SWA Puravida wave series: 2 – Plym/Exe, and some more Cornish road tripping

It seemed like a very very long time since my last SWA event, only last December, but a lot had happened since then, a windy wavy Christmas, some exams, and now back to uni.

Plymouth and Exeter uni’s joined forces this year to run the second event of the SWA Puravida Wave Series, with some beginner tuition also on offer at Siblyback Lake. On Saturday, half went to the lake, whilst I joined the others at The Bluff, Hayle, where the weekend’s wave competitions would be held. Conditions were pretty light and flat, and after an equipment talk from Jim Brooks-Dowsett, Ian Ross, and others, Sam Ross made the call for a wind-SUP contest in the gradually improving waves. Equipped with some Starboard SUP boards and 5.2 Tushy Edges, we got into our wetsuits and hit the water despite the knee high waves and force 2-3 wind. Initially, the waves were a little messy and small, but as the tide came in, conditions improved and got really fun. It was all about being patient and sailing out to wait for the biggest waves, because between the sets it was just choppy. After some nose dives, crashes in the shore dump, and some spinny backside, back-winded wave-riding and light wind freestyle, I made it through to the final with Tom Firth and Jo Wright. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite find the waves I was looking for, and finished 2^nd behind Tom who got some solid waves. The Women’s final was won by Rachael Ince, who got the wave of the day.

WindSUP freestyle in the Lagoon. Photo by Sam Ross

After the long drive back to Plymouth and a lot of Pizza, fancy dress was constructed in accordance to the ‘Double Acts’ theme, and we went to the Student Union for a night that is beyond the scope of a windsurfing blog!

It was up bright and early on Sunday to make the most of the promising strong North Westerly forecast.. Unfortunately, when we arrived, the wind was light and onshore and the waves small. We rigged up anyway, and by 12, the wind had built to some nice 5.0-5.3 weather and competition got underway. The waves built as the tide pushed up the beach, and although the wind was gusty, it was pretty solid 5.0 weather for me. Unfortunately, the wind dropped at the start of my heat, and I spent half of it underpowered, downwind, and struggling to make any jumps, I should have just run in and let some outhaul off, but was pretty powered up before the heat, so thought the wind would return pretty quickly. The wind did pick up in the end, and I got a couple of nice backside waverides, a jump, and a backloop attempt. The wind was really onshore, and finding a good ramp was actually quite hard, as was any frontside waveriding. My performance wasn't quite enough to get me through to the next round, and I finished 3rd in the 5 man first round heat, giving me a joint 9th position in the event. Combined with the same result at Portsmouth, I am currently joint 6th in the SWA Puravida wave series. Hopefully the next event hosted by Cardiff will also deliver some good conditions and I can make it through some more rounds! I still had a great time, and spent the rest of the day freesailing, the wind picked up and I was pretty stacked on 5.0 some of the time, so changed down to 4.2 - perhaps a little too small for the gusty conditions, but it gave me some more confidence to try some loops - still yet to land one though!

Well done to the finalists:

1. Ben Page (Southampton)

2. Jony Price (Cardiff)

3. Mike Ellis (Southampton)

4. Will Jones (Cardiff)

and to Jo Wright for winning the womens competition. Full results at http://www.studentwindsurfing.co.uk/.
Thanks to all the people from Plymouth and Exeter for organising the event, Jim from Puravida for sponsoring and helping to run the event, judges Sarah Bibby, Stef Hilder, and Ian Ross, and to Sam Ross and Luke Green from Tushingham for providing the kit for the wind SUP contest.

Photo by Will Jones

Two weeks earlier, exams had just finished, and I hadn't got much work to do, so with a massive forecast for Cornwall, I hit the road with Chris Guest and Jan Zaucha from Bristol. We had an awesome session on Sunday at Daymer, starting with some choppy bump and jump, then some nice cross on port tack conditions. I was expecting some nice down the line riding on the other side of the river, but timed it a bit wrong, and spent most of the time practicing my cross on riding and jumping, which was good fun, pretty powered up on 4.2 most of the day, and tried my first backloops - such an amazing feeling to get the rotation on those! When I decided to head to the other side a bit later, I arrived just as a massive, massive squall hit. I don't know exactly how windy it was, but I could barely sail or even waterstart with my 4.2, I was so overpowered. Luckily I survived, and mustered the energy to head out again, although by then, the wind was far to light for my 4.2!

