 overall standings. The fourth is from Luderitz 2014, by this time I have had a second place in the 2010 overall standings and sailed over 50 knots.

I might be blowing my own trumpet here but I think I'm getting better at windsurfing !!

Bjorn recently stated that to be competitive in PWA wave sailing 35 is the maximum age. I would agree with that, you don't see many over 35 year olds double looping. 

Bjorn has just retired from Slalom at the age of 46, that has got to be the limit. 

What about speed? In the overall 5 x 10 sec GPS standings 9 out of the top 15 are over 40, most closer to 50 or above. Personally I think you can be competitive at speed records up until 55. Speed contest I think you are going to struggle past 50. 

All good news for us oldies!

Sail size / board size / fin size

Got asked yesterday what equipment setups do I use. It differs from training, competition training and competition.

I use Patrik Diethelm boards, Neil Pryde Evo 7 sails and Black Project Fins

Competition

Board                            Sails                              Fins
PD 135                     9.5 & 8.6                           R45
PD 110                       8.6, 7.8, 7.0                      R35
PD SPEED 52         7.8, 7.0, 6.4, 5.8           RS28,  RS26, S29 & S26.5
PD SPEED 43            6.4, 5.8, 5.4                   X50, X55
PD SPEED 41              5.8, 5.4                           X55

Training

PD 135                      9.5 & 8.6                 R45 & R47.5
PD 110                        8.6, 7.8, 7.0                   R37 & R35
PD FSW 102                   6.4                                 RS30
PD SPEED 52          7.8, 7.0, 6.4, 5.8            RS28,  RS26, S29 & S26.5
PD SPEED 43              6.4, 5.8, 5.4                   X40, X45

I try and get away with the smallest fin I can. Instead of changing fin as the wind picks up I would probably change board and fin. Once I have found the right fin for the board it rarely changes with the exception of the PD 52 which has the most options with fin type.

The sails cross over a lot and I have always options.

2015 Waves

Waves in Guernsey have been pumping and it looks like we have a hell of week ahead

BACK IN THE WAVES

Big week ahead !

http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/Guernsey

Looks like a huge week ahead for Guernsey.

We have NW winds at the moment which is blowing swell straight into Vazon. The forecast is keep blowing then swing westerly and increase.

This could be all time big!

Westerly winds are cross onshore at Vazon, not great for down the line but definitely the direction for huge swell. Maybe one frontside bottom turn then backside riding back to the beach.

Huge air here we come

LUDERITZ 2014 My Story

Luderitz 2014

My Story

Luderitz, Namibia keeps pulling me back year after year. 2012 was the first time the canal had been built and the Luderitz Speed Challenge was born as we know it today. The world and British records were smashed in that year.

I competed in the last two weeks of the Speed Challenge in 2012 and achieved my fastest speed over 500m of 48.21 knots with a peak speed of 50.20 knots, 0.6 knots off the British record that was set the week before I arrived. In 2012 we had 4 days of sailing with 5.5m and 6m sails in winds upto 40 knots. After the event we all presumed that personal bests and records would be broken every year.

2013 saw the event moved forward two weeks and the winds didn’t blow. We had days of sailing but not strong enough for records. My fastest was 45.5 knots over 500m and a peak speed of 47.3 knots. 5 days of sailing but only with the biggest sail I took, a 6.4m just for training purposes.

So 2014 came along and I was full of confidence, 2013 could have been a fluke year of low winds, we might get condition like 2012. The event had been moved another two weeks earlier than 2013.

Equipment wise things had been learnt from the previous two years. My boards were the same as 2013, Patrik Diethelm 41 and 43cm. My sails were the same make as 2013, Neil Pryde Evo6 updated from the Evo5 of 2013. Everything was set.

In the previous two weeks of the 2014 event up until we arrived there had been two days where four people had sailed just over 49 knots. The Luderitz airport forecast for that day showed 28-31knots of wind on the first day and 26 –31 knots on the second. The canal usually has 5-8 knots more wind than the airport but the nearest place that forecasts the wind is the airport. We really need a forecast of 30-35 knots minimum for a real crack at big speeds. When I got my record in 2012 the forecast was 28-34 knots.

