.....the Life and Times of Phil Horrocks....

And the hard work has paid off!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 23:03:00 +0000

British Wave Sailing Champion 2014!

2 x British Champ.. boom!

I said in the title that all the hard work has paid off, well i'd be lying if i said i believed all that.. Windsurfing is fun, it's not work!
Don't get me wrong though, there's been blood sweat and tears along the way to get to where i'm at, but right now, it's all about enjoying the moment.

We've just had the final round of the British Wave Sailing tour, The Cornwall Wave Classic. Check the Podcast, great fun event..

Now the contest season is over its back to free sailing when the wind blows.

I'm hoping for a mild, windy and wavy winter here in the UK, it looks like i'm going to be home based for the best part of the winter, that's not all bad as the UK's right up there when its on.

Hopefully there's some more nuggets like this to go and chase down.

Tiree Wave Classic 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 22:41:00 +0000

Balephuil

Tiree once again delivered some great conditions for windsurfing, proving its worthy of its spot on the BWA series.

Backloop - Balephuil

Unfortunately it came a day late to count for the overall title as Ben and Muzza had to shoot off to LaTorche in France, meaning the Tiree Wave Classic 2014 title would go to the event winner, but not counting for the UK overall title, if you know what i mean?

The Broad Sword and the trophy, yeesss!!

We also experimented with a new Contest format, rather than do man on man, or an expression session, we opted for a rolling expression session, named "the Quickening", whereby everyone goes at once and then 2 are eliminated, then we go again, another 2 go, then again and one drops out and so on, until you have a Final.

Lecky fighting hard!

The final came to a showdown between myself and Aleksy Gayda, He's a young sailor i sailed a lot with over the winter in South Africa and he's improving rapidly! he's pushing hard and if he keeps it up at this rate, it won't be long until its his hands on the trophy!

Balephuil

The Final went well and i threw everything into it, i was fully powered up on my Manic 5.0 and my Pocket Wave 86, thats a sick combo for a side on full power jump off session!! check out the video below of "The Quickening"..... to see what happened.

Tiree Wave Classic 2014 Day 7 Video, The Quickening! from Jim Puravida on Vimeo.

That's how the week finished, but it wasn't all wind and waves, the week started quite slowly with some light winds but it was a great chance for the kids on the island to get stuck into some windsurfing.

Team 15 Rippers at the Loch.

The RYA had a team 15 group led by some great coaches that seems to be growing year on year, we took a little time out to give them some coaching tips and have a little fun on the lake windsurfing with them. Great to see so many youngsters ripping out there, if only that could be replicated across the country!

Signing session at Tiree Lodge Hotel

The Pro signing session with the kids was a fun way to see and talk to them about there windsurfing experiences too, Muzza busted out the posters and even a board was signed!

Once again it turned out to be a great week for windsurfing on Tiree and congratulations to all the winners and everyone who took part to make it so.
Tiree Wave Classic 2014 leading the way at the windsurfing competitions, showing how to lay on a great event and involve all levels of windsurfers throughout the week, as well as getting it out there with the media team on hand to capture it all..

Thanks for the Pix and Videos:
Richard Whitson
Dave White
Jimbo @ Puravida
Redhanded TV crew.

great job guys, see you next year!

The moment you get the result, yerr!

Hard Work after 5 rounds!

Team Horrocks

Red handed TV crew probing for insight!

Dave v Simmer Squadron.

Dave showing Backloops run in the family!

Finally got my sword!

Thank you BWA and Tiree!

until next time........

Here come the wind and waves!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 12:43:00 +0000

Autumn just around the corner and here come the wind and waves!

So its time to stock up on your tools for the job to go out and shred!!

check out some of the great deals below!

SUP

Tabou 8’2” SUP - great board for the waves, shreds… - £575

Used Paddles

2014
Gaastra Manic 3.7 - New - £250
2 x Gaastra Manic 4.0 - Excelllent - £250 each
Gaastra Manic 4.2 - Excellent Condition - £250
2 x Gaastra Manic 4.5 - Excellent Condition - £250 each
Gaastra Mainc 4.7 - VGC - £250
2 x Gaastra Manic 5.0 - Excellent - £250 each

Gaastra Manic 5.3 - Excellent - £250
Gaastra Manic 5.7 - Excellent - £260

Tabou DaCurve Quadster 80 - As New - £850

Tabou DaCurve Quadster 75 - New - £900

Tabou Pocket Wave 75 - Excellent condition, barely used - £800

Tabou Pocket Wave 80 - Repaired but solid, awesome board - £550

Tabou Pocket Wave 75 - Repaired but solid, awesome board - £550

2013

Tabou DaCurve 79 - Used 3 times? - £700

Tabou Pocket Wave 80 - British Championship winning board!! the one i won the title on in Cornwall.. - £650

Gaastra Manic 3.7 Used Twice, Main window replaced (doh!) looks like new. - £160
Gaastra Manic 4.0 small mast foot pad damage, otherwise vgc - £160
Gaastra Manic 4.5 replaced main window above boom, looks and sails excellent - £150
Gaastra Manic 5.0 small Luff tear, otherwise good condition - £150
Gaastra Manic 5.3 missing elastic foot tie - otherwise vgc - £160

2012
Gaastra Manic 4.0 - VGC - £150

Travel Bags available too, from Big ass JP Triple board bags down to singles.. plenty of accessories too.. just ask..

cheers

Phil

British Wave sailing Champs round 1 and 2 Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Thu, 22 May 2014 21:03:00 +0000

Winning Round 1 in Rhosneigr!

Not a bad start to the campaign! The British Wave Sailing Association rolled into town for the first stop of the series, there had been hardly any windsurfing wind for ages prior, fortunately, the weather gods were playing ball and it blew!!

Classic Rhosneigr conditions for the first event of the year.

Funsport Rhosneigr were the hosts and Bucky put on a terrific show, with record numbers of entry on the good forecast, the competition was fierce but all good fun and everyone had a good time, a really friendly and fun vibe around the place.

A good turn out kept the BWA crew busy on the beach.

It was a tough competition as the wind changed from right to left and the wind gradually picked up, by the end of the day the waves were probably head high and the wind 25 to 30 knots blowing through the sailing area.

