Ant Baker

Ant Baker and the team offer instruction in the UK, Egypt and in Hawaii and their instruction will ensure you get the very best from your water time

Heres what Drew at Action Van told us…

With strong market links in Windsurfing, Sailing, SUP and Mountain-Biking, ActionVan have been building CamperVan Conversions that stand up to the job in hand. Using hard-wearing materials with functional design features and kit carrying solutions an ActionVan is an essential piece of kit for any extreme sports enthusiast.

Wether you are planning a Surfari to the West Coast, a Trek in the Scottish Mountains or a Weekend Regatta, an ActionVan will get you there and provide comfortable accommodation throughout your stay, along with adequate storage for all your favourite toys.
Added features include: Heating, Roof Racks, Bike Racks, Board Racks and Tow Bars so no excuse to leave anything at home!

ActionVan offer a full or part conversion service, working on either customer supplied vehicles or supplying new or used vans through our local dealer network.

If you are thinking of having a van conversion done, Why Not Try Before You Buy?

Our CamperVan Hire Service is now up and running with LWB VW T5 conversions based on our “Park & Ride” and “Two Berth & Surf” models. All the flexibility and comfort you need for any Event, Road Trip or Festival. A great way of deciding just what you want in your own ActionVan.

Put your Dreams into Motion with: The Ultimate Van Conversion & CamperVan Hire Service

The Fort Wave Classic, is already a traditional windsurf event when there is light wind the alternative ……. the SUP with waves of a very considerable size..

]]> http://www.air-head.com/2011/02/fuerteventura-the-fort-wave-classic/feed/ 1 http://www.air-head.com/2009/09/the-big-salty-email-alert-system/ http://www.air-head.com/2009/09/the-big-salty-email-alert-system/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:58:19 +0000 admin http://www.air-head.com/?p=486

Big Salty has launched a new and unique service to all water sports users to help them keep up to date with conditions that they are interested in as soon as the latest data hits our servers. Users can either set Wind Alerts or customise swell and wind conditions to trigger their email alerts.

The alert system works alongside the Watchlist concept of having a series of beaches that are of particular interest to a user. A user may decide to setup email alerts for one or more of his locations and also decide whether he wants to set the conditions manually or opt for the Big Salty Wind Star Rating.

Don’t search for the 50 year storm; let the 50 year storm search for you.

The different trigger options in more detail:

Wind Alert:
Uses the Big Salty Wind Star Rating as the basis for triggered emails. The Big Salty Wind Rating rates wind of all sailable directions for a location. So this is great to use if you don’t know the location very well but want to head there when the wind is right to hit the water.

Custom Alert:
The most flexible of the two options, the Custom Alert allows you to set a minimum and maximum wind strength for each wind direction at your location. It also allows you to set a minimum swell period and swell height for each relevant swell direction at your location.

This should allow you to customise alerts to tell you when the location is just right for windsurfing, kitesurfing, surfing, SUPing, sailing, snorkelling or just about anything. If you know your location well or even think you do, this is what you need.

For more info on how to use the service check out the following link:

wind and swell alert guide

If that doesn’t answer your questions, give them a shout in the forum.

Loads of news coming up for the winter season… make sure your kit is ready for the coming months… the Airhead will be back soon

Read on for more info on the area:

This information has come to the attention of Airhead please make sure you read it… The place in question is near Bognor Regis in West Sussex.. You can find out more at WSCC Pagham Harbour or British Kitesurfing Association

Pagham harbour Local Nature Reserve, West Sussex holds most top national and international designations and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, being protected by various wildlife legislation. It is especially famous for birdlife.

In recent years it has become attractive to Kitesurfers who use the sea at the harbour entrance, but often access the Reserve via a private unadopted road (Harbour Rd) and then park in the free car park owned by West Sussex County Council (WSCC) who manage the reserve.

Windsurfers also use this, but there seems to now be an increasing problem with Kitesurfers. Whilst not objecting to their use of the car park, recently some problems have become apparent, which I will explain:-

1. The Kitesurfers often set up their equipment in the car park (instead of on the shoreline) and then drag their equipment across an expanse of vegetated shingle (specially protected habitat) causing some damage/disruption – this is worse when the users also test out the equipment on the shingle before heading for the beach.
2. When using the beach to test the Kite, or when using it on the sea in the harbourmouth, the large Kites could cause panic to some roosting or breeding birds. This is particularly critical at this time of year – see point 3.
3. In the last few years, a few pairs of a rare and declining seabird, the Little Tern (Sterna albifrons) have started to nest on the shingle around the harbourmouth entrance. By law these birds are specially protected and wilful disturbance can attract a very large fine. There are also bylaws which prevent disturbance to wildlife, and also prohibit the flying of Kites within the reserve.