During the two weeks we were there we had 3 days of sailing. Friday Oct 24^th was the first day and I struggled to get five runs down the course due the light winds (22-28 knots forecast). Top speed was 44.6 knots peak of 45.87. Nice to get back on the canal again though and still early doors.

The next day of wind was 30 Oct, forecast of 24-29 knots of wind. 2 sailors went just over 49 knots and Patrik (who shapes my boards) blew every one away with a 51knot run. Being so close to the record he was given priority to jump the queue which did help but hats off to the maestro. I have to admit that I just could get it going this day, I had a 500m speed of 46.96 knots, max 48.60 knots. I change my fin from a 22cm to a 20cm and immediately felt the board was sliding through the water easier but by then the wind was dying.

The next day the forecast wasn’t good however we were pleasantly surprised with 20-26 knots of wind, the course was open and everyone was on edge to see if the wind would fill in and we could have a crack at our pb’s. It didn’t blow strong enough although I recorded 46.91 knots 500m and 48.5knots peak in a lot less wind than the day before. I was leading for most of the day until Patrik clocked and amazing 48 knots.

Conclusions

Overall I am happy with my performance, I am a big speed sailor and I am there to compete in strong winds to get records. The past two years haven’t produced strong winds however I am still in the mix with my speeds.

Luderitz will almost certainly never blow 50 knots and if it does because of the extreme broad angle of the canal it will be un-sailable.

I need 30-35knots of wind forecast to break the British record and push over 50 knots.

My equipment is working great, I just have to get the right combination. Fitness was great this year, joining the gym helped a lot and sailing all day with 5kg of lead on my back was not an issue.

What to change:  Not much. I weigh 115kg, in the lighter winds that we have had for the past two years I think 108kg would be right for me. That’s the goal now.

What is next: I am looking forward to a bit of play time in the wave with the boys in Guernsey this winter. There is a European Championship in Fuerteventura mid 2015 which would be great to compete in, different set up to record attempts but something I have always enjoyed. Luderitz 2015? It’s a long way off, I have still got unfinished business though.

Current Results

I am ranked 12^th on the GPS Speedsailing all time overall rankings

I have the GPS British 10second record 48.94 knots

12^th Fastest 500m all time windsurfer speed 48.21 knots

2010 Speed world cup Vice champion (last world cup)

More results can be seen on my cv.

Thanks to my Sponsors

NUTZ wetsuits

Crabby Jacks Restaurant

Smith Signs

Neil Pryde Sails

Aurigny Airlines

Patrik Diethelm Boards

Chinook booms

Black Project Fins

GSYPHOTO.com

NEW SPONSOR

Great news, I have teamed up with Nutz Wetsuits.

Nutz are a Jersey based company here in the Channel Islands. Its great to be associated with a wetsuit company so close to where I live.

The wetsuits are super stretchy. It's really difficult to get wetsuits for windsurfing. Most wetsuits are designed for the surf market which is understandable as it is such a huge market but they are too tight in the forearms for windsurfing. Nutz Wetsuits are designed for the surf market as well but due to the super stretchy neoprene used they are fantastic for windsurfing.

Check them out here     http://nutz-life.com

Just under four weeks till I am off to try and break some windsurfing records in Luderitz.

I'll be taking the short arm 2-2mm

http://nutz-life.com/collections/wetsuits/products/ninja-2-2mm

and the 3-2mm long arm

http://nutz-life.com/collections/wetsuits/products/ninja-3-2mm

When the wind really blows in Luderitz the sand being blown across the desert stings the arms, so it will be short arm for training light days and the long arm for the records.

Sponsors:

Nutz Wetsuits

Neil Pryde Sails

Patrik Diethelm boards

Chinook Booms

Aurigny Airlines

Black Project Fins

GsyPhoto.com

Pre Luderitz

What's been happening?

A very windless frustrating summer for windsurfing since my crash in April.

Having taken almost 2 months to heal from my broken rib and prolapsed disc in my neck training for Luderitz has been slow. I ordered the Patrik 135 III to get out on the water more which has helped but not enough sailing for my liking. Apart from 1 x 6m wave session and 1 full on 4.9m session (with tiny waves) I haven't been out on anything less than the Evo VI 7.8m and mostly the 9.5m.

