I had a great lead up to this race. Training has been going great and the weather in the UK played along and was perfect training weather right up until we left for Portugal.

Landing in Portugal on Thursday at 9:25am after an over night journey was not the best, but Rui (Race Director) picked us up at the airport and took us to our Hotel. The Hotel is literally 5min walk to the race venue! I was told that the mini bus and trailer would be leaving at 5pm for a paddle on the course. So with some time to kill and the sun shining the best would be is to have a look around the beach and Marina. The Hotel staff convinced us that there was a storm coming and so we headed back to our room. Minutes later the storm came through Portimao – wind, lightning, thunder and rain!! At 4pm it was still pretty stormy, so just before 5pm we went to the trailer and the storm had moved on (slightly) and we headed for Alvaro for a downwind. When we got there the wind vanished – typical – but there was some good swell left and it was still fun to get out on the course and it certainly woke me up!!

Friday was registration day and boat loading time, so feeling fresh after a solid 12 hour sleep and the biggest buffet breakfast in town we headed for the race venue. More people had arrived and the vibe was picking up. Everyone testing and setting up their boats. This is a great venue, the boat rack/storage is on the beach meters from the water. Which makes it really easy to get things sorted, as well as Rui and Sara there to provide us with anything we needed. So after a nice light paddle it was time to put the stickers on and load the boats ready for the race tomorrow.

Saturday and race day, the race was only at 4pm so we had until the bus left at 2pm to relax (or get nervous)! The race venue started to buzz just before 2pm, everyone standing around chatting waiting for the bus. The bus dropped us off and we had about 1.5km walk to the beach, not ideal but glad I took plenty of water, great warm up :-).

The race was a Le Mans start and it was quite a steep run to the water’s edge. So downhill followed by downwind!! I got off to a decent start and the paddle out to the buoy was quite sheltered by the harbour wall so I only felt the wind and chop once we were closing in on the buoy. When we turned we had a great tail wind, it was not directly towards the finish line and neither was the swell, but that made it more fun. It was quite technical and then about halfway I knew there would be some rebounds off the cliffs, so I was keen to get some waves back out to sea. I decided that the best way to tackle this course would be just to get as many runs as possible and to make sure I don’t track to close in shore. Everyone takes their own line so you just have to race as hard as you can as you never know where you are lying in the field. I am always left wondering whether to go out wide or stay in close, so this time I just followed the runs but made sure I was not too close in. It was a great race and I had great fun out on the runs. Once we got into the harbour it was about 600m or so of flat paddling to the finish – I crossed the line in first place and then to top it off I found out that I was only 13seconds off finishing in the top20 against the men. Mira Falch was 2nd followed by Ana Bebiano in 3rd.

I still have a lot to learn as I know there were many runs missed, but that is what this sport is all about – learning!!

Jasper Mocke had a great race and defended his title taking 1st place overall with Sean Rice in 2nd and Joep van Bakel in 3rd. Young 17 year old Jordan Roberts from the UK had a great race he was first Junior home and finished 12th overall. Definitely one to watch out for!!

Back in Poole now with gale force winds with heavy rain.

Well it wasn’t the greatest month leading into my first International race of the year, so I was not expecting any fireworks! After landing in Spain on Saturday morning at 2:00am, we checked into the Hotel and got some much needed sleep. I went down to the race venue later on Saturday morning to get my boat and set it up. Thanks Rui for sorting a boat out for me and to Boyan for helping me get it all set up…….it’s so easy and quick when you know how 🙂

Some wind did pick up on Saturday and it was slightly overcast, the same was forecast for Sunday – Race Day – but unfortunately as usual the wind dropped and the clouds cleared! So it was quite hot and not much wind at all.

It was going to be a slog as I had not done as much training as I had hoped for leading into the race. The start was fast and chaotic, which is always a great crowd pleaser. This year there were two hotspots for the guys to chase so the course was slightly changed and we did a triangle bringing us back to the start before we headed out to Benidorm Island. This again was great for the spectators, with a perfect view from the beach of all the top guys racing for the Hotspot.

In the mens race Sean Rice had a cracking race, taking both Hotspots and taking the title. He has crept up from the first Eurochallenge and now it all came together for him. So well done Sean!! He was closely followed by Dawid Mocke and then Hank McGregor in 3rd.

In my race at about 10km there were a few bumps that came from nowhere, think it was just boat wake as they didn’t last long. Making use of every run it brought almost in line with Tarryn Brown, who was on a closer line to the shore than myself. Once those runs dried up I could not close that final gap between us. After 15km-17km I started to feel the pain, my juice had leaked out (error that won’t be repeated!), I knew I would have to work hard to make sure the gap didn’t get any bigger. But Tarryn Brown had a great race and I could just not catch her. So Tarryn took the ladies title, with myself in 2nd and Angie Mouden from France took the final podium position.

After the prize giving we had a big Paella…when I say big it was big, it was 2mx2m dish! With beer and wine.

Thanks to Vio and all at Club Nautico La Villajoyosa, what a great event!!

The one thing we could not miss was a trip to the Valor Chocolate shop, so later that evening we went there for a very rich dessert. Chocolate with Churros, see the picture below – yummy!!

Thanks to everyone for all your support on and off the water.

Well its almost time to go to fly to Alicante and then travel to a beautiful village called Villajoyosa for the EuroChallenge, I land in Alicante late tomorrow night. It is a great way to start my racing season. I will be doing a full update when I get to Villajoyosa……..so I will keep you posted.

Watch this space!!

An introduction to Ocean Ski paddling with Ivan Lawler. Filmed on a glorious October morning in Studland Bay, Dorset, UK, ‘Off Piste’ gives an introduction to the surfski world. Ivan is joined by Ben Brown, Ben Farrell & Chloe Bunnett for a little play time off Old Harry Rocks.

