Crocked...

Well, here I am sat on my sofa with a lot of time on my hands. While SUPing on Friday I took a bit of a tumble (check the photo above) and wrenched my neck and shoulder. Not too bad, I could still just about paddle so I donned my cloak of invincibility the next morning and went back in at 7.30. Bad move. I think the combination of strained neck and shoulder muscles, chilly morning air and lack of warm-up (oops) combined and conspired against me and my back went big time while I was out the back. Brilliant. I managed to swim in and get back to the van, then get home and I've been bloody stuck here, almost completely immobile since then. I. Am. Bored. Anyway, it could be a good few days before I'm up and about again so I'll leave you these photos of 'the day before' to peruse in my virtual absence.

Also, check out this short clip from Punta last weekend. Typically, we didn't get any video on the better days but waited until it went onshore and messy. I videoed Lucy when there was no wind then she videoed me when it was rubbish- what a team! Anyway, from the 20 minutes of video, I managed to scrape together this short something or other. If you fancy a bit of that, but in the sunshine and boardshorts, have a look at this... http://puretourism.co.uk/blog/learn-pros-windsurfing-clinics-fuerteventura and you could be blasting back and forth with us next year. Imagine...

1 minute at Punta. from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.

Wind, waves and sunshine..

Yeah, we've had a great couple of weeks over here with a perfect  mix of wind and waves meaning I've been busting out the windsurf kit and the SUP in fairly equal measures. Last week we had five days of strong northeasterlies meaning some nice sessions at Punta in very large but messy waves. Check out the pictures. The last few days have been sunny and windless so it's been out with the paddleboard and down to Majanicho at first light to (futilely it turned out) attempt to beat the crowds. It's getting so busy there with surfers and SUPers that it's a bit dangerous when it gets big. I caught some nice waves but I think it's time for me to head to some more secret spots now for the rest of the winter before I lose an eye or something....

More Clinic News...

Had a good couple of days this past week at Punta and Glass, great to finally get out on my new kit! I absolutely love my 87 quad. I was a little concerned that it may be a bit slow on the plane but was amazed by how quickly it got up and going and it's top end speed aswell. It's going to be my best friend this winter.

The Easter and summer clinics are filling up nicely now and we have hooked up with windsurfing holiday specialists Puretourism to promote them. Check out their site for more info here http://puretourism.co.uk/blog/learn-pros-windsurfing-clinics-fuerteventura .

Windsurf Clinics 2013

Following last year's hugely successful clinics, I have spent the past week organising next year's clinic dates.  Hopefully all the information you may need is included!  Read on and don't hesitate to get in touch with any queries or booking enquiries.  It's gonna be a great summer...

2013 Fuerteventura Windsurfing Clinics with Stephen Gibson

Dates

March

Saturday 23^rd March – Saturday 30^th March 2013

June

Saturday 22nd June – Saturday 29th June 2013

July

Saturday 26th July – Saturday 3rd August 2013

August

Saturday 17^th August – Saturday 24^th August 2013

Getting there

We have four week long dates to coincide firstly with Easter and then the summer holidays for those with families /commitments to term time.

Charter flights to Fuerteventura are available from London Gatwick with Easyjet and Thomas Cook on Wednesday and Saturday, both airlines of which will take windsurf kit at a fixed rate.  Please see their website for specific instructions on packing and charges. 

You will also find convenient flights from most UK airports on these dates (for example Cardiff and Bristol) and we’ll be happy to organise your transport /transfer once you have your flight times confirmed.

We would recommend that your book your flights ASAP as availability can be limited and the price may increase the closer you get to the departure date.

Accommodation

Luxury accommodation with full facilities is organised close to the town centre and beaches of Corralejo.

Costs

Despite the peak times of the clinics and with the inclusion of luxury accommodation and vehicle we price our clinics very reasonably, especially in light of the committed and high level of coaching from Stephen Gibson!  Prices listed below per person:-

·         Tuition, accommodation, transport (hire car to be shared by four people with two insured drivers) and four evening meals - £499

·         Holiday only with all the above except tuition for an adult (over 18) - £350

·         Child between 12-18 years - £300

·         Child under 12 years - £250

·         Tuition only if you organise your holiday at the same time - £160

Numbers

There is an availability of 10 places per clinic for our inclusive tuition holiday, but should you wish to travel and holiday with friends and /or family that do not windsurf there is plenty of space and availability regarding accommodation and transport and we can assist with your specific needs.

