“ The best part was just being out there with mates pushing the limits and having fun .”
19
Moving to the West Country to marry Zara in ‘ 96 we live in Clevedon on the Bristol Channel . We can windsurf from the house but conditions are much better a few mins away at Weston-Super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea . If you ignore the brown colour of the water both are great bump and jump wave spots . Downside is the massive tide . We only get a few hours either side of high and it doesn ’ t work that well with the wind from a SE direction .
The years have been kind and I am very lucky to have windsurfed in many amazing places around the world from South Africa to Australia . But number one has to be Maui . For its beauty and the wind / wave conditions it is still the mecca of windsurfing .
Back in the day ( early 90s ) I spent a lot of time training in Lanzarote . We were slalom sailing with local hotshots Bernardo and Nino Navaro at Costa Tequise when we were joined by the newly formed PWA racers all arriving for an upcoming race . It was like a who ’ s who of windsurfing . Anders Bringdal and Bjorn Dunkerbeck were blasting around , showing off , and having a great day . The bonus came later that evening when we were in a local bar . Up on the big screen they had been filming us all and there I was , with my hero ’ s , laying down gybes and grinning from ear to ear .
“ The best part was just being out there with mates pushing the limits and having fun .”
El Medano
I have just come back from El Medano in Tenerife where we spend our winters . Whitey , Jamie Dodds and Colin Dixon were all staying with us and John Skye popped over for the day from his home in Gran Canaria . We all had a great wave session up at ‘ the wall ’. It was some of the best swells we have had for a while and we made the most of it . But the best part was just being out there with mates pushing the limits and having fun .
Without sounding smug winters over the last few years in Medano have been awesome . In 2016 we admittedly had wave kit from 3.4m to slalom 8.6m , which meant we sailed every day , bar six days in the three months we were there . Can ’ t ask for better than that !
It is a truly amazing place to windsurf and very close for UK sailors with cheap flights a plenty . You have three areas to choose from in Medano , south bay , which is where most of the schools are and where the world ’ s best slalom sailors come to train over the winter with TWS . The wall , which is up-wind of south bay , is the best for wave riding and super safe . Then there is Cabezo where we have a house . This is the location for the PWA Wave Championships . Great surf and good for jumping but not for the faint hearted . It has a nasty rock called Godzilla that has eaten more fins and boards than you can shake a stick at . We love it . There is always something to do with good surf / SUPing , cycling and mountain biking . In addition our dog , Ziggy , loves being a Spanish perros !
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