Nayra Alonso, e-4

ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT IN SA/ SOLO ME QUEDAN UN PAR DE DIAS EN SA

2012-02-15T07:53:00.005Z

Hola de nuevo!!

La verdad es que la última semana aquí en SA ha estado bien, pero no espectacular. Siempre ha habido algo de ola, pero el viento ha estado un poco ratito, más bien escaso... pero bueno, bastante divertido.

Finalmente hemos podido conseguir conexión Madrid-Las Palmas, ya que lo teníamos con Spanair, y ya saben que ya no funcionan. Pensabamos que nos quedábamos aquí atascados durante bastante tiempo! Tengo que decir que la verdad es que la gente de Turkish Airlines se han portado súper bien... Lo dije el año pasado y lo digo este también, vale la pena volar con ellos!

Hello again!!

To be honest the last week hasn't been espectacular here in SA, but it has been pretty fun!! There was always some waves, but the wind was a bit funky... but pretty fun....

And finally we have been able to find a conexion Madrid-Las Palmas. The last leg of our ticket was operated by Spanair and you know it went bust a few weeks ago. We thought we were stuck here for long! The Turkish Airlines people have been super nice and helpful to be honest. I said it last year and I repeat it this year, it is worth flying with them!

Some more pictures thanks to Dave White

LAST WEEK IN CAPE TOWN/ LA SEMANA PASADA EN CIUDAD DEL CABO

2012-02-07T09:46:00.004Z

Holaaaaaaaa......

Después de una corta expedición, poco productiva en cuanto a windsurfing pero muy gua y en cuanto a descubrir un poco más de Sudáfrica, hemos vuelto a CPT. Ahora mismo no hay condiciones, pero casi mejor, para recuperar las fuerzas! La semana pasada estuvo bastante buena! Parece que vienen buenas condiciones de nuevo, aunque la fuerza que viene me da un poco de miedito... Gracias a Dave White por las fotos...

Hellooooouuuuu....

After a short expedition to the east, not very productive windsurfing wise, but really nice to check out more places in SA, we are now back in CPT. Right now we don't have much wind, but I think it´s even better to get some rest! Last week was pretty decent! And it looks like good conditions are on its way too... although looking and the swell that´s coming, I am a bit shitting my pants....

Thanks to Dave White for the pix!

YESTERDAY....WAS GOOOOOOD... /AYER.... ESTUVO BUEEEEENO..

2012-02-03T08:25:00.001Z

Thanks to Dave White for the picture!

SOUTHAFRICA UPDATE! / DESDE SUDAFRICA!

2012-01-30T09:56:00.002Z

Holaaaaaaa!!!

ayayaaaayyy... que se me pasan los días y no escribo na´de na´.

Llegamos a Sudáfrica hace un poco más de una semana (uff... creo que diez días ya!). Y como siempre, SA no falla en esta época. Hemos navegado ya en Platboom dos veces, en Melkboss otro par, en secret spot #1, en secret spot #2, en Sunset....mmmmm y creo que ya está... la verdad es que no han sido condiciones épicas, mas bien medirocrillas, pero bueno... mejor que nada!!! pero ademas he tenido la suerte de que ir a jugar al tenis un poco! como me gusta! ahora... dos días después con unas agujetas de la muerte!!! a veces voy a correr por la mañana, pero es que aquí te tienes que poner las pilas súper temprano por la mañana si no te quieres asar de calor, y cuando digo temprano me refiero a que como vayas a correr después de las 7:30 te mueres del calor! (amanece a las 5:40!)

jejeje... la foto con el hipopótamo es el "replay" de otra que sacamos en mi primer viaje aquí creo que 2004? tengo que buscar esa foto y ver como ha pasado el tiempo!!! la otra es jugando con la go pro... creo que este no es el mejor ángulo para poner la cámara?

Heeeeeelo!!

wow!! the days pass and I foget to post things!

We got to SA over a week ago (I think about 10 days ago! time flies!), and like always, SA delivers. We have sailed in Platboom a couple of times, in Maelkboss too, at secret spot #1 and secret spot #2, in Sunset, mmmm and I think that's it! actually, conditions haven't been epic, but pretty all right. But I was lucky to go and play tennis once too, which I love! but I was dying for two days after! I am also trying to go running in the mornings, but it is hard, because if you don't want to fry yourself in the sun here you have to go before 7:30! First light here is at 5:40!

heheheh.. the picture with the hippo is a "reply" of one I took on my first trip to here, I think it was back in 2004??? I have to find it and compare how time has passed! the other one was playing a bit with the go pro.. i don't think that's the best angle to put the camera in??

AFTER XMAS UPDATE

2012-01-16T08:49:00.003Z

Hola! Hace bastante que no pongo cosillas en el blog, pero normalmente Diciembre es nuestro mes para desconectar un poco de lo que hacemos durante el resto del año.

Normalmente llegamos a casa después de un año sin prácticamente parar de navegar y es bueno parar un poco y tomar un poco de distancia para recargar las pilas y empezar de nuevo. Por lo menos eso es lo que me parece a mi.

Normalmente tenemos muchos días de buenas olitas en esta época, pero este año, a pesar de que ha habido buenos días, no ha sido tan bueno como otros años. Ha habido algunos días de viento, pero sinceramente no los he aprovechado bien, pero tenía ganas de recuperarme bien para empezar el año.

Además, ya estamos haciendo las maletas de nuevo para irnos a Sudafrica, donde se supone habrá viento y olas más constantes.

Estoy un poco dividida entre ir y no ir. Me encanta estar en casa y me cuesta mucho irme, pero por otro lado es muy guay seguir viajando y navegando en sitios diferentes.

Espero que el viento no sea demasiado "brutal" por allí abajo pueda utilizar más el 3,7 que el 3,0!!!

Hi there!! sorry for my lack of posts lately!! December is usually a hit of a "disconnection" month.

Normally we come back home after a lot of sailing accumulated during the year and it is good to get a bit of distance from it to recharge the batteries and start fresh and new. Or at least this is what I find.

Normally we get really nice surfing days in GC at this time, and although we have had some really nice days, it hasn't been at all as good as normal. There have been several windy days, but to be honest I haven't made the most out of them, but I think it was good to recover a bit.

Plus now we are just packing our bags again to leave to Cape Town, where it should be windy and hopefully wavy in a more consistent way.

I am torn about going. It is super nice to be at home and I hate every time I have to leave, but on the other hand it is really exciting like always to travel around and sail different conditions.

I hope the wind is not too hectic down there like usual and that I can use 3,7 more than 3,0!

I will keep you posted!!

S.A. WAVE CAMP WITH JOHN SKYE

2012-01-05T12:18:00.003Z

Hi Everyone!!

there are still a few places left in the Wave Camp in South Africa! if you are planning on going there and want to join, I think it could be super good, or if you are looking for a last minute holiday. Dates are from the 4th to the 11th of February.

All the info is here http://www.oceansource.net/john_skye_wave_camp.asp
Drop them an email ASAP if you are interested!

This is last year Camp video

John Skye Cape Town 2011 from Oceansource.net on Vimeo.

S.A. WAVE CAMP WITH JOHN SKYE

2012-01-05T12:18:00.000Z

VARGAS LIKE IN SUMMER / VARGAS COMO EN VERANO!

2011-12-19T08:45:00.004Z

Yesterday we had a pretty decent day at Vargas! it was nearly like summer with 3,7 weather for me and pretty decent size wave! it was a bit gusty winds because it was kind of stormy, but I had so much fun.... I missed sailing Varguitas like that so much..!! but man are my legs dying after the trekking! my God, is so pathetic!

The pic is from last week in Mosca, made by ffotosports.com

Ayer hubo un baño bastante bueno en Vargas! casi como en verano con 3,7 para mi y una olita bastante bien!!! el viento estaba un poco rancheado porque estaba como tormentoso, pero estuvo bastante divertido! ya echaba de menos navegar en Varguitas así.... pero, por favor! tengo las piernas hechas polvo de la caminata del otro día! es tan patético!

La foto es de la semana pasada en Mosca, hecha por ffotosports.com

QUE BUENO VIVIR AQUI! / SO LUCKY TO LIVE HERE!

2011-12-16T22:19:00.005Z

Desde que llegamos hace 2 semanas, prácticamente ha habido algo bueno que hacer en el agua cada día! a veces un poco de surfing, otras un poco de wind, y a veces las dos cosas en el mismo día! Gracias a Omar Sanchez por las fotos y a Rayco por el video! el video es con mi súper mini longboard de Fanatic, 7,4...

Since we arrived about 2 weeks ago we have had conditions for something pretty much everyday! Some days super nice glassy surfing, some other days a bit of windsurfing and some other times the two of them in the same day! Thanks to Omar Sanchez for the pics and Rayco for the video. De video is with my super nice mini longboard Fanatic 7,4... so nice..

HOME / EN CASA

2011-12-04T09:00:00.009Z

Finally we got home! and it feels so nice! it is sunday already.. time flies here! we have had everything already! seeing my friends, nice surf, even some windsurf! I missed the good session in the north, and the second day it was working I had a total shocker, don't get fooled by the pictures. Now I think it is windy down in Pozo and Vargas, but I think I am giving it a miss today: sore throat and a messy house, so better recover and get everything straight!

Por fin... estamos en casitaaaaaaa.... y ya es domingo!! el tiempo vuela aquí!! I ya hemos hecho de todo un poco: ver a los amigos, buen surfing y hasta un poco de windsurfing! yo me perdí el día bueno en el norte, y el día que yo fui tuve una sesión de lo más desastre, que no te engañen las fotos.

Ahora creo que hay viento por el este, en Pozo y Vargas, pero me da que no voy. La garganta un poco chunga y la casa hecha un desastre...así que me da que me resguardo y organizo todo un poco.

Windsurf pictures from ffotosports.com

Yo...
John...

Yo antes de pararme en seco...
Iballa..
Koster Kid....
Dario Ojeda...

BACK IN EUROPE, HOME SOON! DE VUELTA EN EUROPA, A CASA MUY PRONTO!!

2011-11-28T16:01:00.003Z

Yes, Maui is over... arrived in the UK two days ago. Nice and cold (not that I am going outside much to check it, but I think is cold outside). Well, Maui was pretty good, and actually this trip, If i hadnt taken any days off I could have sailed every single day..normally in Npvember we always get a few nice glassy days to surf, but this time it was just wind, wind, wind.. this pictures is from one of the last days... thanks Sofie and Paul again!

Si, ya Maui se terminó. Llegué a UK hace dos días. con bastante frío (no es que yo haya salido mucho a la calle a comprobarlo, pero me da que ahí fuera hace frío). Pues bueno, Maui estuvo muy guay, y si no llego a decidir descansar unos cuantos días, hubiese navegado todos los días. Normalmente en Noviembre siempre hay algunos días sin veinto y glassy para hacer surfing, pero este año hubo viento todos los días! Esta foto es de uno de los últimos días.. gracias de nuevo a Sofie y Paul

CONDITIONS ARE BACK ON!! / VUELVEN LAS CONDICIONES!

2011-11-22T18:15:00.004Z

After a week of pretty shitty weather and pretty much flat water, conditions are back on!! The sailing has been pretty fun with a nice size waves. Yesterday even with some sunshine!!! thanks to Sofie Louca and Jimmie Hepp for the pics. We only have a couple more days here so we need to make to most out of it!!!

A PERFECT DAY.... UN DÍA PERFECTO....