Flights

As set out above, please be aware that you will need to book your own flights.  We would recommend that as soon as you have booked your place on the clinic that you also book your flight.  There are lots of flights available from all major UK airports on the clinic dates and we would ask that you just let us know your flight information as soon as you have this available so that we can arrange airport collections and transport arrangements. 

Level and coaching information

Our clinics are aimed at improvers and will be tailored to suit everyone who attends.  The one-on-one time will work towards your personal goals and we will team up groups at similar windsurf levels /looking to achieve the similar goals on the days we have.  Ideally you will be competent at waterstarting and using the harness /footstraps as a minimum suggestion to work from.  At the more advanced end of the spectrum there is nothing that Stephen cannot teach you – from forward and back loops, pushloops, takas, shakas to advanced wave riding depending on what you wish to achieve on your week.  Please check out our facebook page to see Stephen’s videos and pictures from previous clinics /training sessions to give you an idea of the sort of windsurfing we do and the high level of instruction you can expect to receive.  Take a look at http://gibboinfuerte.blogspot.com/ and http://vimeo.com/user744739/videos for Stephen’s blog and video updates.

Stephen is also assisted by fellow Fanatic /North /ION sponsored pro windsurfer Lucy Robson who will be on hand to provide video footage and photographs and additional coaching.

Previous clinics have seen clients progress to tacking on small waveboards, learning and progressing carve gybes, working on jumps, waveriding and looping.

There is a great variety of spots in both the north and south of the island depending on the conditions, providing everything from waves to flat water freestyle and Stephen’s expert local knowledge gleaned from 17 years on Fuerteventura will ensure that we are always in the right place to make the most of the conditions on offer.

 

 

Equipment

Once you have booked your place on one of the clinic dates we will be able to give specific equipment advice to best advise you individually on what to take and whether to consider bringing your own kit or hiring.

Basic details of the trip and what’s included

·         All-inclusive clinic cost - £490pp (hire car transport included being car share or own car for friends /families)

·         Kit can be your own which you have brought out on the flight and you have paid excess baggage for or you can hire locally which we can organise at an extra cost

·         Afternoon snacks are provided each day on the beach but we would recommend that you bring your own lunch depending on your own dietary requirements

·         Accommodation is a luxury villa which includes a pool, hot tub etc and is located only 5 minutes from the beach /town centre for convenience

·         We include 4 evening meals in the price (1 BBQ and 3 restaurant meals)

·         Nights out including one big Saturday night around the town visiting the local bars

·         Light-wind alternatives including Stand-Up Paddle boarding, surfing and golf

·         Video and photo feedback (including CD of photos to each member of the tuition group)

·         Tuition for all levels over seven days

·         Awards ceremony and prizes on the last night

·         Daily tuition including one-on-one time working on your specific windsurfing goals with Stephen Gibson

 

It´s been a while...

Not much to report of late unfortunately. We have been becalmed for the past 8 weeks now over here, nothing at all! To be honest, it came at the perfect time, after a long summer of relentless wind and much adventure! I was also waiting for my 2013 kit to arrive, which it has now, so the calm period has been a welcome break giving me time to relax, SUP and organise my life before it all starts again.
My new kit is now in my van, ready to go and I´m chomping at the bit to get it on the water. In particular, the 87 quad as I have never had a quad before, always going with the Twin previously, and am looking forward to see how it goes this winter. I tried a fellow teamrider´s at Puerto Lajas last June and was very impressed. Given that between now and March we´ll get a lot of classic down the line days, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl so I´ll keep you posted.
Anyway, it´s glassy again today with a big swell so I´m off on my SUP, gotta keep busy, hard life...

What a summer!!!!!

Yeah, I´ve been a bit quiet on the blog front lately. The wind actually dropped at the end of August and there´s been no sailing at all since then. Not to worry, this summer was amazing and this rest period is quite welcome. Not that I´m sitting idle, however. Oh no, it´s been incredible for SUPing for the past couple of weeks and I´ve been getting amongst it almost every day (mainly getting battered and bruised and getting washed up on rocky outcrops), with a bit of luck I should get some pics from tomorrow morning´s session so I can post em up on here. In the meantime, check out these pics from the last bit of wind we had at Punta, right at the end of August. What a summer!!!!!!!!!

100% Totally Professional.

