Sarah Bibby

Name: Sarah Bibby

Sail No: K349

Fleet: Women

2012 results: I only managed to enter one competition last year: 1st place Cornwall wave classic.

Where have you been training? I live in Plymouth so get to sail all over Cornwall and Devon. My closest spots are Whitsands and Bigbury for after work sessions and I often head to North or South Coast Cornwall for the weekends depending on where the swell and the wind are! I went to Pozo last Summer for 10 days and Chile for 3 weeks before that, but that is all I have managed to get away for this year!

What did you want to improve after 2012 season? My jumping is weaker than my waveriding as I don’t often get jumping conditions, so I really needed to work on that.

Do you think you’ve achieved this? I am getting better and conquering my fear! I started training with Crossfit Plymouth this season which has helped my fitness, strength, endurance and confidence to not hurt myself when jumping, so I am trying more in every session I get to try jumping, they are just pretty rare! In Cornwall the weather fronts move over fairly quickly and the weather is quite squally, so the windy periods don’t last for long, but we do get better waves! With jumping you really need several days in a row to improve, which is what I am lacking in the UK, so I am looking forward to some trips to more consistent places abroad.

What competitions will you take part in this year? This year I will definitely do the Cornwall wave classic and will try and make Rhosneigr and Ireland, leave and fund dependent!

What are you aims for this year? If I can make most of the competitions this year I will aim to win back the UK Champion title, but there is some tough competition!

Have you changed/improved your equipment or equipment choices for this year? I now have a Simmer Flywave 69 litre which I use with K4 fins and I absolutely love for waveriding! I also have a Puravida custom 58 litre for when it is bigger/windier which helps my control. I have stuck with the Simmer Icons and No Limitz masts as these have worked brilliantly for me too.

Fighting talk…The girls level has improved a lot over the past years, Sarah Kellet is up and coming and doing well, Debbie has been training lots in South Africa and Justyna (if she competes on the UK tour again) seems to be back on good form – I have a good fight on my hands! Hopefully my fitness training will pay off despite my lack of time on the water this season, I would have liked to have trained much more but work and weather did not coincide!

Jo Wright

Name: Jo Wright

Sail No: K592

Fleet: Women

2012 results: Not actually sure, only managed to compete at Gwithian and had a bit of a shocker!

Where have you been training? Tropical England! Currently living in Exeter, so managed to get out a few times at Daymer, Gwithian, Exmouth and Mothecombe when wind/temperature/uni have allowed.

What did you want to improve after 2012 season?  I really want to get my forwards nailed, so to aid this I have booked a months trip to El Medano in June.

Do you think you’ve achieved this? As of the end of last summer I was getting round them but nowhere near sailing away, I need more time on the water and hoping El Medano will allow this.

What competitions will you take part in this year? Unfortunately Ireland/Rhossy fall right in the middle of my exams. So hoping to make a late comeback at Gwithian and hopefully Tiree if work/money allow!

What are you aims for this year?  Have fun on the water, sailing as many different places as possible. Improve my wavesailing and jumping to hopefully finish well at Gwithian!

Have you changed/improved your equipment or equipment choices for this year?  I got the new 4.7 Rock at the end of last year – it is awesome and felt like a major step up from my 2011 Rocks. Hoping to replace the 4m and 5.2m after El Medano. Still rocking out my 71 twin Evo, again looking to change this after El Medano, potentially to the new Quad.

Fighting talk…I think Justyna will be the one to watch this year, her backloops are looking good! Although now Debbie has the crown I doubt she will give that away without a fight! Assuming my boyfriend doesn’t put superglue in my ear again and impede my forwards training this summer  I will hopefully be busting out some big ones at Gwithian! See you all there!

Rachel Tucker

Name: Rachel Tucker

Sail No: K348

Fleet: Women

2012 results. Tiree = 5th, Cornwall 6th

Where have you been training? Well so far I’ve windsurfed once since BWA Cornwall last October…Southbourne, Dorset

What did you want to improve after 2012 season? Wave selection, fitness, general waveriding

Do you think you’ve achieved this? Well, I’m generally fitter!

What competitions will you take part in this year? I’d like to compete but with new job commitments I’m not sure what will be possible

What are you aims for this year? Enjoy my wavesailing whenever I get the opportunity to get on the water

Have you changed/improved your equipment or equipment choices for this year? No changes there, my Ezzys will never die!

Fighting talk…Ladies: HAVE FUN.

Lucy Robson

Name: Lucy May Robson

Fleet: Women

2012 results: 2nd place BWA Rhosneigr, 4th place BWA Ireland, 5th place BWA Tiree

Where have you been training? Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

What did you want to improve after 2012 season? I would like to improve my competition windsurfing

Do you think you’ve achieved this? I hope so!  I’ve been training hard this winter and hopefully I will be able to windsurf in the competitions like I free sail

What competitions will you take part in this year? Rhosneigr, Ireland and Cornwall BWA.  I might take part in the PWA comps in the Canary Islands where I am based.

What are you aims for this year? To improve on my competition results from last year.

Have you changed/improved your equipment or equipment choices for this year?  I’m using the Fanatic Quad 69 and 74 now more than my other boards.

Fighting talk…Best not to underestimate anyone!  Good luck everyone!

Justyna Sniady

Name: Justyna Sniady

Sail No: POL 1111

Fleet: Women

2012 results: I  opened the season quite good coming  3rd in Lancelin, 2nd in Margaret River and 1st in Greenhead (Western Australia tour) as well as getting the lead in BWA tour after the Wales (1st) and Ireland (2nd) events. After this good start.. I broke my foot. I could not compete in any of the PWA events last year and I was only commentating on the action from the beach. I came back on the water in the autumn and managed to defend the podium coming 2nd overall in BWA in the end. I was really stoked about this result considering I was still on crutches a few week before the comps and didn’t sail the whole summer.

Where have you been training?  Last year I didn’t really get to train much. There was hardly any wind in Australia over the winter – I think it was the worse season in 20 years! Considering I was working monday to friday I got almost no time on the water. After that I went to Pozo full of hope to get some windsurfing in, but broke my foot already on the second day. I couldn’t even walk through the summer, so apart from few more days on the water during BWA that was all my windsurfing for 2012. That’s why I was even more stoked about this year’s training in Western Australia! We had wind and waves throughout the whole 3 months (and I wasn’t working) so I got some quality time on the water!:)

What did you want to improve after 2012 season? Well considering the circumstances of having my foot shattered into pieces and then put together with screws and wires I really wanted to come back to full form. I am now windsurfing but my toes are still not bending and my ankle joint is still not right and hurts quite a bit. I am hoping these problems will go away soon!:) Apart from that and getting back to the level from before the accident I wanted to improve everything as you always do! I hoped to hit bigger and bigger waves, get more consistent with the stuff I could do and hopefully land some new moves as well. Backloop being one of the most technical moves was high up there on the list. I only got few magic ones in 2012 – when the water was in the right place on the way down haha!

Do you think you’ve achieved this? Well I guess I came quite close! I am walking, sailing and jumping again. Despite being quite scared to get back to forward loops in the beginning (as that’s the move I broke my foot with) I got there in the end. I also started landing backloops quite consistently now, so I am really happy as that’s much more then I could have hoped for in such a short time after the surgery!

 What competitions will you take part in this year?  It all depends on how my foot will react to stronger wind conditions.  I would like to do the BWA and PWA tours as well as the Polish competitions if they don’t clash with the PWA.

What are you aims for this year? No aims competition wise! I will just enjoy the fact that I don’t have to watch all the action from the wheelchair parked on the beach this time! I will give it my all for sure, but since I still can’t even run or go downstairs normally I have no pressure on me!:) I would like to sail a lot and go through my second surgery (when they take all the metal out of my foot) with no complications.

Have you changed/improved your equipment or equipment choices for this year? Yes, this year I’ve joined International Simmer Sails Team and well as Mystic and Powerex Teams while staying on Quatro Boards that served me well for the last 3 years. With all the amazing gear I am now using I really started to improve despite my injury, so I am really excited about all the new toys!

