| |
S.W.A Pond Life Event 8th-9th NOV 08 There was good wind at the weekend and the students of the U.K made the most of it down at rutland. Some really good sailing going on free-style and racing,
will be good to catch up with you all at the camebridge event |
| Well done Thorpey!
We all know Steve can cut it in the waves but he has just put in a result to prove it. Sailing yesterday in the UKWA Waves round one in Ireland he came in second to Andy King in a round sailed at a very knarly break at Garry William point.
Check out
Boardseekers report
|
| 2008 Rutland Demo We have just confirmed the dates for our demo this year at Rutland Water, July 12th and 13th.
Things will be pretty much the same as usual, all the brands bringing kit for you to try, camping on site and a BBQ on saturday night. This year there will hopefully be a few extra things going on - watch this space. Also Rutland Watersports asked me to remind you that you will need a camping permit if you are going to stay over, plus a ticket for your car if you are coming for the day. We will be sacrificing a Vinta twist to the wind gods to ensure a good force four and sunshine!
Confirmed so far are Starboard/Tushingham, Gaastra/Tabou/Exocet, F2/Maui Sails and Simmer.
Should be there but still to confirm: Ezzy/RRD, Pryde/JP, Angulo/Hot Sails Maui |
| Trent Windsurfing Club gear up for beginners
Trent Windsurfing Club, based at Long Eaton, between Nottingham and Derby, are launching a new scheme in the run up to National Windsurfing Week, May 3-11, to make it easier for beginners to get into windsurfing quickly and cheaply on up to date kit.
The club has already seen an increase of interest in membership over the last 12 months, prompted by their new web site, so to try and convert that interest into active participants the club has bought two new F2 Discoveries for new members who may not have their own equipment yet. The scheme allows beginners to rent a board and rig for their own exclusive use and as soon as they have progressed enough to need their own intermediate kit they will simply return the F2 Discovery to the club.
Club chairman Clive Brown (pictured left) said: "We have been getting quite a few inquiries via the website from people who want to give windsurfing a try, or who have tried it on holiday, but they are worried about shelling out money on a new board. These Discoveries will get them out on a safe learner board for a few months until they are ready to move up to the next level. We hope it will attract more members and give windsurfing a welcome boost in this part of the world."
Trent Windsurfing Club has an active membership and offers sailing throughout the year and is especially convenient for a quick sail after work. As well as regular sailing days, the club also runs social nights and an annual end of season trip to Club Vass...
The boards were provided by us as the club's local windsurfing shop. The picture shows Clive collecting the boards from me at the shop.
To contact the club, log on to www.trentwindsurfing.org.uk
|  |
| Hunstanton Antics 24 September 2007
Sam managed to get a couple of hours at Old Hunstanton after doing a favour for a mate in Bury Saint Edmonds. It seemed a waste not to come back via the coast and he was rewarded with an hour and a half of 4.7 weather. Having not sauled a great deal for a while Sam reckons he was on top form and landed his best Spock for some time right in front of the guys on the beach, one handed shuv-its and was getting some way towards shakas! It was only his second time out on his new Simmer Crossovers and he seems pretty impressed. he was pretty maxed when he first went out but it only took a few extra centimetres of outhaul to sort that. The Crossover seems to have a big windrange in any one setting but a tweak of the outhaul can increase this range by a large amount. Not a bad day really, do a favour for a mate that will get you free bed in Cape Verde and then a good sailing session! |
| Windy sunday Sunday 16th September.
