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SWA AK 11

…….of windsurfing and partying found what they were looking for last weekend in the midlands. Pondlife VIII hosted by Nottingham University and Rutland Water gave the students of the UK a weekend to continue the SWA antics they had discovered just a few weeks ago at the National Student Windsurf Festival Aussie Kiss.

The light winds on Saturday morning provided the high volume of beginners, religiously attending all SWA events, with a gentle introduction to windsurfing. With Uni’s pooling kit and demo gear provided by Mark Hammond from Boardwise and Adam Sims from RRD there were plenty of boards and sails to choose from.
The usual inter Uni competition was alive and well. The students vented their boiling competitiveness with a tug of war competition (and some extreme inter Uni banter). A fierce fought battle with lots of sliding in the mud but it was Liverpool who turned out to be the strongest pullers (and it has to be admitted the most creative in the banter off, definitely the loudest).

Despite the light winds the competition continued onto the water with a SUP relay race. The rulebook (if there was one) went out the window, many Uni’s quickly opted for the tactic of slowing their rivals rather than going for all out speed. It was a race of furious paddling with a few tactical shoves. Having battled through a series of heats Southampton clinched first place in the final.

Throughout the day tuition was run for beginners and intermediates. The now legendary Matt Yeates expertly ran clinics for the more advanced sailors focusing on cracking those carve gybes. Any with more complicated moves on their wish list were directed to Adams Sims who’s always more than happy to offer advice.

At the end of the day the students headed back to Nottingham where they were kindly accommodated for the weekend by the Nottingham Students. Some hot drinks and pizza re-energised the windsurfers for the night ahead in Nottinghams favourite night club ‘Market Bar’. As at all SWA events fancy dress was compulsory, this time with the theme of children’s TV programs. The outfits were creative, the dance moves even more creative, the music was filthy, the drinks were flowing, the night was epic!

The next morning stacks of bacon sandwiches were produced to rouse the party goers and it was back to Rutland. The wind had filled in and the days competitions kicked off with the inter Uni team racing on the RRD Firerace boards kindly provided by RRD and Boardwise. These new design boards made intermittent planning possible in the light conditions. It was a tactical race with teams pumping hard to catch those all important gusts. Remember at the end of the year the overall winner of the team race series will take one of the RRD Firerace boards back to Uni with them!

Immediately following this ran the individual racing. With a Spartan wetsuit up for grabs for the first boy and girl in the advanced racing at each of the SWA events this year the competition did not slow down.

Racing was also run in the beginner and intermediate categories. It was very encouraging to see beginners who had only their first taste of windsurfing since joining the SWA a few weeks ago competently and competitively, sailing the out and back course.

Last, but by no means least, was the freestyle competition. All competitors were entered into one big 6 minute expression session where they used their best selection of sail spinning and rotating moves to impress the judges (Adam Sims and Mark Hammond). Extra points were awarded for the most creative dismount to conclude the routine (Matt Yeates full monty definitely scored the most points here).

Rounding up the weekend prizes were awarded, kindly provided by Boardwise and Robinhood Water Sports. Students could go home with their windsurf cravings satisfied and happy in the knowledge they only have two weeks to wait until their next fix of SWA brilliance comes to Bristol. More details on the:

> SWA website: www.swa.co.uk

> Facebook page: www.facebook.com/studentwindsurfingassociation
The results for the weekend looked like this:

Team Racing:

1. Bristol
2. Nottingham
3. Newcastle

Beginner Individual Racing:

1. Leo Halsey – Cardiff
2. Chloe Botting – Liverpool
3. Charlie (surname unknown) – Birmingham

Intermediate Individual Racing:

1. Tom Brophy – Exeter
2. Tris Gibbons – Liverpool
3. Jamie Richardson – Liverpool

Advanced Individual Racing:

1. Louis Morris – Bristol
2. Charlie Money – UWE
3. Jonny Price – Cardiff

Freestyle

1. Matt Yeats – UCL
2. Kirsty O’callaghan – Exeter
3. Will Jones – Cardiff

Thanks for an awesome weekend Nottingham.

Thank you to all the sponsors of the SWA this season, especially those that found the time to attend this event. The 2010-2011 SWA sponsors are:

SWA Nottingham Pondlife VIII

Last weekend the students of the UK were back out on the water. The second event of the year on the SWA calender hosted by Nottingham University and Rutland Water, Pondlife VIII was awesome. A super-competitive tug-of-war, some awesome SUP racing, some super-close team racing (on the RRD Firerace boards kindly provided by Boardwise and RRD), some of the highest standard individual racing ever seen at SWA events and some sick freestyle. That lot topped with two mental nights of partying all in all made a weekend to remember.