Alex Powell

Name: Alex Powell

Fleet: Women

2012 results: 5^th in Tiree

Where have you been training? Exmouth, Bigbury and Weymouth

What did you want to improve after 2012 season? Just my general wave riding and jumping. I only got into wave sailing a year ago so fingers crossed I can only improve!

Do you think you’ve achieved this? Unfortunately I have been tied down with a mountain of Uni work so have nowhere near got out as much as I would have liked to!

What competitions will you take part in this year? Gwithian and Tiree.

What are you aims for this year? Get forward loops nailed.

Have you changed/improved your equipment or equipment choices for this year? Sticking to my trusty Patrik boards.

Fighting talk…Biggest rival, Rach Ince…going to be living with each other in July so that might be interesting.

Megan Gayda

Name: Megan Gayda

Sail No: K127

Fleet: Women

2012 results: Can’t remember results from Rhosneigr but from the whole year I’m 12th overall!

Where have you been training? Was in Brandon Bay for the last couple of weeks of October had fun conditions over there then back home in Essex for the rest!

What did you want to improve after 2012 season? Confidence with jumping!

Do you think you’ve achieved this? Beginning to..

What competitions will you take part in this year? Ireland and maybe Cornwall and Rossi!

What are you aims for this year? Get more confidence with jumping!!

Have you changed/improved your equipment or equipment choices for this year? Buying some of my brother’s last year’ sails!

Fighting talk…Who’s my biggest rival? My brother hahaa!

Name: Eilidh (Ezza) Sutherland

Sail No: GBR987

Fleet: Women

2012 results: 14th

Where have you been training? Largs/ Barassie, it’s still freezing up north!

What did you want to improve after 2012 season? My down-the-line wave riding.

Do you think you’ve achieved this? Well on my way.

What competitions will you take part in this year? Was hoping to be able to do all but due to exams I can only make the Scottish event and Cornwall.

What are you aims for this year? To continue improving and get a higher ranking this year.

Have you changed/improved your equipment or equipment choices for this year? No I have stuck to the combination of RRD and Simmer.

Fighting talk… Bring it on, just up for some sick wave riding

Evi Tsape

Name: Evi Tsape

Sail No: GR2

Fleet: Women

2012 results: Did not do any competitions last year

Where have you been training? I have been training in Greece, in front of my laptop :)

What did you want to improve after 2012 season? I have been meaning to spend more time in the water

Do you think you’ve achieved this? Nope but it’s getting better now.

What competitions will you take part in this year? I will take part in BWA Wales and Ireland. I am also going to go to some American Windsurfing Tour events (looking at Santa Cruz and Pistol River at the moment) and maybe the PWA in Pozo and Tenerife. Plenty of time ahead of me, decisions are made as we get closer to each event, so let’s see how it goes.

What are you aims for this year? I want all the competitors and spectators of the events to meet me and Weendy and reach out to tell me their opinion about our mobile app On the competitor side, I want to sail some decent heats and have fun with the BWA wave events community.

Have you changed/improved your equipment or equipment choices for this year? I still haven’t confirmed my gear for 2013, but it’s definitely going to be better than last years and yes, it’s different.

Fighting talk… With respect to BWA events, I see last years’ winner is Debbie Kennedy. I know Katie McAnena is sailing pretty solid too, Lucy and Sarah too. Never met or saw the rest of the BWA girls sailing. Justyna (from the non-UK/Ireland residents) is a pretty strong opponent too. Some of these girls have been sailing a lot in the last few years, whereas I’ve been totally outside of the water in front of my computer. Let’s see what happens on the water!

Amy Carter

Name: Amy Carter

Fleet: Women

2012 results: 4th Tiree

Where have you been training? I spent a little more time in Cornwall after the BWA event last year, then came back to the windsurf mecca of London before heading off for a short trip to Maui. Maui was a fantastic experience, even managing not to end up on the Ho’okipa rocks. Since then I have been back in London with zero water time, as I’m currently trekking to Everest Base Camp it’s unlikely I’ll get on the water more than once or twice before the next BWA event.

What did you want to improve after 2012 season? Personally, everything on starboard tack! In the grander scheme of things I want to continue to encourage more women to attend events, grow our numbers and consistency of attendance, so that we have more women rocking up at events that pros (we were almost there in 2012).

Do you think you’ve achieved this? To an extent, Maui definitely helped. Although it feels like years ago now!

What competitions will you take part in this year? I will be at all the competitions, whether or not I can fit in competing is another matter!

What are you aims for this year? To be able to sail a heat! As always the Boards team will be at BWA events keeping you up to date with all the goings on. This inevitably makes competing fairly tricky, as although women have multi-tasking nailed, being in two places at once is still out of our reach. The lack of connectivity in Tiree usually means I can compete a little, so I hope to do this again. Also, not to be talked into any ridiculous/dangerous activities if the wind does not appear.

Have you changed/improved your equipment or equipment choices for this year? Nope, sticking with my trusty Goya 72 litre Quad and Severne Blades.

Fighting talk…Girls, lets show the boys how it’s done!

 Boards will soon be catching up with more competitors from the BWA and more tours. 

The Tushingham Team at Student Nationals

The 27th – 28th April 2013 saw the final event of the SWA series and with that the National BUCS event held at Calshot. With several titles still up for grabs it was a great event with lots of action both on and off the water

The Tushingham Team was well represented by all our student team riders, each of them delivering the goods once again! here is a summary of their results and a brief write up from each of the team!

Ollie Acton – SWA Freestyle Champion (2 years in a row)
1st in BUCS Team Racing with Solent

Jo Wright – Overall 1st Female (2 years in a row)
4th Freestyle (mixed with boys)
2nd female in BUCS racing

Louis Morris – Second BUCS individual Race
1st Overall SWA race series
2nd Overall SWA (all events combined)

Sam Sills – 1st BUCS Race Champion
1st in BUCS Team Racing with Solent

The action at Student Nationals

Ollie Acton - This year on the SWA Freestyle Tour has been the most epic year ever!  Starting with Aussie Kiss and then onto all the core competitions, no event has disappointed with universities around the country pulling out all the stop to make this year bigger and better than ever.

Determined to win the freestyle tour again, I went to every core event to try to claim the top prize of a brand new freestyle board.  We had a wide range of conditions on the tour this year, with good high wind freestyle at both Liverpool and Nottingham, tow-in at Aussie Kiss and a lightwind freestyle competition at Bristol.  These differing conditions have made it awesome for competition but also really difficult with more students entering with a really high sailing level!

The final event of the series was the SWA Nationals at Calshot, with the wind not playing ball a lightwind freestyle competition was organised.  This style of competition means anyone on their day could have won, with Louis Morris, Adam Chubbock and Will Jones all having the ability to claim the top spot.  I grabbed my 4.2 Edge and spun and twisted just enough to impresses the judges and win the freestyle competition and claim the overall freestyle series!

The SWA tour and the Nationals were a great success for myself and Solent University.  I won the freestyle series again and along with Adam Chubbock and Sam Sills we achieved BUCS gold in the team racing and won the team racing series!  Thanks to Andy Biggs, Tushingham and Sport Solent for all their support throughout this year.

This was my last year as a student so I would like to say a final massive thank you to the SWA for running such amazing competitions over the past few years!  Cheers guys!

Jo Wright - Nationals saw the conclusion of the SWA series and it certainly went off with a bang! I managed to borrow a raceboard for the BUCS racing on the saturday, which took place in a gentle 10-15 knots. I was also using Tushingham’s 7.0 X15 which worked well in the changeable winds. It was my first time on a race board, so the first couple of races were extremely sketchy! The footstrap positioning and huge mast track took a little getting used to but I really enjoyed the challenge and finished 2nd girl overall behind seasoned IMCO racer Kirsten O’Callaghan. Even managing to give the boys a bit of a run for their money in a few of the races!  The boat party lived up to expectations, everyone certainly seemed to be having a great time on the Saturday evening!