2011-11-21T07:47:00.003Z

God, what a day! not even if you plan it would have been better!!!

I got up really early, and had nice breakfast, a few hours of computing away some work and emails etc... Had nice skype chats with friends back home and my brother, which always cheers me up... nice lunch at home before heading to the beach... then, surprisingly nice session at Hookipa, side off shore winds, that although gusty, made the waves suuuuper nice. Then, after the sailing, straight to my friend Anne Marie´s place to have one of the best massages in aaaages! And after that???? another grrrrrreat dinner in Cafe Mambo! this time a romantic dinner with my husband, and this time we even had cheeeeeesacke! What a nice day!!!

Dios mío, vaya día!!! ni planeándolo me sale tan bien!!!

Nos levantamos super tempranito. Tras un super desayuno, un par de horas en el ordenador haciendo cosillas y organizando emails. Después consigo hablar por skype con mis amigos y mi hermano, que eso siempre me sube la moral!. Luego un poco de almuerzo en casa antes de ir a la playa. En Hookipa, una sesión super buena por sorpresa, con viento bastante off shore, que hacía que estuviese un poco racheado, pero la ola se quedaba super buena. Tras la sesión, directamente a casa de Anne Marie, donde me hizo uno de los mejores masajes que he tenido en mucho tiempo! y que más?? pues para terminar, otra cena increíble en Cafe Mambo! y esta vez terminamos con lo mejor, una tarta de queso que estaba.... ufff.. no te digo... Vaya día!!!

"MINDS WIDE OPEN" MOVIE IN CAFE MAMBO

2011-11-19T17:53:00.005Z

It was a full house last night at Cafe Mambo to watch the full movie this time of Minds Wide Open movie with some of the starring stars over there: Victor, Kauli, Brawzi and Ricardo.

Insane movie! the action is sick! the images are beautiful, powerful soundtrack... I loved it! cant wait to have my own copy!

sorry about the crappy picture... my phone kinds of sucks...

Lleno completo en CAfe Mambo anoche para ver la peli ya terminada Minds Wide Open con algunas de las estrellas protagonistas: Victor, Kauli, Brawzi y Ricardo.

Increíble la peli! Acción increíble, omágenes preciosas y con fuerza, música buenísima.... Me encantó. que ganas de tener mi propia copia.

disculpas por la pobreza de las fotos, pero mi teléfono es un poco caca.

GREAT DINNER IN CAFE MAMBO WITH JOHN AND BOUJ!

2011-11-15T20:03:00.004Z

Remember my favorite place in Maui? Cafe Mambo? well, still my favorite! and last night I enjoyed a very nice dinner, with Boujmaa and John.

They now have also opened and new branch in New York, just for the summer seasons, and they killed it over there too... aaannnd.. they also have a new website where you can find all the information about the Cafe Mambo: www.cafemambomaui.com. We like the place so much we are even there as part of their Sponsors riders!

The pictures are a bit blurred, but not because we were drunk! hehehe.. no flash! we had quite a laugh taking them!

MY 2011 VIDEO, FINALLY! / MI VIDEO DE 2011, POR FIN...

2011-11-13T08:30:00.003Z

Finally I put together a video with some footage I have collected through the year. It includes footage from the classic places we visit every year like Maui, Cape Town, Morocco and obviously home in Vargas, Gran Canaria!! I hope you like it and ejoy it.
Thanks to all my sponsors for their support: Fanatic, Animal, Flying Objects, Severne, Zeal Optics and Aeron.

Por fin he hecho mi video de este año con imágenes que he ido recopilando durante el mismo. Hay imágenes de los lugares a los que solemos ir como Maui, Ciudad del Cabo, Marruecos y por supuesto Canarias.Espero que les guste! Gracias a mis sponsors por el apoyo! Fanatic, Animal, Flying Objects, Severne, Zeal Optics y Aeron

ONLY EN MAUI / SOLO EN MAUI

2011-11-09T17:31:00.002Z

Yesterda my friend Anne-Marie and I went WindSUPing and it was super good fun. But the best was that while we were rigging up, we had nice music from this guys playing the saxophone right there on the beach... I like this place!

Ayer fui con mi amiga Anne-MArie a hacer un poco de WindSUPing, y fue super divertido. lo mejor fue que mientras montábamos estábamos amenizados por este chico tocando el Saxofón ahí mismo en la pick-up en la playa... me encanta este sitio...

FIRST PICTURES!

2011-11-03T21:00:00.002Z

One thing that´s super nice about Maui is that pretty much there is always someone taking pictures and then sharing them... It is a bit vain, I know, but I think eeeeeveryone loves watching pictures of themselves sailing...

Well, this time Paul Karaolides was on the cliff the other day taking pictures.... and here are some of me! (me, me, me, me... heheheh)... well and some from John too! Thanks a lot Paul!

It was a pretty good day sailing like I said in the previous post...

SNAPPED NO DOUBLE ELIMINATION

2011-11-02T22:52:00.002Z

Hi there!

In the end there was no double elimination for the girls fleet. No time. too bad! I really wanted to fight back... oh well.. no worries.. next time. huge congrats to the winners Junko, Anne Marie and Ingrid! and the all the other girls too!!

Now just sailing finally for free (heheh.. still my 5/6 waves under the belt were the ones on the hearts!) and it feels sooooo good!!! yesterday it was such good fun!!! loved it! even when I went straight on the rocks... ye... for sure! first day properly sailing at Hookipa = first day on the rocks... that's a classic... all good, nothing broken, so all perfect!

Hola!!!

Al final no hicimos doble eliminatioria para las chicas, no hubo tiempo. Una pena porque tenía muchas ganas de pelear y recuperar posiciones... no importa, la próxima vez intentaré llegar un par de días antes de la competi!! Muchas felicidades a las ganadoras Junko, Anne Marie and Ingrid! y a las demás chicas también!

Ahora por finnavegar por libre!!! (jejeje.. hasta hoy las 5/6 olas que he había cogido fueron en las mangas!) y que bueno! ayer estuvo super bueno! flohito pero con olitas.. muy bueno.... incluso saliendo por las rocas ya directamente.. si, típico: promer día navegando bien en hookipa primer día a las rocas... no falla... todo bien, nada roto, así que perfecto!!!

FINALLY IN MAUI/HOOKIPA CONTEST POR FIN EN MAUI/CAMPEONATO EN HOOKIPA

2011-10-30T17:24:00.005Z

Hello!!

Finally I made it to Maui after nearly 3 days travelling (counting a small stop in the UK). It is nice to be back.
As I set off travelling I knew there would be a contest going on at Hookipa and I decided to join even if I was arriving 1 day late for it.

So I arrive, went to sleep, woke up and went on the water, and my first waves were actually on the heats! I pass my first round and on the second round we had a “death heat”. I dont know what happened but on the heat was Junko Nagoshi, Anne Marie Reichmann, Tiffany Ward and myself… which was like as tough as you can get! I was a bit unlucky. I had one nice first wave and then some nice turns on others but just fucked up after it, so I didnt manage to put together a second wave connected all the way.. so I didnt make it into the final.
It is so annoying! Loosing sucks! I entered the competition thinking and saying to myself: just enter for the fun, your season is over, it is Maui and the locals will win for sure, you have nothing to loose and it will be good fun, no pressure, it doesn’t matter what result. Well…bullshit. When you are in a contest what you want is to win, or at least to make it to the finals, or what you have set as your goal. And the feeling of loosing is so horrible!! Even when you know it doesn’t matter! Even if you sail good… well actually, more if you sailed good! aaahhh… Honestly, I hate that feeling…

well, good job to all the girls in the final!!! go for it!

Well… take care everyone!

Hola!!!

Por fin llegué a Maui tras casi 3 días de viaje (con una pequeña parada en UK).
Al comenzar mi viaje me enteréde que iba a haber un campeonato en Hookipa, y decidí apuntarme aunque fuera a llegar un día tarde a la competi.

Así que llegué, me fuí a dormir, me desperte y directa al agua. Mis primeras olas fueron en mi manga! Pasé la primera ronda pero en la segunda nos tocó una manga super dura. No se que pasó con la eliminatoria que eramos Junko Nagoshi, Anne Marie Reichamann, Tiffany Ward y yo. Más difícil no se podia poner. Pero bueno… Tuve una ola buena la principio, y luego tuve un par de giros buenos en cada ola pero sin continuación, así que me faltó una segunda ola que conectara bien, así que no pasé a la final.
Que rabia da! Perder es un c*ñazo! Me apunté en la competi pensando y diciéndome a mí misma: hazlo para divertirte, tú ya has terminado tus competis, además es Maui y las locales ganan seguro, no tienes nada que perder y seguro que es divertido, sin presión, no importa el resultado. Bueno… ni de c*ña! Cuando te apuntas a un campeonato lo que quieres es ganar o por lo menos llegar a la final o a lo que te has propuesto como meta. Y el sentimiento cuando se pierde es horrible! Agr… incluso cuando sabes que no importa, es superior a ti. Incluso cuando has navegado bien, bueno, cuando has navegado bien encima es peor! De verdad, odio esa sensación!

enhorabuena a las chicas en la final!! a dar caña!!

Besos a todos!!!

foto by KP

AIRPORTS/AEROPUERTOS

2011-10-26T21:54:00.003+01:00

I am on the "road" again, and sitting here waiting for to board having a nice coffee, i realize that I really like airports. I don’t know why. Well, I really like them after we’ve passed the check in and if everything has gone well with the equipment!
But I like it after that. I normally really hate shopping, but at airports I really like to wonder around and check the shops. It is like if everything at airports were newer, more trendy or special, like if you couldn’t find it anywhere else! I have to hold myself, because it really makes me want to buy stuff…

Another thing is just to look at people. You can see eeeeeeevery kind of people all mixed up, all kind of nations, religions, social levels, etc… and I find that quite amusing to watch. I always see the most different people at airports.

Also, it gives you a special feeling. Being at the airport to go somewhere its always exciting, no matter what. Well.. that’s it.. I realty like hanging out at airports!

We are going to Maui... I cant wait to be there but also I cant wait to be back home! it was so nice October there!

Bueno, ya estoy con las maletas de nuevo, y sentada aquí tomándome un café, me doy cuenta de que no se porque pero me encantan los aeropuertos. Bueno, me gustan tras haber facturado el equipo y cuando todo ha ido bien. Pero despues de esto, me encanta.

Por ejemplo, yo odio ir de compras, pero sin embargo, en el aeropuerto, me encanta ver lo que hay en las tiendas. Es como si las cosas que hay en el aeropuerto fueran "especiales" No se, pero me gusta…

Luego me encanta ver a la gente. En los aeropuertos te ves a toooooodo tipo de gente junta, de diferentes naciones, religiones, clases sociales etc… es tan entrenido ver a tanta gente diferente, como interactúa cada tipo etc... es tan curioso.

Tambien el aeropuerto te hace sentir como diferente. Siempre es excitante estar en el aeropuerto sabiendo que te marchas a algun sitio…. Bueno.. pues eso, que me encatnta estar en los aeropuertos!

Nos vamos a Maui, y aunque tengo muchísimas ganas de ir, tengo muchísimas gana de regresar a casa, Octubre ha estado genial en casita!

MMMMM....

2011-10-19T12:55:00.003+01:00

No wind, and too big for me for surf means... baking time! check out the cheescake!
It was pretty good! even when we ate it too hot because some people couldnt wait!
Maybe this afternoon is not too big and I can go out already?

