AUS120.com™ – Sean O’Brien, Tour Diary

Ok so we’ve had a few windless days in South Korea now! So I decided to go for a run last night to keep up the fitness levels. Our hotel is right on the beach front but separated from the sand by 40-50m of thick forest which is heavily fenced off. So to make it to the beach you need to walk north about 900m to the restaurant area which has beach access – from there the beach stretches in two directions (separated by a small creek) as far as the eye can see.

On this particular night I decided to run along the beach in front of our hotel, thinking there would be another access point further south of our hotel allowing me to get back. The sand was really soft but its a good workout for the ankles so after passing the few small restaurants to the north I headed out on to the beach and began to run south, a few metres away from the small breaking waves…

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On the first day, and in the first race of the Euro-Cup event in Silvaplana, Switzerland, I crashed on the startline with Arnon Dagan (ISR-1). Not really anybody’s fault, but when I hit the water I felt my neck “click”. Not a broken-bone click, but a “this doesn’t sound too good” kind of click. So I headed back to the beach and sat out the next two races. By late afternoon my back was starting to seize up and my neck was throbbing. By 9am the next morning I couldn’t even turn my head 5cm each direction. I’M OUT! That was the end of my Euro-Cup event in Switzerland!

So that brings me to the purpose of this story. Before heading back to Holland the following day, myself and another Aussie friend travelling with me decided that we needed to see some snow. I haven’t seen snow in 15 years (believe it or not, its 20 degrees in my hometown in winter!), and there’s no better place to see snow than in St Moritz; one of the more famous skiing towns of southern Switzerland.

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I arrived on the sunny island of Fuerteventura late on a Monday afternoon. “Fuerte” is one of the more popular of the Spanish Canary Islands, just a stone’s throw away from Gran Canaria, Teneriffe and Lanzarote. Having never been here before I only knew Fuerte by the photos on the PWA websites, the long stretches of white sandy beaches and crystal clear, flat water. The taxi drivers at the airport are prepared to deal with surfers and after selecting one with roof racks I had my 80kg triple board bag strapped tightly on the roof and began the one hour drive to Sotavento beach (right in the south of the island).

The island was a stark contrast to what I was expecting. Barren and desolate desert as far as the eye could see in all directions. This was as close in appearance to Mars as you will ever encounter; a pale reddish stony and dusty landscape, with no plantlife dotting the horizon other than a few shrubs, not more than 30cm off the ground. Small but steep mountains surround the entire island, and it is easy to see how the years of constant wind have shaped their features, very smooth transitions and sharp peaks on the taller of the mountains.

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Well, there’s been not a lot of wind and no competitions going on here in Europe at the moment, so this have given me some time to work on my van; putting some steel racks in and plywood floors (see the pics). Its been a little annoying having so much gear strewn through the van the last few weeks, so finally it will be organised and make things a little easier to go sailing. The weather has finally warmed up here aswell, around the mid 20’s most days and perfect for watching the soccer world cup outdoors on the big screens in the centre of town.

It appears I won’t be racing at the Kiel Week Olympic Regatta (scheduled for 21st-25th June) due to some equipment failures in my RSX, so this will allow me some more time to train on the formula gear. The next event on the cards is the PWA Grand Slam in Fuerteventura (pending my wildcard application is accepted) otherwise I will race in the Formula Experience World Championships in Belgium at the same time….stay tuned.

Just arrived back in Holland from Portugal where the 2006 European Championships for Formula Windsurfing were held. Portugal was a paradise, with plenty of atmosphere at the beach and of course the nightlife. Unfortunately, most of the action was off the water as we struggled to get enough wind to have a decent event. Three races were eventually run, but in marginal and fluky conditions which left many competitors (myself included) needing more races to drop our DSQ’s! Oh well, that’s windsurfing! Enjoy the pics, these are from the beach in Portimao where we raced and inside the gear tent.

Full reports on the event can be found at www.formulawindsurfing.org and the results here.

Another image of me inside the gear tent can be found here.

Ok, so I’ve arrived in the Netherlands last week after my brutal 22 hour flight from Australia. Bit of a change to the weather back home – its currently 8 degrees after being baked around 32 degrees for the last few months of the Australian summer.

I’ve finally settled into my new home in Groningen, which is in the north of Holland. I’m living right next to the city centre and am only about 25 minutes drive from the beach or the lake where I can sail. It hasn’t got much warmer than 10 degrees for the entire week or so I’ve been here, which is a little too cold for me to get out sailing yet! Thats cool, as its given me time to get the important things sorted such as wheels to get me to the beach. Here’s a pic of my new get-up for driving around Europe – VW Transporter 2.5 TDi. Should be nice! Just have to get round to putting some racks in to keep the gear a little more organised.

The weather is supposed to heat up next week which will give me a chance to train a little before I head to Portugal in early May for the European Formula Championships!