Louis Morris is back on the water after an exam break..Louis is one of the most talented race board windsurfers in the UK and Boards looks forward to finding out more about him in the very near future!
I was great to get back on a windsurfing board after my exams by competing at the 3rd event of the UKWA Inlands at Farmoor, even better to win it!
However, something was missing: wave riding and jumping! Luckily for me, the week following Farmoor was windy, and I scored some great sessions at Wonwell, Bigbury, The Bluff, Marazion, and Siblyback. I feel like I’ve finally cracked the forward loop on Port tack, consistency needs to be worked on, and although my Starboard tack jumping is pretty atrocious, I’m at least trying on my bad side. It sounds simple, but the key thing that made the difference for me was making sure my feet were really deep in the footstraps so that I didn’t loose the board, and getting the front hand back as well as the backhand. Need to try some more backlooops now, and see if I can get flat water spin loops.
Two sessions really stand out for me. One was when I headed west to sail The Bluff and Marazion. The waves were small, but it was really windy, making it simply a really fun jumping and riding session: bright sunshine and 4.2 all day! The other was just 5 minutes down the road at Siblyback lake. The wind was southerly, pretty clean, and was a great opportunity to do some much needed high wind raceboard training. I’m pretty impressed with the Lightning 8.5, it is actually really powerful and great upwind, downwind, it lacks power compared to the XR 9.5, but in 18 knots+, it’s the ideal raceboard sail for me.
