Check out the shots on our Instagram account here (or click the pic below). Boards will have more images on Instragram before, throughout and after the events so stay tuned!

Sailing images courtesy of Duncan Dumbreck.

Sarah-Quita and friends

1. Do you know SQ’s middle name? We didn’t think so.
2. The Gallery is full of amazing and  funny shots of SQ, on and off the water, including some old school gems like the one above.
3. We all know SQ has won a few titles, but checking out her full list of achievements will leave you awestruck…
4. And yup, of course there’s a blog. SQ shares some awesome stories, looking back at titles, events and trips, plus her views on becoming a lady; and we’re sure there’s much more to come in the near future.
5. Final reason to head over? It looks very cool. Easy to navigate, simple lay out, but looks fab. Bright colours and lots of energy, just like the lady herself.

Head on over here. 

Ben Proffitt competing in Rhosneigr in 2012. Image credit BWA/Dave White.

*Boards will be your port of call for all the latest event news during every BWA competition. We will have a live ticker giving you the run down of every heat, plus live images, the inside scoop from the riders and much more!

Funsport, Rhosneigr is located here…

View Larger Map

What conditions can we expect?
Everything from glass flat to 4m swell.

Top names that can regularly be seen on the water and hanging around the beach?
Phil Horrocks, Ben Proffitt.

Who can come over to the centre and what can they do on the water?
Man or woman, girl or boy; we suit most ages. Almost any watersport.

And off the water?
We have the shop and now a Café.
A huge selection of summer clothing has just turned up, so the fashion side of the shop is looking ready for the season.
We have stock of most watersports equipment in the shop from windsurfing and kitesurfing, to surfing and wakeboarding, plus wetsuits to suit almost anyone.
We offer rental on windsurfing kit from beginner to advanced, SUPs, surfboards, bodyboards, skimboards and wetsuits.
The Surf Café is also a recent addition, so when your not on the water we can offer you lovely coffee, a delicious lunch or filling breakfast.

What have you changed ready for 2013?
Over the past couple of years we have been building an extension to the rear of the shop, which now holds all our fashion side of things. Above that is the new Surf Café. And in the original shop we now hold all of the hardware and wetsuits.

You always host the Rhosneigr leg of the BWA, what are you looking forward to with the competition this year?
As always it is really good having such a great number of windsurfers around and seeing some of the top ranked sailors in the world in Rhosneigr. We are also looking forward to showing everyone the new Shop and Café as it is such a different place since last year.

What can competitors expect?
We would like to say 3m swell and a 25 knot South Westerly coming in, so we’ve got all our fingers and toes crossed at the moment. Hopefully it will be a fun and relaxed environment for all the competitors to enjoy.

Last year Phil Horrocks was triumphant in Rhosneigr, will he be again in 2013?

Why would you encourage a first time competitor to come along? Or if someone’s not competing but wants to soak up the atmosphere and then take part in other activities what can they do?
Rhosneigr is not only a great spot for the keen wave sailor but also is great for people that are just getting into waves. The waves in the bay are quite a soft wave generated by the wind so you can make mistakes, if anything was to happen you just drift into the beach to the right of the bay. Also all the competitors are very helpful and everyone that is there have had to enter for the first time so they know how it is and everyone is really friendly. If you are just wanting to visit then not only is it great to see but just a great beach to visit. The shop will still be open for business so rentals are still available etc.

It’s a great spectacle too, what can someone who’s just coming along to watch get from the weekend and why is it a great idea to attend?
It is not often that we have such a huge amount of windsurfers in Rhosneigr so if the conditions are on then it can be something really special to see. It’s a fairly rare event so its definitely worth taking a day out and coming over to Rhosneigr

Liam Ellis.

Who is always great to watch at the Rhosneigr competition? Stand out local sailor?Phil (Horrocks) and Ben (Proffitt) are great to watch in the competition as they are our locals so both want to win here! Steve Laddiman and Liam Ellis are some of the stand out sailors in Rhosneigr at the moment, showing some great skills this year.

You can find out more about Funsport here.

Boards will, as always, be right in the thick of the action at BWA Rhosneigr and Ireland, providing you all with the latest info on every heat as it happens, plus more from all the competitors.

BSA Weymouth results BSA Weymouth results

Name: Ross Williams

Sail No:  GBR 83

Where did you finish?  1st

What kit did you use for most of the weekend?  8.6m Gaastra Vapor and Tabou Manta 81

How were the conditions and how did your equipment work in them? Condition were very changeable but my gear felt great, really easy to hold down in the strong wind as well as having power for the lighter patches.