This week I had the great pleasure of a visit from one of my bestest pals in the world, Ian "Chucky" Ross. Ian had had a busy summer at home and just needed a get-away-from-it-all break, so he got in touch and booked a last-minute flight to come over and stay at Casa Gibson for three days (his previous three year ban on staying at ours for gross misconduct, issued by Caroline, had recently been lifted). Although he needed to relax, he was also very keen to get in as much sailing as possible and he hit lucky. After a calm period of almost a week, the wind kicked in on Chucky´s first day and we sailed the first two days at Punta pretty much from dusk til dawn, 8 hours at the beach, over 5 hours water time! Fantastic! The last day was looking good for Sotavento so we did the hell-drive (1h20, not that bad really) and ended up getting a bit skunked. The wind was pretty strong for our 4.5s and building when it just suddenly switched off after half an hour and never came back!

Anyway, apart from the sailing, we had an amazing few days. Anyone who has ever met Ian will know he is great company and incredibly likeable, and we had a great time sailing together, drinking beer and generally having a laugh.

Apart from relaxing and having a darned good laugh, we also managed to squeeze in quite a lot of informal tuition as there were a few things that Ian was interested in learning/improving on. Again, what a success- he was consistently landing vulcans by the end of day 1, we tweaked his starboard forward rotation so he lands smoother (and doesn´t burst his eardrum any more), and he is getting ever closer to that elusive first flaka! For sure, we would have completed the mission by learning ponches down south on the last day if it weren´t for that pesky wind (Ian has tried before with me and was almost sailing away from them when the aforementioned eardrum stopped play). After the first day at Punta, when we had ticked almost all his boxes, I got it into my head that day2 would be the perfect day for Ian to learn air chachos. I gently introduced him to the idea in a spanish tapas bar after quite a few beers, and he was very receptive (and/or very pissed). So, the next day, we arrived at Punta with a whole new plan. Chucky had holed his window the day before sliding across it after (another) flaka crash (get used to it, amigo, I crashed like that for a year before I finally cracked them!), and used the opportunity to spell out the words "DO IT" in duct tape on his window to remind himself, he said, not to be a pussy. Well, it must have worked as I saw him fly into his first ever air chacho attempt after about 20 mins on the water! Well done, I admit it was a massive crash, one of the funniest wipeouts I´ve ever seen as he ducked the sail mid-forward, missed the boom and went flying off about 8 metres downwind of his airborne kit. Brilliant! I still have that photo in my mind and hope it stays there for a good while. In the end, he tried three and the last one was perfect, just a little low; he´ll get them when he tries back home. I´ll let Chucky tell you in his own words. " So today Gibson started the punishment with flakas. After crashing into the boom and sliding across the reef a few times he mumbled something about AIR CHACHO´s. Off he went and did one. DO IT he said, so 3 runs later I am being done by it and flying through the air while my kit is flying through the air nearby! Funniest wipeout so far!! 3rd attempt was the best but not quite high enough (the wind and waves had dropped a bit!) But I managed to duck the sail and go into the rotation. I have to say though it is the scariest windsurf stunt I have ever tried...I mean why would you try to duck gybe in the air, while doing a forward?!! But I have to thank Stephen for being so good at convincing me to try it...It was emotional!!! (not in a gay way!!)" Fair enough.

I could go on for hours about the fun we had, the great sailing, the little in-jokes blahblahblah, but instead I´ll leave you with this little video which captures perfectly the seriousness with which we approached Chucky´s 100% totally professional training camp. Enjoy...

Chucky´s "training camp", Fuerte 2012. from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.

Puravida training, July 2012.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I spent a week (10 days actually) training with team-mate Lucy Robson at the end of June/beginning of July. I don´t need to go into detail about it as Boardseeker did a feature on her trip with pics and vids, but we got some cracking photos courtesy of SailboardsFuerte Photoshooting, which we weren´t allowed to share til the article was released. Well, it´s out there now ( http://www.boardseekermag.com/features/travel/one-week-in-fuerteventura.html ) so I can show you a few of the photos. There are loads so I´ll probably make a facebook album and share them all eventually. Anyway, for now, here´s a few pics from Lucy´s visit, and be sure to check out the Boardseeker piece above...

Summer videos.

You may have noticed that my blog suddenly went awfully quiet over the last couple of weeks and you may have induced that this was due to an unusual lack of wind over here at the height of summer. Wrong! The wind has been blowing non-stop (I´ve been told), but I´ve been living it up in mainland Spain on my holidays, kicking back with friends and taking a break from the "stress" of my day-to-day life, haha (see pics above).
During the month of July I spent a week "training" (read: sailing a lot and having fun) with my fellow Puravida/Fanatic/North/Ion teamrider, the immensely talented Lucy Robson. We got some epic conditions, epic photos and also shot a ton of gopro footage which my mate Jimbo has edited into this sweet video.

Gibson and Robson Puravida Team Training, Fuerte 2012. from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.