A great day, windy and warm and sunny (at least at Rutland). I had been watching the forecast since mid week as it looked good for a Rhosneigr trip but as it got closer all my options for sharing lifts disappeared, mainly because they all went over on saturday whilst I was in the shop! I was not too worried as I was not loking forward to the early start and Rutland looked like it would be OK. I brought my bike with me to the shop thinking it would be a useful backup if the winddidn't appear but left it there as the flags were flying well. On the drive over I thought it was a mistake but when I arrived it was fine. The place was heaving but people were saying different things about how windy it was, 'rig big cos its Rutland' or 'its pretty windy over the far side'. I had an 8.5 or a 6.0 so hoping for it to pick up as forecast went for the 6.0 Simmer XD. Good choice as I planed straight off the beach and had a great couple of hours on that and an Angulo Super GU 112. Board was nice but the sail was really impressive, powerful but with a nice soft feel and a good top end for a freestyle sail, fine for just blasting about on. I had lent an F2 Stoke 125 to Dave Coley and had a couple of runs on that as well, really nice blasting board, as controllable as the Angulo over the chop and feeling quite slalomy with the straps outboard. It turned nicely too for a biggish board, I would like to try it with an 8.0m on. The wind filled in and as I had Sam's 5.7 Simmer Crossover in the van I came in and rigged that. Another nice sail, powerful but with a much more solid feel but not aggressive when overpowered. I changed boards again as well, JP Freestyle Wave 93, much more lively. I was getting pretty tired by this point, I am really out of practice, with all thats happened this year I have not had much time to get out on the water, but the wind was still picking up. I came in again and decided to jump a size and go down to a 4.7. Good choice as I was powered up most of the time but was still comfortable in the gusts. I lasted another hour or so before calling it a day. The thought of trying to wobble back if the wind died was just too much, and I could barely hang on. A lovely slice of chocolate cake from Bee gave me just enough energy to de-rig!
Over all a brilliant day, 5 hours on the water and lots of freinds out there as well. The Rhossy boys had it good as well though, Thorpey spent all day overpowered on a 4.0m! Check out the pictures on www.stevethorpe.co.uk and www.stinknuggetproductions.co.uk.
Lets hope this autumn brings many more days like this!
|
| Suffolk slop! Wednesday August 22nd
A good northerly blow and a decent swell wer forecast for the east coast but I was away camping with my family in Cromer. Foretunately, or so it seemed, Sam was sorting to come over with Thorpey and meeting Russ, Richard from notts and Si Crowther from Ipswich. Easy I thought, northerly so Wells should be good, only 1/2 hour away and Sam can bring some kit over for me. No apparantly not, Si was sure Walberswick in suffolk was going to be the place and Russ was keen to try it out too. Still that should only be 11/2 hours from Cromer, no real drama. So it was all set, meet at 9:30 at Walberswick to catch the tide right. Well it was certainly windy overnight, I hardly slept. Mostly just through the noise of it in the tree we were pitched under and partly because I thought branches were going break off! I very nearly bailed but set off a bit late and hit the rush hour traffic round Norwich. I still managed to beat most of them there, I arrived at the car park just as Si was coming in from an early sail saying that the waves were OK but the wind was too flukey on the inside. Russ had followed his sat nav to the wrong place, Dunwich and Thorpey and Sam were checking out Felixstowe and the new plan was to meet them all at Southwold. A half hour 'ten minute' drive later we were at Southwold which looked OK, smaller waves but windier on the inside. We finally met the others further down the beach and Russ insisted thet the waves at Dunwich looked great so we all trundled off down there despite Si assuring us the wind would be crap on the inside! So at about 11am we started to rig up, after being at the beach at 9.30! The waves did look good and Thorpey was the guinea pig, launching his Pocket Wave 70 and a 4.5. The wind was flukey on the inside and the shore break interesting and as he found out there was a bit of a rip to say the least! Steve finally got out after drifting 200 yards downwind! Sam and Si followed suit, getting out but struggling on the inside. Russ took some pictures then rigged up, Richard and I thought we would give the tide a chance to move and see if the rip and shore break improved. I borrowed Steves camera and tried to do justice to the conditions. After an hour or so of standing with the camera I had had enough. The conditions had not changed and my lack of sleep was starting to tell. I called it a day without even getting wet, apart from the rain! Richard managed to get out later and although the pictures look pretty good no one had a much praise for it. I guess in august you have to be thankful for any chance to get on wave kit but hopefully the autumn will bring us lots of better conditions. Then again, with this years weather maybe thats when we will get the dry and hot stuff we have missed so far! |  |
| F2 2007 board deals We have just secured a really good deal on 2007 F2 boards. This is a deal that reminds me of the old days, a huge pile of kit at a really good price! We have it in the shop now so if you are interested in any of the following boards then come and snap one up before they are gone! SX, Stokes, Xantos, Discovery, XTC, Spice, Sunset and Missile! These are all at good prices but we will still px against them and do deals on bags etc or on multi board purchases! The more you spend the more you save! |
| Spartan Wetsuits Many of you with Spartan winter suits have been asking us what is going to be as good since they stopped making suits last autumn. Well now we have the answer! Spartan! Yes they are back in production so we can all stay warm sailing through the winter! There will only be a steamer, the barrier suit and a dry zipped suit, more details to follow. |
| 2008 kit 2008 JP boards now in - X-Cite Ride, Supersport and Freestyle Wave.
