Rhosneigr

Unfortunately there was no wind for the double elimination in
Rhosneigr, so I had to settle for 4th place. Pretty disappointed
because it will now make it very hard to win the overall for the year.
Hopefully we will get good conditions in Tiree and fingers crossed for
a 4th event either on the south coast or in Cornwall. A massive well
done to Ben though. He has been ripping this last year and seems to
have a lot of decisions go against him. Nice that it finally goes his
way and he gets the win in front of the home crowd and his parents...
I now go with Nayra to Morocco for a clinic. The forecast is looking
really good so hopefully it will be a success.

Rhosneigr Wave Round 2

After coming to Rhosneigr for years the forecast finally delivered the
goods and provided us with howling winds and decent sized waves too.
The day started for me with a bit of slalom. Finished 4th in the first
round and had a lot of fun sailing on the RRD Freestyle Wave 85 and my
4.4 Boxer. I was cruising whilst the slalom guys were fighting.
Unfortunately I could only do the first round because the waves
started. Everything went well until the semi final against Ben
Proffitt. This is Bens local spot and he has it down. We had a good
fight, but he beat me on a split decision. I then had to go against
Phil Horrocks, another Rhossy local, and lost again in the losers
final. It means I finished 4th overall for the event which drops me to
3rd in the overall now. There is still a chance to come back in the
double, but the forecast is not looking great. Hopefully we get some
action.

Ireland photos

Just got back from Ireland and have some quality internet for the first time in a week. Here are a few photos from the event. The second one is from http://ir777.blogspot.com and the other 3 are from Si Crowther.

Ireland

I am out in Ireland at the first UKWA event of the year. So far its
been pretty extreme. Yesterday was probably the most extreme sailing I
have ever had. 3.6 totally overpowered, cross offshore and over mast
high. Hard at the best of times, but when you are trying to compete in
it, it adds a whole new dimension. I was lying 2nd overall after the
single elimination so had to wait for Ben Profitt to come through to
battle for 2nd again. He had sailed 3 heats already and in those
conditions it was so hard that he was half dead by the time we went,
which made it a bit easier. I then went on to face Jamie. The first
heat we both had good ones and I just beat him, forcing the double
elimination rematch. In the second heat however things didn't go so
well and in the end I had to settle for 2nd place. Still pretty happy
though and really well done to Jamie. He has been sailing so well
recently, with his riding particularly being another level at the
moment. Today I think we will be having an expression session which
should be fun as its still howling windy.