Check out more from Jo, plus a run down from Sam Sills and Louis Morris here.

Colin Dixon, flaka! Credit Richard Keaney

What are the top moves being performed at the moment: in UK competitions, in the EFPT and in PWA? 

COLIN DIXON: Air moves are the key, doing the whole move in the air is what’s winning! The higher you go and more you rotate the better.

ADAM SIMS: In the UK competitions I think we have seen air funnel into funnel, burner funnels, culos, skopus and regular konos (maybe some of those moves have only been done in tow-in). On the EFPT it is the same as the PWA pretty much, double and triple moves, push loops, etc… Maybe the PWA it is perhaps a tiny bit higher when Gollito gets in the zone in Fuerte, ridiculous one handed air chachoos, we’ve seen double forwards from Koester there before, I’ve seen Steven VB and Martin VO doing doubles and air chachoos outside of heats.

JOHN PALMER: UK Comps – Kono’s, Culos, Burners (By the looks of the footage I’ve seen of Max I’m sure it’ll be super high this year!) EFPT isn’t far off the PWA in standard. Best moves in the PWA at the moment for me are Kabikuchis, and Gollitos massive double air flakas and double burners.

MAX ROWE: The top moves at the moment are mostly combinations such as burner into burner or Culo into Spock. The PWA format allows more top moves to be performed as you get the chance to crash a few times so that makes a big difference. There a still a lot of top moves performed on the EFPT and UK competitions but you will never see them as frequently as on the PWA because of the format.

DANIELLE LUCAS: In the UK events there is a very high standard of freestyle, with some really talented younger riders coming up too.  Top moves I would say are Kulos and Skopu’s, whereas the top moves on the PWA are more like double or triple anything, huge ‘air’ moves. and combinations such as spock kulo’s and so much more!

PHIL RICHARDS: Biggest moves I have seen in heats.

UK: Burners, Culos, Konos and Skopus

PWA: Bonkas, Kabikuchis, Double Burners plus lots of combo moves.

The big difference between the two competitions is consistency, in the UK you see the big moves but the conditions play a big part in what you can and cant do. In the PWA although the conditions play a part in the moves that are seen, the best guys do all their stuff in all conditions light or strong.

Andy Chambers in Weymouth.

ANDY CHAMBERS: The top moves at the moment are being done all over the world.  A lot of the PWA competitors compete on the EFPT and also a few of us compete on the UK circuit.  The big move mainly are the combo moves like Spock into Culo or Burner into Funnel.  Also some no handed power moves aswell.  When the stunt ramps kick up like in Fuerte or Sylt then some of the older moves are being done fully in the air like double rotations, the ‘Pasko’ for example is an air flak into shaka.

JAMIE DRUMMOND: I didn’t do any of the UKWA events last year so can’t comment on the moves being done there. The move skill difference between the EFPT and PWA has narrowed slightly, but in the EFPT you are going to see a lot more moves per heat and this is due to the judging formats. The overall impression format means it helps to get down some Grubbies, Flakas, Spock and Forwards before smashing out a Burner or Skopu. Whereas the PWA Best Move format will see most heats being opened with Burners and Skopus and the more basic moves only performed if the wind is light.

How good do need to be to enter a UK amateur competition? 

COLIN DIXON: Don’t do what I did and wait too long! Every time you enter a competition it will give you experience .

JO WRIGHT: Ladies – seriously, if you can duck gybe you will be well up there!

ADAM SIMS: There is competition at the events for any level, just head along and get involved. You’ll leave the event knowing what you need to practice for the next one.

JOHN PALMER: Come a long no matter how good you are! You will learn something!

MAX ROWE: The UK amateur competitions are a great way to improve as you’ll be pushed by people of a similar standard. Even if you’re not fussed about competing it’s a great way to learn a lot and also have a load of fun.

DANIELLE LUCAS: You should just be up for going out and trying your best! Even if you cannot yet land anything getting out with other freestylers to train, and have a laugh is really helpful in pushing you forward, inspiring you and showing you its worth the learning process!

Danielle Lucas on the water.

PHIL RICHARDS: Freestyle can be anything, from sailing along with one hand, to a heli-tack , a duck gybe, a jump, vulcans, flakas and much more. Ability is not so important, as we all realise that we all have to start somewhere.

As long as you turn up and give it a go, you might not win, however, you will learn lots from it and be inspired to improve.

ANDY CHAMBERS: If you can do any kind of freestyle then you will be welcome at any Uk event.  The more events you attend then the more you will learn as well.  There plenty of people and Pro’s around to give tips on moves and how to sail heats.  As long as you can put a few moves together in a bit of a routine then you’re all good.  A Vulcan with some old school freestyle thrown in will be fine.

What is the best approach going into a heat?

COLIN DIXON: With moves that you can do, not moves you can land one out of ten, All the guys I have coached in the past for competitions I have told them to build the points up first then try the moves you can only land now and again.

JO WRIGHT: With a big grin on your face!

ADAM SIMS: I think the best thing is to do something the I learnt from watching the ASP pro-surfing events, build a house (not literally). Start at the foundations, do the moves you know you will sail away from then add the bricks, the moves you can land but a bit less frequent, then finally if you do all that and have time, throw a roof on and bust out something you may have only landed a couple times. If you still have time then I find competition is a really good motivator for new moves…

JOHN PALMER: Look at it like a timed free sail, and try not to think about the other sailor.

MAX ROWE: You should just go out there thinking about having fun as you’ve got nothing to loose. That’s what I did and then from there you’ll learn about yourself and how you need to prepare. I’m really enjoying the commentating for the live stream on the PWA tour at the moment as I can just jump straight out of the box and on to the water without over thinking before.

DANIELLE LUCAS: Just go out and enjoy it, think about what you do best and try to get it done first, then try your other stuff once you have something in the bag!  Also, try to stay upwind and in the area, this can take some getting used to in short heats!  It depends on how the competition is being run as to an exact way to approach it, but best to just try to enjoy it and take it as something to learn from however it goes!

John Palmer

PHIL RICHARDS: Go out try what you know you can do consistently first, If that goes well try some of the more tricky stuff.

Try not to be nervous, and remember why you windsurf in the first place. Because it’s fun!

ANDY CHAMBERS:  Main thing I think is to have fun with it and just go and sail like you would do normally for the allocated time.  Don’t panic or watch the other person as this will make you loose time and get you flustered when you see them bust out something good.  Sail your own heat and just concentrate on what your doing.  The better you get at heat sailing the more you will understand what you need to do to win.

JAMIE DRUMMOND: Make sure you are powered up, make sure you are in the correct heat and make sure your watch is set to the right time! Give yourself plenty of time to get upwind before the heat starts – if you’re in position in plenty of time you’ll be a lot more confident going into the heat.

It’s always a good idea to start out with some of your more basic or ‘safe’ moves. I try to avoid watching my competitor and just focus on my own thing. Play to what the conditions offer. For example if you really want a double jumping move where a good patch of flat water is ideal, don’t force it in a choppy patch – us the chop to boost a higher air or power move.

Check out parts one to three of the Freestyle Secrets series in the Boards Technique section here. 

Colin Dixon. Image credit Global Shots.

COLIN DIXON: No, it,s only water! Watch a motor cross crash section that should give you a kick up the ass and help you man up!!!!

JO WRIGHT: I used to be very scared, then I saw a 75 year old man going for vulcans, sometimes falling but every time coming up smiling. So I had a quiet word with myself and suddenly all my excuses for not trying became irrelevant! And I guess injury can happen to anyone, anywhere – even going over on your ankle walking down the street, so there is no point worrying too much!

JOHN PALMER: Always now… I remember learning to flaka and that terrified me. But, if you just try it a few times you will realise that the pain isn’t actually that bad! A bit of peer pressure always helps too. I’ve never really got over this kind of fear; have it with push loops now after seeing Dave Williams’ smashed up nose on Facebook a few weeks ago! You just need to keep at the move and the fear will go.

