UKWA Cup 5, Christchurch, Dorset, UK

Sorry for the late update to my blog but since the death of my good friend John Kenny my mind has been on other things. On the weekend of the 18th and 19th of September i went across to the UK to take part in one of the UKWA Cup (coastal) events. I decided to get the morning ferry over from Roslare so left home at 3am to get over to catch ferry on time. I managed a few hours sleep on the ferry which was well needed and then carried on with my journey to Christchurch, stopping off on route to collect some new Chinook Mast extensions from Ed Britnell at K-Bay and finally arriving in Christchurch at 7pm.

I decided to rig up my 9.5m and get it ready for the next day so i wouldn't have to rig it the next morning and i would be able to relax instead of rushing around getting my equipment ready. Once that was done myself and a few of the other competitors walked up along the sea front to the local pub to have a few pints and catch up, get a pizza and then got back to the campsite reasonably early to get a good nights sleep ready for the next day.

I woke up the next morning but there was no wind so i went a registered and got my Starboard Phantom and XR Race 9.5m down to the beach ready for when the wind picked up which it was forecast to do and went to relax waiting for the wind to pick up. Just after lunch the wind started to fill in to 6-8 knots so we were called out onto the water for the first race. During this race the wind started to pick up a little bit more which i did prefer as i was able to get the board on the rail upwind which was making the racing a bit more fun. Once we had finished the first race the wind picked up again to around 10-15 knots but the sea was now getting very lumpy making the going tough for the second race and i was exhausted once i had finished so decided to sit out the next race and then made my way out for the 4th race but once out at the start line the wind was now dropping off and shifting around so the race crew made the call to finish racing for the day and we all headed in.

That evening it was back down to the pub for some freshly cooked fish and chips :-) and then i headed back early for some sleep as i was knackered and a few of the lads headed over to Bournemouth which i didn't really fancy. The next morning i woke up and my back had seized up and it was windier than the previous day so i made the decision to not go out unless the wind dropped of a bit as i didn't want to hurt my back any further as Speedweek is not too far away and didn't want to miss it due to injury. I was disappointed as racing longboards is a lot more fun in a decent wind and i had to be sensible in case my back got worse but the wind didn't drop so that was the end of the event for me.

I finished the event 1st overall in the Raceboard Unlimited fleet and 7th Master which i was happy with and hopefully i will be able to make it to Rutland for one of the days to compete in the last Inland event