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SWA Series
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2007-2008
- Southampton Wave Event 22nd-24th Feb
For three years running Liverpool has held the infamous windsurfing event ‘Northern Monkey’ in the deep dark depths of the north and this year they did not disappoint!
Friday Night
Friday night kicked off in the uni bar, the Sphinx, with its famously cheap pints before congregating in Einstein’s. Here windsurfers grabbed some steins, caught up with old and new mates and danced the night away, moving on to see the wonders of concert square. This night also saw the Taffy Osborne winning event occur, where Kai Davies was accidentally run over by his Uber twice in the space of 5 minutes. (No Kais or Ubers were hurt in this accident).
Back in February a humble detachment of the SWA set out into the mists of Wales, in search of a monster. After three days' travel we found the shores of Bangor, where the local scholars welcomed us with shelter and respite from our journey. Their home was novel, to say the least. It stood alone on a sheltered beach, windows gazing out to the Menai Strait. We were cautioned of the perils of the water: Strong currents that would drag us away to be taken as hostage by sirens, or as food for a kraken. And so; it was with great care that we tiptoed with our belongings, along the narrow beach towards our accommodation.
For the second year in a row, windsurfers around the country descended upon the second city for some boozing and blasting (blasting not guaranteed). From all corners of the country, universities arrived on Friday evening at their luxurious Selly Oak accommodations. After some hastily executed pre-drinks, 150 windsurfers descended upon Selly’s Friday night Mecca: Circo. The cheapest drinks in Brum ensured a lengthy and messy night was had by all, with the wide selection of takeaways fuelling windsurfers to stagger back home. Full stomachs and spinning heads made for an always comfortable night on the hosts’ floors, ready for a full day out on the water the next day.
Just a matter of a few hours later, with heads still spinning, we all awoke. The smell of bacon frying ultimately got everyone out of bed, and a slow start to the morning ended with all up at Chasewater, greeted with a blustery 3 knots howling in our ears. This wouldn’t stop the beginners who flocked to the water in numbers, and backed this up with some competitive racing. Some bending of the rules occurred with Ben from Brum resorting to paddling and was disqualified rather swiftly. This was followed by intermediate racing, where some enthusiastic pumping was needed in the absence of any kind of wind and resulted in a tiring workout for those involved.
’Twas windy, and the slithy toves
Did tack and carve-gybe in the waves:
All whimsy were the windsurfers,
And the Swankers outgrabe.
Beware the stopped taxi, my son!
The doors that swing, the drivers that catch!
Beware the cat litter, and shun
The frumious taser device.
He took his vorpal boom in hand;
Long time the Brummy foe he sought -
So rested he by James Arney
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The youth champion, with skin of green,
Came whiffling across the race course,
And burbled as it planed!
Now that was a very soggy but absolutely brilliant weekend… A massive thank you to everyone that helped out, all of our sponsors and everyone that came for helping us have so much fun despite the mud and rain!
Friday night's arrival had an element of shock; we arrived to more of a lake than a campsite. However, as we ventured further in we realised, to great relief, it was only the parking field that was flooded. So tents were put up, and before long the party commenced.
The party was wild as it always is, although this year ended considerably muddier than usual. By 2am a section of the party tent had descended into somewhat of a slip n slide, with mud-men performing some strange ritual in the sludge. All in all a brilliant night though, as long as you didn't lose your wellies!