Sin viento y con las olas muy grandes pa´mi hacer surfing significa.... tartón de queso! Estaba muy buena, incluso cuando aún estaba muy caliente porque "alguien" no podía esperar!
A lo mejor esta tarde la fuerza ha bajado bastante y me puedo dar un baño!

AH! AND I FINiSHED 3RD!/ AH! TERMINE TERCERA

2011-10-05T15:55:00.006+01:00

I kind of forgot to mention, but I guess you guessed by the pics.. but I finished 3rd overall in the Waves, after Daida in 1st and Iballa in 2nd... pretty happy!

And super happy about this picture from Matthia Mueller
I look so tall! I am stocked! I wouldnt be surprised if he tells me he kind of touched it on photoshop! anyways... it made my day! hehehehe..

Se me olvidó mencionar que al final quedé tercera en Olas tras Daida 1a e Iballa 2a... Contenta!!

Y....super contenta con esta foto de Matthia Mueller. parece que soy super alta!! yo creo que la ha retocado con el photoshop.. pero bueno, la moral me la ha subido ya!

AH! AND I FINSHED 3RD!/ AH! TERMINE TERCERA

2011-10-05T15:55:00.001+01:00

AND IT´S OVER AGAIN....

2011-10-03T07:32:00.012+01:00

Finally it was a windless year in Sylt. But this didn´t mean we got bored there!

There were Tow-Freestyle sessions nearly every day.. which was pretty insane to watch. Then we also had another fun SUP race, but this time with my team we could only finish 3rd... not too bad though! God it was intense...!

Also, this year is the 30th Anniversary of Fanatic and we celebrated it with a nice bbq watching the beautiful sunset!

Then on friday it was the preview of the new movie from Andre Paskowski, Minds Wide Open, and all I can say is that I cant wait to see the whole thing and have it at home to enjoy it over and over... It is really nice to watch and it just makes you want to go sailing so badly!!

Another good thing this year was the number of girls that entered the event, we were 16, which was pretty cool. Daida was missing due to injury which is a big missing, but she will be back soon and I hope the fleet keeps growing with more girls giving competition a try.

Also, I have to say that in Germany you can find some of the best cakes I have ever had! which is not very good when you are not doing so much exercise! but you can kill an afternoon having coffee and cake at the beach!

You also have the party side of the event, which I guess you might have all heard about already... this guys I think needs a chiropractor now..

And finally we had the price giving... like always it was a huge thing with thousands of people there watching, which it is a bit impressive! Even Red Bull organized a plane flying over the crowd to celebrate Philip´s Victory of the World Title in Waves.

Like I said before, Daida was missing to pick up her winner trophy, so it was a bit of a sweet-sour price giving for us, but still impressive to be up there..

So ye... that´s it for this year... Big Congrats to all the winners this year!! And now back home for a little while... and then hopefully will have some nice conditions soon... like I said in Denmark, I have some nice new boards I really want to try and ply around with.... Best wishes to everyone!!!

WAITING FOR WIND/A LA ESPERA DE VIENTO

2011-09-29T08:34:00.002+01:00

Well, Sylt is pretty much windless at the moment. We havent had much at all, and it hasnt been enough not eve to finish a round of Slalom!!! However, the forecast is changing for the very last day and if the storm arrives before it says, maybe we could have something on Sunday??

In the meantime, the freestylers have been putting up shows for the public with Tow sessions. they are really spectacular and I think the public is enjoying. A few days ago we also had a SUP fun race contest, and my team Won! it was Brawzi, Kauli and me... it was pretty fun but I have to say it was pretty exhausting too.

Bueno, Sylt está practicamente en calma. No hemos tenido mucho viento, ni siquiera para poder terminar una ronda de Slalom. Sin embargo, el tiempo está cambiando alrededor del último día y si la tormenta llega antes de lo que se prevee, a lo mejor podríamos hacer algo el domingo?

Mientras tanto, los freestylers han estado haciendo shows para el público, con sesiones de tow con las motos de agua. Es bastante espectacular la verdad y el publico se lo pasa bien. Hace un par de días también tuvimos una carrera de SUPs y mi equipo gano! éramos Kauli, Brawzi y yo. La verdad es que fue super divertido, y he de decir que agotador!

Pics by JC/PWA

Celebrating!

Good fun at the race...

And Gollito working his magic!

SYLT!

2011-09-24T09:58:00.004+01:00

Here we go again in Sylt!!!

We arrived thursday night here in Sylt, and it feels like if we were here just a few weeks ago!!!

The event feels like it has grown from the previous years and the set up is a bit different... at least some changes, that´s good!!!

One nice thing here is that there are other fleets too, so we get to see frineds we havent seen pretty much for a year!!! the Slalom and freestyle fleet are not sharing any other events events really with the Wave one, so it is really good here to see pretty much everyone (still missing the Women freestyle and Slalom here).

I am trying to fight the temptation of the crepes, because once you have one, you pretty much cant stop!

The forecast at the moment is not very promising for waves, but up here the weather changes really quick and you never know... pretty much wake up and see. The next day forecast is pretty much the only thing you can semi-trust. We´ll see....

Aquí estamos de nuevo en Sylt!!!

Llegamos el jueves por la noche aquói a Sylt, y parece que estuvimos aquí hace solo un par de semanas!!!

El evento parece que ha crecido, y han cambiado un poco las cosas de sitio, por lo menos un poco de cambio no viene mal.

Una de las cosas buenas de Sylt es volver a ver a gente que hace mucho que no ves. Ya no hay muchos eventos en los que coincidan las Olas con los de Slalom y Freestyle, así que ves a gente después de una año.

Por ahora nos estamos resistiendo a los crepes, porque desde que te tomas uno ya luego no puedes parar! así que mejor esperar un poco!

La previsión para olas no es muy buena, pero aquí arriba el tiempo puede cambiar muy rápido, así que nunca se sabe. Mejor estar preparados!!!

CAPE VERDE WOMEN CLINIC

2011-09-20T17:42:00.000+01:00

Amy Carter (founder of Flowindsurfing) and Vickey Abbott, director of Cape Verde Imports, have organized an spectacular week for women who want to improve their windsurfing skills and enjoy some ocean holidays. In the beautiful Island of Sal, they have organized a week to windsurf and relax (and SUP and Surf!!) and I will be coaching along with them. It will be from the 12th until the 18th of March, and they have managed an special deal pack for accommodation (it will be in the lovely Surf Activity guest house), food, gear rental, car, etc... If the wind fails they have also SUPs arrange to improve your surfing, yoga sessions, etc... So I am sure it would be a wonderful week holiday too!

In the following link you can find all the information you need: www.flowindsurfing.com

Amy Carter (fundadora de Flowindsurfing) y Vickey Abbot, directora de Cape Verde Imports, han organizado una semana espectacular para chicas que deseen mejorar su windsurfing y disfrutar de una semana de vacaciones disfrutando del Océano. Han organizado una semana de windsurfing y relax en la preciosa Isla de Sal y yo estaré junto a ellas dando el clinic. Será desde el 12 al 18 de Marzo, y han preparado un paquete especial que incluye la acomodación (en la casa Surf Activity), comidas, alquiler de material, coche, etc... y por si el viento fallase, habrá tablas de surf y SUP además de sesiones de Yoga. Así que sea como sea, seguro que es una semana de vacaciones perfecta! Anímate!

Tienes toda la información en el siguiente link: www.flowindsurfing.com

IN KLITMOLLER

2011-09-17T08:48:00.000+01:00

Hi there,

I am sure most of you are updated on how the contest has been: pretty insane. And you must all be updated on the results, so I will only talk from what I enjoyed at the beach.

Seguro que la mayoría ya sabe como ha sido el campeonato: increíble. Y seguro qye ya todos saben los resultados, así que solo hablaré que como lo disfruté desde la playa.

It was really amazing to watch the action in real life. The guys were really putting up good shows on the water. I think watching Thomas Traversa waveriding made us all think that the conditions were a bit easier and more fun than the day before. Until obviously you went out on the water and realized that it was even harder... Then Victor and Ricardo were like always super impressive to watch. Again they made it look like it was not difficult conditions at all. But the Philip came on the scene and even I am sure everyone will agree that he blew everyone away. And it got more impressive when he had already secured the World Title and went out to finish competing but he was actually just celebrating. It was then like watching him sailing in Vargas, throwing all kind of things on the wave: really high 360,s, one handed goiters nicely landed on the wave... it was so good to watch!! Huge congrats to the new World Champ!

Fué increíble verlo en directo. Thomas Traversa surfeaba tan bien que parecía que las condiciones estaban mejores, más faciles y deivertidas que los otros días. Hasta que te metía tú y probabas y era aún más difícil! Victor y Ricardo, como siempre, alucinantes verles. De nuevo, viéndolos a ellos parecía que las condiciones no estaban nada difíciles. Pero creo que todos estamos de acuerdo en que Philip impresionó a todos. Cuando ya supo que se había asegurado el título de Campeon del Mundo, siguió compitiendo pero disfrutando al máximo, como cuando navega en Vargas, haciendo cosas increíbles como goiters a una mano caídos en la ola o aereos 360 inceríbles.... Muchas felicidades al nuevo Campeón del Mundo!

John missed a bit on the luck side. on his double elimination heat with Mevissen it was so close I could not even tell him who I think it might pass when he came off the water. It was a 3-2 result, with half point different on one or two judges. agggrr...

La verdad que a John le fatló solo tener la suerte un poco más de su lado. En su manga de la doble eliminatoria con Mevisses perdió por 3-2 y por nada mas que 0,5 puntos en alguno de los jueces en los que perdió. aaagggrr....

And for me... the first couple of days I was freaking out. I thought this year I wasnt going to handle the cold very well... but you juts need to put more layers on!!! And the Animal Technical clothes are perrrrrfect! so it has been really good. Plus helping out John, carrying gear here and there make you pretty warm!!! I have been out sailing a few times already, and the day before yesterday was the best. It was pretty good, but I was so over powered on 3,3!! I could have easily been on 3,0 nicely. I spent the day with some of the girls that always come to Klittmoller for sailing, and we have quite a good day "fighting against the elements!". Good job on them, like I said, it was about 3,0 weather and nearlt mast high ramps and they were fully going for it! Though girls!!!!!

Por mi parte, los primeros días pensé que este año no iba a resistir bien el frío, pero solo ma faltaba ponerme un par de capas más! y la ropa técnica de Animal es la bomba...así que sin problemas. Además, ayudando a John a cargar equipos entras en calor en seguida. He navegado unos cuantos días y antes de ayer fué el mejor. Estaba bastante bueno, pero iba tan pasada con 3,3! podía haber ido tranquilamente con 3,0. Pasé el día con unas cuantas chicas que vienen siempre a navegar aquí a Klitmoller, tanto locales como de Alemania, y fue genial. No veas las chicas! para lo fuerte que estaba y con casi un mástil de olas y ellas iban a por ello!!!

Now... I dont know... it seems like it might be some wind, but we need to ask the locals to know where to go... It is nice to stay inside too! I dont get to enjoy this very often, sitting indoors watching the rain drinking tea and coffee!!

Hoy parece como que hay viento, pero tendremos que preguntarle a algún local donde se puede navegar con esta dirección de viento. Y si no a disfrutar de estar dentro de casita tomanto té calentito y café con leche!!!

MADE IT TO KLITMOLLER WITH A STOP IN COPENHAGEN/ LLEGUÉ A KLITMOLLER! CON PARADA EN COPENAGUE..

