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

South Africa on Tabou

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:50:00 +0000

It's a slightly strange visit for me to South Africa this year, i had it set in my mind that i wasn't going to come! Chile was the winter trip and that was that... A switch over to Tabou and a few chilly days at home i thought why not?? get it booked!! so it's hello SA for a month!

Cape Point

There's been a stack of days already and it looks like there's another swell on the way for next week so it's all good so far.

Whitsand

Maike's been on the case with the photo's since we got here (and doing a top job of it too!), it's always good to get shots especially when you've got new boards you want to show off!

Apartment View

We've got a birds eye view of big bay around to the right and we've got an ideal spot for keeping tabs on the wind and swell from our lounge.

Sunset Beach

I've been using the Da Curve Quadster 74 and 79, it always takes a bit of time to get to know a new board but i have to say i'm really getting into it now, it's quite a different style of board to the JP's i had before, more surf'y, smooth and comfortable perhaps?

Sunset Beach

Most of the action shots i've uploaded seem to be of me flying around in the air, but it's been quite a mix of both really, some good waves the last few days.

Big Bay

Off down the Cape this afternoon when my photo bunny returns, i've given her the morning off to go shopping! can't believe she wanted a break from standing on mega windy, sandy, sunbaked beaches for 7 days in a row!!

Secret Spot

Beginning of the week i'll be jumping on my new SUP's and sticking them through there paces if the wind goes a bit lighter, but for now it's just full power windsurfing!! happy days :)

A new year and new boards!!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:29:00 +0000

Very happy with my new boards!!

It's been a good few years on JP but things have to come to an end eventually and i must say i'm super happy to be making the move over to Tabou.

I sailed the boards a few times back in the autumn before making the switch and i didn't take any convincing to realise that i was making a positive move.

I've only sailed them a few times but i'd say that they are easy to ride and feel pretty radical on the wave, you can really go for it and those rails just grip and grip!

I'll be having input into the R&D on the wind and SUP ranges, Competing on the PWA and UK tours, but most importantly, ripping it up in the best conditions more often than ever before!!

see you at the beach!!!

BIG Time Clear out!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 10:39:00 +0000

UPDATED - REDUCED!! - GOING FAST!

Time for a bit of a clear out, the garage is bursting!!!

New boards for £650 off!!! that sort of thing sound good??

Boards / Sails / SUP's / Masts / Booms everything!

I can send anything anywhere, obviously the further you are, the more it'll cost! UK is all sub £20, Europe is a bit more, Russia - Don't bother!!

BOARDS

2011 - JP - Single Thruster 75 FWS - good condition (small nose respray) - reduced £599
2011 - JP - Single Thruster 83 Pro Edition - Excellent cond. - £700
2011 - JP - SUP 9'8" - Gloss Edition (Green) - Excellent cond. - £500
2011 - JP - SUP 10'8" - Gloss Edition (Purple) - Excellent cond. - £500
2012 - JP - X-Cite Ride 134 PRO EDITION - New Boxed - £975 - reduced £945
2012 - JP - Surf SUP 9'3" - Excellent cond. - £600

SAILS

2010 - Gaastra - Manic - 4.0 - vgc - £175
2010 - Gaastra - Manic - 4.5 - good - £170
2010 - Gaastra - Manic - 4.7 - Ave - £155
2011 - Gaastra - Manic - 3.7 - New/Boxed - reduced £255
2011 - Gaastra - Manic - 4.0 - Ex Cond - £229
2011 - Gaastra - Manic - 4.2 - Ave - £150

Booms

2011 - Chinook Carbon 135-185, vgc - £275

Give me a bell 07733267669

or mail me back.. phil@ripandslash.com

cheers

phil

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas and a top new year to you all!!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:49:00 +0000

Yes it is that time of year again, and for once i'm actually at home in the UK for Christmas! amazing and weird at the same time, i wasn't quite sure what to do with myself??

Gotta have a tree!!! Plastic wasn't good enough... off into the woods we go...

Christmas dinner... i made this, mum you should be proud! was delicious too...

So what else is there to do around christmas time, Windsurfing obviously!!!!