The last 3 weeks have seen me have pain in my right elbow (elbow not wrist, no smutty innuendos) which was diagnosed yesterday as Tennis Elbow. Been waking up with aches all over which again was diagnosed yesterday as my back being out of line. Sam at the Beach Clinic did a fantastic job of putting it right and this morning I felt great.

It may be 20 years late but tonight will be my first Yoga class. It seems all these years of not stretching is taking its toll and that's why the injuries are mounting up.

Six weeks till Luderitz, can't wait. The kit is looking great, really happy with the sails / masts combo I have. I don't think they worked well last year, although we didn't get fantastic wind the masts felt a little too stiff for the sails. This year the same masts on the new sails look fantastic.

Boards are sweet 43cm Patrik production and 41 custom. Fins, Black Project X Type (what else!) fantastic grip and speed.

It will be good to go back with everything tested, no surprises this year.

Summer sailing

 

I keep you posted.

Injury follow up

Every week a little bit better.

I have had a couple of SUP sessions and a couple of big swims but today was the first time in the gym since my crash.

Good and Bad news.

Good to be back and pushed hard

Bad strength in my left side, never been so weak on one side and not the other. Time will bring it back together.

Pushed really hard today, thought I was going to throw up.

Feels good to be back on the road to fitness, looking forward to getting out on the water this week.

 

MRI Follow up

Saw the specialist today. Same kind of story as last time but in more detail.

There is a lot of wear to the neck, crushed discs and worn vertebra.

I would have liked the diagnoses from last time that the disc has prolapsed and the the soft inside has squeezed out pressing on a nerve. The soft bit should be absorbed into the body relieving the pressure on the nerve.

Never nice seeing your body deteriorating with no fix.

I have been booked in to seeing a spinal expert in Exeter. The doctor here still thinks that the diagnosis will to leave it alone but it's worth a second opinion.

I feel better every week and i know that when I had my prolapsed discs in my back it took 3 month to repair and my neck is no where as bad.

Still looking / hopping for a water return in a couple of weeks.

Post MDV accident report

MRI Scan today, I should have the results in a week.

My Rib is cracked which until a week ago gave me hardly any trouble at all. The last week it feels like the day after you have had a health kick suddenly doing 100 sit-ups with no buildup. an annoying dull pain when tensed.

My vertebra has been diagnosed as arthritic and on collision the two either side of my prolapsed disc must of touched chipping of a small section from each. A good thing the doctor reckons, it will give the disc more room.

The main problem is a prolapsed disc which is pressing on a nerve causing numbness down my left side. It is getting, very slowly, better each day. Not soon enough though. I had two prolapsed disc a long time ago and I know it takes a long time to heel (by heel I mean not hurt, it will never be good as new) We're getting there.

Be safe, have fun

Guernsey diagnoses

Having made it back to Guernsey I thought it best to have a check up at the doctor as my left arm and hand feels numb.

Got booked in for Thursday afternoon straight from the boat. He didn't tell me anything I didn't know already but did say he would book me an emergency MRI scan to check out my neck and see if there was any damage there causing the numbness.

The doctors secretary phoned me on Friday, after I had called twice, to say the earliest I can have a scan is in 2 weeks time (emergency ha). She did suggest that I go up to A & E, they might be able to get something earlier.

I had a lot of pain Saturday night so decided to go up to A & E. The receptionist told me there should be someone who can help, take a seat. A nurse then called me and asked if I had done the injury recently, I explained when it happened and that I had seen my GP. He told me that I should go back to the GP and would phone for an appointment.

When I mentioned that the GP would only give me pain killers he told me that is all they can do at A & E on a weekend, especially a long weekend. My GP wasn't working Saturday morning so he said the doctor on call there would see me.

After two minutes with the doctor he had me having an X ray, when the results came back the nurse had been called to strap up my neck and I was going for a CT scan. The nurse looked a bit embarrassed to say the least.

The CT scan shows that I have a crack in my neck which they are concerned about. No neck brace or anything for now, just rest and no situation to put my neck in any more harm.

Appointment with the specialised on Tuesday morning.