After heading to the pub in Padstow, and a lot of sleep in Falmouth, we decided on trying Gwithian or Hayle, since the wind hadn't picked up to the forecasted 50 knots yet! By the time we got there, it was low tide, and the big swell was looking pretty heavy, preferring not to break our kit in the cross offshore wind, we decided on a quick bump and jump session at Exmouth on the way back to Bristol rather than waiting for the tide to come in and the waves to get less heavy (but bigger), and the wind to pick up to 50 knots!

This weekend, I'm heading home to try out my new Raceboard kit from Tushingham and Starboard, and collect my new stash of Overboard waterproof bags and cases. Keep an eye out for some photos and a press release in the near future.

Christmas Holidays in Cornwall

To be honest I was ready to come home for a break, Uni was hard work this time! To be fair, I hadn't been giving myself much space to relax with all the SWA events and stuff. I've had to crack on with some revision for the exams, but the Christmas period coincided pretty well with a lot of wind and waves, so I took the general timetable of revise all morning and windsurf all afternoon! Had some nice wave sessions at Daymer, and some flat water/bump and jump at Torpoint. It was almost too windy most of the time for Raceboard (or at least that's what I told myself as I packed my waveboard into the car for the nth day in a row), but I've had some good training sessions, new years day was perfect NW'ly 4-5 at Siblyback with friends - Paul Wright made a short video of it:

It seems that after a couple of months break, I can still hang onto my 9.5, and feel fairly fast, just need to keep up the board-handling skills and stay fit really. I'm pretty exited to announce that Tushingham will be supporting me this upcoming season, and can't wait for my new rig and Starboard Phantom 377 to arrive. Unfortunately it's back to Uni for exams this week, but hopefully I can come home for a weekend and start getting the new kit tuned up for 2013, stay tuned for my first impressions of how the kit compares to my current Starboard/Tushingham setup. In the mean time, why not check out what the manufacturers say about it here:
http://www.star-board.com/2013/products2/boards/index.php?id=phantom-377
http://www.tushingham.com/windsurfing/sails/xr-race

SWA Liverpool and Pompey wave

After experiencing the epicness of last years SWA Liverpool event, there was no way I was going to miss it this year, even with an interview in St Andrews the same week!

It was worth it, and despite a small turnout from Bristol, I had an incredible weekend, we even had some wind on Sunday morning! Saturday saw light winds - suiting the beginners, who I spent the day instructing. After Saturday night, I was surprised so many people made it to Crosby lake by 9am to make the most of the insane wind that was set to drop throughout the day. It was proper windy, and after battling it out on a wide 120 board, the wind dropped and Boardwise turned up with some freestyle kit. The competition got under way  and I gave my best shot in my first ever freestyle competition in Planing conditions. I didn't exactly make any big moves, but made plenty of 360's and tried what was supposed to be a forward loop. Anyway, 6th place, not last so all good.

The individual racing looked like it would go the usual way as I convincingly won my heat, but a poor start in the final put me down to 4th in the end. With only two of us from Bristol, Jan and I hijacked Pete from UWE for the team racing, and we managed 4th I think.

Photos by Mark Whitfield

A big thanks to Boardwise for providing loads of demo kit including the RRD Fireraces for the racing, and a Tushingham Rock 4.5 and JP Freestyle 98 which I used in the Freestyle. Also thanks to all the Crosby and all the guys from Liverpool who made it happen.

This weekend was the first of the SWA wave trilogy, hosted by Portsmouth Uni. Blue skies and sunshine coupled with a mirror sea saw a bit of golf on Saturday, but the wind arrived on Sunday, and despite the tiny waves, competition got under way early that morning. The wind was a little gusty, but I had plenty of power in the gusts with my 5.0. With the waves so small, the judges were scoring 1 ride and 1 jump, but most of the emphasis would be on jumps - not my forte on Starboard tack! I landed some tail kick jumps and crashed a forward, which got me 3rd in the heat - not enough to advance, but enough to get me joint 9th in the event. I spent the rest of the day free-sailing and had a great time! Thanks to Puravida for sponsoring the wave series, and Fanatic/North for providing some demo kit - I spent most of the day on a 2013 Fanatic Quad 81 - awesome board!