2008 RRD boards now in - Freestyle Wave, Cult Wave.
Deals on 2007 JP, Excocet, Pryde and Simmer. See our lists for details. |
| Demo Delights! It really can happen! Wind at a demo! It may not look like it from these pictures but our 2007 demo at Rutland was the best ever, well saturday anyway. People were planing on sails down to 6.0m and loads of kit was tried by loads of sailors. I guess I was so busy finding kit for people whilst it was good to take pictures! The bbq was as good as ever and the rain held off all weekend. Thanks to all the suppliers who came up with kit to try and to all the people who tried it!
Cheers! |  |
| Windy Runton After weeks of no real wind, or missing anything there was, Sam and I jumped at the chance of strong winds on the east coast. So at 6am on tuesday morning I left home to pick up Sam and head to East Runton with a 30mph NW forecast. It is always a slow journey over to Norfolk as there is only abou 2 miles of dual carriageway in the whole journey so it was after 9 when we arrived. It was certainly windy but felt more like january than June! There were already three or four on the water including 'Crazy Horse' on his 4.0m. From the cliff top it looked really good with big waves if a little confused. It was only when I tried to get out that I found out how difficult the conditions were, and how out of practice I am! It was a lottery whether you got out past the first four or five waves without one rearing up and dumping on you! I think I managed to get out about on attempt in ten! Sam on the other hand soon got back into it and enjoyed the challenge, making a few nice jumps and a bit of riding. Russ was riding a few big ones out back quite nicely but still taking his share of rinses. It was interesting to see a local sailor on a 1980's F2 Starlit Wave ripping as well as anyone! Just proves its not the kit but the sailor! After a few hours of being rinsed I was ready for a rest and when Sam suggested we try somewhere else I agreed. We drove half an hour down the coast to Wells as the tide was coming in and it could be really good and definitely easier! It was still windy on our arrival there so we both rigged 4.7's and had a blast around the flat water waiting for the waves to appear on the bar as the tide came in. It was nice to actually be able to sail without getting rinsed every few minutes and Sam practised his spocks but the wind kept disappering for ten minutes at a time and the waves never really worked so after a couple of hours we were done and started the three hour drive home! |  |
| Simmer sailing! We have just taken delivery of a handful of Simmer sails to try out. Sam and I were so excited when they arrived that we drove to Rutland on the of chance of a bit of breeze. No luck there but we still rigged up the 3-XC 8.5 to see how it looked. The sail looked really nice and Sam, who normally won't even look at going out unless he can get going on a 6.5, just had to have a go! As the pictures show it was not the best conditions but he did manage a few twidly tricks, not bad for 95kg on a 115 litre board with an 8.5 cammed sail!
