Liverpool Northern Monkey 6 - A Raving Success!?!  Tris Gibbons has the story

With the more sensible sailors packing their kit back into the depths of their garage and the plummeting water temperature the SWA is just coming out to play for the new year! This weekend nearly 150 students headed north for the sixth Liverpool: Northern Monkey – the first of this year's Core Events.

After arriving late on Friday evening, we all headed out to Walkabout in Liverpool's city centre for a chance to catch up with old friends over a 'few' drinks at the bar and throw a 'few' shapes on the dance-floor. Predictably, however, a few become several and several became all.

Friday Night Party - photo courtesy of Kate O'Flynn

Chilling in the sun watching the racing - photo courtesy of Adrian Bell

After a heavy night on the sauce we all rocked up to the lake on Saturday morning feeling a little tender. Luckily Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre is only a 20 minute drive from the centre of Liverpool – giving everyone a few more precious minutes in bed! The weather on Saturday was horrendous. The wind was up and down, anywhere from 10 knots to 25. And the rain came down in the form of Murray mint sized hail stones. But that didn't put any of the students off.  This weekend saw huge 100 beginners getting out on the water with the help of some awesome tuition from Liverpool's instructors. The water was cold and the wind was strong. But these guys were super keen and were polishing their skills ready for the racing the next day.

Saturday also saw the advanced racing for the weekend. The field was really close and it was good to see some new faces joining the pack at the front. The RRD Fireraces were really in their element in the gusty conditions, getting planing super early – making for some interesting racing! In the end Nikita came out on top with Nadir and James just getting in for 2nd and 3rd..

Team racing - photo courtesy of Adrian Bell

Saturday night party - photo courtesy of Karen Dunn

After the blissfully warm showers provided by Crosby Lakeside it was back to town to sort out fancy dress for the Saturday night party!  This year the theme was Woodland Rave. People were dressed as everything and anything, from Little Red Raving Hood to Neon Badgers. Yates and Reflex provided a great venue for the party, with dancing on tables and some sick 80s anthems.

The sun finally came out to play on Sunday morning and there was a great party atmosphere at the lake. Big thanks to Darren Winwood for providing the tunes from his Human Sample Machine!  Everyone was getting super competitive this weekend. We had over 60 beginners on the water racing, and more than 25 taking part in the freestyle competition. It was great to see everyone who wasn't racing supporting the competitors. Once the beginner, intermediate and team racing had finished it was onto the freestyle competition. The level has really picked up in recent years and everyone was getting involved and despite the light winds. With commentary provided by Olivier Ayache, the stage was set. There were loads of awesome moves coming out, with lots of ducking moves from Nadir, no footed moves from Ben Page and even some rail rides going on. After a really tight set of heats and an even tighter final, Ben managed to clinch first place with Nadir and Filip taking 2nd and 3rd.

Beginner racing - photo courtesy of Adrian Bell At Crosby Lakeside - photo courtesy of Adrian Bell

Darren Winwood pumping out the tunes - photo courtesy of Milun Dhanjee

A big thank you to everyone at Crosby Lakeside for providing an awesome atmosphere and the great safety cover we enjoyed all weekend. Thank you as well to Boardwise who provided all the demo kit for the weekend, including the shiny RRD Fireraces. And finally a big thank you to everyone from Liverpool University Windsurfing Club for making the best event I have been to so far! Here is what Kate 'Cougs' O'Flynn had to say about the weekend: "Despite losing my my phone, camera and bank cards spending over £100 and impaling my hand on a metal fence [...] it was truly an incredible weekend. I wouldn’t change a thing!!!! The hosts and committee did a cracking job, the parties were off the chart and as always, the banter was top notch. Almost glad I can’t recall more because the memories of the sheer awesomeness that was the Liverpool event may well make my head explode."

                                            Crosby Lakeside on the Sunday evening - photo courtesy of Jenny Wright


If you are suffering as badly from PEDs (Post Event Depression) as I am, then you need to go ahead and buy your ticket to the next event. We are all heading over to Cardiff in two weeks time November) for the first Wave Event of the series. (22nd-24th)

The wave series are the best introduction to wave sailing you will ever get. There are awesome clinics, demo kit and safety cover on hand to help you get the most out of the weekend. We're going to be heading to the best beaches South Wales can offer us and hitting up some epic parties.

Head over to the event page on the SWA website for more details! click here

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