Ant Baker clinics have been going from strength to strength over the last three years and 2012 makes no exception with the addition of two exciting new venues in Moulay and Gostoso.

Ant Baker

Here’s a quick rundown:

August 10th-17th

Moulay Bouzerktoun, Morocco – NEW!

The definitive looping clinic with perfect side-shore conditions with perfectly formed ramps, there are few places more suited tp mastering the forward loop. Set in peaceful rustic surroundings, Moulay Bouzerktoun offers little distraction whilst you focus on giving your windsurfing the boost it deserves!

 Full details are here on Ant’s Oceansoure page

From £845 pp

(includes coaching, rental, transfers and half-board accommodation)

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September 9th-16th

Habibi Beach, Egypt

Ant Baker returns to the Windhaven Hotel at Habibi Beach, Egypt, for a week of intensive wave technique coaching. If you’re looking to get into wave sailing, want to get into jumping or even looping then this is not to be missed.

Full details are here on Ant’s Oceansoure page

From £579 pp

(includes coaching, equipment storage, transfers and half-board accommodation)

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November 17th-24th

Gostoso, Brazil – NEW!

Sample one of the newest windsurfing spots on earth, Sao Miguel do Gostoso, this autumn with Ant Baker from the Baker Academy. Incredibly reliable winds grace these shores so if you’re looking to get the most from a windsurf coaching/holiday combination, then this freewave paradise is the venue for you!

Full details are here on Ant’s Oceansoure page

From £857 pp

(includes coaching, rental, transfers and half-board accommodation)

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BONUS – All bookings receive a complimentary two hour 1:1 session (UK only)

Contact bookings@oceansource.net or call +44 (0)1243 374615

Find out more from Ant Baker, including his successful technique series, here on Boards. 

The summer of 2011 was epic, I decided to do the American Windsurfing Tour and just went for it last minute. I got a flight to Portland and was picked up by Bryan Metcalf-Perez who took me to his house in Hood River/The Gorge, about an hour away. We did the Pistol River wave event, and then he left for the World Tour. He introduced me to his mate, Jay Watermeyer, a Starboard rider who said I could crash in his basement for a couple of weeks, which soon turned into a couple of months. He was going to be compete in the US Nationals competition so I decided tag along. We ended up road tripping down to San Francisco and Starboard paid the fuel. Boom! Cash back!

Chris Murray

Jay was in a fraternity, or ‘frat’, called Sigma Chi at college. Frats are sort of secret clubs, like the kind you hear about in movies. So we cruised down the west coast of America and when we needed somewhere to sleep, we would find the local university and look out for the Greek symbols of the Sigma Chi. It’s like a backward ‘z’ and ‘x’ letters (ΣΧ). Apparently it is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America, with 240 active chapters and more than 300,000 initiates. Mega!

Chris Murray

Then we would just go and knock on the door, I was a bit worried but he assured me it was fine and normal to knock on a complete strangers door and ask to stay the night. One door we knocked on told us, “sorry, no, this used to be where the frat lived but the Sigma Pi live here now”.  Apparently there are loads of different frats and you can normally only use your own, but luckily they said we could crash there anyway.  They gave us a beer and told us there were loads in the fridge and just to grab a bed – everyone was away for the summer and there were only a few hard-cores left to look after the house. Usually they were building things in their rooms like mega beds or extra floors so they had two-story rooms. In one room we found all the mattresses from the whole apartment block in the stairs like a massive slide – epic!

On the water,  the Freestyle National Championships were in San Fran and I managed to come third overall – that cheeky willy-skipper came in handy, haha brilliant. I think it could have been because most of the best guys were in the Canaries for the PWA but nevertheless, third in America sounds pretty good.

Snowboarding on the doorstep

We slept in our car some nights which is illegal in California and one of the more eventful nights was at this evening in a nice quiet car park at Burkley Yacht Club – or so we thought. As it turned out, I was awoken by a torch shining in my eyes I immediately hit Jay, saying, “mate, mate, there’s someone looking in. Shhhh, it’s the police, get down!” I had a sneaky look up and there was a guy with a big beard with his face pressed to the tinted glass trying to see through. I’m no expert on police but usually they don’t have Captain Black Beard style facial hair. His eyes met Jay’s on the other side of the glass. “What the f£$%!!” Jay said and just started running off. We saw by the swinging flash light that it was a homeless dude checking out our car. Now that freaked me out a bit so it was hard to sleep. About an hour later a van pulled in to the spot next to us and unloaded 12 people pumping music and getting a party under way. There was full on dancing on the roof of the van, shouting, hooting and hollering and they all looked pretty gangsterish with gold chains, flat-peaks and baggy pants. About 30 minutes went by and the police parked in the space on the other side of our car to move and deal with the party. So we hid under our sheets so we didn’t get caught as they walked back and forth getting paperwork and dealing with the party animals. What a crazy night in a yacht club car park – I never knew it could get so much action. Needless to say, that was our last night in the car. We stayed at friends houses every night after that bit of fun.

