GETSPIKED - Bray Lake

el tornament 2nd place for me

2009-08-09T01:33:00.000-07:00

firstly sorry for not blogging in a while.
we have be rather busy in el tur. specifically organising and running our first very own windsurf competition/event.
the 'el tornament'.
catchy name eah.

we had lots of interest in the event with lots of talented competitors from egypt, slovina, russia and england taking the time to come and join in the action.

but some really good news for me was i managed to finish 2nd.
this i was really happy with as my first real event and it had given me the drive to do more.

it was a tougth fight to the final and i was sdailing well all day pulling off my tricks very consistasntly.
though i was helped with the odd dose of good luck at times. especially in the round against Kamal a very talented Egyption sailor working in dahab. unfortunatly for him his sail was slightly to small as the wind dropped for our heat. had it been blowing as hard as earlyer heats it could very easyly have been a different story. but i sailed well and was happy to go through.

in the semi final i was against my local rival max. he is the owner of the centre next door. it was a great round for both of us but i did enougth to edge through.
poor max though must have been a bit fatigued as he had to do a re run of his privious roud 3 times for tie break reasons.

in the final........... well all i can say is everything fell apart for me. i guess the fatigue got to me. i had been sailing brilliantly all day but in the final i spent the first 3 minutes swimming.
pity it was not a swimming comp as i might have won then.
i was disapointed with my performace in the final as i was just not up to my usual standard. but at the end of the day the winner Andraz Zan won hands down and i suspect would have even if i was on form as he was pulling off every trick in the book all day with power and style. it is easy to see how he won the event and fully deserved too.

over all it has left me with a really positive experience and has inspired me to push my limits harder and futher. i think ill be comeating again soon.

here are some shots from the event.

6-7-09 ponch

2009-07-06T23:57:00.000-07:00

right so the last few weeks have been quieter out here in egypt so i had a little holiday.
i went over to dahab for a few days to catch up with a few friends and to try to get a few new moves under my belt.
i got my first "bob" while i was there. im really happy abput this as its quite tricky. but i have not had any more since so i guess i have to try more of them.

on returning home to el-tur we have had a few days of strong winds 4.3 - 4.7 weather and we managed to get up to the wave beach whitch was very nice and scored some awesome sessions down at "the point"
the photo i have atatched is a ponch (a barrel roll like flaka......or a cartwheel i suppose) taken down at the point.
thanks for danielle for takeing the photo.

20/6/09

2009-06-20T00:38:00.000-07:00

wow the last month and a bit has been mega busy for us out here in El-Tur. Including a special visit for me from the bray lake club. it was fantasic to see everyone, and also great to see how much progress was made with everyones ability.
the next month is looking quieter for us out here. (who knows why as summer time in egypt is awesome)we are expecting the typical egyption summer forecasts of wind wind and more wind. this should give me the chance to try and puch for a few more moves.
talking of new moves..... i have fallen in love with doing e-sliders onehanded they feel sick! every thing is doubleing up with my new speedy approach to the moves. flakas on the wrong side and my shaka are getting super consistant now. woohoo.
got some great water shots too thanks to danielle. hopefully will have the chance to get a few more pics up with my new logoed up sails

summer time

2009-05-17T05:04:00.000-07:00

after a chilly (by egyptoid standards) winter summer time has definatly arrived in egypt with the tempriture being easly 35+ on the windless days. phew! just as well this is egypt and for the summer the wind blows more consistantly and more often. meaning windsurfing in just the shots.

13/5/09 some vid clips and update.

2009-05-13T05:26:00.000-07:00

hi
just working on a new vid at the moment.
i have been playing about with my kit lots recently, really tweeking the set up to push for some new moves. its helping . i seem to be going faster then before because of it allowing me to land some more tricks.

i have a link with some clips of some windsurfing of me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX0nJggrk50
this is a clip of a switch chachoo. (switch stance spock 540 were the intro jump combines a sail duck as the tail of the board pases through the wind) watch it and you will see.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmZZ-MghZD8
this is a back loop from the wave beach.
ok the technique is a bit off but its the only clip of a back loop i have on film so it will have to do. :)

sat 14 march 09

2009-03-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

so we have had some south wind action providing awesome bump and jump conditions for two days. since then its been blowing everyday for 12 days in a row ........ awesome getting plenty of time on the water with the NEW SAILS.
here are some pics :)

1//3/09

2009-03-01T01:09:00.000-08:00

march starts with a bang!

winds been howling here in el-tur and we are getting some good on water time.
was a supprise this morning, i woke up t find that it had rained in the early hours and more supprisingly....theres snow on the mountain.....yup even snow in egypt.

unfourtunatly the camras broke. so no picci's to go with this moths post but hopefully should have a new one soon. oh,some new sails too but more details on that when they arrive later this week.