Max Rowe at West Witterring

MAX ROWE: I almost feel a bit ashamed of myself sometimes, I teach people how to Vulcan on land in the morning then they go straight out and try it that afternoon; I remember being very nervous about trying it and always found a good reason not to! I’m having a similar battle at the moment learning the wave moves and the best ways I’ve found of getting over it are to build up confidence first or to just get the first big crash out the way early on then you go for it a lot more.

DANIELLE LUCAS: I am definitely not very confident when it comes to learning some moves.  I’m not consciously worrying about injury but I guess that must be it, as well as smashing my kit up! To get over it you just have to do it, having friends or rivals about definitly helps, that’s how I learnt to vulcan…I had someone working for me who was not as good as me but started learning the vulcan and he was getting close very quickly, that really pushed me to go for it forgetting the fear!

PHIL RICHARDS: I have had problems with minor injuries in the past but it’s important to stay positive at this time and let your body heal. My biggest bit of advice would be to avoid injury by remaining fit and flexible. Do stretches. Also, look after your feet.

ADAM SIMS: Nope, more just afraid of the time off the water! The injury list is starting to build for me but it doesn’t set me back mentally, I just visualise what I need to do a lot and then go out and do it. One time I had a couple beers then went for a pushie session, that softened the over-rotated back slaps…

ANDY CHAMBERS: No not really, except possibly in very shallow water.  If you start thinking “that looks like it’s gonna hurt’ then it probably will as you have it in the back of your mind the whole time and will reduce the chances of you learning it. Don’t think it in the first place! Put it out of your mind if you can.  And if you can’t then wait until you are perfectly comfortable with the conditions, gear etc before attempting a new move.

JAMIE DRUMMOND: Yes! I’ve blown both my knees out (either ACL/MCL/Meniscus or all of them) in the last couple of years. The first time was just messing up a tack in shallow water (radical) and the second was doing a one-handed Ponch, which is sort of my trademark move that I can pull out anywhere! I’ve been lucky so far in that I’ve not injured myself when learning any of the new power moves, even though that’s where you might expect it to all go wrong. So, don’t think about it when trying new moves as you really need to be focused, but funnily enough get more worried trying some of the more basic moves.

Bar injuries? Sharks. Terrifying beasts.

Jamie Drummond

COLIN DIXON: Hard! You just need to try stuff with more power; a lot of people sail under powered so if you’re under powered you won’t go as high or as fast,

ADAM SIMS: They are all hard, the ducking is the hardest part but once you get past that then sometimes the move can be really effortless but still difficult. Maybe the culo and burner are not so hard if you are fully powered up. Any combo which requires power and sliding is normally very, very hard though and really requires a good balance between kit set-up and technique.

JOHN PALMER: Easy! haha, nah they are pretty tough! Coolest move I’ve seen recently is Dieter’s air kabikuchi. I’m pretty sure i’ll never be able to do them!

MAX ROWE: Anything that’s classed as “new” will always be hard because it makes you think it must be because it’s “new”. In reality some of these power moves such as the switch stance kono are becoming a lot more common place because they aren’t that hard, now people are learning them as their first switch move. Best advice would be to have a go and find out as what’s hard for someone else might be really simple for you or vise versa unfortunately!!

PHIL RICHARDS: Not as hard as they look,  they just require more commitment and for you to sail more powered up.

Bubble in Vass. Image credit Global Shots.

ANDY CHAMBERS: With the development of of the new gear (sails especially), the new power moves have got much easier than when we first started seeing them a few years ago.  The hardest part has always been getting the sail duck right, once you are a comfortable ducking the sail then the rest of the move doesn’t take too long to learn.

JAMIE DRUMMOND: The new power moves that are coming out are pretty tricky. Most of them involve a lot of setup before you’re even ready to take off – so getting solid at going switch and ducking the sail is an absolute essential. Practice really does make perfect in this case and repetition will help you get the feel for ducking the sail.

Combo moves are also getting much more technical, so just the SETUP of a move can involve doing a perfect, full-speed Spock, Forward or Flaka – a challenge enough on it’s own before adding a Culo, Flaka or Shaka onto the end!

In this second part we look at equipment and approaches to learning new moves.

What are you tips on equipment set up?

Phil Richards

PHIL RICHARDS: Get a  board with inboard straps around 80-110 litres in volume.  A freestyle board is not essential for basic freestyle but it really helps to learn the moves.

Set the board up with big straps, you should be able to see all your toes once you put your foot in the strap.

Get a decent freestyle fin!!!! Yes, you can can chop your old fins in half and learn some moves but a decent machined fin will be faster, earlier to plane, spin out less and give you more control! They can be expensive but so worth it; I would recommend the excellent Choco Starfish anywhere between 16cm and 22cm depending on body size and conditions.

DANIELLE LUCAS: Try it various ways, don’t think it has to stay the same.  Play around with moving your mast foot forward or back, your boom up or down and also moving or changing your fin.  Also, rigging you sail in different ways can sometimes have a big effect on success rates.

MAX ROWE: Big footstraps is crucial as they allow you to get over the board fully and also prevent injuries. Try moving the bolts closer together so the strap pinches the side of your foot a bit as this makes you feel more attached to the board and will still allow your foot to rotate in the strap.

JOHN PALMER: This obviously depends on the conditions. For advanced freestyle you really need to be used to your kit, and know how to tune it, so spend time trying different set ups and tweaking if it doesn’t feel quite right. A K4 freestyle fin will help too!

ADAM SIMS: The best is when you have the sail pulled tight enough on the outhaul that it rests a little bit on the boom when you are in the gusts, then it will go neutral really easily through moves. On top of that make sure you have a nice small fin, 18cm is pretty ideal, I use it the most but I also really like 17cm, it allows me to spin a bit more through double moves.

Jo Wright

JO WRIGHT: Once comfortable popping and sliding, don’t use a board that’s too big. I was lazy and used a 100 litre for far too long, having made the switch to a 90 litre at the end of last year everything became a whole lot easier.

Putting your deck plate forwards, can help engage the nose of the board when first learning the vulcan. And don’t have you boom too low, it kills power.

COLIN DIXON: mmmmm BIG footstraps! Definitely when you are learning we don’t want you to twist those ankles. Also try moving your deck plate a tiny bit forward when learning new sliding moves, this helps get you weight forward.

How do you go about learning a new move?

PHIL RICHARDS: I like to understand the move in my head first, I tend to study others who can do it and others who are trying it and compare the difference. Watching videos helps massively in the learning process, video of others doing it and if you’re lucky enough to get the footage, video of you too. Lots of visualisation helps, I’m often pretending to do new moves in my head or miming it out on dry land (this is amusing to watch but really helpful) and eventually dedicate a few sessions of giving it a go. Lots of practice, and remember do not get angry at your mistakes, learn from them instead.

Having a lesson can really help to get you getting those new moves, having someone who knows what you need to do and can spot where you might be going right or wrong, can save you untold hours practicing the wrong skills. Don’t be too proud to admit you might need help.

Danielle Lucas

DANIELLE LUCAS: Try it, get some feedback from an instructor, then keep trying it.  I watch others and know common mistakes and routes to success and keep that in mind.  I value regular breaks so I don’t get fed up and also throw in some moves I can do,  a duck gybe or jump etc, and sometimes try a move I think is way out of my reach too for a laugh!

MAX ROWE: I will have fully visualised it after watching it online and then go out and see what happens. Having people around you learning the same thing helps a lot, I learn so much more when I’m sailing with people better than me and of a similar standard.

JOHN PALMER: I think everyone learns in different ways but there are a few key things to consider. Really important to visualise yourself doing the move hundreds of times, watch it it online lot of times too. The more you watch it the easier it is to learn. Once you think you know the move inside out the most important thing is to only try and do one or maybe two things each time you try the move. For example if you are trying to learn to vulcan there is no point trying to learn to jump, spin the board round and flip the rig all in one go. I’d break it down to

1) learn to pop

2) learn to spin the board – focus on punching your front hand behind you and looking back. Once you do this right you should be sliding backwards…

3) then think about your hand change

4) lastly think about the end of the move.