2011-09-10T10:06:00.003+01:00

Ños! it was a loooong trip! woke up at 3:00 and made it finally to Klitty at 23:00!! crazy!!! I had a 5 hours stop in Copenhagen so I went to wonder around the city, which I have to say it is super pretty! people was so cool, all looking mega fashion and drinking wine in the sun...(while I was looking like a lost tourist tramp on my traveling track-suit!! ) really nice atmosphere though!
Today there is no wind here in Klitty but looks really good for the next days... I have a new board that I cant wait to try!!!!

Ños! se me ha hecho largo este viaje! me desperté a las 3:00 de la mañana y llegué a Klitmoller a las 23:00!! tuve una para da de 5 horas en Copenague, así que me fuí al centro a visitar la ciudad un poco. Es precioso y el ambiente es genail. La gente parecían sacados de revistas de moda, todo el mundo super "Fashion", bebiendo vino bajo el Sol (mientras yo parecía una turista desaliñada con mi "chandal" de viajar!!!) Hoy no hay viento aquí pero parece que los próximos días va a estar bueno... tengo una tablita nueva que tengo muchas ganas de probar!!!!

WIND IS BACK+INSANE VIDEO+ SOME FUN FACT/ VUELVE EL VIENTO+VIDEO MUY GUAPO+ALGO DIVERTIDO

2011-09-04T17:24:00.006+01:00

Hi there...

I am just back from a couple of days visiting my brother in Fuerteventura. It was a super nice time there just chilling and relaxing (knowing I wasnt missing any action makes it a lot easier!). He was recently on a trip to Tanzania and brought back the shoes that the Massais use over there, talk about recycling!!

And the wind is back now! today was kind of shitty, or at least I didnt have a very good session, but tomorrow looks like ot could be a really good day... fingers crossed!!!

and now, I really want to share this trailer with you. It is from the upcoming movie produced by Andre Paskowski, Minds Wide Open. I really like it... I cant wait to see the whole thing.. I am pretty curious about what have they done this time after the Four Dimensions one. I am sure it will be awesome!

Holaaa!!!

Acabo de regresar de visitar a mi hermano en Fuerteventura. Pasamos un par de días de relax total! (siempre ayuda el saber que no me estoy perdiendo condiciones buenas...) ël estuvo recientemente en un viaje a Tanzania, y se trajo los zapatos típicos que utilizan los Massais, eso si es reciclar!!!!

Y ahora el viento ya está de vuelta!! hoy estuvo un poco triste la cosa, por lo menos para mi, no tuve un buen baño, pero mañana parece que puede estar muy bueno. A ver si es verdad!!!

Y ahora me gustaría que viesen el trailer de la nueva película producida por Andre Paskowski, Minds Wide Open. Me encanta y tengo muchísimas ganas de verla completa y ver que han hecho esta vez tras su anterior Four Dimensions!

THE WINDS IS SHUTTING DOWN FOR A FEW DAYS/ EL VIENTO SE MARCHA POR UNOS DIAS

2011-08-31T12:54:00.003+01:00

Hi there,

the last few days have been kind of weird. There was a decent size south swell, but it didnt really work well anywhere, or at least not that I know here in GC. I went for a sail in Juan Grande, but it wasnt that good. The sets took so long and the wind was so off shore and gusty that the inside was pretty much dead every time. plus as soon as the tide pick up a bit you couldnt really do that much. In the end yesterday I decided to play safe and have a normal fun session in Vargas. nothing amazing, some fun.

Today the wind is already dropping I think, but it might be just to give a little break because it looks like it could be pretty good next week, but it is a bit too far to know, and everything can change.

I got this pictures from the Pozo contest from Roberto Lopez... Thanks!

Los últimos días has sido un poco extraños. Llegó una Fuerza de sur bastante grande, pero no funcionó bien, bien casi ninguno de los sitios que funcionan con esta fuerza. Yo me opté por Juan Grande uno de los días, pero no estuvo tan bien: las series tardaban demasiado y el viento allí es tan off shore que casi siempre te quedabas tirado en la orilla. Además, desde que subió un poco la marea ya no podías hacer nada. Al final ayer pense que era mejor ir sobre seguro y navegamos en Vargas, como siempre, un bañito divertido.

Ya hoy el viento ha aflojado bastante, pero parce que es un pequeño descanso, porque parece que la semana que viene puede estar muy bueno.. pero está aún muy lejos y todo puede cambiar.

Me han mandado estas fotos del campeonato de Pozo.... son de Roberto Lopez... gracias!

GIRLS CLINIC AND FUN CONTEST IN DENMARK/ CLINIC DE CHICAS EN DINAMARCA

2011-08-27T15:38:00.000+01:00

Hi there!!

Last year I met Nadine Lenschau and Caro Weber up in Klitmoller. They are two great windsurfers and very passionate about encouraging girls into the sport. That's why they had the idea of organizing a Girls Wave Clinic and Fun Competition this year up there. It will take place in Hanstlom, near Klitmoller, in Denmark, from the 16 to the 18th of September, so anyone that comes can also enjoy watching the World Cup that will be going on at the same time in Klitmoller.

The spot is super good and I am sure we will have a lot of fun sailing together!!

You can find all the information about it in this link:

Press Release

Come on and join us for some good fun wave sailing in one of the best spots in Europe!!! It will be good fun!!!

PILATES LAS PALMAS

2011-08-22T17:26:00.001+01:00

I have just joined Pilates classes with Diana Martínez in her studio PilatesLaspalmas.
I thought it would be good to balance out the sailing and put my body correctly aligned. I always stretch and warm up and go to the chiropractor every now and then, but I felt like this would help. Diana is a master at it. She is an amazing ballet dancer and has been practicing Pilates for many many years. The studio is super nice, it is really quite and they have all the Pilates machines, that I have to say they look pretty funny the first time you use them!! Ok, so far I have only been to 2 session just on my own. They are really intense and you feel it straight away! I will let you know how it works for me... I am sure it will be very beneficial!

Acabo de empezar clases de Pilates con Diana Martínez en su estudio PilatesLaspalmas.
Pensé que sería bueno para equilibrar el windsurfing y alinear el cuerpo correctamente. Yo siempre estiro, caliento y voy al quiropráctico de vez en cuando, pero sentía como que esto me ayudaría. Diana es una maestra en ello. Ella es una bailarina de ballet increíble y practica Pilates desde hace muchos años. El estudio es genial, es muy tranquilo y tienen todas las máquinas de Pilates, que tengo que decir que es bastante gracioso la primera vez que las usas! Ok, hasta ahora sólo he estado en dos sesiones solo con Diana y son muy intensas! Les iré diciendo que tal me van!

CHECK OUT JOHN'S NEW VIDEO... NIIIIIIIIIICE.../NUEVO VIDEO DE JOHN....MUY GUAPO!

2011-08-20T22:19:00.002+01:00

And if you think I am biased, check it out and judge it yourself! I think it is pretty siiik!

Si crees que no soy objetiva... miralo y juzaga tu mismo.. yo creo que está muy guapo!!

John Skye - Spring 2011 from john Skye on Vimeo.

SUPER GOOD WEEK OF SAILING/SEMANA DE BUENAS CONDICIONES

2011-08-18T15:52:00.003+01:00

Hi there!!!

We have had a really good week of sailing! So good to enjoy Vargas with nice strong winds but not too crazy and nice waves... proper good summer days....

Hola!!

Hemos tenido una semana super buena de condiciones... Hemos disfrutado de Vargas con viento fuerte pero no demasiado y buenas olitas...

VARGAS WITH FRIENDS / VARGUITAS CON AMIGOS.

2011-08-12T13:54:00.003+01:00

Gracias Robby y Carlos Amado por las fotos!

Me!

Jaime:
Timo:

Carlos Amado
Jaime, again:

Me!

GOOD WEEK AHEAD/ BUENA SEMANA POR DELANTE

2011-08-11T23:50:00.002+01:00

Ahhhhh... it is soooo good to be home for a bit!! it is just great!!!

but I tell you something. I always dream of coming back home and chill, having coffees at home, reading books, going sailing, coming back home, nice dinner... But instead, when we get back home, we have like about a million of laundries to put and hang and pick up and fold, etc... we have a million of things to sort out in the house, paper works to organize, emails and computer stuff to catch up with, try to fit a sailing in with the right tide, etc.. well for the moment, we are nearly done with all the house work etc and we have score some decent sailing in my beloved Vargas, with 3,3 fully powered up. I need to get stronger!
Looking at the week ahead, it is a good job that we have all those shitty jobs done!!

Ahhhhh ... es tan bueno estar en casa un poco! es simplemente genial!

Pero te digo una cosa. Siempre sueño con volver a casa y descansar, tomar café en casa, leer libros, ir a navegar, buenas cenas en casitaaaa ... Pero en cambio, cuando volvemos a casa, tenemos como un millón de lavandoras que poner, tender, recoger y doblar, etc ..(que poco glamour, eh?) tenemos un millón de cosas que arreglar en la casa, papeleos, cosas que organizar, emails con los que ponerse al día, ir a navegar con la marea buena, etc. bueno... pr ahora estamos a punto de terminar con todas las cosas de la casa, etc, y hemos tenido un par de sesiones buenas en mi Varguitas, con 3,3 fuerte. Necesito ponerme más fuerte!
En cuanto a la próxima semana, menos mal que tenemos ya las peores cosas ya casi terminadas, porque se ve que puede estar muuuy bueno!!!!

BACK TO REAL LIFE (NEARLY!) DE REGRESO A LA VIDA "NORMAL" (CASI)

2011-08-07T11:15:00.002+01:00

Hi all!!!!!!! (ok... voy a proponerme escribir en Ingles y español... a ver si duro!)

it has been nearly 10 days pretty much off line!! The adventure turned out to be a real adventure!! but hopefully you will know more about it soon. It was a great trip and a personal challenge in many ways!!!

On the other hand, it was so nice to come back to civilization! it makes you realize how comfortable and nice normal life is and really enjoy the everyday things.

Soon we will be back home in Gran Canaria! I cant wait, because to be honest, I think this is the year I have enjoyed my lovely Vargas the least!! so I cant wait to spend there.... nearly 10 full days!!!!! yeah!!! plus the forecasts looks pretty good for when we get there! cant waaaaaait!!!!

Hola a todos !!!!!!!

Han pasado casi 10 días más o menos desconectada! La aventura resultó ser una verdadera aventura! pero esperamos que puedan saber más sobre ella en breve. Fue un gran viaje y un reto personal en muchos aspectos!

Por otro lado, es tan agradable volver a la civilización! hace que te des cuenta de lo cómoda que es la vida normal y realmente disfrutar de las cosas cotidianas.

Pronto estaremos de vuelta a casa en Gran Canaria! Que ganas tengo!, porque creo que este es el año que menos he disfrutado de mi Vargas querido!no creo que haya navegado alli ni una semana seguida en todo el verano!!!! así que no puedo esperar para pasar allí .... casi 10 días completos !!!!! sí! además, la prevision se ve muy bien para cuando estemos allí! que ganaaaaaas!!!!

PROPER ADVENTURE AND SOME AMAZING VIDEOS!!!!

2011-07-29T17:15:00.004+01:00

Hi there!!

we are off again!!! this trip will be a big adventure I think!!!, long boat trip (where I think I am going to puke quite a bit.. niiiiiiiice... hehehehehehehe), some open sea windsurfing crossing, some camping in a deserted island and who know what we'll find!!!

but, for the moment.. I have to share this three videos with you, which are amazing!!! really... watch it..you will be so impressed!