Competition isn't always serious stuff, a lot of these guys are my friends so its all very light hearted off the water at least!

Everyone gathers around for the early morning announcements, i think we kicked off at 7:30 one of the days!

Things went really well for me, i had a good run of heats and things were just sticking when i needed them to, the fleet was strong, Adam Lewis, a young canarian ripper battled well back through the double elimination to 2nd place, and Ben Proffitt also ripped his way up to 3rd, as you can imagine i was made up with my 1st place!! that's 3 wins in a row at the Rhosneigr leg now!

After the contest we all piled in the vans and trucks and drove across Ireland for the 2nd leg. Brandon Bay here we come!!

Ireland's usually one of the best events on tour, you can get all kinds of wind and wave conditions and it changes rapidly, so you're always on your toes.

Again another good turn out and plenty of sunshine meant that watching was very pleasant too! it's not all wind and rain at these events! in fact on this occasion there was a distinct lack of wind for the first part of the week!

It was actually really cool to spend a bit of time with the family after the busy Rhosneigr weekend, we went for walks around the stunning beaches and scenery..

Played in the water, built sand castles... Ate sand castles!

Morale was low around the camp as it came towards the end of the week of waiting for wind and it didn't look like we were going to get anything? So, what better way to ensure it was windy by calling a BBQ at my house, inviting everyone around, and having a few beers!!

We needed some food, so Maike, Dave and I did some SUP fishing that was amazingly fruitful, i'd never thought we would have even caught a thing! four big juicy Pollock!

You don't get fish fresher than that! straight out of the water and onto the BBQ!

Good time all round i think?

Peter Hart and crew busting out some tunes on the Geetar.. others followed, surprising levels of musical talent in the fleet actually..

And plenty of the black stuff of course!!!!

Ah yes! and the wind came back for the last day!! we weren't expecting a lot but fortunately there was just about enough wind and waves to run the heats and we were on!

it was pretty tiny conditions and the wind was super light, i was on my biggest sail, the 5.7 and my biggest board which actually wasn't big enough!

Fortunately Will Barrett, a friend in the Amateur was using a Pocket Wave 93 and said i could borrow it for the final. Thanks Will!! without it i would have been dead last as the wind was almost none existent for me.. in the end though, i just managed to score a couple of waves and it turned out i wasn't too bad on them either?

I was really happy with my second place given the conditions we had and fair play to Ben, he ripped them up and fully deserved the win.. It's the same trio of sailors on the podium, this time in a different order, and that can only mean that things are tight going into the 3rd and 4th rounds in Tiree and Cornwall at the end of the year.

as it stands the Overall is:

1st = ME :)

2nd = Ben

3rd = Adam

After all of that there was just enough time to stop off in the pouring rain in Dublin before catching the boat home. Team Horrocks... Out...

Pix: BWA / Si Crowther

BWA Tour 2014 is on!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Wed, 07 May 2014 20:22:00 +0000

BWA Tour is back!

The BWA team are back for 2014 and the series starts with Round 1 in Rhosneigr, 8th to 11th May.

Here's hoping to another successful season, it looks like being a tough one though as the competition is stronger than ever!

And YES!! It looks like the wind's going to blow!!

At the moment the weekend forecast is looking pretty good, plenty of wind and waves we think!

New article in Windsurf Magazine.

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sat, 03 May 2014 10:02:00 +0000

Check out the New Windsurf Magazine! I put together a feature on all the spots and where to go when, essential info if you're thinking of heading out to one of my Favourite windsurfing places on the planet!

Windsurf Magazine

Winter round up, best trip ever!!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 14:50:00 +0000

Hi All,

It's been a pretty hectic winter and things have been pretty stale on the blog front i'll confess. Not that i've been lazing around with my feet in the air all this time i'll have you know though! Cape Town happened!

Facebook got the majority of the updates, in fact, there was loads!! i posted hundreds of pix on there but now i realise, not everyone's on FB or added me as a friend? So, for all you blog readers, i've decided you deserve a re-vamp of the site and i'll give you the best shots and a quick run down of what you missed below.

Early Season Haakgat was running nicely and not so crowded, Piet Striecher shot some nice shots one evening, the water was very clear that day.

My Pocket Wave 80 felt really good in all conditions.

Big Bay provided some fun jumping opportunities late in the day when the crowds moved on.

Misty Cliffs threw up some of the best starboard tack windsurfing i've ever had in Cape Town.

Cape Point delivered some of it's finest, although we had to wait a while to get the conditions just right.

Worth waiting for though!

It even got a little crowded one day, i owe this guy below an apology! luckily we missed each other as i just cleared him, but i scared us both to death in the process!!

There were some seriously long days on the water and when you get home, there's nothing like a quick power nap with the little one..

Physically it was tough too, all that sailing takes it toll, fortunately my coach and yoga instructor helped get me back on track to fight another day..

A little rest and relaxation when the wind stops is the perfect cure for the body and mind! Cape Town is an amazing place to kick back and relax..

Get back out there daddy!!

Whitsand went off on a couple of occasions, riding, not just jumping, amazing!

Cape Point delivered some more action on starboard tack when most people weren't looking, it's nice to score a session when you're not expecting much, truth to the phrase "if you don't go, you don't know"

Things started to get crazy good, and unusual spots started to come alive.. epic to sail somewhere new for the first time.

And then things just went off the scale, i'd not seen these spots get like that in a long time, some truly memorable sessions down in the southern hemisphere this winter!

It was made all that more special by having my team with me for the whole trip, with Maike on maternity it seemed like a once in a lifetime chance for us all to go for a long duration.

An amazing trip all round, i hope we can do it again!! and i think i'm not the only one who wants to go back!!

ripandslash Webmaster is back from his winter break.

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sun, 20 Apr 2014 21:17:00 +0000

yep, experimenting with the website.. updating it all and getting ready for the new season!

stay tuned......

Autumn's come to an end. What next?

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 22:08:00 +0000

Where's the Autumn gone? it's rapidly disappearing towards winter..

There's been a couple of days on the Windsurfing front since the British Wave Sailing series was wrapped up at the end of October.
There was this pretty fun day up in Rhosneigr, it might not look like much but it was a pretty fun day.

