We have many names to thank for their hard work including our own Steph Bridge from Edge Watersports in Exmouth who helped pave the way and of course we need to thank Markus Schwendtner who lobbied to have kitesurfing taken on as a sailing sport which then put kitesurfing within a category that could make it an olympic sport.

Its interesting listening to my own thoughts of kitesurfing in the Olympics.  Of course Im happy that it will bring more funding in to the sport and open up opportunities for our talented youngsters.  For me its ignited a new fire in my tummy!  Its a new step in taking kitesurfing forwards.  The sport breeds a young age of rider and many of whom I have had the pleasure to ride and compete with over the years.  Is this their chance to excel in the most infamous sporting competition of all time?  Or is it mine?  Do I pick up a course racing board and channel my competitive spirit in to this discipline?  Could I do well?  Who knows, but it makes me dream!

Right now, Im happy to be riding a race board in my spare time, a waveboard in the swells and my twin tip as regularly as I can.  Going for the tricks, taking on the power and soaking up that adrenalin is my addiction from which I doubt I’ll ever overcome and so their will always be a twin tip along side the rest of the kit in the back of my van.   Aside from that I plan to continue my focus on kitesurfing coaching!  I’ve been lucky enough to coach people of all ages over the passed few years.  Kids from as young as 4 all the way up to ladies and gentlemen in their 60′s.  I’ve even had the pleasure to coach men in the Marines, Navy and Airforce.  Its an extremely fulfilling experience seeing those happy smiles after endless hours of frustration when the move finally clicks.  Its the exhilaration of seeing the competitive spirit in someone elses’ eyes.  I’m going to continue on my mission to help people improve, train and win at competition because thats where my passion lies!  So come on the Rio 2016.  I look forward to  the new energy that you bring in and hope that one day you can take on freestyle too!

For now watch out for athlete training programmes and youth training trips.  Im excited to do my part in helping the British youth take on the world!

(The Royal Navy and Marines Kitesurfing Crew)

I spent saturday coaching the kitesurf club from the Royal Marines and Navy.  They had organised a get together weekend and invited me to coach them.  I spent the morning helping them to improve their level from jumping to rotations right the way up to surface handle passes and unhooked kite loops for some.  The wind we had was around 14knots which is great for improving your level and it was cross on shore.  Protected by the harbour walls the bay stayed nice and flat providing great conditions.  By the end of the day the guys were running competition heats which we set up as part of an afternoon on competition riding.

(Preparing for competition)

On day 2 of the short burst sessions I had a group of people from Weymouth and Portland Kitesurf Club.  They lived locally and were looking for help on riding toeside, slide turns, popping and jumping.  Unfortunately the wind didnt blow all weekend long, so I am hoping to head back later in the year to run another few sessions.

(Not quite summer over here yet, but fun none the less)

Next up Im coaching in Lancing for Lancing Kitesurf Club.  The weekend is fully booked so if you were hoping to bag a space please do get in touch, but it might be that I have to organise another couple of weekends sometime throughout the year.

Next month Im heading to Soma Bay in Egypt to run Egyptian Energy 2012.  There are still a couple of spaces left so if you’d like to come drop me an email and I’ll send you an itinerary so you can find out more about it.  Hope you can make it.

Jo

(Cornish Kitesurf Exploration 2010)

Visiting South Africa, Brazil, Egypt name some of the locations that I head to but I also believe that no one person who lives in the UK should travel further then their own doorstep during the spring and autumn month to gain the most out of phenomenal kitesurfing conditions.  Its not only financially friendly, but its surprising on just how good these trips are.

(Kitesurfing on your own doorstep!)

This year I am running 3 UK holidays where I will take you to locations of golden beaches, clear refreshing water, perfectly flat water, small kickers and occasionally big waves – although I will give prior warning for this to ensure that I don’t put you out of your depth.

(Kitesurfing in the South West UK September 2011)

They are all in September when the tourists have gone, the weather and water is warm and the low pressures are lining up in the atlantic. I will take you to stunning parts of the UK to explore and ride different spots under the UK’s dramatic cliffs, green fields, glorious rainbows and moody skies.

(Kitesurfing in the North East of the UK)

Each trip we will be staying in a high quality holiday house accommodation with big fat fluffy duvets, fire places, a fridge stocked of great food and cool beer/wine or delicious hot chocolate spiced with rum to warm the cockles.