I couldn't help myself but on Christmas eve, Christmas day, and boxing day i went windsurfing!! very nice to get back into the swing of it UK style and work up the appetite. Not too cold either, i was hooded and booted but it was bearable, my best Rhosniegr wave 360 ever on Christmas morning was a nice little present.

One thing i have noticed in this part of the world is there's a whole lot less people taking windsurfing pix so sadly i haven't got any from the christmas period for you...

but here's a couple of nice one's from a killer Chile trip a few weeks back to keep the memory alive! Full story coming soon...

Wrapped up, serious phil...

Daley Thompson!

Matanzas small evening session

Voget got a bigger one.

Topocalma - happy days!!

Ciao for now...

phil

Phil's Perspective - Boardseeker Magazine feature

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:04:00 +0000

Phil's Perspective

Phil Horrocks is without a doubt one of the UK’s best wavesailors. If you met him on the land though, you would never know. He is friendly, modest and quiet spoken. He definitely prefers to let his sailing do the talking!

Boardseeker caught up with Phil to ask him some questions that are slightly different from the norm...

When did you start to consider yourself a pro windsurfer?

Never, really. I was just someone who started doing it more and more. Eventually I was windsurﬁng more than working. I’ve never stopped working completely though – I have always done something alongside the windsurﬁng. You have so much down time that it’s a waste if you don’t do something else.

What one piece of advice would you give to the aspiring grommet?

Make the most of the time you have. Don’t expect to get rich from it, but use the time to travel as much as possible and subsidise your lifestyle. If you can, have some sort of plan for later on - it’ll make the transition back to ‘normal life’ easier!

What has been your biggest breakthrough in terms of windsurﬁng?

Having the conﬁdence to really go for things - seeing a big wave and not chickening out! But to really go for it, pushing not only your technical ability but testing the boundaries of fear and overcoming them.

If you were to rate your ability between 1 and 10 where 10 is the best windsurfer in the world, where would you put yourself?

With windsurfing, it’s a hard one - if you go off rankings, I may well be top 15 this year, but in the grand scheme of things a world cup ranking means nothing! There are sailors well below that who are better than me, likewise some above who I believe I’m better than! I like to think that when things are all ticking, I’m sailing at 100% and everything comes off then I’m number 1! Sadly that doesn’t happen all too often.

Who do you think is the best wave-sailor in the world?

Koster in the air for sure! On the waves it’s tougher - probably Kauli’s carving, Brawzi’s wave stunts and I think Traversa for when it’s light and junky,

Do you still get scared when it gets big?

Sure I do! Just the more experienced you get, the deﬁnition of big just changes. Big used to be head high, that went to logo and then before you know it big becomes mast and half!

Do you think it helps you to go for it in bigger waves knowing that you don’t have to foot the bill if you break everything?

Ultimately you do still foot the bill if it goes wrong! A lot of brands give you gear knowing that you sell it at the end of the year and count it as part of your salary. So, every time you bust something you do pay. If it was free and I had unlimited supply then it would help to go for it. You only have to look at how much gear gets trashed in Cabo Verde events to know that! The boys with bags of money and top contracts charge hard and go on the rocks for fun. Some of us have to
take it a bit easier and it shows!

What keeps you trying moves that you can’t do?

It pisses me off if I can’t do something! And I don’t like being pissed off!

How much money do you earn a year?

My windsurﬁng has a zero balance! I spend everything I get from the sport on going windsurﬁng. So, if windsurﬁng doesn’t pay for it I don’t do it. I always keep my other jobs separate - they pay for where I live, the food I eat, and the bills.

Do you have to pay for any of your kit?

The ﬁrst five years or so I was given “cheap” deals. £600+ a board was still a tough pill to swallow. I’ve worked at it hard over the years and right now I don’t have to buy it, which is how it totally should be if you think you’re promoting someone else's product. I’m sure Lewis Hamilton doesn't have to buy his Mercedes!

What is the most valuable thing you own?

My health, my family, my woman.

Do you ever wish you could work in an office?

Nope.

Do you ﬁnd that your lifestyle interferes with personal relationships?