There was a couple of pretty windy West days too, thats when things started to feel a bit nippier in the air, the westerly starboard tack days can be really good fun, we just don't get enough of them! its generally good ramps and more side shore from the right, so the wave riding is better on the more powerful punchy section of the wave too, you can get aerials and stuff, pretty fun.

It took me 3 tanks of diesel to get this thing back from Cornwall!! my BWA Wave Champion Trophy :)

My Nephew Howie thought this trophy was an amazing toy, until he snapped the plywood UJ! Wipeout!!

There was a couple more days of windsurfing with a few nice rainbows around, the rain starting to turn to hail though was less than fun!

Beautiful day for a spot of windsurfing, fresh...

Not everyday has been windy. The Rally of Wales was based up in North Wales this year, so we thought we'd go and have a watch of that one afternoon, these boys give it some fair play..

I have a couple of new 2014 Boards arriving and i have one of my current boards left to sell, this beauty, i'm a bit reluctant to sell her, it's been my favourite board this year and the one i won the Cornwall event on, but its got to go.. Pocket wave 80, it really is the one board for all conditions!

Lastly, no update would be complete without a couple of pix of the new arrival, and it's all going way too quick!

Someone's been practising her Jumps already :)

Next up for me is a winter trip to Cape Town, we decided that its been a pretty epic year and there's no better age with the little one to go and spend a couple of months in the Sunshine, avoiding the cold weather along the cold and flu!

So stay tuned... plenty of updates from warm, sunny, windy beaches to come soon..

Bring it on!

2013 British Wave Sailing Champion!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 11:07:00 +0000

British Wave Sailing Champion 2013!!

After a pretty epic year, 2013 has finished off with some delicious icing on the cake!

Winning the Cornwall Wave Classic during what was billed as the biggest storm to hit Britain in 26 years with some truly wild windsurfing conditions.

Winning the Cornwall Wave Classic, the final stop on the British Wavesailing Association tour, confirms my spot as British Wave Sailing Champion 2013!! Yeeeeaaahhh!!!!!!

Going into the Cornwall Wave Classic everything was up for grabs, anyone of a number of sailors had a chance to claim the title, i knew that nothing less than a win was what i needed to realise my ambitions of winning my first UK title.

The conditions lived up to expectations as the headlines confirmed the warnings of the worst storm to hit the UK in 26 years! Cornwall certainly delivered on this occasion! Waves of up to 6m and 30 knot winds provided some epic action over the 3 day event.

In the end it came to a show down with local man and former PWA world cup ripper Andy King for the title. The waves were pretty hectic, there were 4 and 5 metre waves rolling through in the final that were crashing on the sandbar, it was one of the heaviest waves i’ve ever sailed on! I carefully picked my waves and rode them as hard as i could! there was no time to hold back, i came to try and win and didn’t want to give it up easily!

Last year i came so close to winning the overall title, finishing second, that it left a bitter taste as i fell agonisingly short and it was something i wanted to put right! fortunately everything went well for me this time around, scoring some awesome waves right through the event, i’m super happy to have won the UK Wave Championship in 2013!!

It was a great achievement for me personally, but i couldn’t have done it without the help and support of so many people. To have my partner Maike and daughter Keira there, along with my parents, my brother and his wife and son watching made it all that more special.

None of this would have been possible without the support of George Bevan and the team at Themailingroom.com, who've sponsored me since the very beginning and stuck with me ever since, so a huge thanks to them!

Big thanks to My board and sail sponsors too, Tabou & Gaastra, they provide me with the best equipment out there and it’s helped me so much this year knowing i’m on the best equipment available, the Gaastra Manic and the Tabou Pocket wave have been used at every event this year!

Thanks too to Chinook and Ed at K-Bay for giving me the booms and bits that pull it all together, the confidence from the quality of product is invaluable.

To read more about the event check out the following event report links:

http://www.boardseekermag.com/features/horrocks-victorious-in-treacherous-storm-and-crowned-uk-champion/

http://britishwavesailingassociation.com

http://boards.mpora.com/news/champions-of-cornwall.html

https://www.facebook.com/groups/136945116384548/?fref=ts

Windless Westerland

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 15:34:00 +0000

Brits on tour

What a couple of weeks! Thank god its over! You would think someone up there might just deliver you a couple of days windsurfing after camping out in Northern Germany for a few weeks in the autumn.. but no... not this time..

Plenty of people turned up to watch as normal, there was at least some wind for the freestylers and slalom sailors, just sadly it was all offshore and there wasn't a wave insight, frustrating, but you can't change the weather!

At least the fine weather was good for some things! Keira enjoyed her first trip to Sylt, nice few days around the beach, if a little chilly at times..

Too much fresh air really knocks the little one out though!

Small waves of klitmoeller seemed big after Sylt!

Gaastra Team mates Kiri & Sarah, Freestyle World champions 2013!!
Nice work guys!

A little more of the Onshore Klitmoeller mush...

So a few more action shots surfaced from Tenerife after my last update, which is always nice to see. JC got these little beauties..

Nice 1 Hand 1 Foot Back loop shot. getting more consistent now.

Getting some air time in free sailing. It's always good when the comps over!!

Fortunately you can't see the great clumps of weed that get stuck to your fin on the inside! almost un-sailable!

So, That's pretty much that, after 3 weeks of touring Germany and Denmark, i've managed 1 day sailing! now it's time to head home and fingers crossed the Tiree Wave Classic delivers some action next week!

it's all tooooo fast!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 20:33:00 +0000

So, the last 6 weeks has been a bit of a blurrr!

Let's start with where we've ended up and i'll tell you a little of how we got here later.

Klitmoeller, Denmark

Right now we're in the middle of the PWA wave round 3 in Klitmoeller, Denmark. So far we've had a morning of wind before registration opened, which was good fun practise, some head high waves with cross onshore 5.3, planing around from time to time, unfortunately the wind didn't hold.

The wind has so far threatened to come back on a couple of occasions, Last years winner Thomas Traversa, Gaastra & Tabou team mate was straight out at the sign of anything and he made it look pretty good, this was super light, side offshore and some fun little waves around.

