Merlin Ski Pics

First session out with the ski in waves that weren’t tiny.

The Chicama trip looks great Chris, good luck with it.


Philip Watson

Kayak Chicama: Peru Expedition

Next month Flying Squad member Chris Harvey and surfer/designer/photographer Steve Childs will be heading up a team travelling to Peru retracing the origins of surf kayaking and surfing Chicama, the longest wave on the planet. With the right conditions we could be up and riding for for over 2km :) The team will be filming and photographing the expedition to produce magazine and video documentaries telling the story of our sport and the true origins of surfing. For more information about the expedition and team, check out: www.kayakchicama.com

Thanks to Malcolm and Mega Surf Kayaks for sponsoring the team with kayaks :)

Happy surfing

Chris Harvey (www.chrisharveyonline.net)

Merlin ski – Gwithian Competition

The comp started with some worried looks at the tiny waves to see if they were surfable – thankfully the surf kept up enough all day - just.

Us juniors seemed to have the luck of the draw, with our IC and HP finals being when the surf was at its best. There were long consistent left handers for our IC and in our HP we had some fast steep walls which although were small and close to the beach, didn’t break for ages. Both finals had a really friendly but competitive atmosphere. I managed to get both firsts, with Jack a very close second each time. Well done to Dylan Petherick who was showing some positive, enthusiastic surfing in the juniors.

A highlight of the day was taking out the new Merlin Ski after my final. I was really impressed and really enjoyed it. It was very responsive and I gelled with it straight away as it surfs exactly like a Merlin. Robyn and I had to drag ourselves off the beach (Robyn literally as her legs had gone numb!) after a long freesurf – I just didn’t want to stop surfing!

Philip

Gwithian winners:
HP – Darren Bason
IC – James Hawker
Ladies – Tamsin Green
Plastic – Nate Long
Junior HP – Philip Watson
Junior IC – Philip Watson
Masters – Gary Adcock

Dabbling on the dark side

Have bin playing with something different in the last week.

Based upon the Merlin, kayak to ski, will it work, well hopefully will find out at this weekends competition at Gwithian.

More news after the weekend

Malcolm

Corin's 1st blog

Hi, this is my 1st blog as part of the Mega Squad. I competed in the world surf kayak championships last year and got a 2nd place in the junior IC but was dissappointed in my result in the junior HP. So i got a new MEGA REFLEX and also decided to do a bit of playboating to hopefully improve my HP performance.

So far results have gone my way, I came 1st in the Inny junior Rodeo. I then competed in the Irish National Junior Freestyle championships which was held over 2 different events. I got a 1st place on the Curragower wave in Limerick and my brother Jake got a 2nd place. The 2nd event was at the Hole feature in Clifden, i came a very lucky 2nd and Jake came 7th. This gave me 1st overall and i was delighted to be crowned Irish Junior freestyle National champion and Jake also did very well getting 3rd place overall. I enjoyed all the Rodeos, everyone was very friendly and i also got to meet a lot of top freestyle paddlers.

Rollon to the Europeans in Mundaka. I arrived on the Friday and got to free surf on the Mundaka wave for about 2 hours but managed to loose a fin. Having no backup Fins Malcolm came to the rescue with a set of his new fins and so far they have been performing really well. On saturday we surfed the Mundaka wave and i made it through in the juniors but got knocked out of the mens. On sunday i got through to the junior final in Bakio and managed to win with Philip comming 2nd. Philip is a fantastic competitor and i am looking forward to competing against him in the future. After the competition i had another great free surf on the Mundaka rivermouth. I really enjoyed this trip especially the freesurfing in Mundaka.

The girls surfed spain too!!

