West Kirby, Merseyside, UK 7th & 8th September 2011

I arrived up at West Kirby from Southend just after Midnight and checked out the conditions by the lake to see if i could park the van there but there was no chance of that with the van rocking in the wind when i parked up so i retreated to Morrison's Supermarket car park to get a bit of cover so i could have a decent nights sleep. I got up reasonably early to see Farrell O'Shea and Stuart Trunkfield already there getting in some runs down the wall. It was looking like 5.7m weather for me and as mine was out of action i decided to wait till the wind was forecast to drop a little to head out so went of the Morison's to get some breakfast.

When i got back the wind had dropped a bit to around 20-25 knots so i decided to rig my Starboard iSonic W53 Speed Special with 23cm KA Starboard Asymmetric Speed Fin and 6.4m KA Koncept, got changed and hit the water. It was pretty gusty but the 6.4m was feeling just right in terms of power and after a while on the water. It was also not that broad so you had to bear off into the middle about two thirds of the way down the wall and eventually i started edging closer to my GPS Max Speed PB with a 35.28 knot run. My next run was the exact same speed and i was starting to wonder if i was ever going to break my old PB old 35.86 but i didn't have long to wait as i locked onto a decent gust on my next run and was stoked to see a new PB on my GPS at the end of the run of 36.2 knots. I know it's not that much of an increase but i know now it's only a matter of time that i break 40 given the right conditions. After a little bit longer on the water i called it a day as i was getting tired so i packed up and went of in search of food.

I found a great place called The Moby Dick not far from West Kirby Marine Lake that does a great carvery for 5.99 and you can pretty much pile your plate full of food so it's a great meal after a long session on the water. After some food a few pints i parked the van back down in Morrison's Car Park and got some sleep ready for the next day.

On Thursday when i woke the wind had dropped right off so i went back to the Marine lake and parked up the van ready just to relax and chill out for the day and rest my body but around lunchtime the wind picked up to 20 knots so i quickly rigged my Starboard iSonic 86 with Vector Maui Fins Delta Speed Fin and 7.3m KA Koncept and got changed. Just as i was about to head out the wind started to drop so i quickly got my iSonic 111 with 38cm Vector Maui Fins ZX Fin and went out. I only got 2 runs down the wall before the wind dropped right off and after slogging around for an hour i called it a day, packed up and chilled out for a bit. Later that evening i went over to Slinky's which is run by Tristan Haskin's (Owner of www.gps-speed.co.uk) parents and had a few pints before heading of to bed to get a decent nights sleep to get ready for the drive to Farmoor the following day where i would be competing at Round 5 of the UKWA Inland championships.