World Premiere of The Windsurfing Movie 2

Living in Socal is GREAT when you get invites for premiers of windsurfing films that you can actual go to.

I made a mad dash up north to the Red Bull HQ in Santa Monica and had the privilidge of watching the first full version of TWM2. It was awesome; and I actually thought it was better than the first. But I won't say any more incase I ruin it.

All the big guys were there too; Goya, Levi, Kai, Kai.... you get the picture.

Trophy!

Been back in San Diego for a little while now and still buzzing from the crazy Pistol winds., and itching for more. Hopefully the S swell will show as anticipated this weekend to make an awesome Baja trip - I love going back to PSC every time.

Loving my little trophy :)

Goodbye Windy Oregon

900 miles later I'm back home feeling absolutely broken after constant 3.6 weather and an awesome time at Pistol River.

Thank you to Chris as always for being my companion and watching over me as I sailed at new spots along the coast not knowing what to expect. And of course for all the awesome photos I now have to remember this amazing journey by.

Pistol River Wave Bash 2010 - Day 4

Pistol River Wave Bash - Day 4 - Sunday 20th June

The wind did not disappoint and with steady 4.7 weather the final decider between Kevin Pritchard and Francisco Goya was on. Enough said really; watching 2 sailors of such calibre battle it out is pretty awesome and it was Kevin who took the win.

See below for the results.

A huge shout out has to go out to Sam Bittner who made this entire event happen. With no previous experience of running an event she seamlessly made it happen - no doubt with the support of many friends and all the sponsors. This was a pretty large milestone in US windsurfing because the last time a wave event took place was 10 years ago. From all the competitors and spectators: THANK YOU SAM!

Pro Mens

1st Kevin Pritchard

2nd Francisco Goya

3rd Kai Katchadourian

Women's

1st Ingrid Larouche

2nd Tanya Saleh

3rd Christine Vogt

Junior's

1st Zane Schweitzer

2nd Bernd Roediger

3rd Morgan Noireaux

Master's

1st Atilla Tivadar

2nd Macrae Wylde

3rd Rhone

Pistol River Wave Bash 2010 - Day 3

Pistol River Wave Bash - Day 3 Sat 19 June We have been at Pistol River for a week now, and today was the first day that the wind decided to play games. With

only the Men's, Amateurs and Masters semis and finals to run this was a little frustrating. The skippers meeting was

delayed from 12pm to 2pm to 3pm, but eventually at around 4pm the wind had filled in just enough, and it was decided

to start going through the final heats. It was a case of float out and wave ride in. Kai and Goya headed out and obviously made the light wind conditions look easy and the win went to Goya which then

put him through to the final against Kevin Pritchard. Remembering that Kevin had one the single 2 days earlier, if

Goya won then they would have to go head to head again. And ofcourse Goya won. Head judge, Matt Pritchard decided to

hold off the final head to head until Sunday for which the forecast looks much better.

Pistol River Wave Bash 2010 - Day 2

Day 2 at Pistol River, Friday 18th June

The wind was a touch lighter than the first day of the competition with the guys rigging 4.7 - 5.0 for the first rounds of the double.

The swell had also backed off a little from Thursday so heats started at 8 mins with 2 waves only to count and no jumps.

After a few heats the wind and ramps filled in with the upcoming tide. Sailors rigged down and heats were changed to include 1 jump.

Stand out sailors in the men's are almost too many to mention. Sean Aiken, Skylar, Whit Poor. There is a mix of the old school with the new school battling it out making no heat an easy heat

After day 2 they are left to complete in the semi's where Goya and Kai are to fight it out; the winner of which will take on Kevin Pritchard in the final

Sam Neal managed to hold on for a couple of heats despite slicing his hand open on his fin

and Timo managed to break his 2nd mast in 2 days during one of his heats giving him a couple of mins of downtime which led to being knocked out.

The standard of every fleet is incredible - most of the juniors have flown in from Maui; Morgan, Zane Schweitzer, Bernt, the list goes on but they sail almost flawless heats and can quite often give the pro fleet a run for their money. For this reason some of them are actually competing in both categories and doing pretty well.

Day 1 of the juniors saw Zane take the win, but Bernd managed to win the final in day 2. This meant they had to go back out for a head to head as a decider. By this time it was about 7 pm and the wind was easing up, but Zane managed to pull it out the bag to take the win.

The women's day 2 results leave Ingrid Larouche from the Gorge in 1st thanks to her good jumping and consistent waveriding. Myself (Tanya) in 2nd and Christine Vogt - another Gorge resident in 3rd. Special shout out to Fiona Wylde who is only 13 years old and competing along side the women and doing incredibly well.

As one of the event sponsors Robby Naish turned up as another surprise guest in the largest mobile home we have ever seen (see pic). He was out sailing downwind and putting on an unbelievable display as usual. He has entered the Shadow Box Jump Off so it should be a great show when it happens.

Pistol River Wave Bash 2010 - Day 1

Day 1:

Pistol River is a spot near a town called Gold Beach in the very Southern part of Oregon. USA. The Pistol River Wave Bash used to be a regular pilgrimage for US sailors on their wave tour, but the last time it happened was 10 years ago.

Sam Bittner, Maui resident made the huge leap and commited to make it happen once again.

For those of us who arrived a few days before the start of the event; we have been totally blown away with just how windy this place is non-stop, day after day. The guys have regularly been sailing 3.7's fully powered.

Wednesday was the first day of competition and full single eliminations were run across all categories.

The majority of the entrants have either come from the Gorge or Maui resulting in a star studded event. In addition to that Sam Neal also came over from the UK, and last minute surprise - Timo even came over with JC.

Again the wind did not disappoint - the guys were on 3.7's/4.2's all day and heats were run through until dark. The action was pretty awesome to watch and should get even more interesting when the Shadow Box Jump Off takes place over the weekend.

In the men's the first round results were:

1st Kevin Pritchard

2nd Francisco Goya

3rd Kai Katchadourian

California Dreaming - Heading North: San Francisco!

Next stop was the obvious windy city. Thanks to Matt we also got to take showers and sleep indoors :)

I've always wanted to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge just because it is so picturesque. As much as I hate flat water I enjoyed every second of this session and didn't want it to end. I'm also endlessly fascinated by the huge windsurfing scene here in San Francisco; always good to see.

(Thank you Chris, I love this photo)

California Dreaming - Heading North: Waddell Creek

We carried on cruising up the coast which is just as beautiful as everyone says it is. Fast approaching San Francisco I was keen to get another day of some sort of waves in. We eventually saw the next crew of windsurfers (and unfortunately also kiters) out at Waddell. It was more 4.5 weather with some little waves; more cross-on that Arroya but still super fun.

California Dreaming - Heading North: Arroya Laguna

En route to Pistol River, stop number 1: Arroya laguna, 3 hrs north of Santa Barbara turned out to be down the line shoulder high joy. Getting back into sailing over the past couple of sessions I certainly felt very very rusty after such a long time off. Either way it reminded me why windsurfing is so much FUN.