First Brazinho:

Then Philip>

And finally the new Fanatic trailer:

GC

2011-07-26T15:03:00.002+01:00

Hi there,

I am back home this week before we take off again on friday. It is crazy, in summer, when you sail quite a lot, I am always wishing for some days to rest, but then, it comes days like lately and I cant help myself but to get bored! I enjoy been at home and stuff, but it is Summer time! we should be on the water with fun sailing.... It is light winds (still, maybe 4,2 for me, but thats not summer, summer is 3,7 or 3,3...) and pretty much flat as a pancake. Still, I think I might go down to the beach and at least get on the water. I really like late evening sessions in Vargas... the light is beautiful there... maybe, if I feel "arty" I will tale some pictures (I wouldtn put money on it though! ;-))

Well, take care people, I hope everyone is having a great summer too!!!! ;-)

FUN DAY IN SIAM PARK

2011-07-20T12:30:00.003+01:00

Wow! what a fun day!!!!!!
The forecast for yesterday said it wasnt going to be much wind, so Dani organized a day in the Siam Park water park. It was sooooo much fun!!! we got in at about 12 in the morning and didnt stop running for 6 hours!!! I think we did every slide abut 5 times!!! we were dying by the end!! my legs were killing me from running all day long!!! soooo much fun!! like little kids again! it was awesome!!! and then we had a session in the wave pool!!!! What a day!!! thanks so much to the Siam Park for inviting us and to Dani, Jose and the organizers for making it happen!!!

3rd!

2011-07-17T17:24:00.004+01:00

Yeee!! I manage to keep the 3rd after the double elimination!!

I am really happy, but not fully! ;-)
I think I didnt sailed my best during the heats, and that makes me a bit pissed off. I went out first thing in the morning of the last day of the double elimination, to kill the nerves a bit, and I was loving it...sailing full power and thinking: yes! I am in the zone! But as soon as the gren flag went up, my conciousness of the posibility of loosing stopped me from flowing as well as when I was free sailing. I knew I had to sail my best if I wanted to beat Karin, as she is solid, but still, It was like I had the handbreak on all the me trying not to fuck up: I was going for it, but not letting loose...
There was a bit of drama the night before too: I could only sleep for about 2 hours. I was doing well without much nerves, but after I went to bed and woke up with some noise at about 00:00, it was game over!! I was so tense thinking: I have to fall asleep, I have to fall asleep, I need to rest to be full power tomorrow... well, you can imagine: No chance. Everytime I fell asleep I would wake up 10 minutes later with the lightest noise. By 4:00am I was nearly in tears! But I thought: i have to be strong, this doesnt matter, this doesnt matter.... what a crazy head I have, sorry!....

Now that is over, I also think I should have sailed with my small board all the time. When we first arrived and went sailing for a bit, everything felt to draggy that everyone said I should take the bigger stuff. and so I did. But in the last day of comp it was pretty windy and I thought I would take my little board. God! the World of difference!!! I should have taken the risk of taking it because on the wave I could feel much better... but anyways.. this is for the lessons learning book, and you never know, It was a bit lighter those days, so maybe it was actually the right thing at the time.

like always huge congrats to all the winners!!!

well, like I said, I am really happy, and loved el Medano, well, el Cabezo. I think it was a great contest!!! we score some decent waves and good wind, and I think Dani Bruch did an excellent job organizing this event, so huge congrats to him and his team and Thanks for making it happen!. I hope next year we can come here again!!!!

AAAAAAND..... 4TH AGAIN....

2011-07-11T13:57:00.006+01:00

I dont know where to start from.... I lost in the double and I dropped to 4th...

I am not pissed off anymore, although it took me a while to get over it yesterday... I hate the double eliminations (when I have done well in the single I should add). I dont know if I hate them because I normally f*ck up on them or if I f*uck up on them because I hate them...

Normally I start the contest with tension but with a good state of mind... but after the single elimination is done, the tension grows on me. you have done well in the single but you can still loose a lot on the double. Still, if it is done straight away after you finish the single you are kind of ready for it, but normally what it happens is that you have to wait for days until they run it and more time until it gets to your heat. And that messes up my mind most times. I am still not really sure if I made mistakes or if I was unlucky, I think it was a bit of a mix of both. Karin did a solid heat and fair enough she passed. aaaggggggrrrr... but you cant help get a bit pissed off, with yourself I mean. You know what the worst thing is for me? when the single is finished and you have dont well, everyone congratulates you, but you know it is not over yet and that it is not for real... well.. I am just mumbling here.... But, the good thin is... if it happens again, I wont make the same mistakes, it wont happen again....

Here celebrating the single elimination:

The women Fleet was pretty nice with loads of new girls joining for the first time and doing pretty well most of them... that was good to see....

Big congratulation to all the winners!!!!!!!!

Now we are off to Tenerife tomorrow... We'll see what happens...

Pics by JC/PWA

POZO SO FAR

2011-07-08T10:01:00.003+01:00

Hi there....

ye... nice honey moon here in Pozo, with the wind and dust blowing into you eyes all day... hehehehehehehhehe... just kidding!!!

After a lot of waiting around the days before, the women fleet could finally compete yesterday. It wasnt the best conditions to be honest, but at least we got something and we got going into the competition. My first heat was a tough one against Evi Tsape. She is a really good jumper and she has spent quite a bit of time training in Southafrica, so her sailing is pretty solid. I was lucky to get two nice set waves and ride them well and I think that made the difference so I passed. Now conditions will get tough. the wind is pretty string today already and it is just increasing for the next few days... but it will be the same for everyone... Definetly keep an eye on the competition the next few days, I am sure is going to be pretty epic.

MARRIED!!

2011-07-03T20:53:00.005+01:00

Hola!!!

El pasado viernes 1 de Julio John y yo nos casamos!!!! fué un día maravilloso gracias a todos los amigos que vinieron a celebrarlo con nosotros!! creo que todavía tengo el subidón de la buena energía de todo el mundo!! muchas gracias por estar ahí!

Ahora la volveremos a la vida normal, con la competición de Pozo a la vuelta de la esquina, comenzamos el martes. Ay mi madre!!! va a estar super fuerte!!!

Saludos a todos!!!

Hello!

Last Friday 1st of July John and me got married!! It was an amazing day thanks to all the friends that came to celebrate with us!!! I think I am still naturally high from all the good energy from everyone!!!

Now life will go back to normal, with the Pozo contest just around the corner... we start on tuesday! Oh God! I think is going to be nuking!

PS: thanks Phil for this pic! hopefully we will have a lot more coming soon!

BACK ONLINE!!!

2011-06-26T10:03:00.002+01:00

Oh God!

Sorry about my lack of posting lately! I apologize!! I have good excuses though, but I am not going to bore you with them right now... just to say that I am 5 days away!!!

I am a bit gutted I havent sailed in a while... first I wasnt home for a week and then I got a bit sick: ok, it is not bad at all, just a bit of a cold, but I am in panic of getting sick for friday, so I am just staying at home watching at the webcam! i didnt even go down to check the action of the Red Bull Rockets a couple of days ago... today I feel pretty good already (after starting taking some kick ass pills last night), but I hope I can manage to stop myself from going on the water today and get fully well and go sailing tomorrow...

all the wave contests will start soon... so get ready for some action...

BACK IN GC, MOROCCO WS PRETTY NICE!

2011-06-07T09:16:00.005+01:00

Hi there,

Just got back to GC a couple of days ago, and the weather is still not very like summer over here, it is still not nuking winds... weirrrrrrdddd....

But Morocco was pretty nice, like always.... nice sailing, nice SUPing, super nice people, really nice food.... all in all, really good!!!

The new Lawaima place from Fetah is opened now and it is really cool to chill and eat there before and after your sessions.... cant wait to next year!

A LOT HAS HAPPENED HERE IN MOROCCO..

2011-06-02T09:50:00.007+01:00

It is about ten days since we are here in our yearly Moroccan clinics. And we have had a bit of everything!

The first week was a bit unlucky, and didnt really get the proper Moulay strong wind wonditions. But we did get a bit of everything: a bit of light starboardtack with some nice waves, some glassy surfing and SUPing and even some portack sailing which is very unusual, so in the end, we were on the water everyday....

Then now we are half way our second week and it is going really well. the wind has clicked and some more swell has arrived and we are starting to feel the good ache of sailing on the body!

Looks like we will have some more sailing all week... !

OFF TO MOROCCO AND IT LOOKS LIKE WE WILL SCORE!

2011-05-21T14:29:00.002+01:00

Hi there!

we are just packing our bags again and we are off to Morocco. just checked the forecast, and if it staying like it is, I think we are going to score some decent sailing conditions! maybe the first few days a bit sketchy, but it looks like it will be on! cant wait! it is always good fun over there!

NICE SURF AND NOW WINDSURF! MOROCCO NEXT!

2011-05-19T09:50:00.005+01:00

Hi all!!!

GC was super good the last days!! ok.... not much wind but the waves were super nice! first in the south and after in the North... really nice. one day we even could sail with a bit of straboardtack off shore wind, in some down the line conditions I havent seen here in GC in a long time. felt really good.

Now it seems like the wind is back, and I am now off to the beach to check it out.

On Sunday we are leaving to Moulay for our yearly clinics there. No matter what, Moulay always delivers really nice conditions, and we are sure this year will be the same! fingers crossed!!! we still have a couple of places left for the second week (starting the 30th of May) so if you want to have a last minute scape, join us. you will find all the info on the Oceansource.net website.

this pic is from Dani Miquel on his blog 60knots from one of these days I told you it was really nice surf. I wasn´t exaggerating, was I?

FLYING OBJECTS RELEASES THE 2011 PRODUCT RANGE

2011-05-11T08:41:00.002+01:00

I always say how good the FO stuff is, but the truth is, when you travel a lot, you appreciate this things a lot. The roller bags are light and super easy to travel with and the triple boardbags are super light so you dont waist weight carrying a huge bag... then they have all the bits you need to travel comfy, like the travel bags, backpacks, etc... i dont know, when you use them, then you realise how good they are. anyways, now they have released their new 2011 products, so have a look at their site so you can see for youself... www.flyingobjects.com.au

THREE YOUNG WINDSURFERS...

2011-05-10T10:24:00.004+01:00

Moritz, Pablo and Alessio are working really hard not only on the water but out of the water too with a coach. They are part of the Animal groms project....

TRADE WINDS COMING SOON? POR FIN LOS ALISEOS!?

2011-05-03T17:06:00.001+01:00

Hi there!!!

i know, I know.. my blog seems to be getting a bit boring these days... but I have to say it is not really my fault! unless you want me to talk about bouquets, flowers, catering and buses companies... which is what it has become my world for the past couple of weeks. no matter at what level, you always get a bit suck into the whole wedding organization thing.

But also, it hasnt been great. We got a couple of days sailing in the south, but I had appointments with one of the aboves, so I missed that.. then it was kind of chopy in the north for surf and nothing in the east for sailing.. so it is not I have been missing something epic. Only this morning I did score some fun glassy surf.. but here I am again, on the phone to buses companies, etc....

Buuuuuut.. I just checked the forecast and it looks like the trade winds, los vientos Aliseos, will come by the end of the week... I better get things properly sorted before that!!!

CLINICS IN MOROCCO: FIRST WEEK FULL, A FEW PLACES LEFT FOR THE SECOND

2011-04-26T22:42:00.004+01:00

Hi there!!!