(Sunset from the front room in Rhosneigr, Wales)

We’ll do car share where possible especially for Tiree to reduce cost on ferries/fuel and we’ll throw a reasonable kitty together to stock the house with food and drink.

(Kitesurfing in North Wales September 2010)

Together we will plan a journey for your kitesurfing which will involve a goal sheet and some action plans.  This will help you to let me know of your level in advance and what you would like to be working on.  Most people would like to improve their jumping technique and introduce some rotations and/or transitions.  Often they want to improve their style and sometimes they would like to get in to the realms of unhooking, but these trips aren’t about throwing down powered handle passes or massive kite loops, they are all about learning new skills, gaining independence and confidence and being amongst 6 other like minded kitesurfers.

(Cornish Kitesurf Exploration Crew 2011)

Come and join in the fun and action packed UK holidays.

Dates:

Cornish Kitesurfing Exploration – 8^th – 15^th September 2012

Wild n Windy Tiree – 22^nd – 29^th September 2012

Welsh Cakes and Rhosneigr Roots – 6^th – 13^th October 2012

To book a place email me on jo@jowilson.com or call me on 07919 276 405.  I’d love to hear from you.

Jo

For the next day we went to Paignton in Devon.  This was the opposite with wind from the left rather then the right and conditions a bit more preferable for the twin tip, so this time I had a little freestyle session.  I had arranged to meet a few people who had been on my coaching holidays before and by 10am we were all on the water.

After this trip I headed north to Rhosneigr in Wales where I met up with Victoria and Aaron who are booked on to a holiday in Egypt with me next month.  I spent two days with them and coaching Victoria to bring up her skills ready for the trip.

You can always rely on North Wales for fabulous kitesurfing conditions.  I dont think there are many more places more reliable for great conditions in the UK.  We had great conditions over the two days of around 20mph and plenty of sun in there too!  Rhosneigr is where I learned to kite and it was great to see Dave in Funsport as he is partly responsible for where I am today.

Next on the agenda is a weekend in Barrow, Cumbria.  It’s the closest spot to where I live so I dont have to travel too far for it.  I still have a few spaces if you’d like to book yourself on to a course.  The forecast is looking great.  Its a north westerly on the sunday which means it will be epic.  We have a strange thing here where the wind can be forecasted as nearly nothing, but if its coming from the north west it will come through strong enough and likewise if its forecasted 15mph then watch out – it will be more like 20-25!  This weekend we have 20mph from the west forecasted on the saturday followed by 10mph from the north west – trust me it will be a full weekend of kitesurfing action.

If you have some time for a course on the weekend then drop me a line on www.jowilsoncoaching.com.  Prices start at £65.  There will be a maximum of 4 people on the course and we will work on the next stage of your kitesurfing giving you a kick start for the season!

Next up 21/22nd Barrow, Cumbria (the place of the unforecasted 8m session yesterday)!  Be there!

Thanks, Jo

There are still plenty of spaces although Weymouth, Barrow and Southampton are booking up fast.  The kitesurfing coaching courses are for advanced freestyle as well as basic freestyle, so just choose the course based on your level.  I will work it so that you can work on the tricks that you are hoping to conquer.

Mail me for the itinerary.

Thanks, Jo

(Meet the 2012 South African Adventure Crew)

We spent one week in langebaan and one week in Blouberg just outside of Capetown.  South Africa has so much to offer with kitesurfing even if the forecast is good – you just have to know where to go.  One thing is for sure is that Langebaan provides some incredibly reliable kitesurfing conditions.  The wind blows approximately 5 – 6 days per week during Nov – March. It is a lagoon so provides sheltered flat water from the big atlantic swells.  Its basically a no brainer when it comes to kitesurfing holidays through the UK winter.  You just have to go.

(Aidy questing out for a coaching session on front rolls to toeside and toeside front roll transitions)

During the trip we spent the first week in Langebaan.  Its a coaching intense week so that you can gain the most out of your kitesurfing during this time.  The town itself is very peaceful and relaxing with a small selection of resturants and shops and not much else.  It means there is no distraction so provides a great opportunity to improve your level.  There are a maximum of 6 places on the trip and during this week I will coach each person each day to help them accomplish new tricks, improve confidence and learn about self launching and self landing and other topics that are handy to know about.   With like minded people on the trip and instant friendships form right away.  This year was no exception.