It was enough to get the judging crew excited and they pushed on with the trials and into the first round of the mens single elimination. They only made it as far as the first 3 heats i think before the wind completely disappeared again, there was enough time for a couple of shocks though, with big names falling in what had to be said were pretty marginal conditions at times..

Fortunately for me i'm down in heat 8 so i didn't get pulled out in those conditions, the lighter guys definitely have an advantage when it's a wobbly 10 knots in the line up! And yes, guess who i drew? Fellow Brit Ben Proffitt, ah well, at least one of us gets to go against Koester in the next round!

For now it's the old waiting game, i'm pretty much prepped and ready to go, all the gears on the beach, just need some action to go and get!

He's the bloke in the suit!

Working back in time now to the beginning of the week, The Crown Prince of Denmark popped down for a windsurfing lesson on the lake and a spin on the jetski as we all went out windsurfing in the waves, it's pretty cool to have someone like that show such a keen interest in the sport and the event in particular. He came into the tent for a chat with a few of the sailors which was good, dishing out a few tips on our rigging and fin setups etc.. ;)

Now we're waiting for conditions JC has been out shooting the local area and the results are pretty spectacular!! He can take some good shots that boy..

Boaty's....

Talking of boats, we caught our overnight North Sea boat to Denmark, beautiful weather and a super calm crossing, even Keira behaved herself, sleeping almost the whole journey.. awesome to be in Cold Hawaii with the family, just need some wind now to go shred!!

Now this is the point where most of you windsurfers can tune out and go look at wind guru or something, this is where the last month has gone!

I've pretty much spent the last 5 weeks solid ploughing my way through working on a house refurb in Bangor, it started life as a bit of a drug den, with used needles, foil and other nastiness everywhere it was a bit of a ruin.. full refurb, re-wire, new kitchen, bathrooms the works.. As a man with a plan to turn it round into a student house i threw myself into that with a deadline of before Cold Hawaii! 5 weeks was tight and it meant super long days on site, with not too much sleep at night because of the little one and absolutely no windsurfing!..

Fortunately everything came together and with a team effort at the end we got it done!

You should check out more of what we do at varcityliving.co.uk

The one regret i have is that i only got to see my daughter Keira for about 30 minutes in the morning each day, and then i would be home in time for the 10pm feed at night and i could bottle feed her expressed milk, i really missed out on the first bit which was tough..

It's now a massive relief to be here in Cold Hawaii and i can really kick back and enjoy things now, it's been pretty special to hang out with Maike and Keira most of the time and then go windsurfing and paddle boarding when then conditions have switched on..

Keira @ week 1

Keira @ week 6

She's growing so fast!!!

Now it's time for the wind to come back please!! let's get this show on the road and get some windsurfing done!

There's a chance for the end of the week! fingers crossed..

The Circle Of Life...

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 22:33:00 +0000

So what's happened since the last update? A lot! First up, I'm writing this from a tent on the beach in el medano, Tenerife, but more on how I got here later.

Most importantly, we had ourselves a beautiful baby girl, Keira Sylta Horrocks. Born on Tuesday the 30th July At around 11am. she came out weighing 9 pounds 8 ounces and everything went well, it was a long labour but Maike was absolutely incredible and I have to say I have a new found respect for that ladies tolerance levels to pain! No way I could have done that!!

We've had a few quiet days at home and trying to get used to the fact there's another person in our house! You don't really realise until its there in your arms what's actually happened and how fragile and vulnerable new life is, I have to say I'm a super proud dad, not only of our daughter but of Maike too.

It's with great sadness and a reminder of the circle of life as the news reaches us of the passing of Andre Paskowski, for those who may not of had the pleasure of knowing him as I did, he was super friendly, talented windsurfer, kind, enthusiastic and all round good guy, taken from us after a long battle with cancer at the age of 31, I can only wish his family and friends my condolences at this time.

Here in Tenerife the PWA sailors and crew held a memorial on the beach, it was a sad moment but at the same time brought back memories of Andre, and they were always all good..

With the arrival of new life and the passing of another in mind it makes me appreciate more than ever just how lucky we all are to be on this planet at the same time, and how short and precious life is, it also hits home a heavy reminder of what's important in life, it's the experiences and the people that make it, both departments I feel truly blessed with now.

Now I find myself in Tenerife at the PWA World Cup, the conditions so far have been on the whole good and the forecast for the week ahead is excellent. We're already well into the single elimination and I'm happy to still be in it after a close first round tie with Leon jamaer, things go up another level now as I have a former world champ Victor Fernandez in my next heat, I'll have to sail out of my skin to win that one! But who knows, maybe it's my time? (edit - no it's definitely not my time!! he kicked me out good and proper!)

So here's a couple more shots of the action so far..

Tough conditions out on the water as thick weed in the water played havoc on getting planing off the beach, sometimes it was ridiculous! i was overpowered on the 5.0 and still going no where as i was towing a ton of weed!

Now that i'm out of the single elimination in 9th spot i have to wait for the double elimination to come around, i have to win a few heats to keep my spot but so far it's not been too bad a start to the season..

the forecast looks pretty epic.

fingers crossed!

Good Call..... nothing happened anywhere!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 19:49:00 +0000

About a month back i was wrestling the decision in my mind as to what to do?

Initially i had planned go to Gran Canaria for the first round of the PWA wave world tour, with the plan to jet back if there were any rumblings in the belly department and make it back in time for the potential birth.
I'd pretty much planned it out that i could, if it went well be home within 8 hours, but that was always on the proviso that things happened when you want them too, i.e. plenty of warning and at a convenient time for flights.
So i flipped it over and looked at what could happen, short notice, and up to 18hrs to get home and that was assuming there would be space on the plane, and with no thought to cost! the result, missing the birth of your first child! i might well end up single if i did that!! So i handed over my slot in the event to the next guy and withdrew my entry..

I was slightly gutted at the beginning as it's been a bit of a ritual in the past, it's one of my favourite events and something that's always provided plenty of entertainment, not just on the sailing front either, i'd be missing out on the craic with the boys, hanging out with Proffitt, Hancock and Alfie and co, driving ourselves insane with the relentless wind and boulders grinding you down to shreds... i knew exactly what i'd be missing out on and thought, well, i can live without it for one year!

