Beach Telegraph

Spartan Warriors

Here's a couple of snaps of Mikey Clancy (shot by his Dad - MC) from our super-fun weekend session on the beautiful west coast of Ireland.

Mikey, Oisin, myself and a few others hit Belmullet and enjoyed a nice little reefbreak wave and a sweet beachie right next to it - you could ride both waves on the same run back in.

Thanks to Cormac (below - on the reef) from Coláiste UISCE center for sharing his waves with us.

MC Senior even took one of me when the sun came out. Thanks Mr C!

You can see more great shots of Mikey in a slideshow at his website and Blog.

Slammin' at Mexicos.

WIND magazine 335 is out now!

May's issues features the low-down on a winter's development with Cyril Moussilmani and the 2010 Starboard iSonic Slalom boards, plus, Fabrice Beaux reveals his discoveries from a 9-month exploration in Indonesia.

There's also an extensive investigation into Quad fins after some solid testing and quizzing of top riders and shapers on Maui.

More talk from Gollito about the possibility of the PWA swoopin' into El Yaque in May...although some say that event might be scheduled for the end of the year..let's wait and see.

I promised you that The Hustle Project would be back - and it is - bigtime!

This week you can win some sweet Lycras/Rash Vests from generous, quality British wetsuit brand Spartan  - who are also offering a Wetsuit to the winner of the 'Grand Finale'  quiz this Friday.

If you want dedicated windsurfing wetsuits, tough enough and warm enough to survive a British winter, (or even a British 'Summer'!), then look no further.

So to kick things off today, for a Rashie, please answer this question and say why you want a Spartan Rash Vest so much.

Q1 In what year did Spartan first start making wetsuits?

Please leave your answers in the Comments section below and mail your answers to me. Thanks.

Hot Content

First-up is a nice shot sent in by George from the Live2Sail Blog. Thanks George.

Here's a really short interview with PWA Wave Tour leader Josh Angulo on Maui.ee.

A Chilean adventure on video with Fabrice Beaux.

Some boom-Cam action from Seatex Boards on Windsurfmag.it.

After scraing some seals, GP is being cruel to Oceanic mammal life. Again. This time he's taken on a Sea Lion.

Don't you just love these vintage magazines. I love the smell and feel of these old issues crammed with great stories and less ads than in many you see today. (Even with the recession.) Check out the great surf books there too.

Speaking of Surf books, PWA and legendary surf scene photographer Alex Williams has launched a new book of some classic  shots of British Surfing in the 70s in a new publication titled 'Atlantic Surfers'. (You can preview the first 15 pages online.)

The March issue of Boards is out and I've got two articles published.

(That's Canadian PWA Freestyle rider Phil Soltysiak on the cover by the way.)

First up I've a review of the career of Scott McKercher followed by an investigation into the new Freestyle Classix format.

If you've read these I'd love some feedback on either the articles or the subject. Thanks.

WIND Mag issue 333 is also out now and it's a monster test issue. Check out the huge list of gear they've tried out.

Any other new issues of magazines out? Please leave the details in the Comment section below. Thanks.

U-Ride have a link to some video of Slalom racing action in The Gorge.

With the Fuerteventura Wave Classic a few days away, WSJ have posted a link to video of Spew Pits cranking on the island from last week to whet your appetite.

UK Windsurf and SUP pro John Hibbard wrote in; 'The main right peak at this beach is rammed with Surfers everyday and is a  100% No Go Zone for SUPers. 

The left in between the main break and the rivermouth is empty but it's hard to catch - not on my Starboard 8' 5" though!'

And finally. The Hustle Project. We've got a winner of the Fanatic T-Shirt contest.

So congratulations to Rudie from Holland correctly answered that Fanatic won 4 World Cup events in 2008 - World freestyle champ Gollito won Podersdorf and Lanzarote and world number 2 wavesailor Victor Fernandez won in Pozo and Sylt.

Rudie said 'I really like Fanatic because one of their boards got me back in to windsurfing big time!! And they are not through with me because I still want the freewave 86 ltr!'

Rudie - I'll be in contact about the details. Let's see what the rest of the industry can come up with for you guys? I guess you'll shout loudly about what you got from them at the beach  hey? Power to the people! Lets get you some stash.

Sunrise to Sunset

GP gets up early and enjoys Pro-less Ho'okipa. I'm glad he liked yesterday's weather link too...

Windsurf Journal put Kauli And Victor Head-to-Head.

Freestyle film wizard Andre Paskowski announces another new release due March 9th - including 5 new moves from Gollito.

An interview with Josh Angulo at Maui.ee

Some good fun had in Asia with Chris Pressler and the Starboard crew.

Various pics from a heavy session at the 'Isle of Cows' in France including Thomas Traversa, Thierry Belbe'och and Erwan Jauffroy at U-Ride and WIND. (And in another post at WIND.)

Gollito went racing.

Hot Sails have signed a new Speed Sailor.

I see the Starboard Futura Charity Auction has crossed the 2 Thousand bucks mark. I don't know what the charity or cause is? I'll ask them. I wonder if it's something environmental like Surfrider as mentioned in our Poll?

An event to mark something important for Italian readers.

Someone lucky's off to Maui.

How Deep?

Deepfried.tv went deep. Real deep.

Happy Birthday Naish.

Be afraid. He's back.

Bill loves the smell of fresh print in the morning.

Another great 'on-forecast' competition format in the UK. This time for Freestyle.

Severne officially announced their signing of Karin Jaggi today. Isn't that amazing that she's got 27 world titles? How many sportspeople could say that?

Apparently Bjorn Dunkerbeck is the most successful sportsperson ever in terms of world titles. He has won 35... so far...and like Jaggi also sails for Switzerland and Severne sails.

WIND magazine are like a dog with a bone with the PWA right now. First there was the Defi Wind date clash with the PWA Korea World Cup, and now they're outraged that Albeau (French language) can't get into the Cabo Verde event.

It's tough, but a lot of riders, including some who did well at Ponta Preta last season, can't even get into this 32-man limited entry event. I guess that proves how high the standard is.

Shaka Sir

U-Ride are showing some clips and videos of the recent storms in France on their homepage.

Windsurfing Democrat John Kerry didn't make it into the White House but someone else shows-off their Hawaiian upbringing here. (Remember his bodysurfing skills too?)

Robby Swift finished editing his footage of Lanes from last week.

World Freestyle Windsurfing Champ Gollito enjoyed a special day out. Congratulations Gollito.

No wind in Cape Town means chaos for up-and-coming young British Pro Chris Murray.

Here's some sadder news from South Africa though.

Steve Bodner has some photos to share from the Alex Caviglia Blue Water Classic in Miami. Thanks Steve.

Here's those Irish Speedsailing event dates mentioned yesterday.

Check back for more later. Please paste any interesting links in the Comments section below. Thanks.