My role includes the enforcement of legislation in these circumstances; however as I indicated I am hoping that we can reach a reasonable understanding without the need for legal action, now that the situation has been made clear. I would there ask you to contact your membership as soon as possible to advise. Whilst I understand the reasons for the use of the site, I would request the following:-

i) Kitesurfers stay well out to sea in this area and do not approach the harbour mouth during the breeding season (the young birds should fledge by about late July). Under no circumstances should surfers land on Church Norton spit (except emergency) or enter the protected zone.
ii) Kitesurfers do not drag their assembled equipment across the shingle, but set up at the shoreline.
iii) Surfers must bear in mind that their Kites are a disturbance factor, often visually threatening to birdlife, and so should do all possible to minimise this by staying further out to sea.

I wish to be realistic and so seek co-operation on all sides at this important time in the Reserve year. I would be grateful for your assistance,and in case of query I can be contacted at the reserve Visitor centre – tel 01243 641508 (or leave a message). In my absence the Reserve managers Rob Carver or Ivan Lang, can assist.
I thank you in anticipation,

Owen Mitchell (WSCC enforcement/liaison).

Check out other posts on the Airhead Blog about Pagham Harbour

Please make sure you understand the rules of this area to avoid loosing the use of Pagham Beach for your sports… Airhead bringing you the news on your sports

With the sports we all do the one thing to keep an eye on is the weather… will it be windy? will the sun shine? what’s the surf like? well you know what I’m talking about.

The latest weather site to get Airhead’s attention is BigSalty.co.uk. This site has some great features like where is “going off” near you… in their words “Big Salty is a hybrid weather service that aims to identify which locations will provide the best conditions for a given forecast”… I can hear you all saying… at last just what I have been waiting for…

Here is the low down on the the Big Salty story

Big Salty is a new weather service dedicated to watersports enthusiasts in the UK and Ireland. It has been created with the aim of trying to get you on the water as much as possible and at the right location. The reason for this is simple. The team behind Big Salty are heavily immersed in the watersports scene and are keen windsurfers and surfers. Reading forecasts and weather conditions right is something that is key to heading to the beach at the right time and Big Salty is designed to make this as easy as possible.

The Big Salty weather service offers the following advantages. It is a veritable one stop shop for weather information with 7 day forecast data (with charts), current wind and swell data and tide data under one roof plus it incorporates the unique Big Salty Rating System. Usability is also a key focus of the site, with clearly laid out forecast pages and categorized location forecasts for nearly 300 locations around our coastline. The Big Salty Watchlist concept provides you an opportunity to have the forecast of your favourite locations summarized on nearly every page – key to quick at-a-glance forecasting.

Getting down to the nitty gritty, the Big Salty forecast engine is powered by the GFS 0.5 degree numerical model and NWW3 wave forecast model developed by the weather heads at NOAA with an outlook that is refreshed 4 times per day, every day.

Big Salty doesn’t stop there, it takes this forecast predictions and adds some extra intelligence through its rating system so that it now has a numerical forecast system combined with artificial intelligence. As the forecast database develops and more local information is added to the system, the forecasts will incorporate more and more local adjustments to the forecasts with the result of an intelligent service becoming more accurate by the day.

So the future of weather forecasting for our beloved sports looks bright. And since the team at Big Salty are as stoked to get on the water as you and I, we can be sure they are on trying their best to make their rating systems and forecasts as effective as possible. Not only are they dedicated to expanding their existing suites of data, there are developments in the pipeline such as alert systems that will make it even harder for you to miss a good forecast.

We spoke to James, one of the partners at Big Salty Weather about the service and where the core focus is.

James is a recreational surfer and a top competitor in the UK’s pro windsurfing wave tour finishing 4th in last year’s 2008 Tiree wave Classic. This would suggest the service has a mix of focus between wind and wave information, which is evident from looking at the site. He assured us that wind, surf and kite are all of high importance when it comes to the development plan. After all the Big Salty Team spends their spare time surfing when the wind is light, paddleboarding when the waves are small and windsurfing and kitesurfing when the wind is up – so to them it all matters.

As well as this, Big Salty aims to be a brand focused on the roots:

‘We currently have a team on exposure contract which includes Jamie Hancock and Andy King and also to a certain extent myself (except I’m not on actually on contract).

Jamie and Andy are good friends and absolute rippers – it really is a privilege to have them on the team. They are pushing the limits in windsurfing and are radical and stylish on the water. That’s something that’s pretty big to us, when watching them windsurf we hope it fires you up to think – yeah, I want to do that too!

Dedicating your life to any watersport can be difficult but the importance is about keeping it a priority no matter how you earn your living. That’s exactly what these guys do and why they fit so well in to the Big Salty team. It’s all about keeping that motivation high’.

Additionally, Big Salty sponsors RS.X competitor Connor Bainbridge and Pro windsurfing coach Jem Hall as part of a separate arrangement. The plan is to expand the team cross sport when the capacity is available to include surfing and kitesurfing.

The Airhead says to see where the next storm is brewing, check out www.bigsalty.co.uk and be sure to add it to your favourites and if you like what the Airhead brings you bookmark www.Air-head.com you know you need them both to make your day complete.