Foot Op

So I had the operation on Monday at the start of this week and have just been recovering. It seems like everything went to plan, except that I forgot to tell the surgeon that I'm flying today. This apparently is ok, except for the fact that I have a two week course of blood thinning injections which I have to inject into my stomach everyday! Not particularly enjoyable.

Went and had the follow up appointment last night and I got to see the damage for the first time. It actually looks pretty clean which is cool and my doctor told me exactly what he had done. For anyone who doesn;t want to know the minor details then I wouldn't read on.

The picture below shows the surface scar I will have. The work below the surface consists of clipping off the bumpy bits on top of the joint and then smoothing it down, then the joint was pulled apart and all the debris was cleaned out, following that some of the ligaments under the toe were snipped so I could increase my range of motion and then all stitched up....niiiiice!

So it's 4 weeks out of any impact sports, and really it won't be until Cape Town (all of Feb) that I'll be back on it again. Good time to get it done and I'll be sure to get some skiing in, in Jan, I hope.

A particular favourite snap of mine below... the colouring makes it look just that little bit more horrific... yum yum!

Nominated for UKWA Windsurfer of the year - WOOOOO

YEHHHHHHHHHHHH

http://ukwindsurfing.com/woty/

So sick! Everything I wanted to happen by the end of 2012 has all happened this year! Please head over to the UKWA site (link above) to register your vote for UK Windsurfer of the year for who ever you feel deserves it...

Some highlights of my year below:

Videos:

Egypt Road Trip: http://video.mpora.com/watch/DSUJK6EoF/
Fuerteventura: http://video.mpora.com/watch/iFPoKQ2mg/
UKWA Freestyle Tour stop no.5: http://video.mpora.com/watch/vSSOxF3AN/
One fully epic power hour at West Witterings: http://video.mpora.com/watch/IN4IMz197/
SWA Aussie Kiss (epic event): http://video.mpora.com/watch/mHdik6HBz/

Photos:

http://video.mpora.com/watch/mHdik6HBz/

Night tow-in, AK XXX, Witterings coaching, Austriaaa

With the competition season coming to a bit of a close and the student scene kicking off I figured now is a good time for a bit of an all round update.

So going back a bit now but Si Crowther just released these images from the night tow-in session at Hayling Island, some cool shots, thanks Si.

 Practice/qualifying during the day

Since then was obviously the Poole windfest where I was super happy to take the 2011 UK Freestyle title, something that I previously covered with pics but it really has only just sunk in! It's one of those few achievements in my life that I can't actually describe how happy I am about it, especially with the level UK Freestyle is at!

So moving on to the Student Windsurfing event - Aussie Kiss 10. The first in their series and something I am helping out with in terms of demo gear from RRD. It's cool to go back as a demo guy and not to have to think about competing, but at the same time I miss that side a little bit. It's such an awesome way into competition though. No pressure and you compete when the wind as it's best. This year the event was pretty messy as per usual, a big party on Saturday night but with wind on Sunday it gave us a good chance to get out on the water and clear the hangovers a bit... pics below from Jay Haysey (www.globalshots.co.uk)

The following weekend whilst the UK's wave fleet were scoring it at Gwithian, Jamie Drummond, Sam Ross and myself were doing a bit of a freestyle kids camp at West Witterings. It went really well, with alright wind on Saturday and Trevor and Julian from the UKWA turning up to do a bit of an intro to competing and judging on Sunday.

Now I'm out in Vienna, Austria, desperate for an 'under-the-bridge' session and with a good forecast on the way, it looks like a strong possibility! Then it's home for a couple of weeks, hopefully to hook up with Josh Willmot to get some shots for some (top secret) video plans we have, then it's the operation and a bit of time out!

More soon on the bridge session if it happens...

Operation operation

Sooo the date is set, I'll be going under the knife on the 21st November. It means I'm technically not allowed to windsurf for 6 weeks but who ever let that stop them...

To be honest considering the year I have had I feel like this is a small price to pay. With this kicking off in Egypt where I cut my head open and had 4 stitches in the local hospital, then started off the issues with the foot by crashing a ponch. Then Fuerte where I visited the doctor/hospital about 4 times in total; with a suspected broken leg (crashed clew first backloop), suspected ruptured appendix (crashed pushloop), a deep cut across my shin (fin across the shin after getting worked by a foot high wave.......) and further foot issues...then in the UK I had even more problems at events with my foot.

Soo the plan for Dec/Jan is to spend some time in Austria and hit up the ski slopes a bit, I figured a ski boot will be solid enough... then Cape Town is booked for all of February to train up for the following season. It's a bit annoying though because the rate freestyle windsurfing is moving on it won't take long to fall behind!

In the meantime I've got a few weeks before the Op so this weekend there is a kids freestyle camp at West Witterings which I will be demoing/working at... so come along and get involved if you want to learn a few moves... the forecast looks awesome....or head to BWA Cornwall for the epic forecast that the Wave sailors are heading to!

EFPT Interview

Dominque from the EFPT put this unique interview together when I met up with him Vienna a week or so ago.

Pretty different style to the traditional interview format, cool though. Have a read here....

http://www.efpt.net/newsdetails.php?n_id=451

Pics:
- Hanna Poschinger
- getwindsurfing.com

My massive foot issues!

So I'm sure quite a few people know already that I have had ongoing problems with my foot. In particular my left big toe. Now although this is a small part of the body it's become quite obvious that it is fairly useful when it comes to common day activities like standing/balancing/walking/etc... so when I'm trying to bust out the odd freestyle move here and there it doesn't really help that I have no tendon holding my big toe to the rest of my body anymore. It also doesn't help that the bone inside the joint has compressed so hard on a number of occasions that there are now floating bits of bone in the toe/foot...niiice!

So after 10 x-rays of the foot and a MRI scan the doctors have concluded that I will need an operation to clear the bits of bone and to part the joint a bit, they will also scrape inside the joint and drill holes in the bone (inside the joint) to promote growth and recovery. Should this fail, quite likely, then a second operation will be required to stop any movement in that toe forever, but that would be far off when I really can't stand the pain anymore. I suppose I should be a bit disappointed about this as it will take me off the water for a bit and could affect my windsurfing, except I spoke to Steven VB at EFPT Sardinia and he had some issue which meant he cannot bend his big toe at the same joint I may not be able to, and for anyone who has been hiding in a small hole in a Scottish mountain in the last year or so, he just became World Champion.

So all is not lost, but there are the details for those who might want to know... yum yum! First operation will be mid-November.

That said, I had an epic sail last week and got some decent snaps, which I'll throw up here as soon as I can convert these retarded .cr2 files that my mac is not liking...

Latest video

So I made this video recently from that epic session we had at West Witterings a couple of weeks ago. It's only a minute long but the session was so full power everyone just wanted to sail and also I think the camera battery ran out... so here it is.. 50 knots of full power freestyle windsurfing!

Thanks to Bubble for the camera and the others for filming:

Celebratory road trip!!

So straight after winning the new title of UK Freestyle champion last weekend down in Poole I decided to chase the rest of the wind around the country a bit, meeting up with Oscar and Palmer along the way.

On the Monday we ended up sailing at Weymouth. The call to go there over West Witterings was tough as most of the guys I knew sailed at Witterings that day, but being more west was pretty much the main reason for Weymouth. It was pretty windy but really up and down all day, which resulted in changing sails about 4 times! Meeting up with Oscar there was a lot of fun though and we ended up having a good session.

After this we drove North to West Kirby for literally an afternoon/evening session. I've never been there before and that spot is truly incredible! I know 'The Trench' at West Witterings is also extremely good; super flat, consistant wind and sandy but Kirby has the advantage of working in any tide state. Really it was amazing, like sailing on a swimming pool. Sailing until sunset was the coolest thing as well as you could see the sun setting down the Estuary and the wind just stayed the whole time. If there ever was a place to hold a freestyle windsurfing event then this would be it.

Photos: Hanna Poschinger

Now the plan is to head North to Scotland this weekend for the Windfest and then maybe cruise down the East coast on the way home or stop at Kirby again...

2011 UK Freestyle Champion

This weekend was the final stop of the UKWA Freestyle Tour in Poole and it was windy!!!

It was cool to see everyone there again, Poole always attracts most of the UK's Freestylers. We had pretty awesome conditions on the Sunday with most people on 4.2/4.7. Saturday was a little less but more choppy. This allowed us to do 3 whole rounds of competition to decide the event winner. It was a super close event and this was even more clear by the fact that Max won the first round, Bubble won the second and I won the third. So it was down to who got the 2nd and 3rd places of each heat.

Anyway in the end I was super happy to be crowned the new UK Freestyle Champion and to have won the final round of the weekend. Congrats to Max for winning this event and also to all the other winners from the other classes; Ams, Juniors, Minims and the Girls. 

Here are a few pictures from an epic finale of the tour!

New Video!

Check out my new video from 6 weeks in Fuerte.

http://video.mpora.com/watch/iFPoKQ2mg/

Thanks to everyone that helped to film it.

If you are intereted then there is also a little interview on Boardseeker.com, here:

http://www.boardseekermag.com/features/windsurfers/adam-sims-in-fuerteventura.html

NWF and Full Power

So NWF was an awesome weekend, as fun as ever and already looking forward to next year. A few of the highlights for me had to be rounding the first mark of the slalom in first place by quite a distance before my boom snapped...damn it, coming second in the night tow-in and 3rd in the freestyle. Hopefully better next year.. and the party was funny!

Apres NWF Max, Bubble, Muzza and myself meet up at West Witterings (yesterday) for a bit of a session...it turned out to be a bit windier than forecasted and full full power...if you haven't seen it already then check the epic crash video from Max...
http://video.mpora.com/watch/lhCJBdeR7/

Here are a few snapshots from being pretty stacked in gusting 50 knots!

On another note my video from Fuerte is just around the corner...... so check back very soon... tomorrow infact!

UKWA Worthing Freestyle Round 4 - 1st place

Ok so it wasn't exactly epic conditions but we did get some good heats in 20 knots of wind on the Sunday afternoon.

It wasn't easy though, the classic high tide south coast death chop isn't exactly ideal for freestylin' it up but when timed well you could bust out some big moves... using the 5.8 was also hard after 6 weeks on 4.2/4.7 but keeping the moves fairly simple meant I managed to successfully take the overall 1st place. Super happy with that and outside of the heats I could practice the bigger moves on a massive sail for what is bound to be an even harder comp at Poole Windfest with the return of some of the Vass crew, Bubble, Max, Jamie, etc....

Looking forward to the next few weeks with National Windsurf Festival, Poole Windfest and Scottish Windfest all coming up, an awesome chance to catch up with a lot of friends, do some road trippin' and windsurf windsurf windsurf!

PWA Freestyle

So it's been a busy week here in Fuerte with the PWA in town. It's been incredible to watch some of the action live but also a bit disappointing as I'm stiull struggling with this hip injury. I've been told it's something to do with tearing the skin on the bone?! Not too sure what this means, but one to two weeks to recover. It's been over a week now and I sailed the last two days, only managing sliding moves as it causes too much pain to try anything else. Fortunately the wind has been a little light and the forecast is epic, so a few more days rest and then back on it full power.

Tonight is the closing ceremony of the freestyle so I think we make party...

Hope to release a video shortly, when I can find somewhere with decent enough internet to upload it in under 24 hours.....

Triple dose of Valium!

So had a sick session today, pushloops of knee high waves until about half an hour in when I went for a planning pushie in front of Nick Bentley but too far off the wind and the rotation stopped about three quarters of the way around, where I went full power into the boom. Unfortunately we were about a kilometer downwind of the centre, so some help from my regular rescue team who have now de-rigged for me three times and carried me off the water twice, and an off road drive later and I was on my way to hospital.

Arriving there they recognised me and got my file out... then decided a triple shot of Valium would help ease the pain. No I just have to wait to see if I'm going to be sick or not, as this decides whether I've ruptured my appendix or if its just muscular bruising, etc.... either way it's not ideal and another few days off the water.

Here are some pics from a session a few days ago... thanks to Steffi Hoffmann for the pics.

Fuerte...two full power weeks!

So we are two weeks in, the first of the weekly videos will be up by the weekend, here are a couple of stills from it:

It's really been full power here, we even took a day off just because it was too windy and we had been sailing fully maxed out for the whole previous week. On a personal note I'm happy that i've learnt quite a lot already, more getting moves consistent then new moves but a couple new ones for me.

Will update again soon with the video and more pictures. The idea behind the video is to push the younger guys as well, so expect to see a lot from the 'groms' who are all out here over the next few weeks! Now time to go sail again in the Lagoon... 4.2 again... love to!

One other thing, thanks to the Rene Egli VW Transporter that drove over my 2012 RRD 100 Twintip yesterday, I now have a board that is in exactly the same condition but with the knowledge that it can take the weight of a loaded VW Transporter... sick!!!

BlackLab video

Check out the new video of our trip around Egypt, some sick editing and filming from Josh at BlackLab...

http://www.continentseven.com/2011/07/12/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new-video/

Thanks to everyone involved and bring on the next video update from here in Fuerte in a few days.

Fuerte..first two days - FULLL POWER!

First two days in fuerte and have already had 8 hours on the water.

We arrived at 4pm yesterday and sailed for a couple hours then had a massive session today. On the 4.2 vogue at the moment, just trying it out to see how it ducks in the new skool moves. Also the 2012 (V2) RRD Twintip. Initial thoughts on this board is it has incredible speed! So so fast!

A better update soon with pictures...

1st place @ UKWA Mumbles Freestyle - Round 3

So had a good weekend up at Mumbles in south Wales these last couple of days. (Pictures below)

The wind was light but we managed to run two rounds of competition. I used 5.8 for both heats and on the 100l Twinzer Twintip. The combo actually worked really well and in the second heat I racked up something like 13/14 moves. Including a couple fairly decent new skool moves. The only problem was the fact that we were about a mile out to sea as the wind was soooo light and sooo gusty and the visibility was rubbish on the first day. We literally had to pump in to every move and then spend 20 minutes sailing upwind back to the beach. Probably something to do with the cliff that was in the way...

Some pics below of the event, thanks to Phil and Danielle from getwindsurfing.com Phil also helped out a bit with the judging as spotting the moves from so far away wasn't easy. Fortunately Danielle's lens was pretty big otherwise we would literally be specks in the distance.

Cold Saturday

Zoomed in to the max!

One of the best things had to be the pier jumping... at high tide each day the water was deep enough for us all to just bust out our best pier jumping freestyle. Phil and I kind of synchronizing with him doing a back flip and me doing front flip.

Hot Saturday

 Team Spartan Pier Jumping

All in all another successful event and good to see yet even more new faces and a healthy turnout despite the forecast.

Results:

1st Myself

2nd John Palmer 

3rd/1st Am, James Wheeldon

1st Youth - Alex Mitchell

1st Junior - Oscar Carmichael

Now bring on 6 weeks of training in Fuerte!