Another day at Sprecks. It's not so windy today, and Guy suggests we rig small sails because we're going to be doing lots of beach training in preparation for forward looping. Eeek. In fact, it turns out that that's all we end up doing, for various reasons...
There's a couple of important points to this - firstly, the "sideswipe", which is an extremely important move in lots of circumstances, and is the "ooh" of "ooh, aah, Cantona". Extend the rig into the eye of the wind straightening the front arm, while keeping the back one well bent, and looking behind to turn the shoulders. This should be done whilst jumping up from a crouched position, just as the board takes off from a bit of chop or maybe a 30ft wave - your choice. Then the next point is to yank the back foot up and back in the "moonwalk", scooping the board into wind so it catches it and floats a bit whilst coming with you in the rotation. The rest just happens... Apparently.
But although the day was a bit of a blur of blinding heat, endless repetition of moves, fluctuating wind and needing to drink, there was lots going on anyway. We got to meet Kauli Seadi again, and Marcilio Brown (Brawzinho), who chatted amicably about double and triple loops, Riccardo dropped by and talked about his triple loop attempts, which he's tried a few times. Last time he punched a knee-sized hole in the board and broke his wrist - he wears a helmet and body armour when he tries it, maybe that's a tip too!
Finally, we got a preview of the 2012 JP board range, along with Martin B and Werner Gniegler the board designer. I have to admit I'm pretty unmoved by the graphics on these new boards, they're a bit like a no-talent teenager went mad with some fluorescent markers, but people seemed to like them. Apparently Martin goes down to the retail surf area of Maui to check out what's going on in the headline stores of Quiksilver and so on, to pick up the vibe. Hmm.
Rather than go for a mad downwinder to Kanaha, we opt for making a huge veg and chicken curry - excellent stuff!! Completely trashes the one from last night.
There's a couple of important points to this - firstly, the "sideswipe", which is an extremely important move in lots of circumstances, and is the "ooh" of "ooh, aah, Cantona". Extend the rig into the eye of the wind straightening the front arm, while keeping the back one well bent, and looking behind to turn the shoulders. This should be done whilst jumping up from a crouched position, just as the board takes off from a bit of chop or maybe a 30ft wave - your choice. Then the next point is to yank the back foot up and back in the "moonwalk", scooping the board into wind so it catches it and floats a bit whilst coming with you in the rotation. The rest just happens... Apparently.
But although the day was a bit of a blur of blinding heat, endless repetition of moves, fluctuating wind and needing to drink, there was lots going on anyway. We got to meet Kauli Seadi again, and Marcilio Brown (Brawzinho), who chatted amicably about double and triple loops, Riccardo dropped by and talked about his triple loop attempts, which he's tried a few times. Last time he punched a knee-sized hole in the board and broke his wrist - he wears a helmet and body armour when he tries it, maybe that's a tip too!
Finally, we got a preview of the 2012 JP board range, along with Martin B and Werner Gniegler the board designer. I have to admit I'm pretty unmoved by the graphics on these new boards, they're a bit like a no-talent teenager went mad with some fluorescent markers, but people seemed to like them. Apparently Martin goes down to the retail surf area of Maui to check out what's going on in the headline stores of Quiksilver and so on, to pick up the vibe. Hmm.
Rather than go for a mad downwinder to Kanaha, we opt for making a huge veg and chicken curry - excellent stuff!! Completely trashes the one from last night.
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