John Palmer

Getting someone to video you is also really useful, you can then compare this to someone doing the move and see what they do differently. If you get angry with trying the move then stop for a while too! If you get chance sailing with people that can do the moves, or going for some professional lessons are a good way to improve quickly.

ADAM SIMS: Either I’ve seen a video or a visualise it a lot in my head. I really visualise it a lot, then at first I make drastic changes to what I’m doing during the move to see if anything helps a lot then I start fine tuning run by run. Really though, I visualise so much about the move that I feel like I’ve landed it before I even try it.

JO WRIGHT: Watch videos online. Ask others for their top tips. Then head out and try. The best way to improve is to get someone to video you and play it back. Also, getting others to try the same move as you helps as you can learn from their mistakes.

COLIN DIXON: Watch a lot on different styles online, get the move dialed in my head first then try, if you don’t know the move in your head then you have no chance!!! I’m a massive fan of muscle memory, try and get you muscles moving the right way on dry land before you try it on the water,

How long does it roughly take you to learn something new?

PHIL RICHARDS: Sometimes it has taken a few attempts, at other times a few weeks. Everyone is different and learns in their own way at different paces.

DANIELLE LUCAS: Anything between a couple of days and months.  It depends obviously how much water time I have!

MAX ROWE: It varies a lot between one session or months of frustration. I’ve now found the best thing to do if something really isn’t working and starts to frustrate you then just stop trying for a few weeks and re focus on it because if you do the wrong thing enough times you are pretty much learning how to crash it!!! I always stop before it frustrates me as I learn so much faster when I’m just having fun.

Max Rowe

JOHN PALMER: Depends on the move! Anywhere from a few days for more simple ones, to a few years! Also depends how much time you windsurf.

ADAM SIMS: At first it was weeks, months even years but now I’d be disappointed if I didn’t learn it in one session (so long as the conditions are right and that is the only move I am going for, I get distracted easily and like making the ones I can do even bigger). Perhaps a couple of the harder moves/combos would take a bit longer, a solid week in somewhere like Fuerteventura would be enough I think.

JO WRIGHT: I guess it all depends on the amount of time I can get out on the water. I learnt to vulcan in just under two weeks in Dahab. But in the UK I sail much less, so learning takes longer. But the learning time is greatly shortened if I am sailing with people who push me and I can get some feedback on what I am trying.

COLIN DIXON: Mmm all depends on the move and you, when I leant the vulcan I did it in three days, but then flaka took three months of trying every day,

The crowd ready for the action!

Exeter University windsurfing club teamed up with Plymouth University’s club to not only offer the second round of the SWA Puravida wave series, but also two days of tuition at Sibleyback Lake for all budding beginners and intermediates. As a result nearly 100 students descended on Plymouth to enjoy what was set to be an epic weekend!

Liverpool University won the award for commitment to the SWA, enduring a grueling 7-hour journey down on Friday evening. However, this was all blissfully forgotten as everybody caught up after the long Christmas break and danced the night away at Bang-Bang.

Saturday morning came round a little to early for some. Jim from Puravida had given the call for all wave sailors to head to the Bluff for 11am, whilst everybody else went to Sibleyback Lake. The wave sailors were met with an overcast sky, low winds and no sign of any descent swell, so this twinned with everyone’s hangovers resulted in a pretty low mood at the beach. However, spirits were lifted when Jim, Sarah Bibby, Stefan Hilder and Ian Ross provided an interesting talk including board design, fins and kit choice, which we all found extremely useful. With the wind showing no sign of improving, Sam Ross and Luke Green from Tushingham stepped up to the plate and tempted everyone into their wetsuits with the promise of a one-design windSUP competition with prizes provided by Tushingham.

Checking out the conditions

17 competitors took to the water and with the help of the increasing sized waves, an enthusiastic commentary from Sam Ross and a bit of friendly competition; everybody was having a great time. Due to the incoming tide, we moved the competition round into the river mouth where we were met with some pretty meaty waves. Shapes were being thrown left, right and center on the SUPs and the final came down to Louis Morris (Bristol), Tom Firth (Cardiff) and Jo Wright (Exeter). Jo was suffering from a knock to the head sustained during a washing machining in the shore-break during her semi, so it was a two horse race between Tom and Louis. Tom caught the bigger waves and impressed the crowd with some death-defying moves to clinch the win.

During the ladies final, argued by some to be highlight of the competition, the biggest sets of the day came through. Rachael Ince (Exeter) risked all to catch the wave of the day, even slicing her lip open in the process to take the win over Jo and Charlotte Stokes (Southampton).

“10 knots of wind and small waves might not sound like the most epic conditions for a wave competition but the SWA crew made the most out of it on Tushingham 5.2 Edges and Starboard Wind Sups, after some early heats that had light wind freestyle on small waves winning through the pushing tide gave us some great punchy waves to play in. A great crowd added to the atmosphere and it was fantastic to see the ladies steel the show when the conditions hit the best in their final Rach Ince picked up the wave of the day”.

Sam Ross (Sam Ross Windsurfing)

Adam Chubbock and Sam Ross checking the action

Not to be out-done, the lake goers enjoyed all that Sibleyback had to offer including beginner and intermediate tuition, wakeboarding and SUPing. Simon Garrod-Bell (UWE), made the most of the light winds even managing to get up on the plane, much to his delight! This was the first time activities had been offered for beginner/intermediates sailors at an SWA wave event and was down to the tireless efforts of the Plymouth University committee, who did an awesome job.

Everybody heading back to Plymouth enjoyed some pizza, doned their double-acts fancy dress (think Bill and Ben, 118, 118 and the Chuckle Brothers) and headed down to Plymouth’s Students Union to enjoy live music courtesy of James Bates, share stories of the days events and out-do each other on the dance floor.

Sunday offered a much more promising forecast, so everyone travelled back to the Bluff for 10am. A similar set of conditions to Saturday morning greeted us but Jim and Ian promised better conditions were on the way and ensured we were all rigged and ready to go. At around 12.30, the wind finally came and with the in-coming tide the waves were improving too, so the heats were drawn and everyone took to the water.

The judging team made up of Sarah, Stefan and Ian commented on the high level of skill shown by all sailors. Due to the onshore conditions, they were judging two wave-rides and one jump. The girls were thrown into the mix with the guys, which definitely helped push their level. In the end the women’s result stood with Charlotte Stoke taking 3^rd, Rachael Ince showing off the skills she learnt in Tenerife to take 2^nd and Jo Wright taking 1^st.

Winds picking up

The overall result was an extremely tightly fought affair with Will Jones (Cardiff), Mike Ellis (Southampton), Jony Price (Cardiff) and current tour leader Ben Page (Southampton) all making it through to the final. Will was competing on Starboard’s 2013 87 Quad, putting it to great use, nearly landing a few back-loops. However, he couldn’t quite find the consistency he had shown in earlier heats, so took 4^th in the final. Mike showed how all his recent time on the water is paying off with a great forward off the lip and some solid wave riding to take 3^rd. Jony who has just returned from his storm-chaser mission to Ireland, stole the show when it came to wave-riding, achieving the highest wave score of the day to take 2^nd. Ben put in a stellar performance throughout all of his heats and after pulling off the forward and the day in the final and showing some great wave riding skills, he took a much deserved win.

“I think the level is good this year, it always fluctuates and the guys this year have a lot of potential, the conditions were very tricky and the top guys stood out, making the most of what was available! I would say the results reflect the stand out guys – Ben Page, making sure he got a clean forward in each round, Jony Price for his wave riding in very hard conditions, in the girls Jo Wright for her wave riding, holding her own against the lads in a hard heat!”

Stefan Hilder (Puravida, Simmer Style, No Limitz Masts and K4 Fins)

Close fought competition

Prizes were in abundance as a result of some generous sponsorship from Silverstick, SUPboarder, Spartan, Supersaturated and Sails & Canvas (a company making bags from recycled retro windsurf sails). The success of the event would not have been possible without the continued support of Jim from Puravida who is not only the main sponsor of the series, but also organizes the safety cover for our events, decides the best beaches to run from and organizes the judging. Also big thank you to Sam Ross and Tushingham for their continued support, as well as Plymouth and Exeter University and all our lovely sponsors. It would not be possible without you!