From San Francisco it was a 16-hour drive back up to Hood River, the epicentre of US windsurfing, to stay for five days. We had managed to arrange driving everyone’s kit in exchange for fuel money from Hood River, Oregon, in the north of America and only around five hours from Canada, all the way to San Carlos, Mexico. It was around a 3000-mile drive from north to south to get to the next event on the American Windsurfing Tour. We broke the long trip up by surfing some of the spots on the way down. We started in the ice-cold water in Newport, Oregon, where our faces got ice bites, but it was empty and the waves were epic. From there we made our way to the warmer waters of Santa Cruz, California, where we caught an awesome clean point break for half an hour at 5am before 100 surfers woke up and crowded in. Next up was LA Trestles, a famous surf break, and the tropical warm water allowed us to surf in just shorts. Then it was off to San Diego to meet the crew that had flown in and we packed all our kit into the box truck and set off for Mexico. A few tacos later and we were there, surfing the San Carlos point break with angry seals and kamikaze pelicans. I think I came 12^th at that event.

Chris Murray at Hood River, great conditions for all

The event was great, with some of the best empty, down the line sailing I have ever had.

On the way back to Hood River we did the drive in one go. Just stopping just for fuel and food it took 36 hours and we did five hour driving rotations with one sleeping and two awake in the front. We couldn’t wait to get back to Hood River.

Hood River is brilliant – it has every thing you could possibly want: windsurfing, jumping, standing waves, freestyle, glassy flat cruising, down hill mountain biking, a summer snowboarding park 30 minutes away on Mount Hood. So whether it’s summer or snow you’re after, you can fit all three sports into one mega day. Other activities include hiking, white water rafting, cliff jumping, golf, salmon fishing. There are waterfalls and even a brewery.

After an epic day of action there is always a social. This was sometimes a problem as Jay was 19, and so under the legal age of drinking in America. Instead we had, and went to, some epic house parties. One of them got busted by the police – it was on the second floor of the house and we had just arrived. There were police, one at the top of the stairs, one at the bottom and dishing out MIP (Minor In Possession of alcohol) tickets, which is a $200 fine and if they get two of these they lose their driving licence. The whole of the Hood River 18-20s were about to get a ticket.

Chris Murray

While I was sitting there at age of 23, not knowing the law, I was pretty scared and thought they’d think I was a supplier and would get in trouble. They were slowly going down the stairs, giving out tickets one at a time, but every time there was an opportunity people were escaping out of a window and off the balcony. It was like the Great Escape. Jay and I had decided to go for it from the second story balcony – it was pretty high. I went first and got out of the window, taking the sensible route, which involved sliding down a post that was holding up the balcony. I got to the bottom and looked up to see Jay vault the balcony, catching his feet and misjudging how high he was rotating, eventually taking the impact by landing smack on his ribs. There was a massive escape of air and it sounded like a bison mixed with a cow. He hobbled to some bushes where there were around ten other people. It was brilliant, just like being 16 again at a house party in England. We escaped and hitchhiked back to Jay’s house, buzzing with adrenalin.

Mountain Biking also available at Hood River

Hood River, also known as The Gorge, it is great location and probably the best place I have ever visited. It’s the dream spot for any action sports enthusiast. If you’re keen to come and join the adventure, I am running a holiday there with Ocean Source this summer (June 22-29 2012). I would love to show you around and I know you will love it as much as I do. Check out the link below and get on it ASAP, spaces are limited.

http://oceansource.net/chris_murray.asp

Oceansource.net release details of their latest clinic – this time to Hood River. The Gorge is world-famous for it’s strong winds, but as Chris Murray discovered, it is also a haven for snowsports, mountain biking and much, much more! Billed by Oceansource as a trip for the adrenaline junkie, check out Muzza’s short video with some of the highlights from his last trip.

Lasting 7 nights, the trip starts on the 22nd June and promises to include windsurfing, mountain biking and snowboarding – perhaps all in the same day! Muzza will use his local knowledge and experience to make the best plan depending on the weather conditions. The package includes B+B, all transfers, guiding and coaching from Chris Murray and equipment rental. Head to Oceansource.net for more details…

As one of the finest wavesailors in the world, Swifty spends a large amount of time in Hawaii. However, he is part of the growing sect of PWA sailors to take up residence in Chile, along with the likes of Klaas Voget and former world-champion Victor Fernandez. In this video Robby takes us on a tour of his pad before heading onto the water for some epic surf and windsurf action. It’s a tough old life, but someone has to do it…

Robby is currently running a wave clinic at Chilean break Matanzas, so head over to the Oceansource website soon to see how it went (oceansource.net)

Pro Coaching
Windsurf coaching will be available with PWA starsJohn Skye and Nayra Alonso who are regulars in Cape Town and therefore perfectly suited to take us to the best spots.

