For Sale

It's time to replace my sails, due to injury some of the are still brand new and the rest have had little use and are in excellent condition. The KA Koncept i use for Speed Sailing but is equally good for blasting at your local spot due to it's forgiving easy going nature. The KA Kaos is a wave sail but equally good for high wind bump and jump.

Sail specs for the 2008 KA Kaos can be found here http://www.windsurfing.kasail.com/archive/2008/2008-kaos.html and the 2009 KA Kaos here http://www.windsurfing.kasail.com/archive/2009/2009_kaos.html

Sail specs for the 2012 KA Koncept can be found here http://www.windsurfing.kasail.com/koncept-2012/ and the 2013 KA Koncept here http://www.windsurfing.kasail.com/koncept-2013/

Photo's are available on request:-

2012 9.5m KA Koncept (Red/Black)(I have put my sail number and sponsors logo's on the sail but it's Unused and only rigged once) - £450 (520 euros)
2013 8.5m KA Koncept (Yellow/Black)(Brand New and Unused) - £490 (565 euros)
2012 7.5m KA Koncept (Purple/Black)(Unused since November 2012 Due To Injury) - £300 (346 euros)
2012 6.6m KA Koncept (Yellow/Black)(Unused since November 2012 Due To Injury) - £300 (346 euros)
2013 6.2m KA Koncept (Yellow/Black)(Brand New and Unused) - £438 (505 euros)
2012 5.8m KA Koncept (Yellow/Black)(Unused since November 2012 Due To Injury) - £300 (346 euros)
2013 5.4m KA Koncept (Yellow/Black)(Brand New and Unused) - £425 (490 euros)
2013 5.0m KA Koncept (Yellow/Black)(Brand New and Used) - £420 (484 euros)
2008 4.4m KA Koncept (Red/White/Black) - £130 (150 euros)

2009 5.3m KA Kaos (Black/Silver) - £150 (170 euros)
2008 4.7m KA Kaos (Orange/White) - £140 (160 euros)
2008 4.2m KA Kaos (Orange/White) - £130 (150 euros)

I also have the following recommended masts for these sails available:-

520cm 100% Carbon SDM KA Sails Mast - £300 (346 euros)
490cm 100% Carbon SDM KA Sails Mast - £250 (288 euros)
460cm 100% Carbon SDM KA Sails Mast - £300 (346 euros)
460cm 100% Carbon SDM KA Sails Mast - £300 (346 euros)
460cm 100% Carbon RDM KA Sails Mast - £250 (Spare top section included in sale)
430cm 100% Carbon RDM KA Sails Mast - £250 (288 euros)
400cm 100% Carbon RDM KA Sails Mast - £250 (288 euros)
400cm 100% Carbon RDM KA Sails Mast - £250 (288 euros)
370cm 100% Carbon RDM Tushingham Carbon Mast - £200 (230 euros)

New Van

I knew it was only a matter of time with my old van cause of the age of it, but when i got my mechanic to look at it to get some things fixed it was all gonna cost more than what it is worth so the time has come to replace it. Also having avan as big as i did was great for storing lots of gear but for everyday use wasn't very practical to use because of the size so i decided to look for a smaller van. Also a smaller van will be more economical to run so cost less in the long run :-)

I managed to find a 2003 VW Transporter 2.5TDI in great condition and i hope it to be the first of many Transporters i will own over the coming years.

Need it to store most of my windsurfing kit and also have a bed in there so i can sleep in it for extended trips away so keep an eye on my blog as to how i'm gonna convert the back to store my windsurfing gear and maybe give you ideas as to how to convert your own vans.

For Sale

I've updated my For Sale list and i'm selling the following:-

2011 Mistral Screamer 123 - 500 euro

2008 4.4m KA Koncept - 150 euro

23.5cm G_Sport Wave Fin - 30 euro

Gaastra Race Footstraps (Set of 4) - 15 euro

Everything is located near Tralee in County Kerry, Ireland. Give me a shout if you're interested in anything

Pictures of everything can be seen here http://irl-250.blogspot.ie/2010/01/for-sale.html

New Sponsor

I am very pleased to announce that i have become a team rider for Rockerline Surfware.

Rockline Surfware are a small extreme sports clothing company based in South Yorkshire, bordering the peak district in England. Captivated by the great outdoors, they love flowing with it's elements and are relentlessly searching for new lines, routes, waves and runs which define their products.