The time of our yearly clinics in Morocco is nearly here!!! WE can't wait to be honest! it is always a lot of work, but really good fun, loads of good sailing and loads of new people to meet!!

The first clinic is full, but there is still a few places left for the second week, which is from the 30th of May. So have a look on the Oceansource.net site and join us if you are looking for some good wavesailing sessions!

I HATE JET-LAG!

2011-04-21T18:13:00.002+01:00

Aaahh!!! I hate the jet-lag coming back from Maui. it is horrible! Everyday at about 3 p.m. I hit a wall of heavy concrete that makes me totally zombie!!! and if you fall asleep for a little nap, even just half an hour, when you wake up is like if you are in Mars!! they say it takes a day per hour difference to fully recover. But it is weird because going there it is normally fine, just a bit more tired than normal, but coming back is just not nice..... ok... back to sleep I think...

MAUI GETTING TO AN END

2011-04-15T01:18:00.003+01:00

Hi there... we are leaving Maui soon. it has been pretty damn good! Apart from the bad scary incident of Boujmaa's accident we had a great time: a lot of wind and all kind of waves: big, medium, small... really good fun! although it hasnt been the most easy sailing, as we had a lot of strong gusty off shore winds that make the sailing really tricky and leaves your body really punished!! but all in all, really good! photoshoots are done and I think we have some really good stuff!!! now the wind has switched off... thank God because my back is pretty sore! and it is perfect to pack up everything and go home....

this picture is during the helishoot in Lanes, it was a pretty good session! thanks to Michael Rossmeier, from the Tricktionary for the pic!

NO NEWS = GOOD NEWS

2011-04-12T08:43:00.003+01:00

Well.... my lack of post is the result of way too much sailing.. like always... if I post a lot means I am not very busy! hehehe... well... as pretty much everyone knows from Facebook and the whole internet stuff, Maui has been pretty damn good. Loads of sailing and loads of waves. some cloudy days, but who complains? well.. me, because I am knackered! in a good way though... but I will be leaving soon, so we have to make the most out of it. No pics....sorry!! too late now... 21:48 Maui midnight!

AERON !!!!

2011-03-27T06:52:00.003+01:00

Aaaaand.... some more news!!! from now on I will be lucky to be using Aeron!!!!! God! the boom feels super good! so solid! aaaand..... something that always pisses me off in a lot of booms, the clamp, well, the clamp is super good! easy to put on and easy to take off, and super solid!

AAAAND HERE WE ARE!!

2011-03-27T06:47:00.002+01:00

We Made it!! it took like what it seemed forever! but we made it... this time the jet lag hasnt striken so hard, but still, feels a bit like a weird hangover.

everyone has come here pretty early this year, dont know whay, and Wow! the guys here are sailing insane! Victor, Brawzi, Kauli, Philip, Camille... I havent seen everyone out yet, or even on a good day.. but these were ripping yesterday!

and this was me... thanks to Jimmie Hepp for the shot!

....AAAAAAND OFF WE GO AGAIN.... MAUI!

2011-03-24T22:10:00.003Z

Right now I am at the Los Angeles Airport on our way to Maui. We were pretty lucky with the flight been pretty empty so we could have a whole row each! so after dinner and a sleeping pill, woke up with just enough time to watch a nice movie before landing. Forecast is looking good! I havent sailed properly in a pretty long time now...

pic: Franck Berthuot.

FLYING!!!!!!

2011-03-20T22:47:00.003Z

Today I had the extraordinary opportunity of flying over Las Palmas city Paragliding thanks to my cousin. He is a very experienced flyer and he took me with him. It was such a rush! amazing feeling being in the air! floating! pufff... so cool! we got as high as over 400 metres!!! it looks pretty high from there!!! It was beautiful! ....

.....AND BACK IN THE OCEAN: UNEXPECTED LATE EVENING SESSION

2011-03-17T00:17:00.005Z

We have had some really weird weather around the Canaries these last few days (it has been snowing loads up in the mountain too!)... it has been windy but not the best direction, which made the sailing kind of weird... actually, although yesterday we looked at a lot of spots, none was really appealing, so we gave it a miss. And today, it was looking like another day off the water as we missed the glassy time for surfing as just as we arrived, the wind started to mess up everything... but, without thinking it would be sailable, we gave it a try and in the end enjoyed a pretty nice late night session with Moritz. I was on my Fanatic 72 Quad... and loving life with it as my "big board"!

You can see how lazy I am sometimes... I havent even taken off the stickers form the Fuerte Wave Classic... what a disaster I am sometimes!
:-)

BACK FROM MY FIRST TIME SNOWBOARDING!

2011-03-13T09:01:00.005Z

I am just back from my first time snowboarding... and I want MORE! when I was 14 I did a 4 day ski trip, but that was it, so I pretty much considered it my first time in the snow. And it was super good!! I joined some beginners lessons every morning and in the afternoons we would wonder around different pists.. it was great feeling!! the first day I was dead!!! I was crashing and falling all the time and my ass was in so much pain... but little by little I got a bit more control and in the end I was loving life...slowly, but loving it!!! we had an awesome week.... God... John was soooo good both skiing and snowboarding! awesome...

I have to thank Zeal Optics for providing us with the best goggles and sunnies for the snow!!! They are amazing!!! and Animal for all the prefect technical clothes... yes, yes, all the gear no idea!! hehehe... I cant wait to be back!!

Next stop: Maui in a couple of weeks. It is photoshoot time!

AYUDA PARA EL FARO DE MASPALOMAS

2011-03-04T19:32:00.004Z

Vean este enlace y lean la informacion en las diapositivas. creo que mañana hacen una concentracion temprano en el Faro. me siento mal porque salgo esta noche de viaje y no puedo ir, pero a lo mejor con esto, alguien mas lo lee y va... algo ayudara...

aqui va el enlace:
http://www.playademaspalomas.com/es/presentacion.php

NICE VISIT FROM KIRSTY

2011-02-25T23:39:00.005Z

These past few days my team mate Kirsty Jones came to Gran Canaria and we had two amazing days of SUPing on our Fanatics around the island... It was really nice, we should do it more often!!!

thanks Dani Miquel for the pics

BACK IN GC...

2011-02-21T13:17:00.005Z

Hello there!!!

Most of you have been following the FuerteWaveClassic, so I think you dont need much update from that, but here is goes in shorts: HUGE swells and HUGE balls from some of the guys going out in Puertito with pretty much no wind: it is a very tricky and difficult place, definitely ciapó for them. My pics from la Entubadera are pretty embarrassing compare with the big stuff from Puertito!!! in the pics, Puertito doesnt look that difficult or dangerous, but I tell you, it is.

well, now we will be for a little bit at home. ACtually right now I think it is pretty windy down in Pozo... but I am knackered! difficult to resist though!!

here I leave you a few pics from the last days in Fuerte, which in the end, like always, it was a great experience!!!

Thanks to Continentsevent, Eric Bellande and Pierre Bouras for the pics

FUERTE WAVE CLASSIC

2011-02-14T11:03:00.004Z

Hello people!

We are on day.... i dont know, 7th? anyways.... We have had a mixed of very kind of conditions: glassy nice waves for SUP in Majanicho and Punta Elena (while others were also sufring in Lobos or Harbour wall), really off shore conditions in La Caleta, crazy insane big and light in Puertito (where only Stefan Etiene, Yannick Anton, Thomas Traversa and Alberto Ferroni dared to go out... God that was so crazy! insane! ciapo for those guys... it was BIG, light wind and kind of messy, so really, really challenging and not up for everyone), and finally some fun in La Entubadera. But so far no competition as the conditions havent really been that good to run the proper competition.

thanks to Eric Bellande and Chris and Kirstin from Continent7 for the pics and the great job....

S.A. IS OVER, TIME FOR FUERTE!

2011-02-09T18:38:00.005Z

I left Southafrica last thursday. It was such a good trip. The other years i went there i ended up distroying myself sailing so much (because is windy all the time and I am really bad at dosing myself. But this year I was pretty relaxed and chilled (except one day at sunset, that place drives me nuts!!). in the end I left feeling I didnt really sailed that much, but actually I did sail a lot, and most important, it was a lot more productive this way!!!

I landed finally in GC on friday night, and it felt soooo good to be home, at least for a little bit. And I could score some fun surfing with my friends the two days I spent there.

And then, sunday night, packing again to head off to Fuerte for the Fuerte Wave Classic... and here I am now, in a little cafe in Lajares. So far yesterday we had a super nice day for SUPing...I hadnt done it in a long while, so it felt super good to be out there on the water with everyone.

today we had a bit of wind, but God it was so offshore!!!! I cant really say I enjoyed that... but aaaanyways... the forecasts looks like there is a pretty BIG swell coming...uffff... well... we'll see what happens!!!

take care people!!

NICE DAY

2011-01-23T06:44:00.002Z

I had one of my best sessions in SA yesterday... just with a few friends on the water and super fun. Stocked!

T.I.A.

2011-01-22T07:55:00.003Z

FIRST DAY IN SA, GOD I FORGOT HOW COLD THE WATER WAS!!!

2011-01-15T21:11:00.001Z

Ok, last time I was here in SA was when I broke my foot, and I made the promises to myself to never come back because I find the water soooo cold!! I know, all the guys from Europe will say: that I am a total pussy because it is not so cold and that is actually warm, but hey, to me, it is soooo bloody cold!!

Well, they say you should never break a promises, but as there was no wind at all at home for so long, I decided to come. God!!! When I stepped on the water, I remembered why I had promised that!!!! My feet got so cold it was painful! And every time I got washed, I got the ice head full powered that made me completely paralyzed!! Uffff... The conditions were pretty fun apart from that... But men, I struggle with the cold! Plus it is funny how you use total different muscles sailing. I thought I was fairly fit, surfing a lot back at home for the past five weeks, but they are totally different muscles, and after a few runs I felt so out of shape!! Oh well... I guess I will get use to the cold (a bit) and that this is why I am here, to get the sailing fitness back on...

By the way, we are super lucky to be staying with Roberto Ricci and his family, super nice from them, and man.... I think is the pimpest house I have ever lived in!!!! Right on the beach (yes, literally on the beach, if I through a stone out of my bed it will land on the water....) super nice...

SEE YOU SOON GC, HELLO SA!!!

2011-01-13T17:01:00.001Z

Right now I am sitting in the Istambul airport on my way to Southafrica (ye,
in Istambul, a bit of a weird route, but it has been worth flying with
Turkish Airlines).

It has been a wonderful time at home, and I wish it would lasted a bit
longer, but I cant wait to get some proper wind now to go sailing after
nearly over a month away from Windsurfing.

Like I said, we are flying with Turkish airlines, and so far so good. They
are really nice and they serve you super nice food even on short flights
(what nowadays is quite a luxury!) plus they were really good with the
equipment and they charge 90 euros per windsurfer... So worth having a look
at their flights if you are going to some of their destinations?

Here you have some pictures from the second session we had on New Year's
day. Thanks to Roberto for the pics!

OUR NEW YEAR'S TIME

2011-01-09T22:00:00.006Z

It has been a super good end and beginning of the year. We had some amazing surfing days.... difficult to explain. I like it at home at this time, because it is normally a good time to have a little break from windsurfing for a little bit (although we did sail a few times around Xmas time). aaaanyways... we had some super fun days, and there was so many people enjoying the waves eeeveryday. We did dawnings quite a few times, and always there was people on the water way before us... but then we got knocked out by a horrible stomach virus that put us to bed (literally) for 48 hours! it all seems blurry now... it is like the was a before and after those two horrible days....