Kind of captures the mood of a really fun week of sailing. Shortly after, I had the pleasure of my good mate Hobbsy from Cardiff (already documented in a previous post, black eye ring any bells?) and he shot a load of video aswell and used his incredible editing talent to produce the following masterpiece. Check this out for an edit, enjoy...

Stephen Gibson, July 2012. from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.

As you can see, it´s been an incredible summer over here and I fully earned my ten-day sunlounger stint to recover from the non-stop action! It´s not over yet, though, by any means, I have my good friend Chucky headed for these shores tomorrow and the forecast is looking good. On the menu are vulcans, flakas and we also have a bone to pick with the ponch (burst ear-drum) from a while back. Gonna be great, watch this space...

Forward Clinic...

As promised, here´s the short video I took of the boys´forward clinic at the weekend. I love doing forward loop classes, great fun! To be fair, the boys had all done it with me before last year- this time they wanted to finish the job properly. Rupert (Naish sail) wanted to change his rotation to be able to go higher and start stalling them, Dale (green sail) who is 62! wanted to stop doing cheese rolls and do forward rotations, and Phil(yellow sail) just wanted to land a forward! Check it out and decide for yourself if they did or not. One thing the video demonstrates is the level of commitment you need to learn this not-so-difficult move- this was just the first 50 minutes or so and they carried on throwing one on every run for a couple of hours after. That´s how you learn ´em...

Forward Loop Clinic with team Panda. from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.

You might notice a short clip of Hayden in there (Tushingham sail)- he joined in the clinic but snapped his board on the 3rd run just chop-hopping onto a wave face, so his session was cut short in fairly spectacular style...

Clinical forwards.

OK, so we ran the forward loop clinic the other day and, as promised, I videoed some of the action from the beach (the first hour before I had to get in the water and help out a bit). Very successful forward clinic, it has to be said. I´ll edit the bits of vid this evening and hopefully post it up tomorrow. In the meantime, here´s a couple of pics from the same day...

During the clinic, we filmed this horrific attempt at a cheese roll by Dale and when we looked at the footage in slow-mo, we decided it was almost a totally new move so I made a short (piss-take) clip to unveil it to the masses. It´s been named the Panda, after the boys´ ridiculously inadequate hire car. Prepare to be amused (bear in mind that Dale is 62 this year. Respect!)...

A perfect Friday...

On a rare tuition-free day (I was doing a bit of spot-guidance for a group from Cornwall), I was all set to make the call to go to Punta when I checked the windmills next to my house and detected a hint more north in the wind than forecast. My local wind senses tingling, I rang my "man on the beach" down at Puerto Lajas and lo and behold he confirmed that the wind looked quite sideshore down there, albeit quite light. It being only 9.30 in the morning, I gambled that the wind would stay north and pick up as the day went on and, guess what? Yeah, the wind had already freshened by the time we arrived at 11 and we got straight on the water and had 2 hours totally to ourselves before we had to change down to 4.5s and 5.0s and other people started to arrive. Although the waves were fairly small (head-high) it was an epic, fun session with friends and we sailed for far too long, coming back in at 6pm. What a day! Check out the pics below, most from the little punchy wave in front of the parking area, great fun for aerials and jumping, and also the bit of vid at the end, stolen from a friend´s camera (thanks, Sam!), which gives you a better perspective of what a fun place this is to sail when it works, even when it´s small...

lajas from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.

Another week of wind...

The wind is still blowing during one of the best summer seasons I can remember over here- it´s been amazing! Last week´s student was my mate Simon Hobbs from Cardiff, who came over to crack the forward loop. Dogged by injury from the get-go (he blacked his eye trying 360s in 40kts at Sotavento, then wrenched his shoulder), it was always going to be an uphill battle but Si soldiered on and made good progress, critically disposing of the "fear factor", indeed almost cracking it on the last day before his injured shoulder stopped play. We had wind in abundance on every day of his stay and sailed every day at Punta, bar one when we headed south to learn 360s. All in all, a great week, shame about the injuries as he could have had the loop cracked for sure, but that´s windsurfing and he´ll be back and get it next time...

Si, flying like a local at Punta.

Duck gybe in the legendary lagoon at Sotavento.

How not to 360!

Punta again...stylin´!

...and again...

Today, I´m off to Punta to teach forwards again. If I get time I´m going to try to make a video documentary of how it goes today to post up. In the meantime, check out this awesome video Hobbsy made of the sailing back at home in Wales (when he wasn´t injured).

Untitled from SIMON HOBBS on Vimeo.