Best start…. I think I saw Kev have a great start at the pin mark.

Best gybe… not sure, I didnt look behind me. I had a good one to over take Kurosh at the first mark!!!! Maybe that’s worth a mention?

Best over take…. Sam Latham over taking Simon Petitifer

Worst crash…. I think it was simon cofield smashing into Kurosh’s deck and leaving a nice whole!!!

Best victory celebration….. Everyone was very level headed

Worst behaviour on saturday night... All of us for not going out a partying the night away!!!!
All images credit Dave White.

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Name: Kurosh Kiani

Sail No: D13

Where did you finish? 2nd

What kit did you use for most of the weekend? I only used my Simmer SCR 8.6 throughout the whole event. I was using my Fanatic Falcon 132 until it got damaged in the second race and had to race my medium board until I got it repaired and was then back on it again.

How were the conditions and how did your equipment work in them? Flat water and gusty wind (I think the wind wasn’t in its usual direction). The gear was working great in these conditions. I´m really liking my 8.6/132 combo. It has a huge range so you don’t have to mess around too much on changing.

Best start….Kevin Greenslade. He got several of the starts spot on and rolled the rest of us who were seconds late. Nice work !

Best gybe…Ross did a great PWA style gybe on top of Kev which came out in his favor. It was definitely entertaining to watch!

Best over take….Must have been myself overtaking Sam Latham and Simon Pettifer from behind as they were doing some sort of upwind battle while the gybe buoy was way downwind. Had to chuckle a bit for that one.

Worst crash….I´m not sure who it was,, but someone came in at full speed and hit the bottom just in front of the slipway. That one must have hurt in every sense haha.

Best victory celebration…..I saw Sam Latham claiming couple of his battle victories when crossing the line ahead of the competition.

Worst behaviour on saturday night…Hmm, I´m not sure if this is the usual UK standard, but the worst behavior must have been us discussing whether we should have a look down at the pub or not. I guess that one could have gone both ways.

Words from event host, Tris Best: 

“The forecast at the beginning of the week for this event looked ominous, but true to form Weymouth produced the goods yet again! There were some notable omissions from the entry list – Ant Baker being the obvious one (wishing his son a speedy recovery), but with the addition of a couple of PWA stars the standard of sailing in the pro fleet visibly upped the anti for the other fleets as well. 32 entries in the amateur fleet was a great turn-out … and even the people on the tasters we provided throughout the weekend were noticeably inspired! Thanks to Bob and the UKWA team for running such a good event once again.”

This clinic runs from Nov 10th to the15th and is part of the Four Seasons Unforgettable Event Series on Maui. This unique opportunity is for anyone who has ever wanted a safe and fun introduction to water sports while staying at a five star hotel in Hawaii.

For more details email shawnacropas@gmail.com

Or check out our last March Four Seasons Aloha Clinic event: http://www.shawnacropas.com/four-seasons-unforgettable-event-series/

For booking please check out: http://www.shawnacropas.com/alohawindsurfingclinics/fourseasons/

We caught up with Stef Hilder for a few words about Gwithian going off -

“The morning saw small but fun conditions with 40-50 windsurfers on the water, a clear sign that everybody had been dying to get out after such a cold winter! After sailing for 3-4 hours I was pretty worn out and hadn’t had the best session. We then noticed more and more sets coming through and knowing it would be good as the tide pushed in we snuck off to mexicos where it was side offshore and getting bigger by the minute.

I wobbled out on my 78l and 4.2 Icon which was perfect on the wave if a little light when negotiating big close out sets!
3 of us then had the perfect hours evening sessions with lots of sets and no-one else around! Quite a few guys stayed out at Gwithian so I am sure more pics will appear from their session where there must have been a few monster sets!”

Stef is supported by:
| Puravidaboardriders | Simmer Style | O’Shea Surf
| No Limitz Masts | K4 Fins | Crossfit Plymouth

The pictures are starting to hit the web and we’ve got just a handful for you now but check back later, on this news post, for further updates.

Phil Horrocks in Rhosneiger

Phil Horrocks tweaking it!