Thanks to Roger from Paddlesport TV and Ivan from Ultimate Kayaks for this great promotional video. Exactly what the sport needs. It was a great morning for filming – sunshine, not much wind but great swell to play in!!

Enjoy 🙂

Have a look at surfski.info for the write up about our British Champs!! Click on the picture to see the report.

I had a great paddle with Bernie the other day. I paddled from home to meet him on the water near the entrance to Saltern’s Marina. It was so great to just step out of the flat and onto the water….going to love this flat!!

It’s a really great training paddle over the harbour and up the river to Wareham, the tide was very low so a few slogs to get through the shallow bits, but otherwise it was good.

Check out our route here

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53029450

I thought it was a bit lazy not paddling back, but I had to get to work. So on a day off it will be a great paddle!!

I have seen Bernie on a few occasions out on the water, but this summer he has joined us for a couple of sessions which is great as we got talking and he has an awesome gym at The Haven Hotel in Sandbanks. Top range equipment with everything you need from free weights, kettle balls, medicine balls, exercise balls to state of the art equipment from MATRIX. So I feel very privileged to be able to have use of his gym, especially now that the weather is turning and it’s not always possible to get out on the water.

Bernie is a former member of the Royal Marine’s elite Special Boat Service (SBS); a world class athlete; a specialist coach on the international stage, and most recently the man credited with shaping up James Cracknell, Ben Fogle and Ed Coats for their race to the Antarctic. A man with 30 years experience, knowledge and wisdom in the extreme sports arena. Please have a look at his website to get a taste of what Bernie can offer.

Bernie Shrosbree website

Now not only will I be able to use his gym, but I get to feed off his knowledge as well. I have now been to a couple of training sessions in the gym with Bernie and his two children…..wow what a great family, very helpful and boy do they take me through my paces!!! I do get my own back out on the water though 🙂

I’ve not done much gym in the past and from the couple of sessions I have had with Bernie I have realized that I have not done any effective gym work in the past. Even though I still have one more race this season, which is the biggest race on the calender-Dubai Shamaal, I am already looking forward to next season to see how I improve.

Thanks again for the use of your gym!

Well the 2010 UK Surfski Racing season has been great. The amount of interest from paddlers and spectators has increased and the sport is growing so fast here it is amazing.

On Saturday Surfski GB held the British Champs, sponsored by Ultimate Kayaks. Unfortunately the wind was offshore for the race but at least it was warm and sunny!! What it did provide was calm conditions for a few inexperienced Surfski paddlers to give it go and finish, which will make them come back for more!! Also great conditions for spectators, with about 60 paddlers lining up on the beach and running to pick up their skis to make a dash for the water to get a good start, the spectators must have enjoyed it. It really draws attention to anyone walking on the beach when a “herd” of surfski paddlers run towards the sea. As the wind was of no help to us because we were sheltered by the cliffs, it was a good opportunity to make the course shorter and do a few laps, then people on the beach can also see what’s going on. So the Open men/ladies and Master Men did 3 laps while the Master ladies U19 boys/girls did 2 laps and the u/16 boys/girls did 1 lap.

Ivan Lawler was on top form and took the Men’s title, with Mark Ressel 2nd and Glenn Eldridge 3rd. A very impressive 4th by Jack Staddon, he has improved so much on the ski this season – watch out for him next year!! I won the Ladies title, with Anita Bennet 2nd and Susan Fridd 3rd. We do really need more women in the sport, so come on girls get your feet wet and give it go!!

After the champs we also had the prize giving for the British Series which took part over the summer. The following category winners all went into a hat for a draw for a Surfski sponsored by Icon Surfcraft.

Glenn Eldridge (Open Men’s)

Chloe Bunnett (Open Ladies)

Paul Kingman (Master’s men)

Karen O’Donghue Harris (Master’s Ladies)

Josh Newing (u/19 boys)

Eloise Neighbour (u/19 girls)

Tom Bolt (u/16 boys)

Ellie Parker (u/16 girls)

To my surprise I won the ICON surfski!! Very lucky indeed, I did then go and put the lottery on but unfortunately I was not that lucky!!

2010 was a great season for UK Surfski racing, we had some races with over 80 paddlers!!! Not to forget the ICON Downwind Classic. There are a lot of new faces that have come into the sport this year and next year there will be more.

Racing is not over for the season though…..there are still a few International races this year. Next up is the Hong Kong Dragon Run followed by the Dubai Shamaal.

See you on the water 🙂

I went to the Southampton Boat Show yesterday and this Sunseeker is 40m and out of this world!! Only a couple of meters longer than her sister but the way they have shaped this new boat is the best I’ve seen……and no I wasn’t paid by Sunseeker to say that!! Slightly out of my league though, we can but dream!! I did see some great pfd’s well I’m not sure they will make the grade but they looked very comfortable, as it is a wetsuit vest with foam sewn into the chest and back. Clearly on the label it says not to be used as a buoyancy aid, but a good idea non the less – maybe just more foam needed.

I have now finalised all our travelling for the next few months. We leave the UK on the 1st of November and firstly we are going to Tenerife. At least I can get some warm weather training in before Dubai, as well as warm the bones up as it’s getting pretty chilly here now! Then it’s onto to Dubai for the Ultimate Surfski race of the year, The Dubai Shamaal. Afterwards its back to Tenerife for some much-needed rest and sun, before we head towards South Africa – all exciting.

But before that we are moving once again…..2nd time in 7 months, I hate moving but at least this time we can get all our stuff out of storage! We have a found a lovely spot in a Marina close to where I work and perfect to train from – so quite excited to move now!!

National Surfski champs is in just over a week so I will keep you posted.