There were 5 people who came this year.  Birgit came from Mallorca, Mike and Adrian from Bournmouth, Nick from Southampton and Keith from London.  Plus myself and Chris to help with the day to day runnings.

(spot the ostrich behind Nick)

On the first night we had a great big bbq, known as a braai once you step foot in to South Africa and a few beers and a chance to get to know each other.  It all kicked off from there really.  The group were of a good level working on jumping all the way through to unhooked tricks.  Keith was mastering controlled jumps and back loops, while Mike and Adrian were learning moves from toeside, double rotations and different types of transitions.  Birgit was working on her rotations and unhooked raileys and Nick was working on surface handle passes, darkslides and raileys.  There was a good mixture of level and we spent the whole day on the beach with a quick lunch stop.

After one week and a lot of hours on the water everyone was pretty exhausted and ready for a change of scene so we packed up the hire cars and went to stay in a huge holiday house with 5 bedrooms down in Blouberg.  The house was phenomenal and right on the sea.

(View from the bbq area at sunset)

Blouberg is just a few miles from Capetown so the vibe is an instant change to that of Langebaan.  The peace and tranquility changed to an upbeat and lively atmosphere.  It was a perfect mix.  We celebrated an amazing first week with drinks and seafood while people watching in Camps Bay followed by some dancing in a club because Nick was more then ready to throw some shapes on the dance floor.  With a cocktail or two to enjoy we had a great time until 1am before taking the taxi home.

(The last of the semi civilized photos of the evening)

Capetown is not normally as reliable for wind as Langebaan which is actually a good thing.  Everyone’s bodies still tired and weary we had a couple of days of no wind to recover and instead spent the time checking out some must see South African attractions.  We never had time to check out the big 5, but we found our own ’5′ when checking out the peninsula down the cape point.  On our list we had ostriches, albetros, penguins, tortoises, lizards, baboons, rock dassies and spingbok.  In fact that makes 7!

(King Baboon)

By the 3rd day in Capetown everyone had made a recovery from all the kiting and we were pleased to wake up to a windy day once again.

(Morning view of the table cloth over table mountain signifying a great day to come)

We rode during the day on 7m/9m’s and then for those who dared there was a evening session on the 6/7m’s too.  When Capetown wants it really knows how to blow.  So a 30 knot session at sunset was had by some while others watched on happy from there session earlier in the day.

From then on we had more days for the 7m, but not too over powered.  We rode at Milnerton rivermouth, dolphin beach and Big bay.  Everyone found themselves amongst challenging waves at some point, but with the endless miles of sandy beach its easier to feel safe amongst it.  The waves roll in with a decent wave period and the wind blows directly across the shore making it very easy to time as either  a wave rider or a newbie to the waves.

(Keith cruising in Shark Bay – there are not really sharks, its the nickname name given to ray’s that you will see here)

Birgit found herself between two waves over her head height, but remained between them until they broke and rolled in to something much smaller and managable.  Keith and Nick were out riding behind the sets and venturing in when they felt ready while Mike and Aidy were out charging the waves at Calmers.  Capetown definately has a few more challenges to offer after a week at Langebaan and the whole group agreed it was an epic second week to top the first.  We finished the trip how we started with a few cool beers, a mountain of meat on the braai and lots of stories of the trip to regale.

(Some of the food we cooked up – ostrich kebabs, ostrich steak, whole chicken, chicken drumsticks and of course good old faithful sausages – yummy!)

The South Africa Adventure is always a trip where people have the reservations about crime, sharks and wetsuits, but dont believe the hype.  Its a refreshing, exciting and incredible trip where I hope to provide you with the best holiday in years – may be in ever!

Thanks to Nick, Aidy, Mike, B, Keith and Chris for making the South Africa Adventure as exciting, fun and adventurous as it was!  You rock!

For those of you who can’t make any of the dates I will also be offering 1:1 sessions on additional weekends.  Please contact me for further information.  Mostly these sessions will take place in Barrow-ib-Furness where the wind seems to continually blow, but occasionally I wil also be able to offer them in other places around the country too.

Also now on the website check out all my latest holidays!