It’s been a busy month and I am a little ashamed about the size of my carbon footprint. The amount of flying I have been doing leaves a yeti sized print in the environment. Although global warming seems to be bringing warm, windy winters to the UK, it’s not the best thing for the future and I have been trying to offset my carbon emissions.

Check out www.ecosurfproject.org/index.php for more information.

Naish Photoshoot

I started the month in Maui where I was shooting for Naish. The first part of the trip was pretty windless, but it really kicked in for the last 4 days, meaning we could get everything done. The new sails are amazing; they look great and sail even better. Unfortunately no pics to show you as it’s all top-secret at the moment, but definitely coming soon!

F2 Photoshoot

Next stop was back to Cape Verde for the F2 shoot. This involved sitting on at least one plane every day for 5 days in a row; Maui - San Francisco –London –Munich –Sal - Sao Vicente. What greeted me in Sao Vicente however was the trip of a lifetime aboard the Itoma boat, cruising the Cape Verde Islands with the entire F2 team. It really was amazing. Sails rigged on the back on the boat so we would find a spot, drop anchor, throw the gear off the back and go for a sail. I can’t go into too much detail because (again) it’s all fairly secret at the moment, but we had wind everyday and the whole experience will be hard to ever beat.

Back to Head Office

On the way back I had a day in Munich and got to see the Boards & More offices. For those who don’t know what that is, its basically the epicentre of some of the top windsurf brands. A guided tour of the building by my boss took me through the North sails/kites department, into the Mistral office, then ION wetsuits, then Fanatic and finally through the various F2 divisions of clothing, snowboards and the windsurf section. Really interesting to see the place and, once again, see all the new products lying around the offices. I even had a brief stop at the warehouse. When I was a kid I would dream of a place like this: every F2, Mistral and Fanatic board lined up like Santas windsurf grotto!

I had hoped to go for a couple of days to the mountains to ski/snowboard. I used to love the snow but because of my windsurfing I haven’t been in 5 years. Unfortunately it will have to wait another year as the lack of snow and record 23˚C temperatures put a stop to that plan. Instead I found myself back at home wondering what to do next. I had two weeks until the Ireland event started and the forecast looked terrible. Next thing I knew I was boarding a plane back to Maui!! Nayra was out in Maui shooting for Fanatic and Severne and during a video skype conversation with her, I had Timo, JC, and a whole host of other guests telling me how good it was out there. Sure enough the forecast was amazing and after a few phone calls to the Air Miles department of United Airlines I had a free air miles ticket out to Maui. So less than 24 hours after getting home I was setting off again for more.

Back to the real Head Office

Turned out to be a good move. I sailed everyday for 11 days straight. Biggest sail I used was a 5.0 and most of the time I was hanging on to a 4.5. We had two nice sized swells arrive and with so many people there for photo shoots and training, it was a great atmosphere on and off the water. The second day of the trip in particular, was the first windy, wavey AND sunny day for two weeks. Therefore every photo shoot was on it and on the water as quick as possible. I had to come in and watch as it was too much on the water. I sat and watched as about 40 of the worlds best sailors aimed for the 10-15 cameramen in the water and went for the best stunts they knew. It was an amazing show that very surprisingly didn’t end up with anyone hospitalised: So many near misses but no proper collisions.

After 11 days solid sailing I boarded another plane and heading back to the UK where I met up with Chris Audsley for the yearly Ireland trip. Last year I missed it for the first time in about 10 years, so it was great to head back to Brandon Bay and we weren’t disappointed. First day started with some proper wind; stacked on a 4.0, port tack and some nice sized jump ramps. I managed to win the first round ahead of John Hibbard. Two days later I managed to hold onto the win in the second round in some nice starboard tack conditions. The biggest standout during the week was Andy King. His winter in Cornwall has brought his sailing on even more and his jumping was amazing. Unfortunately, as always seems to happen, he didn’t quite put a good heat together and finished a lot further down than he should have. Free sailing, he was killing it!

I now have a week to recover from all the travels before I start again with a trip to Morocco. Should be really good with some of the best up and coming sailors in the world; Victor Fernadez, Boujamma Guilloul, Alex Mussolini plus others. Tune in next month to hear how it went.

Happy Sailing

John

"I am a little ashamed about the size of my carbon footprint..."





John goes 'black & white' to disguise the NEW F2 graphics. Spoil sport!

"So less than 24 hours after getting home I was setting off again for more."


Loving Ireland life (Pic: Simon Crowther)

"After 11 days solid sailing I boarded another plane and heading back to the UK for the yearly Ireland trip"