Ha! It places certain strains on relationships - that goes without saying, I’m sure anyone ﬁnds it difficult to be abandoned for months on end while their partners are off living the dream on the other side of the world. It just makes it extra special and worthwhile if you can come out the other side of it with it all in tact.

How many windsurf boards do you have in your possession right now?

I have a few: some older 2010 and 2011 boards. But my favourites are my new 2012s. I probably have 10 in total and 4 wind SUPs - most of which are for sale!

Which is your favourite one right now?

The JP 74 Twinser Quad is the best board out there. I worked on the development of that for a few years and what we ended up with is a great all round board. I’m proud to think there’s a bit of me in there somewhere.

Would you rather be free-sailing or competing?

Free-sailing any day.

How many waves do you think you ride a year?

Over 1000 I would guess - I’ll miss everyone of them when its gone..

What are you going to do when you can’t windsurf in competitions anymore?

Windsurf for fun! Go where I want when I want. I’ll still try to kick peoples’ asses on the water though - the only judges will be those of us out on the water though. How nice!

Tiree 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:37:00 +0000

Tiree wave classic number 25 is all done and dusted for another year, a mixed event for me, it started pretty badly in some difficult conditions, i was the victim of being over weight basically!! well, the truth being that despite being on my 5.7 and 92 litre Quad the wind was still too light to get me going and sufficient jumps to get me through my heat! despite good wave scores. I wasn't the only one with skyeboy also going out in the first round too.

This played havoc with the line up in the double elimination and meant i faced skyeboy in the battle for 5th, he won..

Fortunately there was the prospect of another days sailing and competing to come as we tried out a triple elimination format, basically giving everyone a third go at the ladder. Continuing in difficult conditions with a 5.3 and 5.7 in occassional head high waves i battled my way all the up to 3rd, eventually losing out to event winner proffitt as he took the crown ahead of skyeboy. I had a reasonable heat but just didn't have the power/energy to give the performance i needed on this occassion.

All hangs on cornwall event now, lets hope it blows like last year when i won it in conditions like these!!

Chance of a lifetime?

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:55:00 +0000

Just finished off our Autumn of PWA wave events with a 9th Place! no result in Sylt means i stay at 15th overall in the world so i'm pretty happy with that!

Now i have a couple of UK contests in Tiree and Cornwall and shortly after that i'm off to Chile for a month.

And the best part, you guys now have the opportunity to come too!!

I'm teaming up with top german rider Klaas Voget and we're running a weeks clinic from Matanzas, it really is the opportunity of a lifetime to score some epic waves and improve your windsurfing with our expert help.

Follow http://www.oceansource.net/windsurfing_in_chile.asp to find out more information and book your ticket to windsurfing heaven!!

we'd love to have you along, but be quick... limited spaces are available..

JP_Team_PWA_Klitmoller_2011

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 10:25:00 +0000

JP-Australia Team in action from Denmark, awesome conditions and a good event for me, 9th!

Denmark - Goes Off, Again!!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:59:00 +0000

Congratulations to Robert Sand and the KIA / PLASMA / PWA crew again for sticking on another great event!

1.Koester 2.Campello 3.Fernandez

Nice work to the winners and losers, everyone tried really hard in the incredibly tough conditions as we completed a full double elimination.

pic: PWA/JC

The wind in this part of the world picks up fast! i went out for a practice on my 5.0 about twenty minutes before my heat, by the time the first heat arrived i was out on my 4.2 full power!

Pic: PWA/JC

My first round heat against Baldyga, busting out some stock moves, the o/h backloop a banker for me.

Pic: PWA/JC

Thomas Traversa proved a trickier proposition in the second round, the little frenchy nailing his best wave rides and looking very good for a top finish. I was pushing in the jumping department but his wave riding is exceptional and that carried him through.

Pic: PWA/JC

Suddenly things get a bit more Gnarley!! The next morning we were greeted with 3.7, full power and some nasty looking waves!

Pic: PWA/JC

Early bird catches the worm, i was the first heat of the day for 2 days running, fortunately this turned out to be a good day and it was worth getting up for! I almost threw it away taking a 4.0 in one of the heats thinking it had dropped a bit, only for it to squall and suddenly blow its nuts off! i could barely sail in a straight line, having said that, i managed to pull enough together to advance.

