Cardiff Wave 2009

Cardiff Economy Wave, the second event in the SWA and Goya wave series, produced exactly what was promised in the wind and waves of Newton, Porthcawl. With an ever changing forecast the week before the event, disaster may have struck for the renowned Cardiff event. However in true SWA style, at the last minute, Friday brought what all of us were hoping for, a killer forecast.

Saturday saw 30 super keen windsurfers rock up to Newton beach in South Wales, only to be disappointed by distinctly budget conditions. However despite the grey skies and recurring downpour, the ever innovative students kicked off some impromptu turf-dogging alongside the Cardiff windsurf clubs super sexy naked calendar photo shoot, featuring the likes of Leah "Full moon" Pickering and Seb "hairy peaches" Willis.

 The evening started early with a massive punch party hosted by Cardiff’s President (The SWA does not condone excessive drinking in any way) Industrial level funnelling, extreme raving and banter were all on the menu followed by a mass exodus to Cardiff’s "Submission" Rock bar with the night culminating with chatting up Goths (you love it Al!) and knock out dance offs.

With (very) heavy heads we were all (slowly) persuaded out of bed with bacon sandwiches and tea. The prospect of an awesome day of windsurfing at Newton was on our minds. Sunday blessed us with full power 4.2 weather and some steep stunt ramps to go play with the Goya and Simmer demo kit on show. A few diehards headed out early to test the awesome looking conditions. Kudos to Scott Perry, who after pulling a mighty huge forward landed flat and ended up with a dislocated knee. One ambulance later the three heats were drawn up starting off with Stef Hilder (Rat Rigs/GOYA/Mormaii/SWA), Seb Willis and Ed Chapman.

Seb and Ed pulled into the lead early on with some tricky onshore-wind wave riding, with Ed showcasing his tricky backside cutback skills. Stef came back strongly with some nicely controlled forwards and managed to grab some longer wave rides after a tactical up winder, ensuring himself a place in the final alongside Ed.

The second heat of competitors featuring James Goody, Steve "SJ" Jarvis (4Boards/Vandal/Mormaii/SWA), Will (Surname a mystery) and Rob Richardson hit the water all fired up with Goody launching into cheese rolls on the back of the waves, SJ responded with stylish loops and smooth wave riding.

Next up were the girls. Maeli Cherel, Sarah Bibby and Amy Carter bravely headed out in the midst of a freak hail storm. The heat featured great wave selection and riding from Sarah with MC busting out aggressive high jumps after hitting the steep ramps further out.