The Location
You’ll be based at The Kites Nest, Cape Town’s premier water sports lodge situated in stunning Sunset Beach. A family run business, Katie, an artist, has created a beautiful environment for you to relax in while enjoying the benefits of beach life. Brad, with his passion for the sea and an accomplished waterman, is able to offer help and guidance for all your needs.

Facilities:

• Posturepedic beds with Egyptian cotton linen
• Full breakfast
• Free ADSL wireless internet
• In house laundry service
• Weekly evening braai (BBQ)
• Communal living room with large flat screen TV
• DSTV multichoice channels
• Kitesurf, surf and windsurf equipment storage
• Close to Golf course, shops and restaurants
• Safe streets with no busy noisy main road

The Action
This trip is aimed at enjoying South Africa to the fullest. We’ll be cruising around in search for the best spot of the day in and around Cape Town whilst Sunset Beach, within a stone’s throw from the The Kites Nest, offers the perfect place to launch into the amazing wavesailing conditions that South Africa is now famous for. For those seeking calmer conditions, a nearby lake offers a more ‘relaxed’ setting and the perfect spot for busting some freestyle or perfecting those carve gybes.

Equipment
It is highly recommended that you bring your own equipment to maximise your experience. Equipment can be taken for free with Virgin Atlantic and more information on this will appear here shortly. However, local equipment rental is available should you prefer, just let us know your requirements and we’ll get it organised in time for your arrival.

Find out more at oceansource.net

Oceansource Chile

Travel specialist Oceansource brings you another new frontier in what promises to be a sought after destination for many years to come. Matanzas and Chile will load your senses with a cocktail of breathtaking scenery and action sports to suit the intrepid traveller. Extend your Chile holiday by adding unique experiences including the Atacama Desert, the breathtaking Chile Lake District or magical Easter Islands all available as ABTA / ATOL protected flight-inclusive packages.

A land stretching 4,500 kilometres from deserts to glaciers and only 250 kilometres wide, this is diversity to the extreme – where else can you ski in the mornings and go windsurfing that same day?

From the beginning of spring until autumn, it is frequent for the wind (Surazo) to start blowing strongly around mid-day to offer ideal conditions for windsurf and kitesurf. Matanzas has the strongest and most consistent conditions for the practice of these sports in spots such as the world class wave of ‘Roca Cuadrada’. In Pichilemu, you will find the longest wave in Latin America for Windsurf and Kitesurf: ‘La Puntilla’.

To celebrate the launch of this exciting destination, Oceansource are running a double-pro adventure camp hosted by PWA pros Klaas Voget (G4) and Phil Horrocks (K303). Cruise around in 4×4 vehicles to the best spots in the Matanzas/Santiago area whilst being based at the ‘uber-chic’ Surazo boutique hotel. 27 November to 4 December 2011.

Full details: www.oceansource.net

To book: Call +44 (0)1243 374615 or email bookings@oceansource.net

Severne at Oceansource

Oceansource is immensely proud to announce it is developing partnership with Severne to include a UK test centre. Based on the southern shores in the UK, Oceansource has grown out of a windsurfing centre in Egypt to a tour operator facilitating windsurfing holidays and experiences to some of the best locations on earth.

“Since we started stocking Severne sails at our centre two years ago, we noticed how popular they were with our customers”, says Ed Texier, managing director at Oceansource.net. “Not only do Severne products excel in terms of overall quality, but the degree of passion projected by Ben (Severne) is at a point where you could argue that we share an unhealthy appetite for windsurfing!”.

There is no doubt that Severne Sails has established itself as a leading brand with the likes of Bjorn Dunkerbeck now leading the way in the PWA slalom series. Bjorn’s championship winning experience coupled with Ben’s leadership qualities has taken Severne to the forefront of the world stage and the results speak for themselves.

Severne is also firmly established in other sectors including wave and freestyle. The S-1 is commonly regarding as one of the most lightweight and maneuverable sails, perfect for freestyle, whilst the robust BLADE has become a standard in quality and innovation within the wave discipline. The hugely popular GATOR continues to develop its reputation as one of the most versatile freeride sails on the market whilst the success of Severne’s race programme has spawned an array of innovative and robust freeride and freerace sails such as the CONVERT and TURBO.