Pic: PWA/JC

Even a 4.0 looks small against some of the nasty looking sets!

Pic: PWA/JC

Back on the 3.7 in the super windy and Gnarly conditions!

My run of heats on this day went pretty good, i finished 9th, my best result of the year, along the way i beat Baldyga, Timo Mullen, Lars Petersen, Martin Ten Hoeve, Peter Volwater, only to be halted by Thomas Traversa again in the double elimination, again he had some exceptional rides and by the time i got to him my best was gone..

A great time though and a big thanks again to my sponsors for letting me compete on the best sails / boards and the cash to get there in the first place!

JP-Australia, Gaastra, The Mailing room, Chinook,

Fingers crossed the wind blows next week as we're heading to Sylt and the final PWA wave event of the year...

Klitmoeller

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 17:05:00 +0000

It's the perfect way to jinx it, but hey, you gotta allow yourself to get a little bit excited!!!

2011 Equipment Sale!!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 13:38:00 +0000

Its that time of year again, i'm having the big autumn clear out..

lots of 2011 JP-Australia boards coming up...

Single Thruster Pro edition 83

Single Thruster FWS edition 75

Twinser Quad Pro edition 74
Xcite Ride Pro Edition 122

Couple of 2010 JP's too...
Twinser 68
Twinser quad 68
Twinser 74

Gaastra Manics
2011- 3.7, 4.0, 4.2, 4.5, 4.7, 5.0, 5.3, 5.7

2010 - 4.0, 4.5, 4.7, 5.0
Gaastra IQ
2011 - 5.7

370 masts
400 masts

Chinook booms and extensions.

Free postage on selected equipment, can arrange courier to Europe too.

contact me:
phil@ripandslash.com

Summer time..

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 19:55:00 +0000

The summer events seemed to come and go in a flash! it was only a couple of weeks ago i was heading to Pozo to prepare and now a month has passed! After Gran Canaria i headed straight to Tenerife, it's quite a nice island and one i've visited a few times before.

The sailing in Tenerife can be much better than in Gran Canaria when it's on, this year we had some reasonable swell and the wind was pretty good too, much lighter than GC but still enough for a 5.3, 5.0 and even 4.7 at times.

The event was quite difficult again as i seem to be drawing tough people at the moment, Dario Ojeda in the Single elimination second round and then up against Jules Denel in the double elimination, i could have sailed a little better but in fairness he's sailing really good right now and had a very good heat.

Still, it was nice to get the contest done and out the way at the beginning of the week as it left the rest of the week open for some holiday time with the missus! Dany Bruch and the event sponsors made sure we were all really well looked after for the rest of the week with plenty of meals out, good parties and a free VIP ticket to the Siam Waterpark!

Fun Cabezo Sailing again!

Go Pro'ing it up!

Since getting home there's been an awful lot of work getting done but i've managed to squeeze in a few days sailing and SUPing around the UK to keep my eye in.

We very nearly scored some epic sailing.....

huge walling lefts.....

Secret Points....

Wind blown tops...

The intrepid explorers!!.....

We've even scored a couple of Rhosniegr days, it's nice to get some practice in even when it's mid summer...

2011 Pozo World Cup, Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 12:51:00 +0000

It's been a while since my last update, things have just been very hectic! after the UK spring events i've been home working and sailing, saving some money and trying to make the most of the wind and waves we've been getting. It's been pretty good sailing up in North Wales and its definitely made me feel more comfortable here in GC now.

Table Forward (pic JC/pwa)

The heats kicked off in some pretty solid conditions, 4.0 full power! with some decent swell too, probably up in the head to logo high department.

I had a tough first heat against local ripper Jose Romero, He's only about 16 but he's flipping good! he beat me last year so it was sweet revenge this time round, i actually sailed a pretty decent heat for once, i think it helps when the conditions are good.

Tweaked Pushy (JC/pwa)

My second heat was much harder, after last years cock ups at events the seeding suddenly gets a lot harder, i was up against Ricardo Campello, again i had a reasonable heat with some good waves, a nice 1handed backloop and this tweaked pushy. I needed a third jump and a small jump was never going to be enough to beat monkey so i had to stick the double forward. I tried two but they weren't as good as Ricardos that's for sure!

