Sorry for posting this late. Totally wasted from the trip we made and no internet connection any earlier. It all started when I came back from my holiday. After relaxing on the couch from the trip home,  I decided to check the GPS-speedsurifng site and the weather forecast for the first time in two weeks. I noticed Spotty sailed a new World Record (huge congratulations!!).  Possibly I could get a nice sail in at strand Horst. Just for fun I also checked the WK forecast to find. This got me awake immediately. I gave Serge a call and told him he should pack and come with me to drive through the night to be in time for a hopefully epic session. Luckily for me he was crazy enough to pack and the next morning after having hardly any sleep, we were finding ourselves in West Kirby, pouring rain, wind and all.

We all rigged. I took my 5.6 and just went for it. After a few runs I was feeling disappointed as my arm was still holding back my speeds. Just like the last times I felt myself crouching into the boom and couldn’t do anything against it. Just when I thought I’d better quit for this year and purely focus on  gear development  I saw a couple strawling down the wall in the puring rain and hammering wind for a romantic walk. There were small kids in way too cold suits getting kayak lessons, parents watching them and staying loyal by getting cold and very wet watching them do their best. On our trip toward West Kirby we saw kids dressed in shorts while we were freezing our asses off in our warm coat with our caps on our heads. I got a smile back on my face when I realized once again what the English people are made off. The English crew we sailed with was pleasant as always, the atmosphere relaxed, so why bother about a minor inconvenience keeping down my speeds a little. I decided to rig down to a 5.0 while the lighter guys were still on 5.5/5.8 sails. I took weight which helped to stretch my arm and finally the fun returned.

I realized I got down here to go for the record and decided to fine tune my gear for the day to come and make the best out of this day. Finally I sort of found my stance back and even though the sail was way too small for the super broad course I felt the speeds were OK and more important, I felt I still had it in me to really go for it when the time comes. More smiling couples were strawling down the dam watching the crazy dogs going like madmen down the brick wall. I finished of the day with what possibly has been my heaviest crash ever. I fell flat on my back and had no air left. Luckily my arm held, by I realized this was a warning not to push it too far this time. Steve got after my gear, thanks for that mate, and I called it a day (or better night haha).

After a short night sleep we went to the water again. I couldn’t move my arm enough to rig my sail so I left it to Serge to go for it. The wind swung around even braoader and we decided to call it a day, but not after watching a fitness class at 7 oçlock in the morning doing their training on the rigging tarmac in the pouring rain and wind. Those English…. All in all it was a great and memorable trip. Congratulations to Serge and Ian on their personal bests and for sure we will be coming back for more.