Taka and Vulcan sequences.

My good friend Chuckster took about 5000 photos during a recent clinic (report to follow very soon, as soon as Phil has written it, hint hint), and he spent hours and hours photoshopping these two sequences for me while he really should have been working. Check out his backloop sequence at the bottom. Thanks Chucky...

Get High Or Die II- The Sequel!!!!!!!!!

Wow, it´s been a hectic month! I´ve had clinics every day since the start of July so haven´t had any time at all to post on my blog- I apologise sincerely(ish). Over the next week or so, I will try to catch up on all the stuff I´ve been up to in July with pics etc, but first let me tell you about my comp in Punta- the Get High Or Die II.

After last year´s success everyone was psyched to do another one so we organised it last May and have been waiting for a windy weekend ever since!!!!! After the longest waiting period in competition history, the wind finally arrived on a Saturday and it was a goer!!!! With a full complement of 30 plus riders, this year´s event took on a truly international flavour when Irish windsurfing champion/legend Oisin Van Gelderen booked a last minute flight to join in the festivities.

Arriving at Punta early in the morning, conditions looked pretty awesome already as Oisin and myself set up the competiton area and when the first heat hit the water it was immediately obvious that the level at Punta has improved dramatically from the last event with everyone boosting huge airs. It turned into a stalled forward frenzy as friends faced each other in heats determined to out-stall each other. Notable performers were Machel, Jaume, Ilya and, of course Yannick with his clean doubles. Others who impressed were diminutive Victor Moncloa who wowed the spectators with a huge variety of cleanly-landed aerial moves, Paul O´Loughlin who sails twice a year but always goes BIG, Oisin with some pretty close double attempts and Ben (captain cannonball) with huge pushies and. of course, fantastic crashes.

The wind stayed with us all day and we manged to complete a full round of competition plus three expression sessions. The idea of the Get High is to bring together all the "local" riders and get them to push their own personal limits and also, and perhaps even more importantly, to have a real fun day together and I think we achieved this once again- the atmosphere was fantastic all day (and night) long.
When we finally wrapped up the flags at 6.30 it was off to the U Turn for the BBQ and prizegiving where the carnival atmosphere continued.... the winners were as follows:
WAVE COMP.

1st place Yannick Anton

2nd place Ilya Escario

3rd place Jaume Coll

EXPRESSION SESSION.

Most radical air Yannick Anton (double forward)

Highest air Victor Moncloa (back loop)

Sickest wipeout Ben Oliver (double pushloop to backsplat to semi-unconsciousness)

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who made this event possible; Extreme Animals for the amazing event T Shirts (and their patience). Wilagre Clothing for their prize donations. Gilbert Bara for the photography. Big Pieter for the car stickers that I see everywhere on the island now. The legendary Eric Gibson for the unique trophies. Bouke and Peggy for the use of the U Turn for the prizegiving. Captain Cannonball for motivating the lazy locals, and everyone who took part and made it what it was supposed to be- a fun day with friends....thank you all, til next year.

I struggled a little for decent video footage, most of the best sfuff (doubles, Ben´s wipeout etc) were missed but I stuck it all together anyway so you can get an idea of the good times we had that day. Enjoy...

Get High Or Die II!!!!!!!!

Well, it all happened on Saturday- we finally (after a record-breaking wait of 18 months) ran the "2010" Get High Or Die comp in Punta! It went off!!!! I will write a report when I get the video done, in the meantime you can check out the photos of the event here... www.picasaweb.google.com/100420044561704498288 .

And so it begins...

Summer is officially here! The wind has kicked in properly, we´ve had some outstanding sailing this last week all over the north of the island and it looks set to continue for the foreseeable future. Good news for Patricia, who is here for a few weeks and is spending a week with me for an "introduction to wavesailing"! It´s been quite an introduction so far, logo-high Punta on 4.7 and mast-high Puerto Lajas down-the-line heaven on 4.2! She has dealt with everything the conditions have thrown at her so far (taking a day off today because of bleeding hands, though) and her confidence in big waves has improved no end. No pictures, I´m afraid, as I´ve been right by her side the whole time, but I´ll try and get some in the next few days.
With the forecast looking pretty epic for Punta at the weekend, there´s a good chance I may hold the Get High Or Die II on Saturday or Sunday, so be prepared for the carnage which will certainly ensue... check out the vid of last year´s event and watch this space.