The thought of what we're about to experience made missing the trip to GC very bare able, i almost didn't think about it, until game day arrived of course when i tuned into PWA live TV. I couldn't believe it when i spoke to Ben and he said it had been rubbish for nearly 10 days?! I've been to GC about 7 or 8 times now and every time i've come home exhausted and bleeding! it is relentless out there, and to hear there was no wind was unbelievable.
And so it continued, the whole week, only on the last day of the event did the wind slightly fill in, not with enough waves to get things under way, but at least an expression session took place, well done Koester for winning, again!
With no official result it means no one scored any championship points so it's as it was, lucky for me! i don't fall back and everything is as we were... a good call not to go in the end!

Now this baby must arrive soon? Round two of the wave tour is in Tenerife (still t.b.c) around the 2nd week of August, so it would be perfect timing if the little one arrived around now.. it would give us a good chance to get settled before i head off again..

There's been little or no wind to speak of in the last few weeks here, it's just been sun!sun!sun! which is great too, i've had some time out from the windsurfing and recharged the batteries, the highlight of the last week was heading over to llyn gwynant with the folks, family and friends and had a great time, swimming, kayaking, cliff jumping and generally chilling out..

Folks

oldest brother and family except Raif, he's fishing somewhere probably!

youngest brother and family

and soon to be... us +1

Well, 2 days to due date... all fingers and toes are crossed..

hopefully the next update we can introduce you to the newest member of the horrocks family.

until then.. thanks for reading...

Phil

Windy weekends, Counting down the days and Summer is here!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 08:31:00 +0000

How about that for and month of windsurfing?! OK so it's not been all time gangbusters stuff, but it has been pretty good fun, we've had a lot of days here up in Wales where it's been blowing, sometimes strong and there's been a few waves around too. I think i sailed 3 weekends out of 4 and a few midweek days too.

Piet from SA came to visit this day and brought his camera too, nice one Piet!

It's always good to get weekend windsurfing, you find that a whole load of new people come down and it's busy out there on the water, it's funny, the kitesurfers seem much more weekend dependant than us windsurfers, maybe it's the fact you don't notice another 10 or 20 windsurfers on the water as much as another 10 or 20 kiters, when they come down it can feel crazy busy! it's then i'm glad we get midweek windsurfing and it's quiet time again. Just the one kite crashing on me last week!

Must be summer, even the Ice Cream van was open!

We had a couple of unusual season days too, some strong North West wind came through and turned out to probably be the best of the bunch, head high waves on the 4.2 and pretty much sideshore starboard tack, i was loving the DaCurve 79 in some real waves again!

Out on the beast

I recently got back on the Paddle board a little too, it's been a few months since i was out, probably because of the lack of opportunity i suppose, i like it with little or no wind and some waves ideally. Broad beach up in Rhosneigr is my favourite wave on the Island, there's a nice little left hander on the sandbar.

Chile, If only that was Broad!

One or two of the little lows that darted through slipped south of us on a couple of occasions, i guess that's what led to the Paddle boarding picking up, when they scoot south the wind pulls out of the east typically making it offshore with nice sunny weather, and the low to the south pumps the swell through our swell window so it can be really good fun. There were two or three days in a row of waist to head high, clean glassy surfing that relit the fire, i wish we had more!

Good times back in Roca.

So when i've not been on the water i've been pretty busy with the work too, working for my brothers business Varcity Living, you should check out the website Varcity Living, on there is a list of what we do and what's on offer.

The cast of Crimewatch!

The main focus with the work recently has been getting the shop and flats open, the business has needed a base and a high street presence for some time so Dave took the plunge and he's now got the pimpest office and lettings agency in Bangor by a country mile! Add to that we created a further 5 flats of luxury student living in the building too and it's all come out good, with the team above we did pretty much everything ourselves, the results looking pretty smart i'd say.

top floor has amazing views!

students have it good these days!!

Oh yer! you'll see us at the beach when we arrive!!!

The other major thing going on at the moment is the expected arrival of the little one soon too, in fact, in theory it could be any day now!!! It's due date is 17th of July so 10 days or so, but it could be 2 weeks either side pretty much, but it's really exciting and we're both looking forward to it.

Keep baking the bun honey.. x

Maike's been amazing too, i don't know what all these girls complain about when they're pregnant, Maike's had no side effects or sickness and has been on top form throughout. I'm sure we'll get paid back after it's born with sleepless nights no doubt! Name choice is really quite hard, that's the biggest headache at the moment!

Aber

We had a great weekend last week with my brothers and their families, we took a trip up into the hills, actually only 5 minutes from my door, and went exploring the waterfalls in the gorgeous weather, it's surprising just how chilly the water still is when it's falling 100ft onto your head!

Old school, swimming in your pants!

So that's pretty much it for the last two weeks, at the moment the only new arrival is my new Gaastra Manics!

I've spent the last few evenings putting the stickers on and they're ready to rock and roll!

I imagine the next couple of weeks could be pretty interesting, it looks like the wind's have gone for a while and there's a heat wave on the way, so i'll be trying to catch any supping action i can before the arrival of the little one..

stand by... it's imminent!

ciao for now...

Phil

TV time!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:40:00 +0000

There's been a few things happening in windsurf land since i last updated a couple of weeks ago.

The wind had been pretty disappointing up to now, so much so that i had a 4 day long weekend trip to Tenerife lined up, only for the forecast to turn sour and pull the plug on the whole lot..

So without wind what is there to do?

There's always paddle boarding!

When there's not much in the way of waves and the wind is gone you have to resort to engine power to get on the water! even in this case though it wasn't enough as after 10 minutes of wake boarding we struck an electrical problem and had to paddle home! at least it was another beautiful evening for it..

Engine troubles, fixed her up first time she stopped, this time it was game over!

One of the good things about being in North Wales is there's always loads to see and do when you have days off, here we took a walk down the Llyn Peninsula and checked out trefor, a nice little harbour that can be good for a wave or two if you're there at the right time.

2 weeks ago and it looks pretty small, she's in growing overdrive now!