Now it's a waiting game as they finish the single elimination and i can start thinking about how i'm going to work my way up through the double elimination and fight back into it!

A good windy few days!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Mon, 30 May 2011 18:31:00 +0000

A top few days of sailing just recently, it's quite nice when the wind gods do decide to blow! I managed to get a bunch of days on the water up the road at Rhosniegr, we had a mix from side shore to onshore and even some starboard tack sailing.

Nice Little one handed backloop above and below, working on my jumps for the Canaries events that aren't too far away now.

Dave came out sailing too, i saw him get some decent jumps and this Taka too

Thorpy made it up, testing out some of his K4 fins, he took all the sailing pix, so i stole some of his website pix and couldn't help stick this one of him on, ripping! unfortunately that wasn't Rhossy!

I Like this sequence below, i had a few really nice waves that day, i get a really good tail slide before bringing it back around and carrying on.

I made a Taka similar to this too, i had the longest reverse slide ever! it seemed to go for ages, i was able to carry it on and control the slide for a good 3 or 4 seconds before moving the rig across a bit and finishing it off, it was pretty sweet, i was laughing at how long the slide was! must have looked funny from the beach.

British Wavesailing Association: Ireland. Round 2: Final Results

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:59:00 +0000

Just on the boat home after the BWA ireland round 2 event. We managed to complete a double elimination again so it's 2 results in 2 contests which is pretty good for us considering the lack of wind there's been leading up to this week!

Pic: Si Crowther - Facebook - Double elimination

The single elimination was tiny in all honesty! and very light, with a sketchy forecast ahead the judges pushed hard in very marginal conditions, as perhaps the heaviest and tallest person in the final it was particularly challenging to make the most of the small wave but i was on my JP 92 Twinser Quad and my Gaastra 5.7 IQ again, i made the best of what i could and was second at the end of it, although i was a bit embarrassed having to bash knee high white water to rack up the points..

The double elimination had somewhat better conditions and was actually pretty good for a time for the early rounds in the double elimination, they had 5.0 side off head high, as the contest progressed the wind swung to side onshore and dropped again, we continued to push as the waves were still well contestable.

I sailed the double elimination final again on my JP 92 Twinser Quad, when it's side onshore and light it's nice to have a board with plenty of volume and still pretty radical for turning. My Gaastra 5.7 IQ is rapidly becoming my new most used sail! it's good to have a sail that's light, powerful and manoeuvrable too.

I caught a few good waves and was getting some nice smacks watching the wave wall up and making the most of the steep sections, unfortunately i think i fell on one of my bigger waves and didn't really bank the wave scores i should. In fairness ben sailed a solid heat and took the win.

So after 2 rounds we're tied on a win each and a 2nd place each, with all to play for going into the last 2 events in the autumn.

British Wavesailing Association: Wales Round 1: Final Results

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:06:00 +0000

Phil Horrocks wins BWA Rhosneigr 2011

A Top event in Rhosneigr, We had some good waves, Chest high, mostly pretty onshore 5.3 and 5.7 but it was quite good fun on the outgoing tide, there were enough waves to make it happen and the judges pushed through a full double elimination. Things went well for me and i came through to take the win which was pretty good considering how difficult it was.
I used my JP 82 and 92 Kauli Twinser Quad for all the heats with either my Gaastra 5.3 manic in the strongest heats or my 5.7 IQ in the lighter ones.
It's nice to have big gear that you can comfortably ride and makes pretty average conditions good fun to sail in.
Results:
1st – Phil Horrocks
2nd – Ben Proffitt
3rd – Andy ‘Bubble’ Chambers
4th – Adam Lewis

BWA Rhosneigr top 3

Maui latest

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 08:13:00 +0000

Aloooooha!!

Hookipa - Flat - Windless - From the East

Arriving on Maui it is hot and sunny!! and there's been a fair bit of wind too, it started with some really good days at Hookipa, we had swell and enough wind for 4.5 most days, the timing was a bit off but it's coming back.

Jimmie Hepp's been on photo patrol...