They make men's and women's clothing built to withstand the demands of the sports we love - surfing, skateboarding  kiting, climbing, biking, snowboarding and windsurfing, as well as for our day to day lives.

They believe in quality and believe that making a product which lasts longer and it's hard wearing and core aim is to make products that work for their riders and you.

I'm stoked to be representing Rockerline and being part of this up and coming surf wear brand.

You can check them out at the following places:-

Website - http://www.rockerline.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/rockerlinesurf
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Rockerlinesurf
Instagram - http://instagram.com/rockerline_clothing

Weymouth Speedweek, Portland, Dorset, UK 6th to 12th October

Apologies for how late this report is but i have been really busy since i got back from Weymouth and this is the first chance i have had to write this. Last month i traveled down to Weymouth where i would be competing in Weymouth Speedweek. I wasn't able to get to any of the Irish Speed Events now i'm living in the UK so i had been looking forward to this event all year.

I left Solihull on Friday afternoon, getting down to Weymouth around 8pm and got checked into the Chesil Beach Caravan site where i would be staying for the week sharing a caravan with a couple of mates who were also competing at Speedweek, Neil Hardwick and Chris Bates. As soon as i got everything into the caravan i headed straight down to the Ferrybridge pub for a couple of much needed pints before heading back to the Caravan for an early night to get a decent sleep for the comp the following day.

We all got up early and headed down to the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy where Speedweek is held and got registered but unfortunately the forecast for the day didn't look great with light winds forecasted and the best kit to be on was Formula kit which i didn't have but i hung around anyway to see if the wind would pick up, which unfortunately it didn't so i headed back to the caravan to get ready for the opening night party. As the forecast was for similar conditions the following day a few took advantage of that fact, including myself and had a great time.

Sunday had very similar conditions to the previous day and was formula weather again so i didn't head out as i wouldn't have got going on my biggest kit so it was another day of hanging around on the beach and unfortunately Mondays wind was even worse with racing called off just after Lunch.

On Tuesday though the wind had picked up but from an easterly direction which has to be the worst direction here as the wind is onshore meaning that there is massive chop and swell to contend with on the course. As the wind was blowing 20-24 knots but really gusty i decided to use my Mistral Screamer 123 with 42cm Vector Maui Fins Canefire Fin and 7.5m KA Koncept hoping my bigger board would get me through the lulls easier. It was finding the going hard on the course as the confused water state made it hard for me to pick a decent line through the chop but it was a fun day on the water considering how miserable it was and i managed to get some peak speeds just over 25 knots.

Wednesday brought very similar conditions with winds from the east again and winds around 20 knots but a bit more constant so i decided to use my Mistral Slalom 112 with 40cm Vector Maui Fins Canefire Fin and 7.5m KA Koncept. I had a couple of runs down the course until my day came to a premature end when i had a massive catapult half way down the course, winding myself in the process. After about 10 minutes in the water i made it back in to the beach and called it a day as my ribs were killing me and i didn't want to hurt myself more.

Thursday was a light wind day and another day hanging around for the wind to pick up which i did late in the day but only for the guys with big light wind kit and the wind only came through for an hour until the wind switched off again. For me it was another day hanging around.

On Friday we awoke to find the wind coming from a more Westerly direction which is offshore at Chesil Beach meaning the course was now parallel to the beach taking advantage of the flatter water so speeds would be a lot greater and you could see how happy people were now, but for me this was my chance to improve my position from earlier in the week. The wind was around 12-15 knots and still pretty gusty so i decided to use my Mistral Screamer 123 with a 42cm Vector Maui Fins Canefire Fin, Mistral Slalom 112 with a  40cm Vector Maui Fins Canefire Fin and Mistral Screamer 95 with a 34cm Vector Maui Fins SL9 Alfa Fin and rigged my 6.6m, 7.5m and 8.5m KA Koncept's so i would be covered if the wind picked up or dropped off. When i was ready to go out te wind had picked up slightly and was now around 16-18 knots but with some big lulls so i grabbed my Mistral Screamer 123 with 7.5m KA Koncept hoping the bigger board would help in the lulls and hit the water. Unfortunately the wind dropped off a bit while i was on the water but i still got a couple of runs down the course increasing my speeds from earlier in the week and stayed out until the course was closed for lunch. Heading back on the water after lunch the wind had dropped a little bit more to around 14 knots so i grabbed my 8.5m KA Koncept to go on my Mistral Screamer 123 and went back out on the water and got in some more runs. After about an hour a massive squall came through with winds gusting up to 30 knots just as i lined up to go down the course which meant i was now massively overpowered on my 8.5m but i got down in one piece, almost stacking it a couple of times and that run meant i had improved my peak speed for the week to nearly 29 knots and a 27 knot 500m. I headed back upwind hoping to get in another run but the wind dropped off and that was it for the day and the end of Speedweek.