One of the things i have is plenty of equipment! thanks to the good people at Tabou and Gaastra, i've got something for every weather really, i'm going through the process od turning over some stock and clearing out some of the old and redundant pieces now, so make sure you check out my FOR SALE page.

follow the link http://www.boardseekermag.com/classifieds/users/philthy
FOR SALE PAGE

On top of everything i've been drafted up by the Welsh TV Channel S4C to provide some footage of windsurfing, as they wanted to feature me in a programme called "Y Lle" all about what's going on in Wales and whats cool and stuff.

Mitch Buchannan

It was pretty neat and fun to do, all i had to do was turn up to the studios in front of the lights and rig up my stuff whilst they filmed and photographed it all, it was quite strange rigging 3 times in a white room and not going sailing!

I wasn't sure what the outcome was going to be as it's tough for non windsurfers to put together windsurfing action and there's a couple of cringe bits in there for me but otherwise it's all good fun and nice to get windsurfing shown on nationally telly for a few minutes, funny thing is quite a few people i know saw it too by chance, which was nice.

So, it's only a screen recording, but that was the best i could do.. i trimmed it down to my bit, i'm not sure everyone would really get the rest of the show, i'll admit i thought it was pretty weird! a load of welsh music, the bangkok lady boys in cardiff and then some more cultural items that were biazarre..

Geting bigger!!!

5 Weeks to go so we're trying to get out and about in the fresh air while we still can. We took a nice walk along the beach from Aberffraw, it really is stunning countryside and views we have.

We've already had one new addition to the family, yep the family truck has arrived! i definitely wasn't going to go down the people carrier front so i though if i'm going to get a bigger car to accommodate it all i might as well have 4x4,blacked out windows, drug dealer black alloy wheels and pimped leather throughout!! now if i just get it raised about a foot and have wheels twice the size i could be like one of those Maui boys?! naaa.. maybe not!

Fun saturday

Fortunately the wind did return just in time, for this update, we had a couple of really good days, i had to hang around for them as the wind was up and down as we're in a pretty unstable air flow at the moment but in patches it was really good. Some nice wave riding conditions which in June is always really welcome, and things are warming up now too so it's so much more fun to go sailing!

Now where pretty much at the longest day of the year there's a good 18hrs of day light, so you got to fancy your chances to score it when the conditions do come around... make the most of the summer time!

I'm off paddle boarding... take it easy folks!

Phil

Time flies...... when you're having fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Wed, 29 May 2013 21:15:00 +0000

Windsurfing season has fully arrived! we've had a few fun days this month, not all of them classic but some good sessions all the same.

Some very windy and cold days like this one, flying around on the 4.0 in the onshore conditions, and yes, it was baltic, it was hoods, boots and gloves at the beginning of the month still.

There were some summer like days too, when the wind blew and the sun was out, almost everyone came down to play, windsurfers, kiters and a good few fair weather windsurfers i hadn't seen for a while which was nice.

Unfortunately the conditions in Rhosneigr drew a blank when the competition rolled into town, which is pretty frustrating, a lot of work goes into making these happen and it's a shame when thew weather doesn't play ball, but that's the nature of the beast in windsurfing i suppose.

We wasted no time at all and headed straight over to Ireland for the 2nd leg of the British Wave sailing series, based in the SW on the Maharees peninsula, Spillanes restaurant and bar hosted the event and we were all quick to sign up and get the competition rolling.

The forecast again wasn't actually that great and we were frustrated in the beginning part of the week as we tried to run the contest and battled through tricky conditions only for it to die off completely and we went on hold for better conditions later in the week.

Forward loop

Fortunately we weren't disappointed, the 2nd last day of the event delivered waist to chest high waves and 10- 15 knots of wind, enough for the 5.7 Manic and the 80 litre Pocket wave, it was actually pretty good fun! anything is when you've been waiting all week for it!

Riding a few small but fun waves

Scraping around a low backloop

Long day at the office!

Yellow jersey for tour leader!

Head judge Duncan Coombs Calls it on

Alfie

So, i have a new team mate too! Alfie Hart, the supreme whizz behind the lens of so many of the boardseeker podcasts is also a pretty handy windsurfer too, after winning the amateur title last year he was elevated to the pro fleet, go Alf!

Back to the day job!

Unfortunately for Alf it wasn't all he'd hoped for and was inevitably back behind the lens after a couple of rounds, next time!

Ross williams

Ross Williams, a seasoned pro of the PWA world tour rocked up to his first UK wave event in probably 10 years and sailed a blinder, although he has been competing on the PWA circuit and doing rather well in that time too.

Winners

After a complete double elimination it ended up:
1st: Ross Williams - Gaastra, Tabou
2nd: Phil Horrocks - Gaastra, Tabou, The mailing room
3rd: Ben Proffitt - Simmer
4th: Andy Chambers - JP, Neil Pryde.

The competition went pretty well and it was good fun to finally get on the water and compete, i had a few decent heats in there although i was left a wee bit disappointed as the final perhaps wasn't my best heat, but, given that the conditions were so tough and the competition tougher i was really happy to end up with a 2nd place. a good week all round, good fun..

Geoff, Whitey, Stu

I must say a quick well done to Geoff, who i shared a house with over there, he's the one on the left with the leopard skin hat! it was geoff's first competition on the BWA wave circuit, and he did a top job finishing in 2nd place behind Dave white in the masters..

Hopefully now things have warmed up a bit and summer is finally feeling like it's here, the winds will blow in our favour.. happy sailing wherever you are.

Cheers

Phil

Pix from:
Boards.co.uk
Dave White
Stuey
John
BWA

Hello May!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sat, 04 May 2013 09:11:00 +0000

Crikey, where did April go??

Things seem to be rocketing along at the moment and i'm hanging on for dear life! It seems like less than a few weeks ago i was enjoying the wind and waves of Cape Town, turns out that was actually nearer 10 weeks!

I guess things have flown by because there all good at the moment...

Very Windy Rhosneigr from Phil Horrocks on Vimeo.

We've had a few windy days recently, this super windy day too, i made a little video feature for Boardseeker magazine with it, here's a couple of stills i think i already made in my last post but they show what it was like, crazy windy!!