28/1/09

2009-01-28T06:49:00.000-08:00

unfourtunatly i havt been online much recently, however, still been quite busy on the water. the weather has been good in i have had a lot of time to practice my moves. evrything is starting to look a lot smother which is good. :) i have also been to the wave beach recently and was a nice change to the flat water. was a good day for doing some nice jumps. got to get back up there again soon. i have put together a short movie and hopefully it should bee upladed soon

2008-12-23T01:00:00.000-08:00

heres a few pics one move is the intro to a flaka...the sequence is of a puneta (switch stance spock 540)

ho ho ho

2008-12-23T00:48:00.000-08:00

So its almost christmas and for me santa has comea few days early....i have recently cracked my flat water shakas ( shov-it in to a flaka = shaka = very cool = happy phil) and my ponches are getting very close, so now im feeling very pleasd with myself. unfourtunatly we have had 5 days of light wind but the forecast for christmas eve onwards should be good all week. (hope i can still remember to windsurf) it should be a very merry christmas..... i have never been abroard during christmas and its a little surreal but at least i get to spend the day on the water.
video needs updating with a few of the new moves and should be online in the new year.

happy christmas everyone

dont go night windsurfing. you break your board

2008-11-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

yup got a big old smash to the nose of my board. D'oh! was night windsurfing and managed to flonch right on to the beach (geinius). well i should hopefully have it fixed for tommorows wind.
have a few new pics for you guys and should hopefully get a movie on here soon once i have some more footage.

thurs 23rd oct

2008-10-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

well since i wrote my last blog its been pretty windy so i have been on the water re-learning my flakas, and im happy to say that i think i have them now indefinitely, woohoo (i always managed to un -learn this move).
my switch has come along a bit more with me getting more of my switch stance moves.
its nice to be in a location like this were learning and honing your skills is soo easy. the conditions are perfect and very consistant so you can practice one day and then do the same the next day in the same conditions.

unfourtunatly i have not been to the wave (habibi) beach but it looks like i might have a chance soon. otherwise i might get a little too comfortable on the flat water.

here are some pics.

egypt El-Tur, awesome

2008-10-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

Right then, so we have finally got our selfs out to egypt and are at ocean source el-tur. so far the first 2 days have been pretty windy.

our first day we spent down at "habibi" wave beach for a nice session in the waves, and for the second day we have decided to do a bit of a photo shoot down at the point, a nice location to kick up some nice ramps. i have a few pics of some shove-its. there going pretty well next i need to lear how to tweek them so ill be putting in a lot of practice.

two days of no wind now but looks like after that it will be windy again.

D'oh!!

2008-09-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

well then as you may assume from my last post that im in sunny egypt now. well im not! unfourtunatly XL going bust has thrown the plans back a while and should now be going on the 9th of oct. fingers crossed all will be ok then. dyeing to get on the water again.

countdown

2008-09-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

the countdown to Egypt has began,
for those of you who don't know I'm off to Egypt to work for a year on the 21st of September.
i will be working at a recently new centre in El-Tur called Oceansource ( www.oceansource.net ) and really exited to be going.
the nice thing about Egypt, apart from the lack of rain happens to be that the wind tends to be a little more consistent, so for me it should hopefully mean lots of time on the water to crack some new moves, another bonus will be that i will have an opportunity to upload loads more photos and videos on to my blog.
i shall be keeping you all posted.

first blog 8/9/08

2008-09-08T14:50:00.000-07:00

hey guys this is my first blog,

just had an awesome weekend down the fat face night windsurf on hayling island, and had a great session down at West Wittering a few days before. some more pics should hopefully be following soon.

Phil windsurfing

2008-04-02T05:53:00.001-07:00