 |
| From Freewave 09 final |
Plimmerton has not worked for well over a month and a half. And the last round of the freewave fell squarely on the day Plimmy decided to reawaken. And man did it decide to wake up. Wind was a ferocious 35 to 40 knots plus, and while it wasn't breaking out the back at first the swell was not bad right on the beach. It was pretty much unsailable out the back anyway with big willy walls pulsing through Perfect for a freewave, allowing the action to happen about 20 metres off the beach.
My first heat was the best heat I think I have sailed at Plim. Landed pretty much everything and lots off them, latched into some pretty good walls on the beach and felt really relaxed. While I was feeling confident I watched Clayton in the next heat sail the best heat I have ever seen him or anyone sail with my bare eyes. His back loops were just huge and flawless, and he got one Pozo height jump out the back. I was definitely going to have to sail out of my skin.
 |
| From Freewave 09 final |
Thankfully I didn't meet him in the semi. My semi was ok, got some great waves, but my jumping suffered from a lack of ramps, but enough to get me through to the final with Tommy.
The final was held in conditions that appeared to be mellowing, which prompted me to switch to the 4.5 (a decision I would later regret). In the final was Clayton, Tommy, Klaas, and myself. All thoroughly deserved to be there. Tommy and Klaas were cranking beautiful antigravity forwards (some in perfect sync).
My sailing in the final was a shocker. A front came through right on the start so, I was maxed and while getting some good airtime, really struggled to land anything dry. But worse was failing to latch into any waves. Everytime I came in it just seemed to be flat. In the end I was desperate to get just one scoring wave, so I was trying to thrash around (and screwing up) on ankle size white water.
 |
| From Freewave 09 final |
Convinced that I was gonna take the wooden spoon I shot out the back to take out my frustrations on the now solid swell out the back. In the end it appeared that i wasn't the only one that struggled and I managed a very respectable 2nd place, giving me equal point lead for the series with Clayton (who came in third). However, a second series win in a row was not to be, with Clayton having notched up a win in the first round giving him the edge on a count back.
Tommy Fahy, sailed a very consistent heat and actually got some waves to win his first ever round of the Freewave series. A well deserved win by all accounts. Nice one Tommy.
All photo's by Dave McPhee - Wildwinds
3 comments:
Dude, thanks for the update from the Freewave Series. Tommy's sailing must be coming along damn fine to knock off Clayton and yourself! Props to him! Time to tweak those pushies man!! ;)
Yep, he is catching up by spending his winters instructing in Naxos.
Oh, and tweaking push loops is easier said than done. It is like frickin learning to do them all over again.
Post a Comment