]]> http://boards.mpora.com/news/spring-is-in-town.html/feed 0 http://boards.mpora.com/news/thomas-traversa-tearing-up-tenerife.html http://boards.mpora.com/news/thomas-traversa-tearing-up-tenerife.html#comments Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:59:38 +0000 editor http://boards.mpora.com/?p=49739 Alex Mussolini is another one to set his feet on Tenerife this winter. Proving to be one of the ultimate European training grounds, Musso shows his form in this epic video by Bartek Jankowski. The moves are big and after some decent results on the PWA last year he no doubt has his mind set on one goal…

Words from Bartek Jankowski

“Playa de El Cabezo in Tenerife is not the only place where you can windsurf! Playa de Las Americas is the largest touristic resort in Tenerife, and one of the most popular party destinations in the Canary Islands. It is a famous surfing spot with north west swells hitting the coast almost every day.
Once in a while the north west wind creates a good windsurfing conditions, while in the same time in El Medano there is no wind at all. In this short video Alex Mussolini (3rd in PWA last year) proves that he is an universal sailor and that he has the same smooth style in this difficult starboard tack side-onshore conditions.
Camera & edit: Bartek Jankowski (bj-productions.com)”

Well we won’t babble on too much as the pictures and video show exactly what there is to like but for those wishing a week or two in the sun then jump on a flight from Heathrow and head towards the ABC islands. A tropical paradise with flat crystal clear waters, perfect for freeriding, freestyling and tweaking those carve gybes whilst wrapped from knee to waist in just boardshorts. Remember that feeling?

To give you more of a feel here is a short gallery from the recent Aruba Extreme Games that took place plus images that include our French friends from across the pond – Nicolas Akgazciyan and Adrien Bosson. Below that you will find a video from Nico showing the island and some of the lifestyle along the way.

Nico in action

The Boards ‘Hidden Talents’ series catches up with some of the most talented young British windsurfers around, in this installment it’s time to find out more from freestyler Ben Lee.

Ben Lee

Name: Ben Lee

Age: 24

From: Peterborough

Years Windsurfing: 10

Favourite Discipline: Freestyle

Local Spot: Rutland and Grafham (inland) and Hunstanton for coastal sessions, soon to change to the south coast though.

Occupation: Recruitment Consultant for Marine Resources

Sponsors: Gaastra, Tabou, O’Shea Clothing, Studio Husky, Hytner Exhibitions

How did you get into windsurfing?

When I was about 14 I went on holiday with my parents to Greece and they suggested that I give windsurfing a go as I had been sailing for many years. I gave it ago and have been hooked ever since; I came back to the UK and my Dad kindly bought me some kit and it carried on from there.

Ben Lee

What do your friends think of windsurfing?

HAHA that is a very good question! A lot of my friends now are windsurfers, but a few that I used to go to school with don’t realise what you can do with the sport and how many different disciplines to the sport there are. They see me as just blasting around and falling in a lot, instead I blast around try and do some tricks… then fall in a lot.

What is your experience of competitions so far?

I have done a few of the UK competitions, I also took part in the EFPT events last year in France and the UK.

And your future aims for competition?

I hope to take part in all the EFPT and UK events this year and improve my overall ranking in both competitions

Have you always been into freestyle, if not when did you move across into this niche? 

I started off with the racing on long boards, and did a small bit of T15, I also went on a few RYA training camps which were great for the racing side of the sport. I then left that and gave formula a go and did the inland series in the UK. I then got into just blasting around, until a few of us where I used to work started to talk about freestyle and I decided to give it ago. At first I didn’t really get anywhere with it, then I went to Dahab to work in 2010 and I saw a massive improvement in my freestyle.

Ben Lee

What is your most memorable moment in windsurfing?

One of the biggest moments I have had is competing on the EFPT and getting a ranking in Europe for my freestyle; seeing as I only started freestyle a few years ago and originally deciding to do the sport as a something to do at weekends.

Another massive moment for me was the opportunity that I had to travel to Brazil and windsurf Jeri for three months as well as working in Dahab for two years with Neilson.

What’s next in store for you on and off the water?

Off the water I have just got a new job in Southampton, so I will be moving down there soon but it is still in the marine industry so I won’t lose all contact with watersports.

On the water I just hope that I can get out whenever it is windy and do as much freestyle as I can, as well as going to Europe this year along side all the UK events

Find out more about Ben at  www.benk109.com by Studio Husky and Ali Hardy.

It’s open to all abilities but with a strong emphasis on the intermediate free-ride sailor with the simple off the beach (beachstart) format and no technical rules. Why not come along and join in all we ask is that first your subscribe to the group and also be a UKWA member for insurances purposes. We run events one eve during the week and weekends…. Its all about like minded enthusiasts coming together to have fun! More info can be found at https://ukwindsurfing.com/slalom/clubs/hayling/

Ross Williams leads Dave Strudwick and Jason Greenslades in a race last year at Hayling.

Road trippin’ ( Portugal ) from Sophia Regerbis on Vimeo.

Road trippin’ ( Brittany ) from Sophia Regerbis on Vimeo.