Thanks to Mark Hammond from Boardwise and Adam Sims from RRD for providing demo kit for the weekend.

Look out for a full write-up of the events and more event photos coming soon to the SWA website and Facebook Page: www.studentwindsurfing.co.uk / www.facebook.com/studentwindsurfingassociation

SWA Pondlife VIII

Get ready for SWA round 2: Pondlife – STUDENTS IN NEED! Yet another weekend of the Student Windsurf Association doing what they do best, windsurfing and partying!

With demo kit provided by the SWA awesome sponsors the UK’s biggest reservoir Rutland Water is really the only place to be on the 12th and 13th of November. With two epic nights of partying at Nottingham Uni on top of that it is an event you really can’t afford to miss.

SATURDAY NIGHT PARTY – FANCY DRESS ESENTIAL!

Theme: children’s TV programmes. Following the X-rated Aussie Kiss we have gone for a more innocent theme, so delve deep into your childhood memories and show your creative side.

Included in the Pondlife entry fee an awesome sweat, 2 night B&B, 2 epic exclusive nights out to Forum and Market Bar with a free drink, private bar and exclusive drink deals with pizza on the sat night! On top of that Pringles have kindly provided loads of tubes of crisps to be given away.

As the second stop on the SWA competition series our sponsors will be providing prizes for freestyle and team racing! And not forgetting, a good result in these events will take competitors ever closer to winning the grand series prize. As if you need reminding, the series freestyle winner will take home a brand new Fanatic Skate (thanks Fanatic/North) and the Uni coming out on top of the Team Racing will win an RRD Firerace courtesy of RRD and Boardwise.

More at www.studentwindsurfing.co.uk

Glasgow Uni Windsurfing Club

September 2011 saw yet another highly successful Fresher’s Week kick-off at The University of Glasgow!  The Sports fair gave the windsurfing section of the club the relaunch it desperately needed after years of being the club’s prepubescent kid-brother. (Glasgow University Surf Riders is the umbrella club that covers both windsurfing and surfing.) With the help of BOARDS magazine, and a motley crew of committee members, the club created a stall that attracted over 500 sign-ups for the club; many of them excited to hear that windsurfing was back on the agenda. This year the windsurfing division aims is to introduce more students to this exciting and dynamic sport. For students already involved in windsurfing the club will provide an infrastructure that allows students to travel to various events and competitions at a subsidised cost, making the sport much more accessible.

Already with Scottish Windfest under its belt the club hopes to travel all over Scotland taking part in lessons, trips and competitions.  The next big thing on the itinerary is the club’s very first trip to the infamous Aussie Kiss; thee student event held in Bude, Cornwall.  Last Easter the club ran a hugely successful (surf) trip to Fuerteventura, a feat the windsurfing division hopes to attempt later on this year!

Throughout the year we’ll be working alongside the rest of the the long established Surf Riders club (a club known throughout the University for its trips and general friendly and sociable atmosphere) but hopefully as their slightly cooler, older and more hip kid-brother!

The windsurf captain for Glasgow University can be contacted via glasgowwindsurf@gmail.com

Pondlife VIII

Student Windsurfing Association press man Will Jones has news of the next shindig on the SWA calendar…

It’s that time of year again! Everyone is just about fully recovered from Aussie Kiss so lets do it all over again. It’s time for PONDLIFE VIII – STUDENTS IN NEED!

That’s right this time the SWA are taking on innocent children’s TV programmes. After seeing what X-rated Aussie Kiss theme had to offer I’m more than sure some childhood memories are going to get ruined by windsurfers from all over the country!

For just £32 you get your very own limited edition Pondlife sweat, 2 nights’ B&B, 2 epic exclusive nights out to Forum and Market Bar with a free drink, private bar and exclusive drink deals with pizza on the sat night! Saturday night fancy dress compulsory so get creative! And of course, not forgetting, 2 days of windsurf fun and tuition and much much more!

Pringles and Red Bull will be around giving away lots of great freebies and all our amazing sponsors will be providing prizes for freestyle and racing competitions.

The tickets are live at www.studentwindsurfing.co.uk now – be there or be a sailor!!!

Nationally renowned, Aussie Kiss is the student’s introduction to the Student Windsurfing Association (SWA). On its ninth consecutive year AK is set to be bigger than ever and is expected to, once again, sell out in record time! Over 900 students will travel from far and wide to participate in the UK’s leading student windsurfing event. AK proudly boasts the greatest number of beginner windsurfers hitting the water of any national weekend event and is further accompanied by intermediate and advanced clinics, a freestyle competition and students team racing for their respective universities, there’s windy satisfaction for all.

