Ian Richards goes over the 50knot Barrier at West Kirby

With a long time off the water a call was made that a storm was building over Iceland and sending strong winds to the UK. As the weekend drew closer the forecast was still there, a summer of promises a week away never appearing and this was good news. Many windsurfers hit the water at my local spot, the winds built over the day and the kites cleared off leaving lots of space for the bravest.....and by that point, fittest!

Monday was the day for West Kirby, again a workday for me and not in the holidays. Lots of the UK speeders arrived for the promise of good winds in the (near) perfect direction. Here are a few words from some of the best in the country, and I am sure they have proven now that they are also some of the best in the World!

Ian Richards wrote this with his post on GPS Speedsurfing.

Ian Richards firing out of the West Kirby Slingshot
Photo credit to Tony Burgess

Kirby was buzzing today, conditions looked excellent at times but you really had to pick your moment for that fast run, it needed more wind for a record 5 x average day but at least myself and Andy Holland smashed the same gust and both scored a massive PB. Problem was we could'nt do it again or get anywhere near it ,but I'm not complaining.

Had a 50.29 knot 1sec on the screen, never thought I would see that on British Waters.

47.27 Fastest ever 10 sec at West Kirby

46.92 Fastest ever 250 m at West Kirby

What is remarkable is Ian has proven that it certainly is not about the latest kit, he did this on an NP sail with a Fanatic Falcon both from 2006. Old speed boards like this go for relatively little money on Ebay, so anyone who windsurfs a lot can fit one in their quiver and have a go on the speed scene.

Jim Crossley also scored a great session, putting himself in the top 10 for the year along with Ian. Jim is really showing consistency in every speed session now, each time West Kirby, The Ray or even Portland Harbour fires up he is always posting scores at the top end of the scale.

Will Trossell beat me to first place novice at Weymouth Speed Week a couple of years ago with a knot lead, I was gutted about it but his post from West Kirby shows he is by far a better sailor than I. With a 2sec peak of 47.3 knots he has placed himself up with the top sailors who have ever visited the legendary boating lake. He had this to say;

Started off at 8.30am with the JP and a gusty, super broad wind making it hard to get above 43kt peaks. I was using all my kit for the first time today and it kept getting faster. I hooked one big gust that gave me the peak speed and it felt like there was more there for sure. Evo 5 was rock solid as was the fin. I feel ready! If I have one complaint on the day its Ian - I thought I have finally beaten the bugger but no - one hour later after I saw him jumping up and down with a PB. Maybe another time :-) congrats though Ian. Great to see everyone enjoying themselves with quite a lot of PBs I think - an awesome day!

Good luck in Luderitz Will.

When the rest of the scores are analysed it could be assumed that the three guys mentioned above caught a good gust for their peaks as all the peaks below are a lot more consistent with the 10 second runs which really shows the high standard of sailing they achieved. Jim and Neil Hardwick scored a couple of amazing 500m runs, which I believe are difficult due to the length of the run and the size of the chop at the end of it (hopefully I will find out soon).

Jon Kennett deserves a special mention, while not at the top of the scores for the day he proved himself well for his first venture out with a GPS at West Kirby. Jon has made many boards specially for the spot with his growing brand Moo Custom. Jon said;

My 1st posting and speed session at West Kirby. Learn a lot over the two days and can now retire as I hit 40 knot peak on the 2nd day. Very happy with this result and may have another go as i have got the bug!

Finally I would like to mention a little about Matthew York, a very dedicated speed sailor whom has invested a lot of time and money to chase his personal bests. He smashed them on his new Point 7 AC1 sails with an average of 41.45 and 2 sec peak of 43.78, well done Matt you deserve it.

Well done to all who sailed there, sorry if I have not mentioned your name this time round. This article is for Ian and his amazing 50knot achievement on British waters which has only been shown by two others in the past. I do hope Pete Young can get up there again soon to get the big 50. All results can be seen here on the GPS Speedsurfing site.

Good speeds and winds
The Bus2

Jim Crossley flies at West Kirby

Another great January day, this time a few Portland Pirates team mates win the honour of sailors of the day.

 Produced by Alan Jones
Edited by Chris Bates

Directed by a good WNW Wind

Screenshot from GPSspeedsurfing.com

50knot Barrier Destroyed by more than 1

The view from Portland Bill across Weymouth Bay

So far this seems to be a great year for windsurfing, with sessions every day so far for many. It was only the brave who dared get wet today though, with violent winds hitting the UK from Cornwall up to Northern Scotland.

For a few days previous it looked like West Kirby would fire up again, and this time it did not look too broad. In fact the forecast was promising an almost perfect direction.

It came! The Dutch also came to give us another lesson in speedsurfing!

2012 The year the records went in the first 3 days!

I will elaborate on this as more news comes in. I have heard reports of a 54knot peak on one GPS, and 10sec runs close to 50. It will take a day before all results come in though. I hope you are all still okay after these winds!

The full report can be found here http://www.redsurfbus.com/2012/01/50knot-barrier-destroyed-by-more-than-1.html

Here is a taster.....

