Professional Freestyle windsurfer

Sunday 27 February 2011

Competition update!



Right so generally feel like I've been sailing pretty well! Definitely been enjoying the pressure and managing to perform my simple moves and getting by on consistency. I went out of the 1st double against Ruenes who was sailing really well. Today in the 2nd single I was drawn against a Turkish guy Yagil and I knew I would have to sail well as he has been pretty consistent also. However I still managed to crash my opening move a Puneta which I think I have crashed as my opener in every heat without fail so I knew I was off to a good start!! Went switch straight after and stuck a fully planning one so it was ok! I made my Ponch, shaka, air flaka and double flaka on the way out but knew I was missing a move on the way in as I dropped my switch flaka. Luckilly I passed through by quite a few points. Next up Tonky! haha No pressure really so went out and had fun so I opened my heat with a fully planning air flaka and then stacked a biig shaka straight after. I was fully powered on 4.5 and was going for stuff I never normally would in a heat so went straight into a puneta 900 then went for a future on the way out but I couldn't quite get the whip out of my ponch!

The last few days I have been doing the live streaming commentary with Ben Profitt which has been pretty entertaining and I hope anyone listening has enjoyed it!

I have seen the draw for the double tomorrow and I have somehow got a by into the next round which is a bit luck once again. So I'll face the winner of Ian Mouro Lemos and Steven Van Broekhoven but SVB is injured so its looking like I will face Ian! Hopefully I can d enough to beat Ian and get into 9th position in the 2nd double but if I dont I will finish 13th again so it shouldnt be a bad overall result!

I did and interview with KP today that may make it on to ESPN Asia, I was talking about my 4.5 North Ice!

Keep up to date with all the pictures and live streaming at www.pwaworldtour.com

Have just got back from an extremely tiresome opening ceromany so need to get some rest. I think tomorrows closing party for the freestylers will be slightly more entertaining!!

Friday 25 February 2011

Competition Day 1


So a good first day for me really! I passed my first heat against a Japanese guy Yoshida but was then up against Kiri Thode- enough said haha! Kiri was on fire and it was amazing to watch. I sailed ok in the first heat and made all my moves on the way out but struggled a bit in the chop machine coming in! After I was done for the day I joined in with the live streaming commentary with Ben Profitt which was good fun. Very hard to see all the moves in the heat and I think hopefully they could maybe do a split screen view so you have a better idea of whats going on!


I did get a sneak preview of the double elimination and somehow Bryan and I are the only ones to have a by into the next round so thats lucky! It worked out that with 6 people in 17th place and 8 people in 9th place then just two people dont have to sail the first round so pretty lucky for us! So I will get the winner of the heat between Arthur Pollet & Anthony Ruenes. Bubble is up against a Turkish guy and if he wins will then go against Bryan!

Check out the live streaming via the PWA website!

Thursday 24 February 2011

Vietnam!


So I've been out here in Vietnam for just about a week now, on the way I stopped over in Bangkok for 3 days with Phil Soltysiak and Bryan Metcalf Perez we did the usual tourist stuff and had a crazy night celebrating Bryans birthday anyway enough said about that!!!
Its been windy all but one day so far since we arrived and the conditions are tricky to say the least. I was pretty glad to be here before the event to get tuned int the conditions but it changes quite a bit from day to day depending onthe swell, tide etc. One of the main issues is that the sand on the beach is seasonal and this year its moved earlier than normal, meaning that on part of the beach the waves are breaking into a concrete wall (the chop machine) sending chop straight back out again!!
It was pretty frustrating at first but the more people who showed up that seemed to be struggling as well definitely made me feel better for a day until the top guys showed up who dont seem to be phased at all by the chop. Gollito has been doing some insane pushloops and air chachoos of big bits of chop and Kiri is still doing all his air moves on the way in!!!
Most of the guys are here now ready for the event, we are registering tomorrow at 10am with the skippers meeting at 1:00pm and first possible start 2:00. All round there has been some brilliant stories of travel mishaps with a lot of people including myself so will be trying to compile them together and get them printed as its funny stuff! I had one of my best sessions today on my 5.4 Duke and Skate 100. The set up was amazing and I was doing shakas, ponches and air flakas no problem the sail felt so stable and I could hardly tell I was on a 5.4! The wind was a bit lighter so understandably less choppy which did help. Fortunately as well where we are keeping our gear for the event is just downwind of the chop machine so hopefully the sailing area wont be to far up the beach!!
Will start updating daily now the comps starting so check back for more info! Cheers!

Tuesday 15 February 2011

Brazil video!

Check out our video from Brazil last year! Just arrived in Vietnam and will have the story of getting here up soon! Watch in full screen HD quality is amazing.

Tuesday 8 February 2011

First video on my new gear

A few weeks ago I made the journey down to Whitstable in Kent to meet up with Adam SIms and Josh Wilmot. Simmsy had been telling me about their new toy! A 14ft video crane so even though the forecast was pretty average I thought I might as well go and check it out. It was really gusty and light so I used my 5.4 duke and skate 100! It was an awesome set up and so forgiving I didnt drop a move for about 40 minutes then I fell of doing a tack just as I took my hood off! From the looks of the footage the trip paid off! Josh is really talented and I like his style of editing. Watch in HD full screen its amazing quality




It was really cold this day and luckilly Josh had my new Ion rigging jacket to keep him warm whilst he was filming!
More news and pictures from last weekend coming soon! Still recovering after 4 days straight on the water!