Now this could be difficult – Dave has asked us to help him out this week. Not a problem you would think, take a few photos, write a bit for his website perhaps...... But no, he wants us to help with his diet !!!
Dave’s already been here for a week ‘on holiday’ with 15 family and friends and the diet has taken a bit of a battering. He’s managed to lose 7 kgs over the last few months and is worried that he’s going to put it all back on again, hence the request for help while he’s at ‘work’ during speed week. I wish I did his sort of ‘work’ – sailing, talking, eating, drinking with friends and guests – sounds ok to me!
Dave was ably assisted by Colin as usual and this year Jo was on hand to bring some calm and organisation to the proceedings.
Monday was registration day where we were presented with Gaastra rashies (in exchange for 10 Euros). Before the event began in earnest there was a ‘Pimp my Rashie’ competition, won by Bill with a design of some merit (some might say...). After lunch Dave gave his first chat where he emphasised that this week was more about getting confident in going fast, rather than outright speed as the more confident you are, the easier planning gybes etc become – time will tell. A new innovation this year is that Dave has a waist harness!! As he has more of a waist than last year and has taken up kiteing in lighter winds, he has started to wear one, albeit very low and only an inch or so higher than his seat harness.
In the afternoon the radar gun was out in the boat, this time operated by Jo. Colin was distracted by a woman in the boat last year and probably missed half of people’s best runs. This year he was still in the boat but poor Jo was videoing as well as using the radar gun while Colin slept (caught on video!), claiming it was too hot...last year he was too cold! The wind was light and as usual the boat seemed to be moored in a bit of a lull – 100m further out would have been much better but the water is very deep and getting a buoy out there is difficult. The girls ended up fastest on day one – I was underpowered on a 6.5, so changed it for a 7.0. Unfortunately it had one of the new Gaastra booms fitted and just wouldn’t stay done up. Within 100 metres it was at the bottom of the cut-out. Dave reckoned it was fitted with Neil Pryde rope! Have you tried sailing with the boom at waist level? How do the Germans do it? Anyway there’s always tomorrow....
No wind on Tuesday, the only day in the 2 weeks we were there when I didn’t get planning. Colin gave us a masterclass in gybing on the simulator, including a brilliant analogy of the step change which involved Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and Whole Nut! The step should be smooth, like treading on dairy milk and not jumping around as though you are treading on whole nut! This had Jo in stitches for the rest of the afternoon. That evening in the Zeus we presented him with a bar of each. He also did an impression of a Mark Warner Instructor which involved wearing your boardies as high as possible– see photos!
Big Wednesday! Who says Vass isn’t windy any more! The wind was ballistic and Dave planed on a 3.7 at one point! Most of us were on 4.0 – 4.2 while Dave tore around on his 6.4, somewhat overpowered... Colin went out on a 6.1 to start with and was tail walking much of the time, much to Dave’s delight. In fact it wasn’t a good day for Colin at all as someone thought he was older than Dave at 46, even though he’s only 27. He spent most of the rest of the week asking people to guess his age and no-one got near it. I think the best guess was 32 ish.... But one consolation was that he had won the Watersmeet freestyle competition the week before.
Not a good day for fast GPS times but at the end of the day the max speed on my GPS was 33.45 knts and no, it wasn’t a spike. It’s just a shame that I wasn’t using it at the time! – Dave borrowed it for ½ hr during which time he had his biggest wipeout for a year, being lifted off the water by a huge gust and slammed over the front, bending his harness hook in the process. Amazingly he didn’t break anything!
Light winds on Thursday so in the morning we had a lesson in uphauling really small boards i.e. one about the same volume as your weight. It’s surprising what you can do and gave us confidence to use a smaller board than we might otherwise take out. Planing winds in the afternoon so the radar gun was out again but the wind was too light to get any decent times.
Friday was Raceaway or Masterblaster day. 3 races were held for all the Intermediate and Advanced groups with the intermediates starting first, downwind on a beach start. The start of Race 1 was a bit hectic and the water so choppy that it was difficult to get clean wind and planning. I’m not sure who won, other than an instructor as I was somewhere in the middle of the pack. Dave frightened the life out of Rosie who was on the front of the tandem with him and retired gracefully before the next race. Race 2 was a disaster as I started too far downwind and didn’t make the gybe mark (the rescue boat). Race 3 was much better as I started with Becky who is an ex-racer and was about 4th or 5th round the mark. I couldn’t get my board to go deep enough downwind back to the beach hut and ended up 3rd (6th overall in this race). Bubble won it with Becky 2nd and Dave and Colin on the tandem 3rd.
The prize giving was held at the BBQ with the winners getting goodies and discounts off of future holidays!
Best Improver : 1. Brian
2. Steve
3. Rosie
Best Pimped Rashie Bill
Top Girl Amy
Fastest 1. Graham
2. Dave
3. Lee
Comedy Value Steve for his Wavey Davey Tandem Tours blackboard
And the diet? Well it was ok on the nights when Dave was with us as he generally only had a couple of FBI’s, a shandy, a Bacardi & Coke and a cup of tea! On the other nights only he knows.....
When we got back to Gatwick Dave found a set of scales on the way to baggage reclaim and yes, he had put on the 7kg that he spent so long getting rid of!
This week he’s in Rodrigues, no doubt trying to lose it again...
Thanks Dave, Colin and Jo for another great week and it’s well worth another trip next year.
Phil & Annette