If you want to check out the complete feature head over to ......
http://www.boardseekermag.com/features/phil-horrocks-takes-on-rhosneigr-in-58-knots/

Looks like it might get windy today too...

So that's the windsurfing in a nutshell.... The other side of things is the fact that Junior is coming along quickly too.

Maike's been fantastic and is doing really well, growing almost by the day it would seem, and with the sense that the end is not too far away either, suddenly there is only 10 weeks left!

Naturally things have turned towards preparing for the new arrival, frantic cleaning, clearing out the junk and all the other crazy stuff pregnant women get up to!

There was even time for a kick around in the sunshine in the garden with Junior too, weird to see but pretty amazing to see there is something actually growing inside there!

that's all for now...

Phil

High wind advisory!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 11:31:00 +0000

Or go windsurfing it should say!

Pic credit: Steve Laddiman

It's been a long old wait.. there's barely a day with wind for 6 or 7 weeks and then suddenly theres 3 in a row! how about that?

It started with Big sunday, it was 4.0 full power out there, some nice riding and jumps to be had, i'd almost forgotten how much fun rhosneigr can be on it's day.

Pics: Stu Gwynn - Stuey

The swell peaked pretty much after the high tide and there were some sizeable sets around, stevey came up to visit and caught a few beauties, on his bright sail, you definitely know which one he is out there!

Steve shredding

Dave's back loop percentages got better through the day.

I've been trying out some Pocket waves instead of the DaCurves just for a change, i figured i should really try them as they should be ideal for the onshore conditions we often get up our way.

bit of airtime

The Pocket wave 75 is an awesome board! i really liked it, pretty much a throw around wave board that gets you up and quickly, so it makes for some really fun sailing, i was surprised just how good it was, could be an all conditions board for my home spot i think?

Pocket 75 is a ripper!

Monday was pretty good too, sunny all day and windiest in the morning then faded out a little as the day went on, only to come back in later in the day, still good for a 4.7 and my 80 Pocket wave. It's strange how after a day of full power and the small gear using a 4.7 and 80 feels so big! Still, it gets you going and flying around when it's not that windy.

Then came too windy Tuesday!

It was just crazy windy, i was hanging onto my 3.7 and it was almost impossible to keep the thing on the water, if you went over a piece of chop you just took off! It was somewhere around 40knots+ and that was a cold wind too.

deploying the 3.7

Plenty of air time

tough wave riding conditions

clocking up the airmiles

the pocket 75 and 3.7 manic in their element

a battle to get back up the beach!

Once again, Maike produces the goods behind the camera.

Bump is growing.... 13 weeks to go... crikey! better get some more windsurfing in quickly!!

Wind.. Snow... Grow...

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:19:00 +0000

The weather's a pretty major part in a windsurfers life and at the minute we are getting plenty of it, the only problem is, it's the wrong kind!!

I was very close to going windsurfing the other day though, it looked like the North West of wales was looking like it head potential, there was a decent swell coming up the Irish Sea and the wind was a good direction for Hells Mouth.

Take off the temperature and this is the sort of forecast you might see for Maui, with the NE trades blowing!

So friday i was finishing work and the East wind that was forecast to blow kicked up strong, very strong indeed in fact, it was strong enough to blow over two lorries on the A55 near my house and a couple of reasonable size trees gave up and fell over too.

The strength of the wind wasn't what put me off, it was the fact the snow flakes started to fall and when i woke up next morning it was a white out out there! wall to wall snow!

In the Woods

Truly stunning scenery, the landscape changes to another place when covered with its white blanket.

Windy but too cold for me!

Even with thickest wetsuit, hood, boots and gloves i'd probably still have frozen!!

So cold it froze Llyn Ogwen

Some magic looking green rocks amongst the snowline

Pregnancy has not affected her aim! fortunately my camera is snowball proof!

As Far as Windsurfing goes, we have a small glimmer of hope on the horizon, the latest forecast shows that tuesday next week has some potential, ok, it's pretty far away but that's as close as we've come to decent windsurfing forecast in a while!

Fingers crossed tuesday delivers.

At the moment i'm just going through all my equipment ready for the season ahead, i need to get my order in! the start of UK contest season is fast approaching!

On other stuff....

So, the snow melted and still without wind i went over to Graigfechan, Ruthin, where i grew up as a youngster, my parents are still there and have undertaken a grand community project. They have helped establish, with some Lottery funding along the way, The Graigfechan Growers Group, or 3 G's for short.

The sheep shed

It's all about the community coming together to pool resources, experience and time to produce something we all need, Food!

Baby Lambs

My nephew (Raif) and Niece (Safi) came along to feed the sheep

And the Poly tunnel with plants in.

It's a great thing and if you want to check out more about what they are doing head over to www.graiggrow.net/ that has all the info and more on there, maybe it could work near you?

more updates soon...

Phil

Tabou Contest Team...

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 18:07:00 +0000

Tabou Boards Contest Team 2013

With the successful release of the inspiring 2013 boards, the team for 2013 is even more impressive. When you combine style with personality and a hungry team that wants to showcase their talents you have a unique mix that makes the Tabou team different from the rest.

Shaper extraordinaire Fabien Vollenweider continues to innovate great designs that keep working better and better. With the progression of all the aspects of windsurfing be it freeride, wave, race and freestyle, Fabien is hands on and knows what it takes to make a board do what it is supposed to do!

The all new Twister takes riders like Tonky Frans, Anthony Ruenes and Davy Scheffers to new heights. These guys put in the time to develop the boards just how they want them. Super easy to plane with BIG POP for mind blowing moves. Keep your eyes open for these guys, they will blow your mind!

Thomas Traversa, Alex Mussolini, Dario Ojeda, Phil Horrocks and Jamie Hancock are locked and loaded to take on the PWA Wave Tour. These guys put on a great show in 2012 and look to carry their momentum forward for this new season. Each one of these guys are capable of winning any event at any location. Joining the boys for the PWA Tour will be Amanda Beenen who is fired up on her new gear. Watch the Tabou team hit the waves with full force!