During a few of those days, I could use for the first time the 7,4 Minimal from Fanatic. and I was loving life on it... wow... so good to cruise on it!

here you have a few pictures... thanks to so many people for them!!:

thanks to Rodrigo Jimenez, from Underwatercanarias for the water shots.

Thanks to Alexis from playadelhombre.blogspot.com and to PPCastro for taking the pictures.

Thanks to Mario.

And thanks to Dani Miquel for his inspirational pictures so you can get an idea of how it feels to be on the water.

THIS HAS BEEN OUR CHRISTMAS TIME!!!! (AND HAPPY XMAS, BY THE WAY!!!)

2010-12-27T12:18:00.006Z

I am sure you are bored of me saying it... but I love when I am home. why? just check the pics below. This has been our last days here in GC: some sailing in the North a few days ago already, then, also we sailed chunky and big but onshore (but still fun) in the south and now, the last 3 days we have had some super nice surfing sessions.... aaaahhh... soooo good! thanks to Julio Leon and Dani Miquel for the pics. The surf pics is so you get an idea of how it was... all this said.... I hope everyon have had a wonderful time at Christmas!! best wishes to every one!!!

DIPLOMA FROM THE SPORTS COUNCIL

2010-12-22T11:17:00.004Z

The other day I was invited to a ceremony from one of the sports councils here in the Canary Island. I thought it was like other times, just a ceremony, but as the ceremony went on, I realized I might actually going to be given a diploma or something. it turned out it was a Ceremony to award like the best Canarian sports people ever! I was really honored to be included in that group to be honest. There was so many sports people from so many sports, and of all ages!! it made me think that it would be so cool if in 40 years time, they do another ceremony like this and they still call me for it, it would be sooooo cool!!!
Thank God I dressed up a little nicer!. I wasnt expecting to have to go on stage to pick up the diploma thing, and I was really close to go straight from the beach! I dont have pic receiveing the thing as I was the second or third one going up on the stage and as I wasnt expecting it, I didnt tell John to go a get a pic! anyways... here you have a few! from after the ceremony.

THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. A BIT OF EVERYTHING

2010-12-20T10:09:00.006Z

The last couple of weeks have had a little bit of everything around here. we had some amazing nice surfing days, some full on computer days doing all the coverage work for the sailors and also some good sailing down south.

Thanks Julio Leon for the pics.

I dont have pics of us sailing in el Faro, but you get an idea of how it was with this one from Pablo, thanks to Dani Miquel. We sailed twice last weekend. It wasnt epic world class conditions, but it was chunky and really challenging kind of sailing, so it is a bit different from normal. I enjoy it when it is like that too. It is difficult to sail and get around beacause there was so much current, and on the wave was actually pretty onshore, but as the waves were pretty chunky, it made it kind of fun! The first day I sailed it with my Fanatic 72 Twin fin and the second day with the Fanatic 72 Quad, just to see what worked better, and I think, in those conditions, the Quad worked better.

It looks like it is going to be a winter like last year, with a lot of SW winds and NW and W swells around here....

IT IS GOOD TO BE HOME...

2010-12-08T22:14:00.003Z

Ok, no pictures or anything.... but I just want to say, that it is so good to be home. Que suerte vivir aqui!

ONE OF THOSE DAYS....WHEN YOU WANT TO PUNCH SOMEONE

2010-12-05T09:37:00.001Z

It all was going toooooo smoothly to be true. We had a veeeeeeeer long day yesterday.

Short version: long and frustrating day stuck at the airport.
Long version:
We had to wake up at 2 in he morning to get to Gatwick at 5:40.
Got to Gatwick South terminal = nightmare with the equipment because you have to get lifts to get in the terminal. With the equipment is not easy, and after the lift you have a looooong walk with loads of ramps: not easy when you are carrying 8 big equipment bags.
Check-in went smoothly and we got the bags through fairly cheap. Flight was on time, everything was looking fine. Boarded on time and took off. Ye, we took off, and were flying for over and hour and a half!!, then the real nightmare started. The captain started talking: “sorry, we have to come back”. Bloody air traffic controllers!!!
Back to the terminal. Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting.... Finally they decided to cancel the flight. We got rescheduled for the next day (today) at f*cking 17:45 in the afternoon!!!!!!! Not only I missed yesterday’s sick surf but I will miss today sick sailing!!! I want to sue them!!!! The worst thing: straight after that, we see that the Fuerteventura flight right next to ours starts re-chekcing....WHAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!?????????????? But us, John and I, we had it relatively easy. We just had to get rid of 8 massive bags to be able to go to the hotel. Which in the end is hassle, but we could sort it out. It was so sad to see old people, disable people, couple with babies etc..,having a nightmare. Felt really sorry and really pissed off about this nasty-style strike. These Air traffic controllers are not making a lot of friends in society. I was sooo pissed off, because everyone around me was just blaming “the Spanish”: “like always.. These Spanish people...” God! Wanted to kill or at least slap the air traffic controllers.... We were having a laugh, to be honest, but I felt really sorry for some other people...

Now, fingers crossed our flight is ok this evening.... I WANT TO GO HOOOOOOOOOOME!! I CANT HANDLE BEING COLD ANYMORE!!! I WANT TO GET ON THE WATER!!!!!!!!

Nayra

http://www.nayrae4.com
http://nayraalonso.blogspot.com/

Sponsored by:

FLYING WITH YOUR GEAR

2010-11-29T08:17:00.003Z

I just read on the PWA website that TAP airlines will have an special pricing for Windsurf equipment on their flights to Cape Verde. I hope all the companies get inspired and copy the policy, like they also copy a lot of the "bad policies".

It is really scary to fly with your windsurf equipment sometimes because sometimes you dont know how much they will charge you.

The charter flights to the Canaries are normally ok with gear if you pack it correctly. Normally I fly Thomas Cook or Thomson from Gran Canaria to the UK and then I fly from the UK to wherever I go. Normally (at least with Thomson for sure) you have to pay about £40 (not sure about this, it might be even less) for a windsurf set both ways, and a set can be made of 4 bags, with each bag no heavier than 23 kilos. i think that is pretty good. Ryanair used o be good in the beginning, now it is kind of a nightmare and I wouldnt recommend it! your normal bag can only be 15 kilos, and that is kind of a joke, considering that then you can only take 1, and only 1 bag onboard, with your computer and your things... so this is a bit rubbish. then, each windsurfing bag can costs €40 (i think) and has to be under 20 kilos, and you can only take 2 bags like this. Again, not good.

Then, to fly somewhere else I normally fly with United, or the Star Alliance group. Now they also have a kind of good policy on United, which is $200 for a windsurf set that can also be several bags, but the total of all the bags cannot be over 110 pound (aprox 50 kilos). You can take quite a bit of stuff, here is a good technic:
on the Europe to USA flights you can take one carry on bag, plus one personal bag (computer backpack or hand bag, etc...). so you can put, a lot of your clothes on the carry on bag and still can take your back pack with your computer etc.... then on your normal check-in bag you can take up to 23 kilos, so you can fit some of your "heavy" things like fins and extensions, harness, mast feet etc.. on it (in the end, these things take a lot of weight!), because you have part/most of your clothes on the carry on. Then, for the gear, if you have light bags (hehehe.. like the Flying Objects bags... they are super light so you can fit more stuff!) you could take a couple of bards (and a surf board), about 4 masts, one boom and 3 sails easy. The only down side is that "officially" it specifies that "one set of windsurf has only one board"... well this is rubbish, because nearly everyone's set of windsurfing has at least one small and one big board, like in golf they have quite a lot of different golf clubs. hopefully they will change this too!

aaaaanyways.. I hope someone from the airlines will read this and decides to change their policies too to help us fly more to go sailing all the time!!!!!

BRRRRRRRRRRRRR......

2010-11-28T12:32:00.003Z

My God it is cooooooold here in the UK!!!!! I am on my way back from Maui. This should have been just a three day stop over in the UK, but we now have to stay for another week. It is bloody freezing! and I mean it literally... Freezing! it is about 2 degrees outside...

well...I will stay indoors, looking at the pics from the last month or at videos. I think at home in the Canaries they are getting some extreme conditions at the moment... will miss it though! I saw some pics the other day where people is still surfing on boardshorts down there! so I cant wait! It looks like it could be a winter like last year, which was pretty warm all the time.

Again, thanks Adele Frola for the pics:

Movies wise, on the plane, I didnt get a very good selection (so snapped when that happens! I get really excited about checking out what movies will I get to see, and all the time, the good movies I want to see are on the opposite direction flights to mine!!). I saw Flipped, Salt and Ramona and Beezus. Flipped was pretty nice, nothing super speciall, but nice to see things from two perspectives. Salt was ok, more of the same from Angelina Jolie as hard core fight-girl, which the guys might love. And Ramona and Beezus was pretty fun, kids fun if you know what I mean, you laugh quite a few times, which is nice. sorry I didnt get to see a more interesting selection, but the other choices were Sorcere's Aprentice or something like that, and didnt look very appealing to me...

VICTOR FRENANDEZ NEW PWA WORLD CHAMP! HUGE CONGRATS TO HIM!!!

2010-11-23T21:42:00.003Z

Victor Fernandez is the shiny new PWA Wave World Champion!!! he deserves it sooo much!!! not only he is a super great sailor but also a really nice guy. This year podium is super nice, young and well deserved! with ricardo Campello in second and our wonder kind from Gran Canaria Philip Koster... massive congratulation to all of them!!

LAST DAYS HERE....

2010-11-22T22:17:00.004Z

Hi there,

tomorrow is my last day over here in Maui, and I hope it will be windy so I can have one last day sailing!!!! still no wind but nice and glassy ocean and quite days.

I still have a few more pics from Adele Frola. Thanks Adele! here they are.

and as there is no wind, i keeo watching some movies... last night we saw "Burn after reading". I had seen it before but didnt really remember it that well. it is quite good, it is so different and a bit random! hehehehe...the caracters are so different and weird. love the actors in it. didnt like the end though, was a bit like... "eeemmmm.... is that it?" but a fun one to watch.

MOVIES...

2010-11-20T01:42:00.006Z

Ok, this is going to be a bit weird... but anyway... I got the idea of talking about the movies I see. I love movies, a lot! and nearly all kind: indies, commercial, not so commercial ones, action ones (only some...), not big fun of romantic but some are cool too, and definitely never watch scary ones because I cant sleep at night (ye, I admit it) . well, I like them if they make me feel something. they are wonderful!! they make you feel so many things... the thing is that every time I go to the movies and while watching it, I feel so excited about it I really want to share it with everyone...so here we go. I have to say I know nothing "proper" about movies, but I will tell about what I like or what I don't. It can also happen that I will only write about it once cause I am kind of bored today, but whatever.

As there is no wind, last night we went to see RED, with Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich. Ok, it wasnt the best movie ever: it wasn't deep meaningful or anything like that. But it was so much fun! to be totally honest, it was a bit too long at some points (too much shooting and races for a bit)... but It was funny, full of action and gave you another perspective of the "spy's life". Plus I love John Malkovich... he is so different from anyone else!. normally, if he is involve in something, I try to watch it.

Best movie I have seen lately: Kick Ass. if you haven't watched it, do it! if on a big screen better!. It has some parts that are so cool that make your adrenaline pump!

ok... like I said before, I feel a bit weird writing this, but I am kind of bored with no wind. oh well.. who knows.. maybe I dont even write about this things anymore...

