Tuesday 9 November 2010

Hammered Again!

Well, got two more days at El Martillo, great sessions indeed although the wave got smaller every day. On day 2 we managed to get a few photos so you can get an idea of the fun to be had at this great spot... no pics of Paul unfortunately, as he trashed (and lost) his sail this day and then missed the last day altogether...

















Thursday 4 November 2010

Hammer-Time!


What a week! I´ve been out for the last five days solid- all on my 86 twin, joy! The first three days were at Punta with 6m waves making it a bit messy to say the least. I used my "local knowledge" to the max and got there early on the last two days to catch high tide when the wave reforms on the inside and cleans up (the first day was a bit hardcore at low tide when the wave tends to barrel when it reaches the outer reef!), making it a great session for jumping and riding. Check out the couple of pics that were emailed to me by an innocent bystander...
Yesterday the wind swung due east and I had an epic session in the morning at Majanicho- three people in the water, 5.3, logo-high waves and straight sideshore. Down-the-line perfection. Today the wind swung more southeast and, after watching all the monkeys trying to catch waves at Majanicho for an hour in flukey offshore wind, I was persuaded by my mate Wieberen to try a new spot called El Martillo (the hammer). Well, I was in for one of the best down-the-line waveriding sessions I´ve ever had- logo to mast-high glassy sets breaking in the middle of nowhere with peaks for aerials (if you had the balls), 25knots and beautiful sunshine. The only downside was the fact that every now and then I´d see almost dry rock in front of my wave when I dropped in on the set ones, a bit hairy but what a buzz! Typically, there was no-one taking photos so you´ll just have to take my word for it. Or you could ask Paul, who broke his UJ on his first wave and spent the best part of an hour getting aquainted with the rock formations on the inside before reaching the safety of terra firma, haha. The forecast is similar for tomorrow so we´ll be back and Paul will be armed with a new mast-foot, ready for revenge...



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.............