Hayling Island Training Weekend

I think that I speak for all in saying that we had a first class weekend at Hayling.  There must have been 20 or so of us out over the weekend, enjoying 15kt breezes with the odd spell at 20 to test us all.  There was something for everyone, for champions and Olympians through to novices. It's not up to me to recount the tales from the races, spending all my time in the intermediate coaching group.  The organisation of the coaching was superb.  I'm tremendously grateful to Jason, Olivier, Chris and Phil for their help off and on the water, as well as Ricky and others in helping set up my boat better on land.

As my first journey down south with LC, it was well worth the 440 miles round trip.  It was great to meet friends from way back (old!) as well as new.  I guess those that have strayed accidentally onto my blog might recognise my yellow peril without too much trouble: the "you must be..." welcome was warm.

For those of us on the learning curve in relative isolation - and there most be a fair number of us - I can now vouch  for the tremendous value of shore drills and being yelled at by Someone Who Knows from a following RIB.  Whilst it may seem to take a lot of effort to get to a training event, it is really worthwhile, considering the clear dedication of the organisers.  The HISC recipe certainly worked for me and the class.

Time to do what I do better - dissect and try to put back together again - but this time the footage from my DogCam Bullet.  It'll take me a while to sift through and see if I can find a lurking Money Shot... to prove that my first - and witnessed - foiling gybes will be the first of many.

All I want for Christmas, for Ninja fans everywhere...

I hope my 7 year old son will be delighted to receive this for Christmas...  Apparently it's one of the top 12 toys for Christmas, according to the BBC website.

Fotoboat Foiler?

Struggling to identify who has made it to the final round of the Fotoboat 2012 calendar competition...

Depending on who it is (looks like a Bladerider X8) , you might like to place a vote...