News.

**Went to the lake today. Still got a stinky cold so had to force myself to go out. Gusting up to 20 knots northerly and very cold. Rigged the 7.5 C4 and the Zud with a 36 Techtonics falcon. Northerly is pants at the lake but the practice is good. Again i went over the top from hitting a rope by the Dam. This is getting crazy! They have had these death trap ropes lurking under the water for months now. They have caught out loads of sailors and has also damaged my skeg box on the Zud. I should charge the pricks for it. Anyway I had a v-max of 32 knots which for such a big board isn't sloppy. Went to upload the track onto the computer but the file got corrupted somehow. Foook! Ahh well I made an old man walking his dog get all fired up. He was amazed at how fast i was going and couldn't believe how well the board went against the wind so well. It made it worth the sail even if i nearly damaged my skeg box again. Could be a session on the cards for West Kirby on Saturday / Sunday. Fingers crossed. If that doesn't happen Marazion looks on the cards. So it's all good!**

**After 2 hard sessions at the driven by wind event, I have realised that my fitness is middling to poor. It has affected my performance during each session. So for the last 4 weeks I have been power walking with weights, Mountain biking, fierce forearm exercises and as much sailing as I can get in. Matthews Exo wave 95 has been up for sale and i have been drooling over it in the sail loft for a while now. So i decided to put some more kit on tic with the Demon Design Accounts department. I haven't wave sailed for at least 7 years so i decided to try an easy venue. :) My first outing was at Gwithian and the 'goat track' to get to the beach was hard as nails. I'm pretty shit at rock climbing at the best of times but with a board and sail i was shitter than shit. So the order of the say was skidding down the trail on my arse. This seemed to work. With a light cross off and waves around 4 foot. I had an excellent time. The Exo 95 held my weight well and it planed very early with the Demon Wave blade 5.6. The next outing was at Gwithian on Friday. With a solid 25 knots cross on and mushy waves. Matt, Simon Burgess and Windy John and myself had an excellent session for a good 3 hours non stop. The exercise has paid dividends as i didn't feel too tired after the session. So with more confidence in my fitness and with Windys suggestion to go to Marazion. We went off for another session to see if i could still jump. With years of trying to keep the board on the water. Jumping felt a little alien to say the least. Again loads of fun was had and i found out that i could still jump! A great session and thanks to Simon B for taking the pic / evidence lol. Windy was getting some excellent loops as well. A great day for sure and I'm looking forward to the next DBW for sure. **

**After the first session of the Driven by wind event. The world rankings have been updated on the Speed World Cup web site and I'm in 36th place. I'm pleased with this but I'm sure I can do better. I'm not forking out £1000 entrance to be an also ran**

** I have been lucky enough to have had some offers of support from different board importers. To say it's appreciated is an understatement. However after using one type of board last year. I have found that it's certainly not an advantage and to be competitive for Weymouth speed week this year. I don't want to be banking on a certain wind strength that will work for my favorite board in the quiver. So with this in mind I will be going for whatever I feel will do the best job for a given wind condition. Four boards will be needed for the job and i have two so far. These are the ZUD (8 to 15 knots) and the Exocet Warp speed (25 to 30 knots). The boards i want to add to this are the Sonic 100 (15 to 25 knots). I need a small board for the very windy days and I have a short list for this. Naish speed pro, F2 Missile XS or an Escape custom speed board. The small board isn't important for Weymouth but for somwhere like West Kirby ot the Ray it would be invaluable.**

**I'm currently part of the Driven By Wind event thats being held at the Ray in Southend. The UKs top speed sailor Dave White is organising it and is doing a great job in organising it. How he gets time to sail in it I dont know! After the first event held i managed to place 5th overal Using a 5.0 Demon Design C4. I'm really happy with this as i wasnt totally dialed in so Ii'm hoping there is more to come. The second event was hard as nails. With ultra shallow water at the end of the course and BIG chop. I decided after the 3rd 40 plus knot wipe out that i wasnt goint to risk dislocating my should or crack my ribs like other sailors did that day. I had to go to work the next day. The course had me beat that day but I'm fired up for the next session and hoping that i will do better next time. On the plus side I'm still in 5th place overal.**

**At last speed-sailor.net is going live! I will be keeping you updated with all things concerned with the world of speed sailing and how I am doing on the speed sailing circuit and the Ultimate Speed Meetings i organise. **