AGIOS ILIAS ROUND UP

I was waiting for some fotos to make this post but exept that
i got them last night there was also some busy days windsurfing and more.
so as i wrote to  twitter there was a big forecast for west coast more known
reef  ag.ilias .
i went for a 2 day trip with my friends alexis, giannis and lazaros but ended up
meeting almost everyone down there ,it must be aroun 30 -35 sails in the water
the second day , which is not so strange but if you consider that previous on this spot
there were tops 10-15 sailors it is big .
the most optimistic thing was that the level was going nuts, so even we were almost
double than usual there was nice cutbacks and turns and jumps every moment you
turned your eyes on the water .
having said that i start with some pics as they make it for a thousand words

1st day was not so  good, in terms of wind direction wave direction and wave
height,  IF  you live in hookipa or so  but for greece was typical .

backloop on my 4.8













and a small top turn













to finish the late afternoon session

2nd day was EPIC , i think it was one of the top 3-4 days i have ever sailed there .
waves everywhere good wind and direction and above all, warm ,13-15 celcious.
i generally don't have too much problem with low temperatures but this
winter is preety hard on us with temp around 10 or less degrees so this 2-3
days of south warm wind was even more apreciated .
back to the pics
these were taken from fotis papadopoulos
who unfortunately couldn't hit the water

dimitris papanaklis is a very experieced wave sailor and
can show that

vagelis divis aka 'jazzmenos' is getting really good on the waves
adopting a more kauli set up with at least 0.5m2 less sail size than others

no words for mr ZAKEL

i wanted to do the same but as you will see on the vid
didn't actually managed to ...

s pro making it vertical

nikos katsoulas was going ridicusly high on his jumps
but also check the vid below for the crashes

spot's hot local giannhs enjoying his flilka boards

i also want ti thank him for the hospitality once more,
he turned his house in a hotel for one night . thnx man


now the video ,actually videos as today there is also one only with
wipes
first the action


AGIOS ILIAS 2012 from fotios papadopoulos on Vimeo.

now the wipes


agios ilias wipeout from fotios papadopoulos on Vimeo.


i think this is my longest post ,but i have more to write
after this 2 days we got back to athens and scored one day
in varkiza which was magic .
one of varkiza's resident and almost 50 years old said that
he has seen it like this 3 times .
it was perfect, waves and sideshore wind in our home spot
my buddy 's comment was homespot delivers.
it is like these days that you hear about that once happened
and i say to you i feel very lucky having lived that.
unfortunately no fotos of  that day
 maybe someone was filming or taking any pictures , if so
please post it somewhere so we can remember this day .

wave mode is how i could describe last 10 days ,after that sessions
we also had another south wind forecast which provided good waves .
not a good period to have left over with no wave board ....
for this i have to thnx my friend giannhs who let me borrow his
quatro 76 KT .
i managed to do somethimg about this but this will be my next post
 oh i also had a cold freestlyle session after all this and was superb
i sailed almost 1,5 hour and did almost all my tricks .
that is what happens when you ' clear your mind 'a bit
as one of the biggest freestyle sailors has said to my friend alex tetsis .

 

DREPANO SHOTS

i had the first proper sailing period of the year after
following a 4 day forecast to patras which really paid of .
good company ,every day wind and good temperature
what else to ask for  ?.
now i am back to athens and feelling really tired ,i feel my body in pieces,
and the forecast is promising north winds with low temperatures for 10 days
straight , from the day after tomorow , not really a perfect match to these
4 days but i think i 'll handle it .
here is some videos from me and my friends during the second day

first is a nice bob i did

then a ponch from maui sails team mate pantelis

pipo doing a one handed, head down flaka

chris zakel flaka with his new toy (propably i could sell this vdeo to him )

pantelis sw chachoo on his 'bad' side

and a wet culo from the author

there is some more footage but it is kept secret for a video project .

for now i am resting and having some massage
to be able to deal  with the next forecast

see ya 

WINTER CONSIDERATIONS

 as i write this post i am sitting by my window and watching the
road in the black/grey font and rain/snow falling at times.

in the start of the year we had some good sessions  but then
the wind has gone mad which indicates that winter has arrived .

last friday we had 50 knots of south wind which is pretty rare ,
and these days north wind with low temperatures and snow in
 the mountains around athens .
wind is unstable and gusty and it speeds up when it is not snowing
and calm down when it is .
not the perfect conditions for windsurfing starting to consider about
travelling somewhere warmer and better for training .
and then weather forecasts promises west winds for 2 days and then
north agian with good temperature , i think that we windsurfers living in the
mediteranean will never stop having this king of dillima's it is a kind of
a curse not to be able to just say" there is no chance for me to sail here
i HAVE to travel to do it" .
i am not complainning because there is always something new to discover
in your own country with different forecasts and for me it has paid off to
choose this way .
i just hope if i choose it again this year it will be a good one
and promise i will have the footage and  share  it with you

cheers  

HAPPY NEW YEAR

 i wish merry christmas  ( a bit late ) and a happy new year  to all of you.
may 2012 be the best year for every one .
i say goodbye to this year with  a sw kono sequence from my latest holiday
 sessions in loutsa .

thnx stayros for the fotos



take care