Cape Town goes off

Howzit all, I am lucky enough to be currently in the last week of a 2 month training, testing and time out trip to Cape Town, South Africa so I will be reflecting on this throughout, as well as highlighting any current news on clinics and action coming up. The sharks have not got me yet but I have had some great crashes and had an opportunity to break out my arm bands during numerous swims to find my kit, paddle, Sup etc. So I hear it has been pretty cold throughout Europe but fear not spring is on its way so I impore you to begin visualising and getting fit/ter in readiness for your next bout of ocean realignment. CLINIC NEWS: Perfect Prasonisi, Reliable Rhodes which over 10 years and around 40 clinics has averaged 4 - 5 days a week of planing conditions and is now booking up steadily. New for 2013, in Rhodes, is my Female Focussed clinic, called Jem's Jewels, where I will be assisted by a female co - coach, Rachel Tucker and their will be a set amount of places for ladies only, so as to ensure a great learning environment and to give you the opportunity to share rooms and keep your costs down. We will be providing a supportive, inspiring and focussed environment where ladies will have the opportunity to not only enjoy a great holiday but also seriously improve their windsurfing. This clinic is filling nicely and will be a fantastic experience : ) The Mecca of Moulay, Morocco on May 9th and 16th is currently FULL. Therefore, if you are after a wave coaching holiday and camp then please consider Perfect Punta San Carlos in Baja, Mexico. The 1st week is now sold out and so by popular demand I have opened up a second week of coaching from August 17th-24th. Email me for more details on these clinics and to discuss your booking. Next up for me I am kicking off my 2013 coaching season with my regular trip to Marsa Alam, Egypt for 2 weeks of peformance boosting. I will be taking the New Ezzy Legacy and Tiger out with to test and tune so I will feedback on these after the trip. The 2xs posse have already posted a review on the Legacy which is billed as 'A high performance wave and freeride collection that delivers awesome performance for more budget-minded customers.' If you fancy some more Ezzy inspiration then please check out Kevin Pritchards fine movie offering. My mission to South Africa started well with Nick Coleman and his lovely posse hosting a fantastic New Years Eve Braii (BBQ) so a big thanks to all of them. Upon reflection Cape Town has been, in a word, amazing. January was windy for so many days in a row that I could not even keep track. These days were gratefully received as we were testing, shooting and filming new and existing products from RRD and Ezzy and it was great to work alongside chief RRD sail designer, John Skye and the force that is Dave White, whom I am much indebted too for so many of these fine pics in this newsletter. The merry RRD crew travelled up and down from the picturesque waves of Platboom at Cape Point to the flat waters of Langabaan in order to get the job done. Skye boy was giving me my regular bottom kicking, coaching, that I am happy to receive from him and about time as he is very much in debt to me. Whitey was in his element as he gave us both alot of abuse and banter throughout, whilst coming to terms with the challenging conditions on offer which I lovingly call Port Tack Punishment. Not that I mind the wind from the left but the waves are pretty challenging (closing out inside sand bars as an example) and the wind is damn gusty, that said it is awesome sailing and I love it here. The variety of sailing is just immense! You can catch up on more pics from this trip on the mighty Whites site or on my Facebook page On arrival in Cape Town I was about the most unfit I have been in a long time, 3 weeks of chest infection will do that to a big baldy like me. Add to this I tweaked my ankle on the 2nd day and this trip has been all about getting back in the game, so with this in mind I have been hitting the gym hard, taking on board coaching tips/abuse from people and keeping a sailing log where I reflect on sessions and benefit from a bit of the old self coaching. These actions have all proved very beneficial and I now look forward to my next sessions with excitement and definitely with less of the fear that I had earlier in the trip! And I am inspired to keep upping the fitness too as it really helps my sailing and behaviour breeds behaviour. February saw the wind die down a bit and an increase in the wind and waves hunting game that you have to play out here. This is when you rely on good forecasting, previous experience, texting other people on the road and a bit of luck too. After a windless few hours at one wave beach I decided to head to Langabaan (inland sea sailing area) for some flat water sailing and so I whipped out the New Firestorm V2 120 from RRD and just loved hammering up and down super stacked on my 6.5 Cheetah, a change was most definitely as good as a break. The last couple of weeks have allowed me to do a very tardy newsletter, get this blog up online and answer a lot of emails and, of course, entice many of you to join me on a coaching holiday in 2013. The Cape Doctor joined me for a few more last sessions so I went about my very own Hall's homework with passion, focus and commitment. And i m now in transit in the Uk before I head to Marsa Alam, Egypt. After Egypt I will be spending a good amount of time back in the UK and will be hunting some good old home sailing and SUPing and then in May it is off to Morocco. Early June sees my first trip to Sweden beckon to visit the top crew of people at Surfers Paradise for a free tips and demo weekend. Thanks for reading and I wish you good sailing and a fantastic spring. Focus, believe and Enjoy, Jem X PS It was also a great experience to meet Antoine Albeau in the flesh and what a professional and top man he is. Soooo fast on his X fires, all over it in the waves and ripping it up on his SUPs too. His passion to get in the water every day was very infectious.