The British Wavesailing competition in Tiree this year was unfortunately not very windy with high pressures over Tiree for the whole week. This did mean however it was the warmest its ever been (I've been about 4-5 times) and the weather was gorgeous! On the last two days the sea was mirror flat which was amazing to see on an exposed Scottish Island! Of course as soon as we left on the Saturday to get back to work, the next week was firing...
During the week we did manage a competition day, with very light cross/cross-on conditions, port tack at The Maze. I was on 5.0 and an 80 litre board-big equipment for me! The girls had 5 heats, Sara Kellett won the first two with me in second, then I got the next two so the pressure was on for the final heat! The wind really dropped off and Sara clinched the win in a pretty close heat! I didn't get any photos of me, so here is one of Sara's waves:
The rest of the week involved lots of surfing at Ballevullin which was great fun, shoulder to head high waves and clean. We also did some gorge walking at Balephuil and some freediving, the last session at Balephetrish with about 30 curious seals! They didn't get close enough for me to get a picture but it was an incredible feeling anticipating the next sighting and seeing them swim so effortlessly underwater!
The Cornwall Wave Classic at Gwithian had great conditions on Friday for the Pro Men's competition, if a little offshore. It was the first down the line session of the Autumn, so all the competitors had taken Friday afternoon off to sail! Here are a couple of photos of the Pro guys:
The Saturday and Sunday had no wind, but really good clean swell so I made the most of surfing all weekend! Here is a photo of Ben Proffit surfing, and the trophies event organiser Ian Ross got made-I guess these will have to wait for next year!
Having only had a competition in Tiree, Sara won the British title this year, with me in second and Rachel Ince in third. Lets see if I can win it back next year!
Now the clocks have changed and it is dark after work, Autumn seems to have turned on, with lots of wind and swell heading our way! Lets hope there is some truth in this!
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