“Ever since I started sailing Severne sails I’ve become more and more attached to them.” says Ed. “I met Ben when we won at the National Windsurfing Festival (NWF) UK three years ago and things developed from there. The fact that Boujmaa Guilloul accepted our invitation to the NWF last year speaks volumes for the people behind the Severne brand, and we’re extremely excited to be part of that.”

From September 2011, Oceansource will be stocking a small number of 2012 sails which are free to use on a trial basis. “With so many products on the market, I firmly believe that everyone should be entitled to try before you buy”, exclaims Ed. “There is only so much information in a magazine test that is relevant to your personal circumstances. Everyone is different in many ways so it’s important that you buy the product that feels right”.

Meanwhile, for those already converted to Severne, Oceansource are now taking orders for all 2012 models and accessories. Please contact ed@oceansource.net or call +44 (0)1243 374615 for all enquiries.

www.oceansource.net

BA / Oceansource Langstone flyer

Ant Baker and Ed Texier of the Baker Academy and Oceansource invite you to another afternoon on the technical side of windsurfing… A delightful evening dinner where technique will be the talk with Ant taking questions from you from everything you need or want to know about gybing, waveriding or even forward loops. Then for main course we will get down to the nitty gritty of sail and board design with the idea that you will leave with the knowledge to help move your windsurfing forward. This is not an area to miss as with Ants 25 years of testing, designing and on the world tour you will get all you need!

Now for desert, and none other then Ed Texier from windsurf experience specialist Oceansource.net where Ed and Ant will talk windsurfing destinations and clinic info abroad.

Where? The Ship Inn, Langstone, West Sussex, PO9 1RD

When? March 27 (6pm sit down for dinner)

Cost? £30

To book: Call Ed on 07816 496915 or email ed@oceansource.net

Oceansource Naxos

A relatively unknown island within the Cyclades, Naxos boasts reliable winds and a broad selection of conditions and activities for the watersports enthusiast including windsurfing, kitesurfing, and sailing on flat water or in waves. With its recently refurbished hotel, the sports centre offers a high level of all-round comfort for individuals as well as families.

Naxos cannot be reached direct by charter flights which is why the island has been preserved from mass tourism. You take the ferry from Athens, Mykonos or Santorini or fly with Olympic who are operating a domestic service twice daily from Athens during the summer season.

We are currently offering 5% off all bookings made before March 1.

To view more information or to make a booking, please visit our website at  http://www.oceansource.net/windsurfing_in_naxos_greece.asp

A Jem Hall / Oceansource.net clinic

Oceansource.net is a market leader in organising clinics and camps to some of the best locations on earth. Here’s an overview of what’s on offer in 2011…

The Kites Nest

Join Team Oceansource in Cape Town this winter (February 3-10, 2011) for a week’s worth of world-class windsurfing in one of the most spectacular places on Earth. Pro coaching will be on-hand with PWA star John ‘Skyeboy’ Skye who will be acting as guru and guide for the week, taking us to the best spots Cape Town has to offer and mixing it up with some alternative activities.

You’ll be based at The Kites Nest, Cape Town’s premier water sports lodge situated in stunning Sunset Beach. A family run business, Katie, an artist, has created a beautiful environment for you to relax in while enjoying the benefits of beach life. Brad, with his passion for the sea and an accomplished waterman, is able to offer help and guidance for all your needs.

Oceansource covers their destinations extensively with the aid of video and photography so you will have the opportunity of obtaining professionally taken photos and even video of yourself as part of this expedition.

For more information, please visit: http://www.oceansource.net/new_frontiers.asp

Habibi Beach Hotel

Following years of delays the long-awaited and much anticipated wave beach hotel in El Tur, Egypt, officially named The Windhaven has now opened its doors to windsurfers and kitesurfers alike. Now you can sample a spot of luxury in El Tur at a unique location like no other. El Tur is largely untouched by tourism meaning you can enjoy a no-news-no-shoes style watersports holiday whilst enjoying the widest variety of windsurfing and kitesurfing conditions available anywhere in Egypt.

Please view our official blog for a full update including video and photography: http://oceansource.wordpress.com/

Call +44 (0)1243 374615 or email bookings@oceansource.net for all enquiries.

We look forward to seeing you there.

The El Tur resort

Book a week in El Tur, Egypt and receive up to £100 off our listed prices throughout October. That’s one week at the Moses Bay Hotel from £316/€383 pp sharing including transfers, half-board accommodation and equipment rental. Flight prices from £266 return with British Airways (BA offer ends Sept 15).

More info on our website:

http://www.oceansource.net/windsurfing_in_el_tur_egypt.asp

We’re also running a clinic with Phil and Danielle Oct 13-18, details here:

http://www.oceansource.net/centre/clinics_getwindsurfing.asp

Call +44 (0)1243 374615 or email ed@oceansource.net for all booking enquiries. Direct bookings only.

See you on the water!