CLUBVASS . COM
8COLUMN CLARE ELLIOTT
CLARE ’ S COLUMN
NEED FOR SPEED ? COME TO CLUB VASS SPEED WEEK
CLUBVASS . COM
What is it ? Speed week is a very special week hosted at Club Vass . It ’ s been taking place at Club Vass for over 20 years . It ’ s all about speed , racing , recording times , gybing and of course celebrating achievements for both men and women .
When is it ? Usually the second week of July when it ’ s nice and hot , the katabatic winds are in full swing and it ’ s the real start of the summer action !
So , Club Vass is alive and kicking , the wind has booted in for the summer , which means action ! Myself , Max Rowe , Pip Pardoe and Lucy Taylor have all just hosted a very successful speed week . Even more so this year as we had Dave White back on our team ! ‘ Whitey ’ as he ’ s known throughout the windsurfing world held the world production speed title many times . He ’ s a huge name in the windsurfing world and is an inspiration to the team and our guests here . He ’ s an extremely talented speed and wave sailor and he ’ s also helped many of us and our guests better their windsurfing and speed times throughout the infamous speed week .
Unfortunately just over a year ago Dave suffered a stroke , leaving him with very little movement down the right side of his body . Despite his stroke , being such a strong willed and powerful man , Dave has come a long way in such a short amount of recovery time . We are all very happy to have him back in action , on and off the water . His coaching , photography , his endless tips , tricks and jokes throughout the week have been a great help for us this speed week . Thank you Dave and family !
Another extremely positive result from speed week is we had a handful of ladies in the group of 25 . It helped having myself and Lucy running the week alongside the guys as it
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WIND SURFING encouraged the ladies to come and join . In the windsurfing world the word ‘ speed ’ can often put people off , especially women . Speed is commonly mistaken for big sails and strong men but what we really try to get across to everyone in the group is that speed is the key to comfort and if you ’ re comfortable , you ’ ll be fast . The ladies were a lot happy calling it ‘ comfortably fast week ’! We had times of 28 -32 mph from our group of ladies , who wouldn ’ t have dreamed reaching those speeds at the start of the week .
Speed week is a time for celebrating huge goals and achievements , it also co insides with Club Vass ’ anniversary party ‘ All white on the night ’ where the team and all the guests dress in white , and we celebrate , we then share all the results over beers and a bbq .
The result – Vassiliki is a flat water location , here at Club Vass , we have top end equipment , world class coaching , and the biggest bbq party Vass has to offer . If you want to better your windsurfing , be more comfortable and faster on the water , I ’ d definitely recommend joining our 2019 speed week guys and girls !
Clare Elliott is a pro coach for Club Vass Holidays . She made her PWA competition debut in 2016 .
Pic : Charlie Jones