Our racing program has never been more serious. The 2013 Manta range has reached new levels that our team is very excited about! Ross Williams will be campaigning along side Cedric Bordes and the Moussilmani brothers to bring home victories on the tour. New to the team is Pascal Toselli from France who will help develop boards alongside Cedric and the rest of the team. Valerie Arrighetti has won the World Title before and will be a strong contender to show the women’s tour the new boards she has under her feet. Watch out-

Overall we are very proud to announce all our team riders and look forward to their success on the water.

http://www.tabou-boards.com/team-tabou/international

http://www.tabou-boards.com

https://www.facebook.com/tabouboards

Fast Forward......

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 22:30:00 +0000

Yes, it's been a while! But... there's been some things going on in that time and the blog has slipped to the back of the mind slightly..

A lot of this has gone on Facebook over that time but i was thinking to myself the other day that really the whole world doesn't live on facebook, and then those who do and see my posts are really only my friends, so you're cutting yourself off from the rest of the world and not really sharing the experiences, so the blog is back...

cue whistle stop re-cap of the the elapsed absence!

I got home from Chile late Dec, i had the Chile blues for a couple of weeks, it was a cool place to go and one i'm looking forward to going back to already!

We had a few days of windsurfing in Dec and over Christmas but it was hardly Topocalma so tricky to get excited about, but then after a while, you realise you like it whatever it is? you can't spoil yourself the whole time!

Onshore Rhosneigr days..

It proceeded to belt it down with snow for a couple of weeks and windsurfing was cancelled!

Snow Man building Horrocks style.

It didn't seem to thaw throughout January and on the water days were limited.
It was my Birthday and i was lucky enough to go and watch my team play, they won too.

Match day.

Gaastra and Tabou had their annual pilgrimage to South Africa to meet up with Peter Munzlinger and the rest of the G&T team for some R&D in February. Another top trip was had, here it is in pix and captions, too much to remember!

Back in the Mother City, Cape Town.

Travelling with gear on planes gets harder and harder, ouch!!

There was a mix of conditions through the trip, we had some really incredible days at Haakgat and Cape point, good, fun sessions, nothing epic or massive but solid size days.

Waiting for wind under my Gaastra sunshade!

Mike Archer snapped a couple of shots whilst i was out on my normal Gaastra Manics, not the proto's, it's amazing the differences you can feel in a sail when you're tuned into it.

Cape point

We had a spell without wind too, it's never fun to have to wait for it when all you want to do is go out sailing, but if there's one place thats fun for hanging out it's Cape Town.

City of Cape Town Stadium, Western Stormers v Boland Cavaliers, 59-0! Go Stormers!!

Proof that Pete Tye does like football, i caught him watching a game!

View from the balcony, left towards the mountain and Big Bay to the right

One of the best days at Cape Point, a handful out and 4.7 and logo to mast.

After another spell of wind we had a bit of a break, the wind shifted up the west coast and we found ourselves driving north to find wind.

Fun session up at Paternoster on one occassion.

Stuck at secret spot!

Things got desperate and i decided it was a good idea to go exploring off the beaten track to see what i could uncover, there must be hidden gems on the west coast. Anyway, what started as a "lets have a look down this track" ended up in unloading all the gear and digging ourselves out of the sand! whoops.. still, worth it, knowledge for next time!

So that's about it really, the last few months in a nutshell.. there's not too much more to add, other than the fact that it is no longer a secret, Maike and I are having a baby in a few months, we're both mega excited and looking forward to it, hoping everything goes well. Now i just need to juggle work, nappies and mast high waves!!! What is life for, if not for family and good times? here's to more of everything!!!

ciao for now...

Phil
:)

Chile 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:11:00 +0000

Here's a short video from the last few weeks here in Chile, so far we've had a mix of wind and surf, been pretty good fun!

Thanks to Maike for her quality filming again!

It's a quick edit.. had enough clips for 3 times as much but i thought i'd just bang out a quick one, if i get time i can knock up another one at some point i will...

enjoy...

UK champs over.. now the fun begins!!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 14:38:00 +0000

Gaastra and Tabou sweeping up the points with the top two in the UK riders rankings, boards and sail constructors rankings too.. Happy days!!

Things didn't go perfectly to plan for me, i had a pretty decent lead going into the last event but at the end, it was a tough draw in tough conditions and things didn't really go my way, still, 2nd at the end of the year with 1 port tack and 2 starboard tack events isn't too bad! Well done Jamie on winning!

Now that's out the way it's time for some fun!!

Things kicked off with a pretty fun session at Topocalma, here's a few stills taken from the video camera, was pretty epic fun on the 4.2 Manic and 79 DaCurve..

Once the wind switched off it was time to get on the old paddle board, fun session at Roca below.

Had 2 much better paddle board sessions since then though, Puertocillo going off and a fun evening session at Matanzas, all good!!

keep up!!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:33:00 +0000

Had a wee contest in Germany a couple of weeks back, frustrated i sailed like a pleb when it mattered most, but apart from that, as i often say, it had its moments!

Tough conditions out there and this was a rare moment when i was actually powered up on the 5.3, felt good when the wind was up and i could make it through a few heats.

powering along through a few heats on the 5.7, my sail of choice for contests it would seem at the moment, same as Denmark, would be nice to get on a 4.7 one of these days!

I also spent far too much time doing this!

Whilst others were doing this!

And this!!

Ross kicked me out and went on to have his best ever wave result, so i was really happy for him, 5th Place!! Alex was flying too, he came 2nd taking him to 3rd overall in the world rankings, top job lad!!

I darted back to Tiree and got 1 days wobble and ride before the event on the 5.7 again.

At which point the wind promptly died and we spent most of the week chatting trying to help the Am's and other fleets to improve their sailing and kit setups, i was trying to give a few pearls of wisdom here on setting up your boards, remember, make those footstraps bigger boys and girls!!!

A tiny puff of wind and we held a fun expression session, slightly weird when we hadn't got a result yet?? but hey... i was actually thinking to save myself for the contest and not enter like some other people didn't i decided to go for it half way through the heat and got 2nd eventually, lucky we did that, it was the only action of the week and we ended without a result..

cornwall next weekend..

Pix: stolen off the web from JC/PWA/Dave White.. nice shots dudes..