Monday 27 December 2010

Epic Session...

To top off what has been one of the best Autumn/Winter periods I can remember I scored an epic session at Hierro a few days ago. Trundling along the northtrack on my way to Punta I passed by Hierro to be greeted by the awesome sight of mast-high, perfect sets rolling into this inhospitable spot, with the added bonus in the shape of a flat channel in the middle due to the extra high tide. A couple of friends were rigging and convinced me that it was "doable", so I rigged my 4.7 and, with more than a little trepidation, ventured out for my first ever session here. All I can say is WOW!!!!! The channel made getting out fairly easy (I only had to chicken gybe once!), and you could get some decent ponches and forwards if you timed it well. Once out the back, the sets were lining up constantly and, with only myself and three friends in the water, it was non-stop- wave after perfect wave, fully over powered on 4.7 on the wave but definitely my best sail so far this winter. You can´t beat the thrill of sailing a new spot for the first time, especially when you score it so perfect and with just your friends. A day to remember, thanks to Bob for the photos...







Well, the wind has died off now perfectly coinciding with the arrival of my "xmas friends" who can only look at the photos of the last couple of weeks and pray that the wind-gods send us some similar conditions over the next couple of weeks! The forecast is for some south wind tomorrow so we may get a wee blast at Flag, then I´m hoping we´ll score La Caleta on Wednesday. Let´s hope...

Wednesday 15 December 2010

Port Taka...

Anyone who has been following my blog will know that this summer I became moderately obsessed with learning the taka at Punta. I managed to get some level of consistency in the end on starboard tack and was looking forward to trying them out with wind from the left. Anyway, I´m pleased to report that I´ve had a fair degree of success! I´d love to say that I´ve got takas on both tacks but that would imply some sort of consistency/control, so I´ll just say that I have done takas on both tacks now, haha. Still quite chuffed, though. Anyway, check out this one below caught by the camera of Emmanuelle at Punta, you may have to click on it to see it properly.
This morning I scored a super good fun session at my favourite spot again- small waves, shoulder-to-head high, but great fun starboard tack riding with just two others in the water! Epic. The "real" wind is due on Friday so that was just a wee bonus before the proper wind and waves arrive...

A Few More Pics of Last Week´s Action...


Yesterday I got the rest of the pics from last week´s sailing at Punta in the southwesterly "storm". The wind has dropped off now, giving me time to heal a broken toe, and is forecast to return with a vengeance on Friday, from the southwest again, so it´ll be back to Punta and/or La Caleta at the weekend. Enjoy the pics...








Sunday 12 December 2010

Windy,windy,windy!


It´s been a while since I posted anything so you may suspect that there has been a bit of a wind drought over here- au contraire mes amis, we´ve had one of our best winter spells so far and it´s still blowing as I write! Last week we had a bit of a SW storm which brought 35kt winds and a good size swell. La Caleta, Hierro and Punta were the places to be with a couple of decent sessions to be had at Shooting Gallery thrown in for good measure. Photos are filtering in, here are a couple from a day at Punta on my 4.7 Ice and 86 Twin- small waves on this day but great fun with only three in the water and plenty of little ramps about. I should have some more pics up in the next couple of days so watch this space. Oh, and for those of you reading this in the snowbound UK or spanish mainland, it was a cool 30 degrees. Sorry.







Welcome to the site!
Aswell as regular features and news updates from Fuerte, I am going to be using this site to promote my windsurfing clinics.
After 15 years on the island,having competed in the PWA freestyle world cup and now representing Fanatic Boards and North Sails, I have decided to give something back to the sport which has given me so much over the years.
My aim is to provide clinics "tailor-made"for each individual, with a strong emphasis on practical in-the-water instruction, backed up by on-the-beach tuition and video analysis. The consistent conditions here in Fuerte make learning so much easier and, perhaps equally important, more fun than the typically inconsistent, cold UK - why not come over for a week and improve your windsurfing by a year!!!

I can help with any manoeuvres from carve-gybe through to advanced jumping and freestyle, just email me with your wish list and we'll take it from there! Over the next few months, I am going to be video-chronicling manoeuvres which you can check out on the right in my tricktionary sections. This will give you some idea of the things we can work on, or, if you can't make it over here, you may find them useful to help understand and break down a manoeuvre you would like to learn (hopefully, the slow-mo will help in this respect!).Just click on the trick and scroll down..........
Anyway, keep checking it out as I have loads more in my bag of tricks and will be updating as and when I get the footage.
If you're interested, e-mail me on gibboinfuerte@yahoo.co.uk
See ya in Fuerte?
Stephen.............