We look forward to seeing you at the next SWA wave event hosted by Cardiff University (22^nd -24^th February). Check out more about the SWA here. 

First of all we look at what moves to start out with, whether to go carving or aerial and the next moves to progress onto.

Max Rowe. Image credit Global Shots.

How can I get started in freestyle? What move would you advise I try first?

ANDY CHAMBERS: The first thing you need to do is get yourself on a freestyle board.  This will make a huge difference when learning new moves.  They are designed to give you lots of pop and rotate easily, also the footstrap positions are inboard which keeps you on top of the board, this is important for all freestyle. If you have the wrong board or equipment set up it would be like trying to drive a bus around a rally course!

Andy 'Bubble' Chambers

The first move to learn is the actual pop itself, as you need to be able to pop into all freestyle moves.  Once you have mastered the pop so you can do it without thinking about it then it will open up a whole heap of moves to learn.  The vulcan is usually the first but as well as that you can try grubbies, flakas and forward loops in the beginning.  Don’t just get stuck on trying to learn one move.

PHIL RICHARDS: Just go out and have fun, for me freestyle is all about pushing yourself further in your abilities but it’s important to just try new stuff and make it enjoyable. It really helps to have some friends to get into it with.

I would recommend trying vulcans as they’re a good move to learn first of all and lead easily into others. I also suggest learning to loop, it’s easier than it looks and conquering this move will give you lots of confidence in your windsurfing.

It’s really important to keep improving all your skills, for example if you want to improve your freestyle, start nailing those heli tacks, up wind 360′s and other non-aerial freestyle as it will help massively with understanding the moves and make you a far better sailor.

DANIELLE LUCAS: Get out on the water and try new stuff, whether you start with a body drag, duck gybe, upwind 360 or straight in to a vulcan; the best way to get into it is just to go out and try something new! If you want to learn aerial tricks such as spocks, flakas and switch moves, learn the upwind 360 on both tacks and nail it, then once you get the jump and slide the end of the move, which is often an upwind 360 should be easy!

MAX ROWE: Have a good look around the internet for some inspiration or a video of something you’d like to learn. The vulcan is the first step for aerial freestyle but you don’t have to start there, even messing around on a big board in light winds is great practice for freestyle moves.

John Palmer at Baby Bay

JOHN PALMER: The best thing about freestyle is you can start anywhere, in any wind conditions. The first freestyle moves I learnt were body drags and heli tacks. I think heli tacks are a great place to start because they start you learning the skills you need for loads of moves – flakas, punetas, skopus, anything with a slidey upwind 360 bit in it.

ADAM SIMS: Most people will say to get on a wide board with a small sail and start spinning in light winds, but if you are already planing then yeh for sure do this also but just start chop hopping and then pick a move you like from the following and go for it (try it on both sides): vulcan, flaka, shuv-it or forward loop.

Also, if you are really serious about freestyle then I would suggest practicing the sail duck from the very early stages, basically when you are on that wide board with the small sail in light winds. On top of that the UK freestyle circuit is a great place to meet like minded freestylers and you learn a lot at each event, I still do and I’ve done a few of them now!

Adam Sims

JO WRIGHT: I think if you have been windsurfing for a while, it’s important to see freestyle windsurfing as a new, achievable challenge that will help you improve all aspects of your windsurfing.  My best tip for getting started, would be to sail around others who are freestyling, whether that be going on an overseas holiday, or heading down to popular freestyle spots such as Poole, Weymouth, Hayling etc. Ask other people for help and advice, set yourself achievable goals and remember falling is learning! Also, never forget the skills that can be learnt from going out in light-winds on a big board and small sail. Nailing heli-tacks, upwind 360′s, sailing switch stance, sailing clew first and many other moves will play dividends when trying to learn freestyle moves in strong winds.

For me, once I become a competent ‘freerider’ e.g. blasting up and down water-starting and carve gybing. I felt that my first freestyle move was learning to duck gybe; this gave me the confidence to try more ‘old school’ moves including the body drag, downwind 360′s and heli-tacks. Aerial moves had always looked to scary for me to try, but on a trip out to Dahab, seeing a variety of people going for vulcans and with the support of other windsurfers around me. I finally mustered up the courage to start trying vulcans and quickly realised they do not result in death! From there found my freestyle windsurfing really started to improve. Try whatever you feel comfortable with and build from there!

COLIN DIXON: Getting started….you already have! Freestyle is anything from sailing one handed to a chop hop, body drag or a forward loop, right up to a flaka. The vulcan opens the doors to new school sliding freestyle once you believe that it can happen (sliding), then its all becomes easy after that – remember keep your head over the mast foot!

Is it better to start with the old school or carving moves, or can I go straight onto trying aerial stuff?

ANDY CHAMBERS: I don’t think the old school carving moves help too much for the new aerial freestyle, except maybe for the Upwind 360.  Instead, I think it’s better to train some lightwind freestyle moves as this will give you more rig control for the planing freestyle moves.  As soon as it’s windy then start learning the aerial stuff!

Phil Richards, enjoying a chop hop!

PHIL RICHARDS: You can go straight in to the aerial stuff, but like I said above learning the non-aerial moves will help you progress and give you a better understanding of the moves.

DANIELLE LUCAS: As I said above you could go either way.  Carving tricks can seem less daunting and they feel great to learn, so may be a good place to start, but there are no rules.  Skills overlap though from carving tricks to aerial tricks and so it’s definitely worth learning both.  It’s also really worth learning moves on both tacks!

MAX ROWE: Personally I jumped straight in at the deep end and started learning aerial manoeuvres, coming from a skateboarding background made that a lot easier. Carving moves didn’t interest me at all back then but they are great fun and a really good way to build up confidence and learn skills that will help you with aerial moves later on.

JOHN PALMER: I think start with what you want to learn, or what you feel confident learning. At the start I’d been watching Harty’s ‘Turn for the Better’ and wanted to learn heli tacks and vulcans. I didn’t think I was good enough for vulcans so went with easier moves for a while until a few mates and I decided we wanted to learn them. There are some people (tend to be the freestyle kids) that can vulcan, spock and everything before they can tack, so it really is down to the individual.

ADAM SIMS: Aerial, that really is what freestyle is about so why not start when you can. If you are not at the point of wanting to take off then yeh try carving for a bit and keep working on those chop hops.

Jo Wright, enjoying the old school.

JO WRIGHT: There is no harm with trying a few old school moves to build confidence (and lets not forget they look very cool!) and then from there learning the vulcan will provide the key to the rest of the freestyle windsurfing world. In between all that, don’t forget to head out in light winds too!

COLIN DIXON: It’s your call really, some kids just learn to vulcan before they can gybe; what I would say is try everything, do not get stuck in a rut, everyone does that!! Keep trying everything and what ever feels more natural go for it!!! Don’t give up; if a move is making you mad then have a break, go for a sail and do stuff you can do, that will remind you what windsurfing is all about. Then, when you’re feeling refreshed go back to it.

I’ve got to grips with vulcans, spocks and that kind of thing, what’s the next move you would recommend I learn?

ANDY CHAMBERS: To be honest whatever moves that you can watch and see other people doing that you can understand in your head are usually the easiest ones to start learning.

The first switch move I learnt was a switch one handed flaka; I guess this was becuase I could already do normal flakas and when I was sailing along switch stance it felt like the more natual and easiest thing to try.  Switch stance moves open up a whole new variety of the moves you can already do.

Also, try small variations on the normal stance moves like one handed or ducking the sail at the end (diablo/cana brava).  Another big piece of advice is make sure you learn the moves on both sides, don’t be a one side wonder!

PHIL RICHARDS: Try some flakas, grubbies, some clew first vulcans and spocks and dabble in some switch stance moves like e-sliders and clew first puneta (switch spock).