So far in the SWA series, I'm leading the Racing by 0.5 points after two events, 4th in the Freestyle after 3 events, joint 9th in wave after 1 event, and I think I'm leading the overall ranking by 0.5 points.

I've got a 12 month Industrial placement in St Andrews starting in July, a very long way away, bit cold during the winter, but it's not going to put me off competing in the UKWA this summer. Keep an eye out for my plans for next season.

Looks like the xmas holidays have timed themselves for a week of warmish weather and strong south-westerlies in Cornwall - revision could be interesting!

BrUWE Wet Dreams IV

Through the winter, the racing season takes a back seat, and I go to University and study. However, there is some relief: the SWA series!

Last weekend, it was the turn of Bristol and UWE (BrUWE) windsurfing clubs to host 200 student windsurfers from around the country, for an amazing weekend.

Picture by Will Jones

A huge amount of organisation went into the event, and it payed off big time! There was instruction for all the beginners (who are now not quite beginners after Aussie Kiss), who could also get there RYA Start windsurfing certificate for no extra cost, as well as freestyle and racing for all levels. (oh, and two mental parties...).

There was very little wind, I got planing for a few seconds on Saturday with a lot of pumping, a 7.8 Tushingham Lightning, and an RRD Firerace 120, however, that didn't stop the action! The light-wind freestyle competition was good fun, I didn't quite reach the same level as I did at AK, possibly a bit too underpowered. However, Ollie Acton, and Chubsie from Solent had all the moves, and took 1st and 2nd with Dan Lytton from Exeter in 3rd.

Unfortunately Chris Guest was unable to join me in the Team racing, but Bristol managed 5th I think.

I won the Advanced racing, shame it wasn't windy, as last year saw some exciting planing slalom, anyway, can't complain!

A huge thanks to all the SWA sponsors, and all the Bristol and UWE committee who made the event happen.

Busy times for me now, with Industrial Placement interviews, but next stop is Liverpool for their core event: Northern Monkey 2 + 2 = 5. See you there!

Aussie Kiss!

It's that time of year when UKWA competitions make way for SWA madness!
Aussie Kiss is the Student Windsurfing Association's big festival which happens every October at Roadford Lake in Devon. This year I was instructing on the Saturday, and competing on Sunday. Unfortunately a run of bad luck in the Team racing final resulted in a poor result for Bristol, who are last years SWA Champions. The wind was onshore, making the beach start difficult with 8 people in a line, the positioning of the mark relative to the pontoon meant that I (who started downwind of everyone) had to complete two tacks to make it rather than one, and my fin got stuck on the beach, then the boom slipped... oh well!

The lightwind freestyle was awesome fun, and I got 3rd place! I sailed well thought out heats, stayed focused, and had awesome fun to make it to the final.

Photo by Supersaturated

A big thanks to Roadford lake for putting up with 500 odd students turning the place into more of a mud-bath than usual, the SWA committee for organising an amazing event, and all the SWA sponsors for making it possible, and providing nice shiny demo kit!

Three Raceboard wins in a row, and some Slalom fun.

Haven't updated for a while, but since then I've competed in two events.

The first was BSA Slalom 6 at Christchurch. Saturday saw ok wind, but it was very offshore and consequently too uneven to run any races, with lulls below planing. Never mind, plenty of wind on Sunday! I don't have any slalom (or freeride, or anything between 5.0 and 8.4 sails or boards between 85 and 295 liters!) so Nik Baker kindly lent me some 2013 demo kit from Fanatic and North, I was pretty powered up on the new RamF13 7.0, paired up with a 120 Gekko (wider than you'd think with that volume) which was very interesting in the bumpy water! Anyway, my starts seemed OK, and my gybing consistent, so dispite getting more and more out of control as the day went on and the wind picked up (untill the last race when I managed to trade the Gekko in for a 111 hawk), I managed to string together a fair few 3rd places. Not quite enough for the podium though! I got 4th, but it was super fun. Would love to see what I could do if I had some slalom gear of my own! The Results still aren't on the Website! Thanks to Nik Baker for the kit (and for not even expressing any annoyance at the broken boom!).

