The count down.....

Well panic stations has hit. Time always goes so quickly and these last couple of months certainly have been no exception. I fly home to England on the 27th of which makes it just under 3 weeks to learn nearly every trick in the book! We have been getting some more good wind out here – mostly for my 10m, but also for my 8m so it has been perfect for working on the powered handle passes. Some interesting bruises and swelling on my arm and elbow have forced me to giving the front mobe a break again. I’m really not sure how I get these things because I don’t feel it while on the water, but on arrival home and the body check to see that all limbs are still intact there is always some big nasty marks on my right arm after a day training for this move!!! Instead someone suggested that I should go the other way and work on the back mobes.

This came about because last week I went to capetown and picked up one of the judges of the PKRA last year. She has come out here to spend some time actually kiting as opposed to watching kiting and it has been pretty handy because she told me that I should try to do the back mobe after she watched me doing back to wrapped. She told me it was pretty close to being passed in the air so I should get on it. Turned out she was right and on day 2 of trying them properly I landed 1 and then another the next day as well! The wind was perfect, so I can by no way do it for a competition just yet, but it’s a start and I have 3 more weeks to go where I can hopefully get it dialled!

Over the weekend we went to a South African competition. It was held at the ‘actual’ southern most point of South Africa – a place called Struissbaai next to Cape Augerlis. We were a bit unlucky with the weather on Saturday. The wind came from the North rather then the south and it blew completely offshore at around 35+ knots plus it rained so hard we may as well have been in Europe. The competition was cancelled for the day because the conditions were too dangerous, but instead everyone convoyed it to a lake in the back and beyond. Here is was mega gusty and stil pouring with rain, but more then 20 riders hits the water and had a great session just for fun. That night there was a huge party! It was a festival that coincided with the event so there were plenty of hill billy’s, mullets, inbreds and all sorts plus all the kiters. The music was horrendous and it cost just £1.50 (less then 3 euro’s) for an entire bottle of wine! All this was going on in a number of markees dotted around some open ground and the whole time it just poured with rain!!! As you can imagine it was carnage, but such good fun!!!

The next day dawned with sunny skies, but still offshore wind, only now there was swell as well! The opportunity couldn’t be missed! At the skippers meeting it was decided that we head 15 minutes further North to where the wind was blowing cross shore. On arrival the conditions looked amazing. Waves were clean and head high – sometimes a little bigger and the wind came from the right! My favourite tack! Most of the riders rigged up and went wave riding, but some of the people that entered the competition decided that they still wanted to compete, so while many of us were wave riding in these beautiful waves it was broken up by the old faithful red flag green flag sequences as others competed in course racing! All in all a good day was had by all and to top it off Helen Thompson (North) from the UK one the girls contest! Excellent!!!!!

Well after writing all that I best go and get on with some kiting. The first competition I am going to will be the first of the British Championships down at Watergate Bay in Cornwallat the end of the month, so needs must and I’m off.