Roomies for the first part... Cisco and Victor.. Klaas gone by then.

We had a windless patch and i played tennis against Victor, turns out he's not just a champ at windsurfing but pretty damn good on the court too! i lost 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, Plenty of time to train before the canaries now though!

The Wind came back and i got to go test out some new prototype boards from werner.. Very nice :)

Chucking buckets (ok, small bucket!)

The Wheels

Hookipa - Light - Small - From the West

I've moved down to Micah's place for the second part of my stay, he decided to do a bit of gardening, looks like Maui style gardening involves buying fully grown trees, getting a digger and chucking them in the ground! speed gardening! i like it.

Mama's fish house

If the winds a bit iffy i check the Mamas Beach webcam which streams live video from Hookipa so you can see if there's anything going down and worth heading up.

JP Australia photo shoot just kicked off, had some freeriding but waiting for wave conditions to really turn on the next few days.. fingers crossed..

Funsport Crew hit the waves!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 09:16:00 +0000

Whilst i'm in the Knocking videos up mode i made this little effort from our Rhosniegr friends trip in December. ha ha!

Interview and Video

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 07:33:00 +0000

Click here to View Article and Video

I spent a day or so with Alfie Hart making an Interview last week that's just aired on www.boardseeker.com - Click the link above and check the interview and action!!

http://www.boardseekermag.com/features/windsurfers/phil-horrocks.html

A few Special days in Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:23:00 +0000

Boardseeker magazine have just run a nice little feature with my recent South Africa windsurfing video.

check the feature at http://www.boardseekermag.com/features/windsurfing-lifestyle/south-africa-sessions.html

or, just check out the video below:

If the Ad's are annoying just click the buttons to close them!

Enjoy.....

Phil

Cape Cracker!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:20:00 +0000

As a nice little parting session, Scarborough delivered one more days stoke before leaving, bigger and better than all those before..

Now i can't tell you too much about it as it will hopefully be appearing in a Windsurfing publication in your area before too long, but, let's just say that when it's peaking at mast and a half, the water's practically empty and there's only 4 of us out sailing, including the World Champion and two of his his team mates, it's pretty good!! worth a read when it gets printed that's for sure..

The waves were so clean it was incredible, not a ripple in sight.

More than a few hairy sections and lips to take on out there.

The occasional set were lining up wide and you had to really go for it to make the sections, get it right and the aerials were punching, thrusting smacks sending you airborne whether you wanted to or not?

And just when you think things are going really well and you're fully dialled in, they invariably go wrong! This wipe out had some pretty expensive consequences! it wouldn't be the same, sailing scarborough without having some sort of epic tale to tell, a few years ago on a particularly big and windy day it all went a bit wrong and i lost a board!!

A friend of mine spotted this in Amsterdam airport whilst waiting for a plane.

(nice one Jacko!)

Unfortunately the credit card people have caught up with me, the funds have run out and it's time to head back to reality, Cape Town has had an epic season and i'm sure the boys still there will be looking forward to many more weeks sailing, i'll be reminded as i make my winter video over the next few weeks! Sad as it is to leave all that ripping behind i'm glad to be heading home again to hit the UK beaches when the wind switches on and score some more epic sessions like these above whenever possible.

Well, i'd love to stay and chat but i'm afraid it's time to get back down the coal mine and start earning some money before the next trip! well, at least that's what it looks like i've been doing!!

Pix: Nic Bothma, Guava Jelly, The coal man's missus...

ciao..

Windy Windy! - Photo special!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 10:19:00 +0000

There's been stacks of good days lately down here in South Africa, we've had plenty of wind and plenty of waves so its been hard not to have good days!

Some of the stand out sessions have pix below, i'll let the pix do the talking for these....

Cape Point - 74 Quad - 4.2 Manic

there's been some really nice days at the point with the sandbars working nicely, i've scored it small, medium, large and even extra large this year!!

Swartriet - 74 Quad - 4.2 Manic

another windy session up in the north..

Swartriet 74 Quad - 4.2 Manic

I do really like the left up there..

Nice little spot this one when it works, the best days are the lighter ones ;)

74 Quad - 5.0 Manic

ooooh, it's starting to work

74 Quad - 5.0 Manic

Getting better....