Picture by Dave White

6-7 October was the RYA Youth and Masters, and Stena Line Cup 6 at my favourite racing venue of all time - Portland Harbour! The wind was easterly (or there about  all weekend, with some nice light wind planing conditions on Saturday and Sunday morning dropping to marginal/non planing later in the day. 6 races were completed for Raceboards, and I had my most successful event ever, recording results: 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1! I am getting more and more in tune with my Starboard Phantom 380, and seemed to find some fantastic speed and a high angle upwind, which coupled with some solid starting and some good board on fleet positioning, usually saw me arrive to the windward mark first. Even when I had a bad start (which happened once), I managed to pull back some places and and arrive to windward in the top three. Downwind, my light weight and my fat board was the perfect combo to get planing, point deep, and stay planing (with a lot of pumping), I still think I could be faster downwind off the plane though - a bit of fitness work called for I think! Anyway, congratulations to Mark Kay for his second place - he has been pushing me every step of the way the last two events, and to Tom Naylor for his 3rd place - always up in the top 5, regardless of the winds strength. Thanks to all the event organisers and sponsors Stena Line. Hopefully I can make it to some more events next year!

1. Louis Morris, (Tushingham XR Race, Starboard Phantom 380)
2. Mark Kay, (Demon VG7, Starboard Phantom 377)
3. Tom Naylor, (Tushingham XR Race, Starboard Phantom 380)

Full Results here: http://results.ukwindsurfing.com/2012/StenaLineCup6_Youth-Masters.html

Stena Line Cup 4

Last weekend was Stena Line Cup 4 at Christchurch, and I won! That makes it two events in a row!
A big thanks to event sponsors Stena Line, and also to all the UKWA team that make it possible.

It was an awesome weekend racing in the Raceboard Fleet. Saturday morning was overcast, with light westerlies giving gusty and shifty conditions. I had a great start in Race 1, but dropped to 4th on the second beat in the unpredictable conditions. With the wind becoming increasingly unstable the race committee postponed until after lunch.

After lunch, the sun appeared, and we were greeted by a consistent cross onshore wind of 9-11 knots SW, which built to 12-14 knots during the afternoon, my favourite conditions! Comfortably planing, but not too overpowered for 9.5. We managed to complete 4 more races, I continued to have good starts, surprising myself with my acceleration off the line, and won race 2 and 5, with a second place behind Mark Kay in race 4. I was leading Race 3 until I over-stood the mark on the last downwind, allowing Mark Kay and Marc Carney to overtake. I felt like I had really good speed upwind, and pumped hard downwind to point deeper than anyone else, but Marc Carney was flying upwind on his Mega Cat, and I felt I lacked a bit of straight line speed from Mark Kay.

I started on Sunday in 2nd place, trailing Mark Kay by only 1 point. With overcast conditions, and drizzle, the wind was not able to increase to the strength we had yesterday, but there was enough wind for close racing, and more wind than on Saturday morning. I won the first race, I was just on the edge of planing downwind, so pumped hard all the way to stay planing and put a sizeable margin between myself and Mark. This put me on tied points with Mark Kay. The wind dropped below the planing threshold, and it was neck and neck until I squeaked past Mark after he misread the number of laps. Mark needed to finish two places ahead of me in the last race to win outright and looked comfortable after my shocking port tack start due to the strong tide flowing up the course. I managed to claw back a 2nd place in the race to take the event win.

Results:
1 - Louis Morris 8 points (Tushingham XR 9.5, Phantom 380)
2 - Mark Kay 9 points (Demon VG7, Phantom 377)
3 - Tom Naylor 21 points (Tushingham XR 9.5, Phantom 380)
Full Results
Official Event Video: