Fuerteventura Windsurfing

2010-04-18T05:15:00.001-07:00

Just had a fantastic few days with the two Thomases from Belgium, who came over with the intention of mastering that old devil, the forward loop! Despite being probably the worst April I can remember on the island for wind, we scored three good days at Punta with SW wind (port tack, which proved ideal for the Thomases as that´s what they mainly sail at home). The boys had a good level of sailing already and were incredibly motivated to learn forwards. Their motivation and commitment meant that they both cracked it in record time, despite having never even attempted one before. Within an hour of the start of their first sessions, they had pulled it off and waterstarted away from their first ever forwards, opening a whole new avenue of pleasure to their windsurfing! I had one extra session with Thomas 1 (the other one went kitesurfing, grrrrrr), and he was pulling them high and clean by the end of day 3. As a coup de grace at the end of the day, he nailed an ankle-dry, mast-high stalled forward right in front of me, awesome. I reckon he´s still grinning now.

Well done to both the boys, proof that it can be mastered in no time at all with the right attitude! I´ll leave you with a clip of Thomas 1 on his first run on day 2...........

2010-02-28T15:41:00.001-08:00

Well, the storm has passed completely now, and we are left with clear blue skies and total calm again, time for a wee breather. I reckon the northeasterlies will be along pretty soon to signal the start of spring (probably the best season here for wind and waves) so I´m going to rest this aching old body now (at the beach, haha) in preparation! In the meantime, check out some pics I got from the last day of SW wind at Punta.......

2010-02-28T11:47:00.000-08:00

Air Flaka!!

2010-02-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

Check this out- last Wednesday night the storm we´d been expecting built to almost hurricane level (the second time in two years that this has happened, definitely feeling the climate change!). During the night, the wind got so strong it blew the roof of our apartment block and deposited big chunks of it through the shop windows and on top of the parked cars in the front street! The town was pretty well flooded on Thursday morning and there was a lot of storm damage around, and the wind was still howlin´! A few people managed to get out sailing at Rocky Point again later in the day when the wind dropped, but they were still pretty overpowered on 3.7s and 4.2s by the looks of things, more survival than classic sailing. I was kept busy at emergency community meetings etc, trying to sort out the slight waterproofing problem that some of my neighbours are now faced with!
Anyway,looks like the wind will drop a bit and should get a good session in at Punta or La Caleta before it disappears for good, watch this space, hopefully I´ll get some pics...........................

2010-02-16T03:13:00.000-08:00

The storm is upon us! Sunday was great port-tack Punta with smallish waves (see pics), great fun for both jumping AND riding. The pics are of my wee mate Victor who was rippin that day. Hopefully it´s his turn to hold the camera for a while today.................

Yesterday the wind swung more true west so the action shifted to Rocky Point, with logo high sets and winds gusting up to 35 knots. A bit chaotic but good stuff nevertheless, the bigger sets were a bit choppy on the face but the smaller ones cleaned up nicely on the inside for some sweet down-the-line riding. No pics unfortunately as the action was a bit far away.

Today is looking windy again and could be good at Punta or La Caleta if this bloody rain ever stops! Watch this space...........

2010-02-06T06:00:00.001-08:00

It´s been a great week here on Fuerte- last Friday and Saturday saw strong SSW winds, perfect jumping and port tack riding at Punta Blanca in head-high waves- bliss! Punta is sooo good with wind from the left, it´s so clean and well-spaced, total joy. On the way back home after my session there I passed by "german right" and I have to say it was going off there with some of the local wave rippers getting some great rides and big aerials in mast-high perfection! Great to watch............

Yesterday was absolute perfection (for me) in Majanicho- head to logo-high sets and perfectly sideshore eastwind. So many times here the wind has too much south in it and is too offshore but yesterday was primetime Majanicho. The wind was pretty fickle on the inside so I took my 5.6m Combat Wave and the 98l Freestyle and had an epic session! Don´t be mislead by the name "freestyle", these boards are just incredible fun to sail in just about any conditions, NOT just for freestyling! With a 19cm fin in it turns just great and for aerials it´s probably even easier than with the waveboard as it keeps up speed and has more surface area to launch off the lip. Everyone should have one of these boards in their van!

Today the forecast was good but the wind was probably a bit lighter and the swell was pumpin´! A couple of the lighter guys tried their hands, wobbling out and catching some huge set waves for a while before the wind died altogether(see pics), cool to see. On the way back this morning I stopped off at Lazy´s where a couple of guys were surfin some nice, powerful head-high barrels and took some more pics, check em out in the slideshow............

2010-01-16T06:16:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone, happy new year and all that.
The Xmas period saw some good sailing over here, only a few days but very good when the wind was here. The best days were just after New Year at Flag Beach, with northwesterly winds and a good swell for some epic port tack jumping sessions. No pics unfortunately as the action was a bit far out to sea, but loads of decent stunting going down, total carnage, I love it!
On the clinics front, I am doing a week-long clinic the last week in April in conjunction with PuraVida Boardriders, which is going to be a blast. We will be providing accomodation, transport, tuition, entertainment and catering and, of course, LOADS of time on the water. April is traditionally one of the best times of the year over here for wind and waves, so it should be great! For the complete lowdown on the clinic check it out on the website here http://www.puravidaboardriders.co.uk/ . If anyone is interested they can get in touch with me through my email gibboinfuerte@yahoo.co.uk or Jim on the PuraVida site. Definitely one for the diary.

2009-12-24T03:55:00.000-08:00

Dec 09 Windsurfer International Magazine Issue 04

2009-12-14T04:27:00.001-08:00

I´ve just finished sticking together some footage that we got during the summer when I was teaching at the lagoons, messing around on the "big stuff". Apart from meeting some great people this year, my clinics have also helped me rediscover the joy of just windsurfing, something that is easily forgotten in the quest for progression and the search for ideal conditions. Some of my best days this year were spent on big boards in light winds with good friends just having fun, exactly what windsurfing is all about.
Although the title of this video is "light-wind freestyle", the majority of it was actually shot in a force 5, a bit on the windy side for light-wind freestyling, but great fun. Thanks to Nick for the videoing (wellaye), the legendary Mick Coffey for the background sailing, and Daisy the waterbulldog for her four-legged freestyle antics, and especially thanks to everyone who came on my clinics this year- hopefully you all had as much fun as I did, see you next year!
Enjoy the video.............

Light Wind Freestyle Summer 2009 from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.

2009-12-07T06:28:00.001-08:00

Another week of light winds but I had a great week riding flatland with my two good friends from Germany, Steavy and Ollo. We always have a blast when they come over and this visit was no exception, still trying to shake off Friday´s hangover. Anyway, check out these pics of our night session, snapped by Gregor- tricky to ride in the dark but great for photos

2009-11-28T10:39:00.001-08:00

I took the opportunity of strapping on a helmetcam (thanks, Marcus!) during last weeks storm and shot some video of the action at Punta, while I was trying out the new Twinser 82l and my new Combat Waves. This video was shot entirely with the camera "up top" to hopefully give you the same feeling I have while I´m out there having fun. Hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it...................

2010 Kit First Impressions from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.

2009-11-07T17:19:00.000-08:00

At last some wind and a chance to try out he new kit! Punta was howlin northeast when I arrived at 11.30, but the wind swung east, not ideal for jumping but pretty good for riding. I have to say that the new Twinser Wave 82 rocks! Check out a couple of pics from today´s session........................

2009-11-03T14:58:00.001-08:00

Still no wind to speak of, which was just as well on Sunday as I was suffering with a hefty halloween hangover which would have made sailing a trifle tricky! We had a great night in Corky´s Bar, loads of people in full fancy dress as always, and too much tequila but, hey, you´re only young(ish) once!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-10-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

The good news is my 2010 sails have arrived. The bad news is that the long wind drought on Fuerte continues. Still not a breath of wind, great for the surfers but frustrating as hell for us. The forecast is bleak with another 7 days of nada!

I did manage to get out last night at 6pm for a quick session on Lobos which was fun but certainly not epic, still, nice to get wet on something smaller than 200 litres for a change.

Can´t wait to test out the new sails, they look amazing and, by all accounts, are. They are very light but look superbly strong with tons of reinforcing in the critical zones so should last great (forever if the wind stays like this).

2009-10-19T09:19:00.001-07:00

Yeeha, I finally finished editing the headcam movie and here it is. We shot the footage over two weeks at the beginning of August when my good friend Oisin was over. The original plan was to make a joint video but we really have been too busy (me windsurfing and him stuck in a boat/windsurfing!), so we split the honours and Oisin is busy working away on his as we speak. The footage was mainly shot in Punta with 5m sails and head-high waves, with a few days on flat water and 4.5s in Sotavento (while all the local waveheads were waiting in total calm for wind in the north! That´s 15 years of local knowledge, haha), great stuff. All in all, superb fun shooting the footage and, as always, supermotivating and inspiring to spend two weeks sailing with the Irish legend, Oisin. Also, educational as I never realised the full variety of facial expressions I pulled while sailing. Enjoy...................

Headcam action, August 2009. from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.

2009-09-09T05:15:00.001-07:00

The summer trades are tailing off now but I´m still pretty busy with clinics, alot of beginners´courses at the lagoons in Cotillo too!
Last week was an intermediate (chophop and carve gybe) clinic with Stephen Keane from Dublin. The wind was looking flukey in the north so we (I) made the executive decision to head down to Sotavento for strong wind and flat water. When we arrived on the first day I was surprised to see perfect head-high rollers breaking all along the sandy beach with 25kts! Perfect for wavesailing (and ponches- see vid)..........

Mast tip ponch from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.

............But not so perfect for our carve gybe clinic! In the end, it worked perfectly as an introduction to wavesailing for Stephen, who quickly got to grips with the conditions (amazingly so as he had never sailed in waves before and the conditions were tricky to say the least), growing noticeably in confidence over the next few days.

To cap off a fantasic week he sailed out of his first ever planing carve gybe on the last day and did his first (pretty high) chophop! I´d say he´s still smiling now, back in rainy Ireland, haha!

2009-09-09T05:12:00.001-07:00

As promised, a few pics of the action from last week at Punta..............

2009-09-09T05:09:00.001-07:00

As I may have already mentioned, Oisin is busy at home now editing the hours of footage we got using the GoPro HeroCam. In the meantime, here is a short clip to give you an idea................................

2009-07-15T03:45:00.001-07:00

Katie Mcanena just spent a week over here to learn to loop and she has chronicled her success in a short vid shot at Punta. Check it out- she was incredibly motivated and learnt very quickly after a minimum of instruction. I had to point out only the tiniest of details and she took it straight on board, ignoring the painful first few wipeouts and progressing superquickly! By the end her rotation was really sweet and she was evn stalling them- what a legend! Let this be a lesson to you all- if you can commit yourself like Katie did, you can achieve a huge amount in a very short space of time............

Katie McAnena looping in Fuerte! from Katie McAnena on Vimeo.

The same week, I had my good friend Kev Bambra over from the UK. We had some pretty good conditions for the whole week (see Katie's vid!) and Kev was in pieces by the end, haha, check out his hands in this photo!!!!!!!! Kev is a drummer with up-and-coming new hardcore band Faceshredder and garage punk legends The Coyote Men and has a busy schedule of gigs when he gets back home- ouch!!!!!!!!!

On the topic of injuries, my good friend, young shredder Stefan Ploum (Kauli), who has been on the island since February honing his skills (and improving very quickly, incidentally), broke his foot in two places a couple of days ago crashing a big forward and will now have to return home to his native Holland for an operation,cutting short his stay by six weeks or so and missing the summer trades. Bummer. He'll be back soon, though, and hopefully he'll have a video for me to post up soon (he's got alot of time on his hands now!). Best of luck, mate, see you soon.........

2009-07-15T03:44:00.000-07:00

2009-07-15T03:41:00.001-07:00

In between my teaching I've been managing to get a bit of sailing in for myself this week. The waves have been pretty small at Punta but at low tide conditions have been awesome for jumping and freestyle. I'll have some nice photo sequences up in the next couple of days, for now check out my latest move for my "tricktionary"- the grubby diablo!

Grubby Diablo from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.

2009-07-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

This is what Mark had to say about his experience in Fuerte...................The challenge was to see if me, my wife Niamh and our 17 month old baby girl Kayla could have a top notch family holiday combined with a few days of proper wave sailing – surely impossible? Now we get pretty good conditions at home, so the deal was I was only going to sail if it was as good, or better, than what we get here.
On the advice of Oisin van Gelderen, on an Irish forum, I got in contact with Stephen Gibson, who is a JP/Neil Pryde sailor based in Fuerte (http://gibboinfuerte.blogspot.com/), where he also has a restaurant, to arrange some coaching/ a clinic. (He also has a thread here http://www.boards.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=25030 ). I wanted a laid back approach where I’d only go sailing on a solid forecast in the right spot, minimising time wasted driving around the place. I emailed him about two months ago and he couldn’t have been more helpful, was cool with our plans and gave advice on what to bring etc.
As you can’t get direct to Fuerte from my local airport we flew to Lanzarote, rented a car and got the ferry (Didn’t get charged for bringing my gear on the plane which was sweet.) We got a good deal on a really nice hotel at the edge of Corralejo near the big beach. My wife was able to go running out to the big hotels every morning at 7am, so she was really happy.
On Sunday 21st we called into Stephen’s restaurant in Corralejo (called Gibson’s http://www.fuerteventura.com/gibsons/index.shtml ), and discovered that he is a great chef, and one of the nicest guys you can meet. We tried a few other places other nights but kept going back to Gibson’s as it was the best we found in the town. One night we were eating in the restaurant and our little girl was acting up and Stephen came out and entertained her while we ate our dinner – totally cool guy.
Anyway, on to the important bit: windsurfing. I arrived on the 20th June and it looked like the trades were kicking in. I could have sailed three days the start of that week on 5.6 and maybe 5.0 at Glass beach. Waves were small, so I decided to hang on until it really kicked in (remember this is a family holiday so only looking for quality conditions). Big mistake. The forecast turned horrible with five days of no wind. I was getting a bit antsy and it looked like things were going to go pear shaped. I actually felt bad for Stephen as every time we called in he was apologising that the trades hadn’t kicked in. Then the forecast showed wind for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of July. I decided to do a looping clinic on the 1st and the 3rd and go free sailing on the 2nd.
1st July – Warm Up at Punta Blanca
We had a nice warm up day on the 1st at Punta Blanca – 5.6 weather. I had never been there before and it is a cool place to sail – amazing for jumping. The drive from Corralejo is funny, with a fair bit of dirt track.
There is volcanic rock everywhere and a tiny patch of sand. A bit like sailing on the moon. At low tide you walk out across the volcanic rock and chuck your gear into the water and jump in. Even with little swell, the place throws up big steep ramps. There wasn’t enough wind for looping so we canned the clinic and just sailed.

2nd July – Down the line at Lajos
On the 2nd the wind looked more Northerly so Stephen made the call to head down the east side of the island. Glass beach was busy so we drove down to Lajos, a point break, close to Puerto del Rosario, about 20 mins from Corralejo. There is no way I would have found the place without the local knowledge and it rocked. Boom to head high waves, powered up on 5.0 cross, to cross off wind. All local sailors plus me. A really sweet session at a really cool place.
3rd July – Forward Friday at Punta
I really wanted to learn something so we decided to head to Punta Blanca on Friday, my last day for a clinic on forwards. Arrived to see 5.0 weather with some nice ramps. The higher tide meant we could launch from the beach, which was a bit of a novelty.
This was the day I did a clinic and it began with a quick discussion by Stephen about technique. The clinic was one to one which I found perfect for learning, particularly in a short space of time. I have been trying loops for about a year without much success – lots of back splatting.
We went out and I went for one off a small wave with him sailing really close behind me.
We then sailed back and he corrected my technique. I went for a good few more off small waves, always with him sailing close behind me. After I had crashed he’d usually do a forward correctly right in front of me (or a push or back loop). Not sure if this was by design, but I found this really motivating.
After about 45 mins of practice he reckoned my technique was good enough to go off proper ramps. We sailed out, again with him behind me and I went for it off a boom high ramp, got proper rotation. Wow, what a nice feeling. Jump. Pause. Stomach flip. Splash down with all of the gear pointing the right way.
I felt like I was making real progress, but was getting tired. Doing a loop attempt on every run takes it out of you. We free sailed for a bit and then took a break. At this point I managed to get the hire car stuck in the sand. Thanks to Paul for towing me out.
After the break we resumed but I was back at the beginning. Embarrassing attempt:

The wind had picked up and I went for several but wasn’t getting decent rotation. I started to get a bit pissed off and we had a bit of a chat. Stephen pointed out that I was sailing a bit downwind for the good ramps. I sailed out behind him and he pulled one and I did one right after him. Much better:

After that I was in the groove with perfect ramps lining up on every run. I think I pulled three big (for me!) loops in a row with the board landing right underneath me. I know there are still things to be worked on but I am way closer after just a half days instruction.
Totally stoked. This was one of the best days sailing I ever had. I actually found it hard to sleep that night.
In short probably one of the best holidays we’ve had (my wife would have given it a 10, except the baby cried the whole 3 ½ hours home on the plane) plus some really good wave sailing, with Friday the 3rd July being one of my all time sessions. If you want to have a really nice family holiday combined with learning with one to one coaching then I recommend getting in contact with Stephen Gibson and going to Fuerte. I am going back next year to learn push loops.
Pretty stoked, I reckon.................

2009-07-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

Well, the wind is here and my summer of windsurfing clinics has begun in earnest! Last week was a forward loop clinic with Mark from Cork in Ireland and once again I have to say it was a huge success! We managed to score a couple of good days including a great waveriding session at Puerto Lajas, but the best was definitely saved for last. On his last day we rocked up to Punta and the forward loop fun began. Mark already had an idea of what he was trying to do, and, after we tweaked his technique on the water, he was spinnig like a madman, hurling himself off every available ramp. His rotation was supersmooth after about an hour and by the end of the session he was landing with the sail out of the water and soooooo nearly sailing away!! Big respect to the fella- he gave it his all and was totally fearless, reaping the rewards for his great efforts- well done, mate! All in all, we had a great laugh and I can only hope Mark enjoyed it as much as I did- I love teaching forwards- they've got to be the most rewarding clinics I do, great stuff!!!!

2009-06-23T14:30:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a week! I've just finished a full week of teaching with Pat O'Brien from the emerald isle and we had our fair share of action despite the fairly light winds for the week. Pat was a complete beginner and the conditions were absolutely perfect- Pat proved to be an amazing student and, despite the mishaps and accidents that befell us during the week( van smashed up by an articulated lorry, keys locked in borrowed van etc, you know, all the usual stuff, haha), progressed at an amazing rate, mastering all the basics in the first two sessions and quickly moving on to quick tacks and gybe variations, clew-first sailing, and using the harness. Well done that man! He is now back at home in Ireland with his shiny new windsurf kit watching the trees blowing through his office window and waiting for the weekend, I bet! All in all another huge success for all involved and great fun. See you next year, Pat?

2009-06-07T05:20:00.001-07:00

As is pretty typical for the start of June, the wind has been pretty light for the last couple of weeks. I scored a couple of good freestyle sessions in the south when there was no wind up here (local knowledge, haha) but, apart from that, there has been very little windsurfing action. I have been getting wet most days though, as I am teaching Caroline (again) and she is coming on in leaps and bounds now- look out world! Hopefully she'll be in tiptop shape in time for next year's Get High Or Die!
I have a free week now and then I am going to be busy for most of the summer with clinics so there should be plenty to report. For now, check out the latest move for my tricktionary, the double flaka. As usual, a full how-to will follow very shortly..........

Double Flaka from Stephen Gibson on Vimeo.