FLOW (for the ladies of windsurfing) will be on hand to encourage the fairer sex to hit the water, by having a get-together to talk about ‘windsurf-chick stuff’. Red bull will also be making an appearance with their events team, to provide some extreme festival atmosphere. A guest-list of pro’s will be milling around, running clinics and potentially show-casing some of their skills on the water, with ExPix present to capture all the action.

Aussie Kiss kicks off with a day at the lake but the true carnage takes place at the Saturday night party, this year themed ‘Emergency’. Bude Holiday Park will be rammed with outrageous fancy-dress commitment and the blatant inter-uni competitiveness, which is seen on the water, continuing onto the dance-floor until the early hours of the morning.

Freestyle from last year

The Student Windsurfing Association has earned the attention of industry leaders, this year AK is supported by: Boardwise, Club Vass, Boylo’s, Expix, Fanatic, FLOW, Gaastra, GOYA, North, RRD, Severne, Spartan, Starboard, Tabou, Tushingham, Turfdog and Redcups.

Aussie Kiss is the first taste of the SWA experience and is taking place at Bude Holiday Park and Roadford water in Devon on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th October 2010. There are a further eight events organised throughout the university year hosted all around the country. For more information and event signup visit www.swa.co.uk

Some students, last year... Photo: Ian Edmondson / www.expix.co.uk

30^th April – 2^nd MAY 2010

CALSHOT ACTIVITIES CENTRE

SOUTHAMPTON

BUCS/SWA STUDENT WINDSURFING NATIONALS 2010

Date: FRIDAY 30^TH APRIL – SUNDAY 2^ND MAY 2010
Location: CALSHOT ACTIVITIES CENTRE, Calshot Spit, Fawley, Southampton, Hampshire SO45 1BR, www.calshot.com
Hosted by: THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON, CALSHOT ACTIVITIES CENTRE & STUDENT WINDSURFING ASSOCIATION (SWA)

Sponsors: Club Vass, Tushingham Sails, GOYA, Gaastra, Boardwise, Spartan Wetsuits, Kai Sports, Solent Sailboards, Beachbum, Plasma

Media Partners: ExPix www.expix.co.uk Boards Magazine, Windsurf Magazine

Adam Sims. Photo: Ian Edmondson / www.expix.co.uk

Now in its 10^th year the BUCS/SWA Student Windsurfing Nationals comes to Calshot Activities Centre on 30^th April – 2^nd May 2010. As part of the British Universities & Colleges Sports (BUCS) championships, the event, which is hosted by the University of Southampton, SWA and Calshot Activities Centre, is the SWA season Finale.

Starting with registration at the reunion party on Friday night, the competition will begin on Saturday 1^st May. Running for two days, over 300 students from Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Durham, UEA, Exeter, Imperial College, Liverpool, Loughborough, Nottingham, Leeds, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Southampton,

Saint Mary’s, UWE, Sussex and Swansea, universities will take part in a series of competitions.

SWA racing. Photo: Ian Edmondson / www.expix.co.uk

The beginner racing will take place on the sheltered water on the inside of the spit, with an emphasis on fun and learning. The intermediate racing will see a very large fleet going around a slightly more challenging course, with the signature SWA photo-finish on the beach. The Advanced racing will take place on the Solent. Competitors will tackle a long and tricky course, with a start/finish line just off the beach to allow the best view for spectators. The team race between universities and worth the most BUCS points, will also take place on the Solent using the SWA’s one-design kit, around a more simplified course. Last but by no means least; an impromptu freestyle competition will take place, wind and the racing schedule permitting.

The event has attracted huge support from industry who will be on hand with demo kit and on-land clinics. Red Bull are providing an events base where a university band will be playing on the Saturday afternoon and the ExPix team will be on hand to capture all the days action.

The “Saltylocks” themed boat party will leave from Calshot Spit on the Saturday night. On board will be the ExPix team with a display of images from the day’s action together with live updates of the night time antics!

The final prizing giving of the series will take place on Sunday afternoon. With prizes sponsored by Club Vass, Tushingham Sails, GOYA, Gaastra, Boardwise, Spartan Wetsuits, Kai Sports, Solent Sailboards, Beachbum, Plasma and ExPix.

Prizegiving. Photo: Ian Edmondson / www.expix.co.uk

Special thanks go to BUCS, Calshot Activities Centre, The University of Southampton, Southampton University Windsurfing Club, our sponsors and media partners and all the University Windsurf Clubs; without whom this event would not be possible.

More information is available via www.swa.co.uk, www.bucs.org.uk, www.calshot.com, www.expix.co.uk

On Facebook at www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120586397951737+ref=ts