'The Bus'

Best Board Graphics Ever?

I want one, I want one, I need one, I really need one, this is just brilliant!!!

Its a Moo custom, watch this space for an interview with Moo in the new year. They currently have logged the fastest speeds at West Kirby with one run over 50knots.

Here is a promo vid.....

MOOsters of speed from k4 fins on Vimeo.

Clash of the Titans Day 2

Steve Thorp racing Izzy, or Izzy racing Steve, no one knows......

The results for both days are finally in, it looks like everyone made it home safely with a lot of people having a long way to drive. Steve Thorp went home (halfway across the country!) Wednesday evening, went to work Thursday morning and then decided to go back to West Kirby on his lunch break, I guess it pays to be a boss!

Clash of the Titans Day 1 - Martyn Ogier

Martyn Ogier closing on 50knots

Rather than keep adding to an article many appear to have read (over 1000 in 18 hours!) I want to add more about the top speedsurfer of the day at West Kirby on the 7th of December 2011.

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.

West Kirby USM by Howard Rowson OPH

Farrel O'Shea at Full Throttle

Event: UK Ultimate Speed Meeting

Date: 6^th October 2011

Venue: West Kirby 

Ultimate Speed … Ultimate League of Gentlemen

Long have the UK Speedsailing crews waited for a high wind forecast from the West to West Northwest, providing epic conditions for one of the worlds fastest speed strips.

Late September showed early signs from the main forecasting models that October would perhaps see a return to a mobile westerly flow, with a resultant storm track of low pressure systems off the Atlantic, tracking west to east just north of Scotland, setting up West Kirby for an “in the line of fire” serious high wind session.

SpeedsurfingBlog Article by 'The Bus'

Last night I rounded up the various stuff I had done about West Kirby and the amazing hour by Jacques van de Hout and Hans Kreisel for an article on the Speedsurfingblog. There was something I missed from all the work I did on here, cannot believe it either. Not the fact I missed it but the fact it stands out nearly as much as Steve Thorp's 50knot display. Click the banner for the link.

Hope you enjoy it, good speed and winds, 'The Bus'

West Kirby 6th October Collection of Videos

West Kirby Ultimate Speed Meeting - October 2011
Scroll down for all videos, if you know of any more please contact me
redsurfbus@gmail.com


Mr Windsmurf on YouTube 
(if you let me know your real name I can credit you properly!)

A different perspective on the famous West Kirby day.

Norman Petty (aka Normski), a windsurfer that many people in the UK will have been on the water with and may have the fortune to know or chat with at the beach, sent me his perspective of West Kirby , 6th October 2011. Normski invited me onto the GPS Team Challenge and I feel forever in his debt as without that none of this website would exist. 

He is a 'Legend' class windsurfer who is just as comfortable in logo high waves as he is on the speed course. He certainly showed me how it was done in my first month on the GPS Team Challenge when it was our job to go for distance, I managed 79nmi while he carried on to over 100! Here is his bit, I did not want it to get lost in the other article that a lot of people have already read. - 'The Bus'

West Kirby - Autumn Gales 2011

Here is a quick round up of the day. It was a day that many of the regular speedsurfers who meet at West Kirby broke their PB's and joined the 40 knot club properly with 5x10second averages. 

First I would like to congratulate those who got their membership to the club. I know Tristan Haskins, Mike George and Mark Hayford are really pleased with the day. Mike even posted his SPD file on Facebook which to any of his friends that don't own a gps will be a meaningless set of numbers. Think he was a bit over excited there but I can totally understand how he feels, I am sure you all can. 

Invitation to 'The Bus' from SpeedsurfingBlog

I feel quite honoured, this morning Erik Loots invited me to become a collaborator and editor on his well respected Speedsurfingblog. I do believe him to be one of the pioneers in terms of attempting to get our loved sport out to the masses. I have edited my first article that he wrote about the "10 SpeedSurfing DO-NOTS!" He has many informative articles and all along I had no intention of trying to compete with any others out there, I want to work with all the other speedsurfers to get our sport more well known and respected.

Mid September Ranking for GPS Team Challenge

This month I think is worthy of a quick round up now. Up here in the northern hemisphere anywhere near the Atlantic has recently enjoyed the tail end of two hurricanes. The first, Irene was a sad event for some windsurfers as we lost an ambassador to the sport, Joe Rocco. Joe sailed at Long Island in the USA and had many friends who windsurf and was on all accounts a well loved character. They will hopefully name the beach he sailed from after him as a memorial. Our thoughts go out to his family at this sad time.

As the hurricane moved up their east coast it sent us great winds in perfect directions for the UK. This allowed the Portland Pirates to take a good lead in the first few days of the month, with great performances from the Matrix and El Reg who managed an hour average each of just under 25knots. Now to some this may not sound much but Portland Harbour is a tricky spot for good Nautical Miles and Hours, either end can have holes in the the wind on a gale force day, and the chop is terrible if you venture more than 100yards off the shore, which is often necessary due to how shallow it is. This means that one tack is under a Nautical Mile and many gybes are required.