Just thought I would add the girly perspective on Spain! As usual I arrived far too excited for my own good and was only slightly envious of those who had spent Friday getting great waves. Saturday was a fantastic day, warm and sunny it was like being on holiday. A brief surf in the morning set me up for the day, the inside wave was really sweet and I had some great rides which left me feeling very positive for the event. I was a little dissapointed there were not enough women to make an IC event as I love IC paddling its really fun, come on girls! I entered the mens IC which gave me a ring side seat for Jonny's performance in my heat, he was flying! I really enjoyed the Womens heat and found a great spot to surf. Robyn also had some excellent, waves, she is a great competitor,so I was feeling really pleased for us both. The results which were finally posted, it took a while for them to match bib colours to names, saw me reach the final in first place . I was gutted Robyn did not make it through and do think she deserve to. This left me with 3 Basque girls to beat.

The Sunday at Bakio was not quite so nice, I do in a strange kind of way enjoy getting nailed in beach dump, I have had a lot of practice, however in competition it is not ideal! The final was really competative but I achieved some nice waves all things considered. I was really pleased I won the event and also want to say congratulations to eveyone else men and juniors who got some great results for the flying squad. I watched a lot of the competition both days and saw some outstanding surfing from loads of people it is amazing to be part of it.

Congratulations Coran and welcome to the Flying Squad!

Had a great weekend at Mundaka and Bakio. It sounded like perfect surf at Mundaka on the Friday and I was envious of the people who got to surf then! The competition happened on Mundaka thoughout Saturday with smaller conditions but some random slightly bigger, fast waves that is classic Mundaka. In the evening a nice steep bowl opened up on the inside sandbank, setting up for an awesome freesurf till my body was too tired to move!

We went to Bakio on Sunday for the competitions. Bakio is usually a wave that I really enjoy but I struggled to find good waves in the junior final, Coran took a well deserved first with me second. Jake King is also paddling really well, his surfing’s coming on very fast. Well done to Chris H, Darren and Edu for making the final(s). Edu looked almost unbeatable and was reading the unpredictable Bakio really comfortably.

Philip Watson

Sunshine & Surf in Spain :)

Last weekend proved to be another successful one for the flying squad. I headed out on the Friday evening and having had snow the week before in Yorkshire, was pleased to feel the summer heat. A small swell pushed through into the river mouth at Mundaka on Saturday but conditions were certainly tough...I managed the highest score of the day though, with Darren only a close second so was pleased with that. By the evening (after the competition) there was an awesome little wave on the inside, throwing out and with plenty of power it was perfect for HP and a nice way to round off the day. Day 2 was a bit of a let down in terms of surf, with typical beach dump at Bakio, but it was good to see all the flying squad making the most of what there was and 3 of us in the final. I was feeling pretty good all day and put in some good performances...focussed on the win i went into the final feeling confident. Unfortunately I struggled to find the waves and finished 4th but well done to Edu and Darren in 1st and 2nd. A fun weekend but totally knackered for work on Monday! Hopefully getting some photos up soon so watch this space.
Happy Surfing!

Medals at Santa Cruz

Last weekend I headed out with a few other members of the Flying to Squad to Santa Cruz for the 1st of this year's World Cup Series. After the successes of last year we were all hoping for good waves and good performances. Dave Speller and Chris Hobson, competed in Junior class with typically excellent form and took Gold and Silver (nice result!) With varying conditions, the surfing was tough, but i managed to make the final and it all came together again with a nice walling left and landing an aerial secured the title...so i'm really stoked to win the Gold again :) Also narrowly missing out on the medals with 4th places were our latest squad members, Sam Davenport and Robyn Pearcey...well done guys, really good effort!

It's back to colder climes this week..snowing in Yorkshire! But i'm busy putting together some articles about the event...watch this space.

Happy Surfing

Chris Harvey (www.chrisharveyonline.net) photo by Kevin O'Hara

England Team weekend

Hi guys

Just writing to say a big thanks to John to Glyn and the rest of the Skern guys who helped to run the weekend, it was really good. The assault course was great fun and the coaching stuff was really usefull, i would also like to thank the rest of the team for making it such a great weekend although the highlight for me had to be Gary and Dans game of nose pool !!

Jack