Light wind speed challenge - Results

The wind picked up this afterboon and with the air temp touchhing 10C Andy had his first run out on his new GPS sails today. There wasn't time to get to the coast but he has a lake nearby to the house (about a 5min drive) so we threw his gear in the car and rushed to the water. Andy logs the first speed and kicks off the challenge.

25.328 knots (best 10 second run)

That water looks cold

The wind was gusty between 7 and 13 knots.

8.0m GPS, 125ltr Exocet, 42cm Select Fin and lots of neoprene!

Session over and a bit of blue sky

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A visit to the seaside - UK STYLE

Liz and I are in the UK for a few days without kit but we did take a trip to see the sea. It was in fact Liz's first view of the cold UK waters. The cold air and water brought back some memories for me!

Cold Whitstable sea front

Liz enjoying some cockles and winkles!

Great British sea food!

Tom we were thinking of you...

And wish we could bring you some of these delights!

Whitstable, famous for Oysters.

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Planning for a Maui Summer 2010

The good thing about our current jobs is that we get plenty of time off in the summer. I do wish that we had more time off during the year and miss the times in Wales when I had more regular breaks but we have two months this summer to get back to Maui. It is now that time when we need to start planning, moving two people, all our stuff 11,000 miles and back for two months can be a little tricky, especially when you have to negotiate a BA connection and their baggage rules (or should I call them jokes?)!

22,000 miles, 6 different airports and plenty of excess baggage charges!

To me Maui in the summer is very chilled, there are no real waves to speak of but its generally windy so I do get out on the water a fair bit and if you look hard enough and are lucky you can find the odd wave. I do miss the winter surf terribly and it is hard to leave at the end of August when the summer no wave blues turn into fresh optimism about the upcoming Autumn swells.

Relaxing South Side - Summer 2009

The last couple of summers we have both trained hard in the gym and on the road; this year will be no different, I do want to sail rather more than last year and I do want to surf more too. Some of the best days of Summer 09 were spent on the West Side with Anne and Tom, a cooler full of food with a bunch of surfboards and SUPs and I am looking forward to surfing with Tom some more. What made a huge difference last year was buying an 8'0" Mal (thanks Dave for the good price) which made picking up waves rather easier than my 6'2"! I actually have another new surfboard for the summer a Kazuma 7'6" Mal which should be good for Dumps (again thanks to Dave).

Dave riding the Kazuma on a Winter wave.

Tom introduced me to GPS speed last year and I am looking forward to seeing how fast I can go this year. One thing that I missed out on last year was the Maui Race Series and I may even give that a go! What I have learnt about the summer is that you can take one of two paths, you can either moan that there are no waves and talk about the Spring, Winter or Autumn or you can be proactive and get in and one the water daily and enjoy what there is to offer, I prefer the latter. Fingers are also crossed for another Molikai Speed Trip with Tom although this time I will not try to drink a beer on the way back - it was rather rough and I would have preferred sailing, they may do the crossing this year and that could be another challenge.

Tom somewhere near Molokai Summer 2009

So lots of action around the corner. Looks like we have our Sprecks house back for the Summer so all mapping out good. What really makes it for me is being able to spend so much time with Liz in and out of the water without the stress of work.

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Two days missed

It has been unusaully windy the last few days but missed the last two days because I couldn't get back from work in time. Fingers crossed tomorrow will deliver.

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This is what we are talking about!

Looks like tonights session could be fun!

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A good day

Feels great to get 3 sessions in today, fun to hook up with a couple of friends too and help them with their sailing.

I had more fun blasting about than I have had in a while, I was thinking Maui Race Series so really tried to work on speeding up my turns (even though I haven't got my slalom board yet) and going fast.

The wind was more consistent today that normal and more is on the way for this week.

This is the slalom area

Looks like more wind for Sunday.

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AMWAJ Speed - I told you it was flat!

Work up at 6:30 and it was windy so threw my stuff in the back of the car and made my way to the beach, I grabbed the camera so that I could show Andy and Tom just how flat the speed course is.

It is 15knots in these photos, this is taken from the wall looking down the course. When it gets windy there is no change, it is totally flat no matter how windy it gets.

My not so speedy gear! You can sit on the wall and wait for the gusts. Just watch out for the sharp rocks.

I am actually going the wrong way up the course here to get a decent shot

I told you it was flat... bring it on! 

More to follow....