.....the Life and Times of Phil Horrocks....: September 2011

Congratulations to Robert Sand and the KIA / PLASMA / PWA crew again for sticking on another great event!

1.Koester 2.Campello 3.Fernandez

Nice work to the winners and losers, everyone tried really hard in the incredibly tough conditions as we completed a full double elimination.

pic: PWA/JC

The wind in this part of the world picks up fast! i went out for a practice on my 5.0 about twenty minutes before my heat, by the time the first heat arrived i was out on my 4.2 full power!

Pic: PWA/JC

My first round heat against Baldyga, busting out some stock moves, the o/h backloop a banker for me.

Pic: PWA/JC

Thomas Traversa proved a trickier proposition in the second round, the little frenchy nailing his best wave rides and looking very good for a top finish. I was pushing in the jumping department but his wave riding is exceptional and that carried him through.

Pic: PWA/JC

Suddenly things get a bit more Gnarley!! The next morning we were greeted with 3.7, full power and some nasty looking waves!

Pic: PWA/JC

Early bird catches the worm, i was the first heat of the day for 2 days running, fortunately this turned out to be a good day and it was worth getting up for! I almost threw it away taking a 4.0 in one of the heats thinking it had dropped a bit, only for it to squall and suddenly blow its nuts off! i could barely sail in a straight line, having said that, i managed to pull enough together to advance.

Pic: PWA/JC

Even a 4.0 looks small against some of the nasty looking sets!

Pic: PWA/JC

Back on the 3.7 in the super windy and Gnarly conditions!

My run of heats on this day went pretty good, i finished 9th, my best result of the year, along the way i beat Baldyga, Timo Mullen, Lars Petersen, Martin Ten Hoeve, Peter Volwater, only to be halted by Thomas Traversa again in the double elimination, again he had some exceptional rides and by the time i got to him my best was gone..

A great time though and a big thanks again to my sponsors for letting me compete on the best sails / boards and the cash to get there in the first place!

JP-Australia, Gaastra, The Mailing room, Chinook,

Fingers crossed the wind blows next week as we're heading to Sylt and the final PWA wave event of the year...