Michael Goldfinch of SX Watersports reports from Francisco Goya’s visit to Essex on Saturday 9 July 2011…

The only way was SX!

What more could you want from a Goya demo day than the actual Francisco Goya himself joining us at Chalkwell beach last Saturday. Showing us the latest in Goya 2012 Sails and allowed the locals full use of the current 2011 boards and sails.

The demo started off with everyone on the water planing with 5/6 metre sails. Every board and sail got used and was well liked. We also had Aleksy and Megan Gayda trying out the quad boards and the new 2012 Banzai sail. It is a four-batten wave sail that is set to be a very different sail to all the rest on the market. It is super-light, manoeuvrable and so powerful. Aleksy was fully powered on a whole square metre less than others on the water. Aleksy was pulling off forwards and nailed his first duck tack. The Banzai only goes up to 4.9 but should be enough to get going in 15 to 20 knots.

What with the BBQ and great company the day could not get any better until Francisco finished the demo by getting on his board and showing us why he was once world champion. But if that was not enough Francisco then became lifeguard for one of the guys who got stuck 200 metres from shore. After swimming to his rescue Francisco then spent 30 minutes in the water teaching him how to waterstart.

We would also like to thank the guys from Zero Gravity for a 6 hour round trip to bring the nicest guy in windsurfing to SX Watersports.

More photos of the day can be seen on our Facebook site (Sxwatersports Essex) www.sxwatersports.com