What

We saw a good forecast for the next four to five days for Morocco and Boujmaa Guilloul invited me to come over and check out his place. A plane, a taxi et voila! After that we enjoyed good meals, wind and waves! I’ve been going to these spots for the last ten years, it really is a good place with a very calm and special vibe to it. It was also a possibility to show this beautiful country to my girlfriend Sophia, while hooking up with Boujmaa and the Moulay crew, training together, having fun. Besides this Brendan came over to capture the action on film.

Where

We were staying with Boujmaa at his home spot Moulay Bouzerktoun, close to the village of Essaouira. It’s the most consistent spot of the country, with many other cool places to ride nearby.

When

At the end of May, a really good time to go to Morocco for windsurfing, with good wind and good swell, sun and not too many people on the water.

Conditions

The wind was strong and the waves were nice for jumping on the first day. After that we had three days of nice wave sailing conditions, with good swell and cross-off winds. The plan was to go explore a new spot on the second day, but unfortunately Boujmaa and myself got hurt before, and we could only watch the footage after Yann Sorlut and Fettah Lamara’s great session there ! In the end I only sailed in Moulay, a few kilometres downwind from the main spot. Fettah and Yann went to sail this new spot up the coast as well.

In short

The village of Moulay is small and completely ‘roots’, it really gives you the feeling you are in Morocco. There are 20 or 30 houses, two windy but calm streets, no girls around, barking dogs, sand, donkeys, some small shops, a mosque, tajines, Moroccan cakes and mint tea… This contrasts with the fact that almost all the kids in this town windsurf, thanks to Fettah and Boujmaa. For this reason windsurfers are very well integrated and receive a warm welcome in this small village. A few kilometres to the south you find Essaouira, a beautiful town with a beautiful bay, a typical and very active fishing port and of course the magnificent old fortress that makes up the town, with plenty of things to buy, to see, to do and to eat.

The action clip of Thomas in Morocco will be posted here next week, keep an eye on the site or better even, subscribe to our RSS!

During the PWA wave contest of Gran Canaria 2009, we captured the amazing action of the world’s best wave sailors in windy Pozo Izquierdo. Eight minutes of action and interviews in HD, featuring Jonas Ceballos, Kauli Seadi, Victor Fernandez, Thomas Traversa, Dario Ojeda, Alex Mussolini, Ricardo Campello and the event winner Philip Köster.

Graham hanging with Keith, Levi and Kai during the photo shoot for The Windsurf Movie 2 in Baja, Mexico. Watch out for the umi boys, they will snake anything – even your photo shoot!

We just put some new slides on our site, featuring a trip to the island of Barra in the Hebrides we did with Klaas Voget and Andy Wolff. Just click on the pictures button on the top left and have a look at the action.

And for all you lazy people out there: we have just added RSS to our site. Just click on it and you’ll receive an update whenever we put new stuff online. Do it, it’s free!

In the long line-up of transfers this summer, we have the pleasure to announce that another great sportsman has joined our team. Ronaldo, Kaka, Ibrahimovic, move over… here comes Graham Ezzy! Here’s some words from the man himself:

‘What’s umi?’ a sailor asked as I put new umi stickers on my sail. I responded, ‘umi is a movement. It’s about projecting raw culture into the windsurfing world, inspiring young people to windsurf.’ I didn’t add that I was incredibly happy to finally be part of the prestigious umi team. The sponsorship was many years in the making. At first, I tried to get in front of the umi lenses, always sailing beside other umi riders like Alex Mussolini and Thomas Traversa. But the umi editors always managed to edit me out! Next I tried bribing the umi bosses, sending cakes, buying expensive dinner, and offering unnamed favours. I’m not sure if it helped, but in the end the guys saw my sailing in Baja, Mexico and after seeing my potential, they decided I had the merit to join the team. Boy, does it feel good!’

Graham will be featuring in a clip from Baja soon, watch this space or subscribe to our RSS feed!