Children on Speed /Adults in Need windsurf!!!

Children in Need windsurf aka Adults in Need - Friday 17 November

I must have been nuts - that is all I can say to describe my down-wind run from Selsey to Brighton on a day of severe gales when most people opted not to go in the water!!

I launched at high tide mid-morning and 4 hours later landed in Brighton to the BBC and copious amounts of hot chocolate!

This was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done - I was on my smallest wave kit, racing down the coast on a broad reach with winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour behind me. The swell was huge and waves breaking mast high offshore... again - nuts!!

But the important thing is I made it, in about 4 hours and without any injuries or kit breakage! Amazing considering! Plus raising about 7k for charity and getting to mingle with some very funny wannabee pop idols at the BBC gala bash in the evening.

The picture is me and my boss (law firm Thomas Eggar) taken the week before at Brighton beach - and p.s. he only managed half the distance - ha ha girl power!!!

El Tur

Out in El Tur...

I have been back in the country for a couple of days after spending a very hot and light-wind week in El Tur, Egypt. I arrived on 29 October just after the clocks had gone back to ensure lots of windsurfing in hot climes and I was not disappointed! The water was particular warmer than I thought and I spent the week training my moves in just my bikini - a bit of a contrast from England!!

The wind was light for the majority of the week but nonetheless I honed my vulcans and also started pulling off gheko-flakas amongst other moves! Surprisingly this is probably the most progress I have made in one week, but with little else to do in El Tur apart from windsurf I am not surprised!

I have attached some pics from the second to last day of light-wind action taken by my good friend James "the Murkin" Siddalls.

Hope you are all enjoying the winter swells and am looking forward to some good forecasts like me!

PWA Gran Canaria, Pozo

Competing at Pozo

Everything that say about Pozo is absolutely right - this place is very windy!! I was here for 2 and a half weeks competing in the PWA Gran Canaria Grand Slam and throughout the whole time my kit was a 3.3 Neil Pryde Zone matched with a 69l JP Radical Wave - and this never changed!

Luckily I was there a few days early to get used to port tack sailing and also to work on my maneouvres for the competition - i.e., big loops! And all in all the pre-event training went well. I often found that I had to sail in "power hours" here because it really does take a lot of energy holding onto a sail in 60 plus knots of wind!

As for the event I sailed ok in the conditions but was a little frustrated in often not finding nice waves to rack my scores up. Still I had some good heats and ended 17 out of the 25 entrants, although I was hoping to do better!!

The only negative side to the trip was a few days towards the end my board was stolen from the hostel I was staying at which p*ssed me off a lot - so if you are going to Pozo be very careful of your kit!

And finally thank you so much for Tony for your support, I am not sure how I would have financed these world events without your help!!

I'm back in Hove for the summer working and training until the next UKWA events in September and of course the final leg of the PWA wave tour in Syllt, Germany...

My First PWA Competition!

I just returned from Guincho where I competed in the 2006 Guincho World Wave Competition and it truly was an experience! The event started on Tuesday 6 June and unfortunately for the first 5 days the forecast was accurate - no wind! However there was a decent size swell every day which gave for some great surfing and enabled me to practice some maneouvres! Typically my routine involved waking up at a relatively reasonable hour, having breakfast and then grabbing my board and going surfing for a few hours. I think surfing definitely improves your wave sailing and I made sure to make the most of the conditions there!

As all hope was about to be lost on the last day, the wind filled in mid-morning and the judges took the decision to run a single elimination ladder, starting with the guys. I was drawn up against Karin Jaggi (no 2 rank) and so considered that I would have to windsurf pretty well to make an impression!

The conditions were relatively challenging with strong onshore winds, punchy logo high waves and a formidable shorebreak! I did however get out there and gave my all but unfortunately not enough to beat karin.

I'm now back in Brighton doing some non-windsurf training whilst the wind is absent and preparing for the next PWA wave comp in Pozo, Gran Canaria starting on 7 July.

See you all soon!

Lucy
K195

Aloha from Maui!

Aloha!

Hi everyone! I am currently writing this from Maui where I am out training for 5 weeks before taking part in the annual JP photoshoot. Since arriving last week conditions have been fantastic with constant strong winds and big swells. The most memorable sessions so far have to have been sailing at Hookipa where I am constantly pushing myself at this challenging break with classic big down the line wave riding. Other than wave riding at Hookipa I have also been windsurfing at Sprecks (which is great for jumping) and freestyle at Kanaha and Kihei. This place rocks! Plus the temperatures here are definitely preferable to the UK!

I hope that you are all enjoying lots of windsurfing back home. A big thank you to Tony for the great boardies - everyone is commenting on them out here!

Bye for now, Lucy.

Windsurfing in Cape Town, South Africa

Bluecrush News

I've just got back from spending 5 weeks training in Cape Town, South Africa and I have to say that I had the most amazing time! I can't think of anywhere better to train over the winter months. This place has conditions for both waves and freestyle and it is windy every day! My usual routine would be freestyle training at Milnerton lake in the morning whilst the wind was building and then heading to one of the beaches, Melkboss, Big Bay or Sunset Beach for an afternoon and then evening session wave sailing on my kit of a 3.5 Neil Pryde Combat and a 69 litre JP Radical Wave! I really think that this trip enabled me to improve and I am looking forward to starting the competition season! My first event looks set to be Gwithian Freewave in Cornwall at Easter so I hope to see lots of spectators there!

Wave sailing in Fuerteventura

I love the Canaries!

Well just to keep you all updated with my winter training, after Margarita I took a pit stop home and then headed out to Fuerteventura for some wave action! I was there for 3 weeks and managed to make the most of a lot of time surfing and wave riding. Most days the surf was clean, shoulder to head high with a few bigger exceptions. I spent the majority of the trip at the reef breaks on the north track which attracts the best of the swell. This was all going well until on a wipe out whilst surfing ended with the nose of my board connecting with my shin requiring a few stitches!! Just typical..... but the stitches are out now and all looks fine!

Since I have been back in the UK over Christmas and New Year I have been windsurfing locally and trying to re-aclimitise to how cold this country gets in the winter!! Still I've done some good freestyle practise and now looking forward to a training trip in South Africa in a couple of weeks time where I shall be keeping Bluecrush updated with my progress and stories!

The pic is actually one of me doing some freestyle at a secret spot!