If you can vulcan and spock make sure you learn it on both tacks (this is much easier to do as you are just getting in to freestyle and not set in your ways). Plus if you can’t already, learn to loop!

Danielle Lucas

DANIELLE LUCAS: The forward loop is always a crowd pleaser!  It really depends where you are learning and your learning style, but people usually go for flakas and switch-stance moves after the vulcans and spocks, most have been trying them at the same time as the spocks.  It can really vary depending on confidence levels too!

MAX ROWE: I think it’s really important to learn the grubby and flaka as these will open the door to switch stance moves. If you jump straight into switch moves from here you’ll be missing some really important skills that will make your life a lot easier.

JOHN PALMER: Start learning to shaka! They are a cool move and feel awesome. Probably a good time to start learning to duck the rig too for konos as it’s tough to learn.

Colin Dixon, flaka! Credit Richard Keaney

ADAM SIMS: Shuv-its and forwards, they are probably two of my favourite moves but also a move that I’ve been doing the longest. If you are passed that then try switch and then looking at ducking the sail for switch konos or air funnels.

JO WRIGHT: Variations such as spock 540′s, one-handed spocks then I guess grubbies, flakas etc.

COLIN DIXON: Go switch! People can get put off doing this; the hardest part is to learn to keep your speed when in switch. Once you have mastered this and the popping, or should I say catapulting, and can then land sliding normal stance will feel so much easier!

Check out more in the Boards technique section here and coming up in the next part of freestyle secrets we look at equipment advice and strategies for learning new moves. 

Have you mastered the carve gybe yet?

My first carve gybe was around the rescue platform in Dahab, in the winter of 2006 while my brother captured the whole thing on video! I think I had been having problems with the step and the rig flip, doing them together instead of one after the other, therefore dropping off the plane and being totally unstable when trying to flip the sail. Counting out loud between the step and flip really helped with this, and made me hold onto the rig for longer before I flipped it. When I sailed out of the first gybe I was overcome with amazement, plus a little relief!

Amy Chambers – Windsurfing instructor, personal trainer and former top Diva for Club Vass.

The carve gybe had always been the ‘elusive’ move I had wanted to learn from about the age of 11. I remember spending years engaging the inside rail, getting the board to carve a little bit and then flailing the rig, limbs and board in an effort to come out dry, thinking this was a carve gybe. This changed when I got a few helpful hints down in Coverack, Cornwall. The big thing that made the move ‘click’ for me was vision. It’s really easy to say “yes I’m looking through the turn”, but it was only when I fully exaggerated the vision, looking right past the end of the boom that my foot-change and rig flip became so much smoother. It felt amazing, and still one of the biggest buzzes I have ever got from windsurfing.

Jo Wright – Slalom, freestyle and wave competitor, sponsored by Tushingham, Starboard and Sam Ross Windsurfing.

My first carve gybe happened when I was sailing at ‘Speedy’ in Dahab a week ago. I was on my 4.7 Ice and my 99 litre Chilli. It was the first windy day since I arrived in Dahab the week before and even though it was a bit off and on, it felt good to be powered up when I hit the gusts. I hadn’t been trying carve gybes that long and it was something I wanted to crack quickly too open the door to more carving manoeuvres. My main issue when learning was keeping my weight forward allowing the board to stay flat through the turn, instead of almost sinking halfway round due to my weight being to far back. Unfortunately my first one wasn’t caught on camera, but I was sailing with friends who witnessed the historic moment. Like many manoeuvres in windsurfing, it can take a lot more work to get them completely consistent, and I’m still working on getting my carve gybes to this standard. But that first feeling you get from bearing away into a carving turn, and the feeling when you finally get your first carve gybe drives me forward to continue learning.

Edd Seater – Recent windsurf addict, working and improving in Dahab, Egypt.

I had happily entered myself into the first youth ‘freewave’ camp at Christchurch with the rest of Team AirBorn when it suddenly dawned on me one of the prerequisites for the camp was to be able to carve gybe! “CR*P!” there I was studying a Jem Hall article on how to Vulcan and it hadn’t even occurred to me that I had to be able to carve gybe! The next few days quickly turned into a case of do or die as the last thing I wanted was to be booted out of the camp (in front of the lads) for not being any good! It was a super warm summers day down at Daymer bay (on the Doom bar side) and the outgoing tide meant the bay was waist deep and flat producing ideal carve gybing conditions. My dad was stood in the water taking pictures of my brother and I windsurfing, whilst at the same time doubling up as a very handy gybe mark. Convenient as it sounds it soon became annoying as with every failed attempt I went round him he would shout, “faster, get low and lean further forward!” For about an hour I thought my dad was a bossy, know it all, loser, who simply didn’t understand! Unexpectedly though it all suddenly clicked when, to prove a point, I threw myself as far forward as I could whilst going as fast as possible and in doing so, fully expected to crash and give my dad the ‘idiot’ look that kids do so well. However in attempting to over exaggerate, I adopted the correct stance and burned through a perfect carve gybe to come out planing! I had made it, my dad was a total LEGEND and what’s more I wouldn’t be kicked off the camp; AMAZING!

George Shillito – BWA competitor and man in the know at the Polkerris Beach Co.

I’ve got to be honest and say I don’t remember my first gybe, but I do remember my first planing one. I used to watch Peter Hart’s “Towards the Limit” video all the time and there is a section in that which breaks down two of Bjorn’s slalom gybes. One where he is overpowered, needs to dump the power and therefore lays it down, and one where he keeps the rig forward and uses all the power to drive the board through the turn. This second one was the key for me and when I tried to emulate it, suddenly I held my speed all the way through the turn and came out fully planing. It probably looked nothing like Bjorn’s version, but in my head it was exactly the same!

John Skye – PWA competitor and British windsurfing legend.

The full issue of the Spring Summer 2012 Boards Annual is still available for purchase here. 

SWA Pompey Wave

The 8th and 9th of December saw 35 students descend on Portsmouth for the first round of the SWA Puravida wave series.

The Tushingham team was well represented with Ollie Acton (Solent University) and myself (Exeter University) competing along with Muzza who came down to help run the event, provide demo kit and give advice to all the students.

Adam Chubbock, Ollie Acton and Jo Wright.

After some last minute car failure, I drove down on the Saturday morning and met up with Ollie and Adam ‘Chubsy’ Chubbock for a SUP off Hayling Island sea front. The weather was perfect with not a cloud in the sky! Massive thankyou to AndyBiggs Watersports for lending us the Starboard SUPs. There were some small waves breaking just off the sand bar, so we paddled about 20 minutes out and had great fun riding the waves. This was my first time venturing out in waves on a SUP and I now fully understand what all the hype is about – It was awesome!

We then headed into Portsmouth to catch up with the rest of the SWA guys. They had enjoyed a few rounds of Mini-golf, which if you didn’t know already, Carl Lobato (Portsmouth University) proudly won. Back in our hosts houses, we all enjoyed some Dominoes pizza and then donned our Christmas attire ready to dance the night away at ‘The Fleet’!

Check out the full report from Jo on the Tushingham news page here.

In more speedy news British slalom champion Ant Baker was showing off his 2013 North Warps this week; and speaking of showing off looks like the girls are having more than a little bit of fun in Maui here! We are sure yet more showing took place in the Liverpool SWA event last weekend too, check out the gallery  and report on the event from Tushingham team rider Jo Wright.

Other big news this week was that it looks like there will be another edition to the PWA calendar in 2013, with Cape Town hosting the final round of the PWA Wave World Tour!

And so we leave you for another week, remember if you ever have any great windsurfing sessions, images, videos or news from your local spot please send through the info to amy@boards.co.uk

Ross Williams in action, how well could he do in Cape Town 2013?

Waterside fitness

131 students braved floods, standstill traffic and bitterly cold winds to travel to the dark depths of the North in search of the 3rd SWA event of the season in Liverpool! They were certainly not disappointed as Liverpool turned out to deliver on all levels!