I finished 46th Overall (24th Gold Fleet) which meant i hadn't achieved my goal of getting into the top 30 but i learned loads and know what i have to practice on for next year and i'll definitely will be back as it's the most enjoyable speed event i have ever been too. If you've been thinking about entering yourself i highly recommend you do so as it's a great introduction into competitive Speed Sailing

West Kirby, Merseyside, UK 29th September 2012

In the week leading up to the weekend of the 29th & 30th of September it was looking like it would be another speed session and as i was working nights all week, i checked the forecast when i got up on the afternoon of Friday 28th it was forecasting 20-30 knots Westerly going WNW mid morning but the tide was going to breach the wall at around 11am so it was definitely gonna be a another dawn session. As i had to be on the water at first light I drove up that evening arriving at 11pm, parking in the usual spot in Morrisons and went to get a couple of pints and relax before heading back to the van to get some sleep.

I didn't get too much sleep and when Mark Bailey woke me up just after 7am i was pretty tired but itching to get on the water. The forecasted wind strength was spot on so it was an easy choice to rig my 6.6m KA Koncept and got my Mistral Speed 73 ready with a 21cm Vector Maui Fins Delta Speed Fin which i've been wanting to try, got into my wetsuit and hit the water. Shortly after my first run the wind switched round to WNW earlier than expected which made the speed course very broad and also brought the dreaded death chop. It started to get hard getting long runs in when the wind switched direction, because when you bore of down the wall you ran out of power quickly but myself and Mark kept trying to get decent runs in. I managed a couple of 36 knot peaks, but the one good thing i learned from the session is the 21cm Vector Maui Fins Delta Speed Fin worked very well in the Mistral Speed 73, being rock solid and giving me the confidence going broad through the chop that was building knowing the fin wouldn't loose grip causing me to crash.

As it was a pretty high tide and the wind direction giving a bit of a tidal surge the tide started breach around 10am so myself and mark came of the water and got changed and went to get some food at Morrisons and wait for the tide to recede.

Shortly after the tide to get back on the receded enough to get back on the water just after 1pm the wind dropped off to around 10-12 knots but i decided to hang around to see if the wind would pick up. Luckily i didn't have too long and it picked up to around 12-16 knots so i rigged up my 7.5m KA Koncept got my 2013 Mistral Slalom 112 ready with a 38cm Vector Maui Fins ZX Fin and got back out on the water. I've had this board for a couple of weeks now and a board of this size is my most used board as they have such a big wind range. I managed to get a few runs down the wall on it and my first impressions of the board are good. It planes pretty early with a couple of pumps and the volume distribution is pretty even throughout the board so slogging off the plane is easy, unlike my old iSonic 111 which had hardly any volume in the nose. Having volume in the nose makes it easy to tack and it's also pretty easy to gybe, it's definitely gonna be a great board to have in my quiver :-D

We both came off the water late afternoon knackered but stoked to have had a good sail, packed up and i headed to a mates house where i was staying, got some food and had an early night.

The next day most of the boys headed out on the tide but i didn't have wave kit with me so i hung around to see if i could get out on the lake but the wind never really filled in enough to get out speed sailing so i headed back home to Solihull early afternoon hoping that it won't be too long before i get back here for a sail.

New Sponsor

I'm very pleased to announce that through windsurfingfins.co.uk i will become a team rider for Spartan Wetsuits and i will be getting measured up for my new wetsuit's at Weymouth Speedweek in a couple of weeks. I am stoked to be joining a UK based wetsuit company and look forward to representing them in the coming future. With over 50 years of experience making wetsuits Spartan make suits that provide ultimate warmth and comfort and i can't wait to get my new winter suit in time for this winter. Being UK based Spartan are also able to provide a service where they can alter any suit in their range making sure they fit every customer that buys one, which means i will be able to get a wetsuit that fits me perfectly. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my old wetsuit sponsor Pro Motion for their support over the past 3 years