Clash of the Titans

All Photos were taken by Alan Jones, thank you for allowing me to use them on here.

Steve Thorp determined to get the big 50 again.

The forecast was long ago it seems, with nine pages of updates on Howard Rowsons 'December Stormtrack' thread hosted by GPS-Speedsurfing.com. Everyone who speedsurfs was aware of this upcoming momentous occasion, some even got a warm up at the weekend. West Kirby has lit up again, the wind hit today December the 7th with force and at almost the best angle. It did turn out to be slightly too broad though, similar to the last epic day there when Steve Thorp became the first British speedsurfer to get the golden 50 on his GPS.

Slightly too much north in the wind creates rolling chop

Many regulars and a few less regular speedsurfers travelled from far and wide to West Kirby, we were graced again by the presence of Jacques van de Hout. I chose the title Clash of the Titans as  they are all fighting for the top spot on GPS-speedsurfing.com which is currently held by Anders Brindgal and done in the man made canal at Luderitz.

The day was promising and the forecast held fast all last week and looked to be getting stronger with each update. Martyn Ogier even commented that he had packed his 5.5m and apologised if this jinxed it (at 6ft7odd he is a big fella and doesnt often need a 5.5). He travelled from his home on Guernsey especially and has a deal with an airline specifically for this type of occasion.

Jacques van de Hout had a vmax of 47knots

Jacques had this to say from the day;
"It was survival of the fittest, strong gusts and a lot of chop, short course and cold! Only a car park to warm up, so not a nice way to spend a free day, but everything for the sport I do like the most. Tomorrows forecast looks even more insane, but lets wait and see....."

Jim Crossley was nearly top dog for the day with 45.54knots

Jim Crossley managed a PB os 45.54knots for 2sec, but did comment that the 'chop of certain death' was stopping any attempts for 10second runs.

Ant Baker visits for the second time and claims 42-44knot runs.

Ant Baker had this to say on stalkerbook;


"Super hard day in some serious winds, I wasn't the fastest today but I'm learning."

Seems like he is learning pretty quickly with speeds over 40knots already.

Tristan Haskins scored another peak over 40 with a 41.23 2sec

Tristan Haskins is no newcomer to the speedsurfing scene, he sells the GPS units so if you want on please order through him, he deserves the business and is incredibly helpful.

Go to GPS-speed.co.uk for further details.

Tristan is not built like most speedsurfers and yet gets scores in the same league as them which is remarkable and shows a very high level of skill, he really deserves the 40+knot peaks he is now achieving regularly. 

He had this to say;

"Major bottle needed today, 40knots felt like 50. Tomorrow looking better."

Mike George managed a 2sec of 42.62

Mike George is also not your average speedsurfers weight/height (I am trying really hard here not to say.........isnt fat like your average speedsurfer ;-) Damn it.....couldnt resist), and after a great end to his slalom season he is now rounding up the year with another run of 40+knot peaks.

"It was pretty extreme. Rolling chop ruled out PBs, certainly for the 10s upwards. Actually, I tell a lie....I did manage one PB. I upped my distance for "human skimming" when I crashed at 40knots and skimmed across the water for well over 10metres! I was constantly getting peaks over 42knots but they were always curtailed by fear of the death chop"

The speedsurfer of the day award has to go to Martyn Ogier for a reported 49knots on his GPS display. I will update this as and when I find any more out.

Good speeds and winds

'The Bus'