Hopefully we can find a bit of wind to try the sails properly soon. We also have a 7.5 V-Type, an XD 6.0 and a Spark 5.5. Anyone who wants to try some really nice, top quality sails get in touch! |  |
| Cable session Miles and myself had a quick wakeboard session at Nottingham on thursday when they went up to talk to the guys there about promotions. I haven't done a lot of cable and Miles has only been behind a boat but he picked it up pretty quickly, being goofy footed. On the other hand I am regular so I am hurting today, sore neck and shoulder, bruised arms - just call me the king of face plant! |  |
| Dave Noble is back! Six years after selling his shop to the staff Dave Noble is back in charge. The boys at the shop have been hit hard by the poor snowboard season and after a few stressful weeks there is a new regime in place. Dave now owns the business again but as he has health problems he will be in the background. The day to day running of the shop will be down to Jon, who has been there for 15 years so there should be little change there but with Dave behind it now the shop will soon be properly stocked with new kit and lots of deals, just like the good old days!
|
| First sail of 2007 4th Jan 2007
I have managed to get out on the water today which considering how often I am in the shop (all the time) is pretty good. I had a good couple of hours on a Tush Storm 4.75 and Starboard Kombat 86, enjoying the lovely ramps you get in a westerly before it dropped right off. I took a few pics, feel free to claim it was you, although there were only about 8 of us there and I knew most of them apart form these two lads trying freestyle and looping.
13th Jan 2007
I also managed to get out today. Rutland saw a day of southerlies building from gusty 6.5 weather to maxed 5.5 when I came off the water. It was probably enough for a 4.5 by the end of the day! The best bit was seeing so many people I knew having a great time on the water in January! |  |
| Snow in Austria 17/1/07
I have just got back from a flying visit to Austria to test a bit of next years kit from Flow and Palmer. After an early monday morning flight from East Midlands too Salzburg I got to Zell Am Zee by lunch time. The lack of snow in the valley was a bit worrying but the pistes were white so with a 2007/8 Palmer Burn strapped to my feet I made my way up the lifts. It was quite surprising how good the pistes were considering the lack of white stuff on the rest of the mountain! Only the last run down to the village at 700m was a little slushy and patchy. The Burn was really nice, a great allrounder, but I soon swapped to the all new Flash 155. The is a new true twin freestyle board, not really my kind of thing but I loved it! It made me just want to play around and was really easy and forgiving at slow speeds but didn't complain when pushed to high speed either.
Tuesday morning saw me heading to the higher resort of Kaprun a few miles away. I started the day with a Flow Quantum 156 which is a full on freestyle, a bit stiffer than the Flash. Again I really enjoyed riding it on the excellent piste conditions of Kaprun. Not quite as playful and forgiving as the Flash but maybe a bit more all mountain. For the afternoon I swapped to the other side of Flows board range with the Infinite Whiskey X 156. This is a completely different kind of board, high performance allmountain freeride and a lot stiffer. It took me a few runs to get into the hang of being really positive and aggressive with it, even at slow speeds but it was when the pistes got a bit steeper and wider that this board came into its own. It just loves going fast and is great for chasing skiers! For the last couple of runs I managed to prise a Palmer Carbon Circle 158 complete with power plates from John Ball, the brand manager for all things snow from Ultrasport. This is a pretty similar board to the Flow Infinite, but for me just a little bit nicer! It seemed to be a little more forgiving but, with a 7200 base, even faster. It was fantastic for blasting at high speed down the piste even when things got a bit bumpy or icy. By the end of my last run my legs just couldn't take any more!
A great trip, good snow even though there was not much around and it was really warm, great kit to use and great hospitality. I just need to go for another trip now! |
| Altitude Adventure Our good friends Ian and Ange are up and running with their fully catered holiday accomodation in the French Pyrenees. If you are looking for a skiing or snowboarding holiday this winter and fancy somewhere a little differrent then they have a great place in a great location. And you won't find a better host! Click the picture to check out their website www.altitudeadventure.com |  |
|
|
|