Ladies at the EFPT. Image credit Slackography.

Thanks to Amy Carter and Flow – For Ladies Of Windsurfing, there is a very positive feeling surrounding women’s windsurfing in the UK at the moment; we are certainly growing in force!

A few weeks ago I headed to Gwithian for the BWA event where we had 16 female competitors, which was great to be a part of! I then travelled down to Weymouth for the Queen of the Wind EFPT event. Adam Sims and Sam Burnett of XPLG decided to run a ladies competition too, securing sponsorship from Austrian clothing company ‘Femipleasure’.

In the week before the event we only had four female competitors, but some last minute facebook and email rallying, brought the number up to seven by Saturday morning. Unfortunately wind and light limitations meant a full female event couldn’t be run but we did sneak out for a cheeky expression session on Sunday, which we all came in smiling from.

Jo Wright

Jo Wright. Image credit Global Shots.

The biggest thing that struck me in the run up to and during this event, is that as a female windsurf competitor you do not need to be pulling off aerial moves; far from it. There are many ladies out there that are more than capable of giving freestyle competition a cheeky dabble, (Yes I mean you!).

So the idea behind this article is to break down some of the common misconceptions associated with female freestyle competition and talk about future opportunities to get involved in.

Firstly lets take a look at the ladies who competed at the Queen of the Wind.

The facts:

• Seven female competitors
• Aged from from 14 – 28
• Local spots including Hayling Island, Exmouth, Torpoint and Notts county.

• Occupations ranging from student to Events manger.

Danielle Lucas. Image credit Get Windsurfing.

Danielle Lucas. Image credit Get Windsurfing.

Ladies what freestyle moves are you pulling off at the moment?

Lara: Heli-tacks, downwind 360s, duck gybes, carve gybes, chop hops and seriously comedy vulcan attempts!

Alex: Chop hop, carve/duck gybes, heli-tack and body drag.

Danielle: Spock variations, grubby, switch chaco, clew first puneta, downwind 360, upwind 360, jumps, duck gybe, push tack, heli-tack.

Ina: Carve gybe, duck gybe, chop hop, tack, heli-tack (in light winds on big gear), sail 360, splits haha, switch stands, clew first, 3/4 of a downwind 360…so maybe a 240?

And what are we aiming to crack in the near future?

Ina: Proper downwind 360, backwind gybe, duck tack, forward loop, vulcan (probably further future!).

Emily: Hopefully by the end of next year I will have got the vulcan and begun trying some geckos

Julia: Downwind 360s in the straps and vulcans!

Julia Slack

Julia Slack

Why did you enter the EFPT at Weymouth?

Julia: To support the girls and to show you don’t have to be a top freestyler to enter, carving moves are enough or just trying new moves gets you points! Plus, it’s great to get on the water with more girls

Emily: It looked like a fun event and an amazing opportunity to me.

Why do you think other women should enter UK freestyle events next year?

Lara: It’s great fun, with lots of support and competing makes you push yourself and try nutty moves harder than you have done before. You meet some great people and I guarantee you will come in from your heat smiling – no matter how it went!

Alex: All the girlies are super friendly and nice. It’s a great opportunity to get some hints and tips from the others and it really will improve your windsurfing. And the parties are always really good fun…

Ina: Because I want to get to know you all! The best part about the weekend was to get to know more women who are keen on windsurfing. So now we can go for a sail together, which is great, as you normally always only meet guys at windsurf spots. I really love the atmosphere amongst all the windsurf ladies down here in the UK! Everyone is so keen to just get on the water together and have a fun time windsurfing. Competition sounds quite serious, but it really is totally relaxed and more about just meeting more girls, go for a sail together and learn from each other. So get involved!

Danielle: Freestyle is not only for boys but so many girls are put off thinking they are not good enough, freestyle to me is about messing about, trying something different; whether it’s sailing on one leg, clew first, jumping, or just carving it up, it’s about trying new stuff and having a good time.  The aerial moves are hard to achieve but it’s not impossible and by getting out and trying new stuff you can work towards it if you want to, but the carving tricks look just as cool if not better.  By getting girls out together it’s more encouraging to try new stuff, and you have others around to ask questions if you are not sure where to start or what to do next!

Lara Johnston

Lara Johnston

Biggest tip for improving your windsurfing:

Danielle: Sail with others, ask for advice when trying new skills and locations, and don’t be afraid to go and get some coaching.  Sometimes the simplest tip can change everything for the better.  Coaching helps you learn new things, it can help you to learn to self-assess your mistakes, and also gets you sailing with others who may be better than you or may be passionate to be as good as you, which can help push you and allows you to help encourage others too.

Emily: Enjoy it and get out on the water whenever you can

Ina: Always try. Ignore these (really reasonable seeming) thoughts that you could not possibly do a certain move. You don’t know until you have tried. And if you do fail you still make a step forward! Because now you know what you have done wrong so you can work on it and do it better next time.

Julia: Don’t be afraid to try something new and make the most of whatever the conditions are, every time you go out you WILL improve!

Ina Gross

Alex Powell

Emily Hall

The biggest message we all want to portray across to other female windsurfers out there is that female freestyle events are FUN, relaxed and a great way to improve. From the events I have been a part of, the ladies tend to decide how and when our heats are run (would we want it any other way!?).  Another problem that all competitors are faced with is when a job involves nine hour days, five days a week, which means it is hard to then commit to spending the whole weekend at an event. However, as my boyfriend, Josh put it very aptly: “Spending the weekend on a beach, blasted by fresh air and having a great time with lots of like minded people definitely gives you the best chance of turning up to work on Monday morning with a big smile on your face!”

Ladies at the EFPT. Image credit Josh Wilmot.

Just incase you needed any more persuasion, remember UK female windsurfing competitions are:

- Fun

- Inclusive

- Have a great social side, whether that be laughing about the days events at the pub or partying away.

- You don’t need to be pulling off lots of moves: a carve gybe and a tack will do nicely!

- They make Monday mornings much more bearable.

- And finally we can’t wait to meet you all and make women’s competitions bigger and better in 2013!

Excitingly in 2013 Sam Ross is also planning to hold some Ladies freestyle weekends aimed at getting lots of females on the water, improving their windsurfing and having a good laugh (he leads a hard life!)! So stay tuned to www.sam-ross.co.uk for more information as these weekends will provide the perfect stepping-stone to competing at an event!

I look forward to seeing you on the water and hopefully at an event soon!

Jo is sponsored by Tushingham/Starboard, Sam Ross Windsurfing and Exeter University.

If you have any questions please email jowright12@hotmail.com

For more information on the events stay tuned to www.boards.co.uk plus head on over to:

www.ukwindsurfing.com

www.studentwindsurfing.co.uk

www.britishwavesailingassociation.com

www.flowatersports.com

All the girls put on a great show so a big pat on the back to all who entered.

Here’s to more Girl Power UK windsurfing!

Jo Wright (centre) Expression Session victor

The ultimate balance point game

Last weekend 600 students descended on Bude Holiday Park by night and Roadford Lake by day, for what was an epic weekend!

Tushingham and Starboard were represented well with Sam Ross and Luke Green providing 2 vans full of demo kit and some epic tuition over on the beginner beach, with over 160 beginners making it on the water over the weekend.

Sam Sills and his team from Southampton Solent won the team racing and then Sam and I took the Edges out for a twirl in the light wind freestyle competition which was great fun, even winning a few prizes a along the way!

The students were kept well entertained over the weekend with a tow-in competition, tuition and demo kit for all levels, some pro tow-in action, 2 insane parties, live bands, stalls, great weather and even banana boat rides!

It was a great start to the SWA year allowing all windsurfing clubs to get together, new members to see what it was all about and everyone to take to the water!

For a full gallery of images from Tushingham at Aussie Kiss head to their Facebook page here. Check out more about Jo and the rest of the Tushingham team here.

Scottish Windfest. Jo Wright with the Starboard/Tushingham/Boardwise demo gear.

Gallery of images courtesy of Dave White, for more head to Whitey’s Facebook page