NO WIND....

2010-11-20T00:11:00.002Z

The wind stopped a few days ago.. to be honest, I am glad... cause I was pretty knackered and my body was a bit in pieces... In the end I didnt really have strengh to sail properly, or maybe thats just my excuse for to sailing too good.... aaaaanyways..... now it is nice and glassy so time to chill a bit. I like this days. it is nice a quite, no wind noice and the ocean in beautiful.. love it. I My time over here is coming to an end (I am leaving on tuesday), so hopefully I will still get one more day sailing. forecast is looking a bit skecthy, but I stay positive!

Adele Frola, a friend from Italy, has been sailing a lot here as well, but on her resting time she has been taking some pics. here are some of them. thanks so much Adele!!!

GOOD DAY ON THE WATER BUT BROKEN SAIL AT THE END.

2010-11-15T06:08:00.005Z

The day started off weird: really off shore wind and tiny swell. But we knew a big one was on its way. So after lunch time, good sets started rolling in.

Dont know why, but I had a super fun session. It was gusty and hard sometimes (I I got worked pretty well a couple of times), but maybe I was just seen the glass half full. I had a lot of fun! but it didnt last too long.. after a while on the water I crashed and my sail broke. so it was the end for me.. still, I came in with a good feeling about the day.

here a few pics from Jimmie Hepp again from a few days ago. Thanks Jimmie!

EVERYONE IS GONE...BUT STILL BUSY

2010-11-11T08:17:00.004Z

Hi there....

Pretty much all the pro guys are gone now from Maui to Cape Verde for the upcoming contest over there, starting on sunday I think. (keep tune to the PWA site www.pwaworldtour.com to know how is it going). they will have live streaming, so if they get good conditions, it will be pretty sick to watch!!!

but still here is busy as hell on the water. Today I passed by Hookipa and just didnt feel like queuing to take waves, so we went down to Sprecks and had a super fan session. it is good to change... i should do it more often....

i did hurt my shoulder a bit, and came in, but as the pain went away I went back out for a while more. Now it is late at night and is hurting, and I just realized I dont have any painkillers with me... bummer. hopefully it will be ok, and I can sail tomorrow, looks like it could be pretty fun!

here you have some pics from I cant remember when, from Jimmie Hepp FB page.. Thanks Jimmie!!

JAWS, FAILURE SURFING AND MAAAAMBO!

2010-11-03T18:56:00.003Z

The wind died yesterday and a really big swell arrived to Hawaii, and the infamous Jaws was breaking. It was beautiful!!! that place is insane and the guys that ride it are also insane!

imagine being in front of that amount of water just falling like a massive building!!! so much energy rushing just on your neck!

After watching Jaws for a while we went to the west side of the island to try to surf for a bit. We went to this place and it was a total disaster for me. Waves surfed: zero. oh well... there will be better days.

So to cheer me up from my failure surf session, guess what... Cafe Mambo! for sure...like I said before.. love this place.. if you ever come to Maui... you have to try it... my favourite: Crispy Duck Burger!

MORE SAILING AT HOOKIPA

2010-11-01T19:10:00.003Z

I know I should be doing some other sailing as well as sailing at Hookipa, but we always past by and we cant resit. there is something about that place, that even when sometimes you have a bad sail, you just want to go back out there and solve the problem! well... yesterday I was really tired when I woke up, and pretty much made the desition to not go out. naive. as soo as I got to the beach and filmed John for a bit, I was out in an instant. I was pretty light, so it was kind of hard work, but the waves were nice and it was worth it for sure! today... i dont even know how I feel anymore!

thanks Jimmie Hepp for the pics, as always!!!

FINALLY!!! IT IS FINISHED!!! MY 2010 VIDEO

2010-10-28T06:25:00.002+01:00

Hello!!!

I have been saying all year that I have some footage to put together. Well.... it is finally finished!!! here it is, I hope you enjoy it!!!!

Nayra Alonso 2010 from nayra a c on Vimeo.

GOOD SESSION AT HOOKIPA AND DINNER AT CAFE MAMBO, IT CANT GET MUCH BETTER THAN THAT!

2010-10-23T20:39:00.004+01:00

It is really good to be back in Maui!!! Since Klitmoller, I hadnt sailed at all: no wind in Sylt and no wind at home, so yesterday I was soooo happy!!

yesterday we had a super fun session in Hookipa. it was not too small and not too big, just good fun size..the wind was light but more than enough, I like it like that! and I could feel I was so unfit for that kind of sailing!

Then, we had dinner at Cafe Mambo. It is my favourite place to eat in Paia... I love it! : the margaritas are dangerous and I love the way they do the crispy duck and pig: salads, burgers, fajitas.... amaaaaaaaazing!!!

it definetly was a really good day. now the swell has gone down today, so maybe we go somewhere else to sail, but it will be fun for sure!!!

Thanks so much to Jimmie Hepp for the pics!

QUICK STOP IN THE ANIMAL HQ BEFORE HEADING TO MAUI

2010-10-20T20:19:00.004+01:00

We just arrive in Maaaaaaaaui..... John wants to train and set up some boards properly before Cape Verdi and coming here was the best bet for conditions similar to there.

but before we jump on the plane, we had some time to pass by the Animal HQ in Poole and visit the guys there. It is always good to go and visit cause everyone there is super friendly and nice... really good vibes in the office!!!

now a pretty decent swell is just hitting Maui, but I am now sure about the wind... it looks really good in a few days... so it is also good to recover for a bit after the 30 hours traveling. in the meantime, while we wait for the wind, I have the Fanatic DVD to keep me going... here you have the new teaser. If you haven't see it yet... run and get a copy!

SURFING DAYS...

2010-10-12T21:47:00.006+01:00

The wind is long gone here in the Canary Islands and the "winter" season is starting (still nearly 30 degrees though!). so we have had some decent surfing days. for a few days it was really HUGE and we nearly couldn't surf anywhere, but thanks to this we had the chance to go to new places for the first time. This pics, thanks to Julio Leon, are from a wave in town, La Curva. I have to say that I didnt have the best session there (but some other guys had the wave of their life!). the wave was beautiful and super nice. but the sets took about 15 or 20 minutes to come with only 2 o 3 waves on it. so i had no chance to catch many... and when I finally got one (this one) I catched something on my fin a bit later and went flying over the front!!! so snapped about it! but some of the guys were catching some amazing waves. Apparently, this wave is in "danger" becaue I think the want to change this coast (again), but I dont know much about it, so I cant really tell, but I just hope they dont destroy it!. Thanks to Julio Leon from elgransurf.com

WINDSURFING..... AHHH.....

2010-10-09T09:01:00.001+01:00

It is video time!... here you have two super good videos: John Skye and also Alessio Stillrich.

More Windsurfing Videos

the future is bright, BRIGHT!:

SE VENDE/FOR SALE: FANATIC TWIN FIN 79L

2010-10-07T22:43:00.001+01:00

Hi there,

I have a 2010 Fanatic Twin Fin 79L to sell. If you are interested, post a comment on the blog and DONT FORGET TO PUT YOU EMAIL ADDRESS.

Tengo una Fanatic Twin Fin 79L para vender. Si estas interesado/a, manda un comentario aqui en el blog y NO TE OLVIDE DE PONER TU EMAIL DE CONTACTO!

BACK HOME: NO COMPETITION IN SYLT IN THE END

2010-10-05T16:46:00.003+01:00

Hi there,

I arrived home last night from Sylt. I am pretty bummed that we could not compete in the end and that the women wave overall results were decided in only one event in Pozo. But I am still hopeful that next year we will have a better tour for us too.

I think the best of the contest this year in Sylt was the night towing session... it looked sic!!! really... so amazing! Gollito..no words anymore for him....

now here the forecast looks pretty insane for swelll, i dont even know where should I go! so far, today is a day to sort out all my computer and paper work back here at home. and tomorrow we start chasing the weather again!

Klitmoller Pictures

2010-09-29T13:16:00.003+01:00

While we are still waiting for some wind and waves here in Sylt, at least it made me feel better to receive this pictures from Alexander Mykoniatis from the days sailing in Klitmoller... Thanks Alex for the pics!

SYLT UPDATE

2010-09-26T09:09:00.003+01:00

Hello there!

well...yesterday we had an early start as we had a tiny chance of some wind and waves... Skippers meeting was at 7:00, so at that time I was taking my boards to the beach, just in case, better be prepare! but nothing happened in the end... it was a lovely sunny day with some nice waves for surfing. I didnt go out, I was feeling a bit cold... so better to save energies.

now it is 10:12 in the morning and it is raining like hell!!!! it is going to be a loooooong day!!! we are all on hold. The head judge doent think anytthing for the wave will happen, but here you never know, things change quickly and with wind, waves come really quick over here. anyway... I am just talking a bit too much now.... you can keep tuned to everything it happens and the live streaminfg video on the PWA site. thanks JC for the pic!

I look funny, I know... you can laugh.. dont worry...

A BIT OF EVERYTHING....

2010-09-23T18:39:00.004+01:00

We arrived yesterday here in Sylt (Germany). Klitmoller was really, really good. I had been there before, once, maybe 4 years ago, and my memory of the place was that it was a super nice and fun place. Well, now my thought of it is even better. Ok, it is cold, but even for me it wasnt that bad, and you kind of get use to it. The thing is I sailed in pretty muchin all kind conditions: light on shore and also dead on-sore with big mushy waves in Klimoller the first days (ok, ok, not the best, but still really good fun, i tell you), pretty good side-shore and down the line one morning in Hanstolm with over head high waves, then hawling 3,3 side-on shore overpowered weather with nice logo high sets and finally 4,2 on-shore on my big board but fun and challenging to get around. So it was a good mix of everything. Sometimes it was a bit “dangerous” in Hanstolm, with so many crazy guys and pros actually going crazy on 3,3 weather and massive ramps, but it was such a good fun. My hands got “frozen” most of the times, but still, you wanted to sail for a little bit more!.

Now in Sylt the weather is nice for the moment. The forecast… well, I dont know what to think about the forecast. It looks like we have a chance on Sunday, with what it looks like side shore starboardtack, but I have never seen that happening here with waves.. but there is always a first!! Could be fun if it happens. After that, it doesnt look too promissing, but again, here the weather changes pretty quick and the forecasts are wrong a lot of the times!

(sorry, no pics from Klitmoller, but here are some from last year Sylt).

WHAT A DAY YESTERDAY HERE IN KLITMOLLER

2010-09-17T12:44:00.007+01:00

Hi there!!

what a day here yesterday!!! they run the double elimination and... man! it was good to see Victor fight all the way back! so impressive! not so happy that he won against John (although it was close!) honestly... so impressive. the conditions were so hard, that it is even more impressive! he finished second in the end and Kauli first, but it was like if he had won after such a come back!

After the contest, I went for a sail and it made me realize even more how good the guys are! the conditions were so tough and difficult!! and how tough the come back from Victor was. by the time I went out was 3,7 weather pretty strong but super on-shore.... but fun! with massive chunky waves! it was definitely like sailing in the middle of a massive storm! well, actually, it was the middle of a massive storm!!

then, at night, we saw the release of the Windsurf Movie II. There is something about watching windsurf movies in the big screen and with loads of people that is magic.. i love it... it makes me have goose bumps! makes me realize how much i love this sport and how amazing it is! the movies was amazing...Levi is insane, the action pretty sic and the movie really cool to watch. although you have to know that it is an Amercian movie... hard to explain... but i loved it....