74 Quad - 5.0 Manic

working nicely now :)

74 Quad - 5.0 Manic

Now we're talking....

74 Quad - 5.0 Manic

He! He! He! smoking!!!

Unfortunately at this point it starts to get better and better and the camera man's starting to get a bit twitchy to get on the water himself... so you're never gonna see what happened next!

One of the best days of the summer perhaps?.

And today's my Birthday!!! what presents will the wind gods bring me today? i'm thinking a whitsand session is on the cards....

The SA story so far....

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 19:03:00 +0000

A right windy place!!

(swartriet)

The season in SA has kicked off in some style, we've been really lucky and had a lot of days sailing with some good swells too. I think we sailed about 10 days in the last 2 weeks which is pretty good! add to that the fact that i think the biggest size sail i've used so far is a 4.5!

Trips up to Swartriet (shots above) when conditions have been less than ideal back in Cape Town means we've scored pretty much the best sessions possible this year. On this particular occasion i'm riding my 4.2 Manic and my 74 Quad wave which is just incredible..

(Timo Mullen - Swartriet)

Timo made a flying a visit because the forecast has been so good.

(Gaastra team mate - Ross Williams - Cape Point)

Roscoe's made the journey to Cape Town again to come and practice his port tack sailing, he's been following my lead on where's best to be sailing and he certainly seems to be ripping, a nice little air here in front of me at Cape Point.

(Whitsand)

I've had the Go Pro out on one occasion too, we had a jumping session at Whitsand and this is me mid forward loop.

In general i have to say in terms of people it's a pretty quiet season on the beaches, maybe the economic situation is having an affect on tourism out here? i suspect not that much, and after new year all the italians will arrive and the place will feel busy again

As if i needed a reminder of what i'm missing out on and the fact that i really need to make the most of the days i get here, i was sent these reminders!

(my car, as viewed from my bedroom window! the sea is just beyond that far line of trees supposedly!)

(Llanfairfechan beach covered in snow!)

Winter Begins!

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:10:00 +0000

Sure enough the first sight of snowfall and i'm outta here!! Actually i was quite gutted that i was missing the snow, it's been a few years since i've been out of it, driving to the airport there was a good 6 inches in places and it looked really nice!

However, it's not all bad! i've just now arrived in South africa, a shorter trip this year but i'm certainly going to try and get the most out of it, i'm hoping that shortening the duration will focus the attention and i can actually squeeze more into less time? i hope it works like that!

Once again we've got the palace, overlooking Table Bay so we have a birds eye view on what's happening. If there's anyone who wants to come down to Cape Town this winter and needs a place to stay, with some expert advice on where to go and what to do, then give us a shout! We've got a couple of spare rooms available until middle December and then again in January, so if you fancy a winter windsurfing or kiting break in the sunshine, drop me a mail..

War in Cabo Verde

noreply@blogger.com (Phil) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 12:55:00 +0000

Well, not a real war obviously!

It's more that there's a daily war of attrition going on between the people and the elements.

In previous years we’ve always been blessed with some waves and some wind at Ponta Preta, it’s not always been all time, but often very do-able. Even then it’s always been a battle between you, the wind, the waves and often the rocks!

I think this year is harder than ever though? Curral Joual up on the north side of the island has been the battle ground this yearn so far with the best chance of conditions. The wind has been on and off, the swell too, the launch is really gnarnly, full of sea urchin covered slippery jagged rocks, the only saving grace is i’m in heat 15 is i haven’t had to negotiate it yet!

The one constant is the sunshine, it’s been roasting every day, caked in sunscreen with all the dirt flying around it’s a pretty mucky affair too. My tactic so far is to try and stay out of the sun, save the energy and drink lots of water, its about all you can do? Typically we’ve been out and about the beach around 9 every day until 6 ish and it just drains you.

Today looks like a day where there really is nothing happening, so a day of rest most likely.

Tomorrow things should improve as there’s a chance we could be at Ponta Preta if there’s enough NW in the swell, otherwise it’s back to the north for some more punishment!

It would be nice to get some more of this again?