10 months ago my wife Jemma and I Welcomed our new little friend to the
world. A beautiful girl named Zara Rose Hall. Besides less sleep My life
hasn’t changed too much since,It is still awesomely fun and I still enjoy
traveling and competing as much as ever. The only difference is I feel I now
have a responsibility to give my daughter an awesome life too.

One week out from leaving for An event i would usually be sifting through
boards to make the perfect quiver for the coming event. Instead of thinking
what board would work best on the clean walls of lowers, I was googling all
the ins and outs of Disney land. What rides to go on first,when’s the best
time to go and whats overrated. The parenting manual says that Disney land
is the pinnacle of awesome for a kid. And there is no fine print saying they
have to be at age to remember it. We took Zara to an aquarium in portugal
when she was 2 months old and we thought she loved it. She probably couldn’t
see 3 inches in front of her at that age. We were just new parents excited
to show our daughter everything. Well nothing has changed! We are well aware
of the fact that she won’t remember a thing about Disney land at the age of
ten months but we still going To take her there and buy her Minnie mouse
ears and believe she is having the best day of her life.

We had 8 days in the states before i flew out for brazil and The plan was to
wait until I had a day off from the contest or until I lost in the comp then
hit Disney land like full blown tourist. Packed lunch and all! My flight to
brazil was the morning after the last Day of the waiting period Which Lead
Jemma to ask ‘what if You make it to the last day?’. Maybe she was more
positive than I was or she was just really worried about missing disney
land. my answer was just ‘well if I’m still going on Saturday arvo we can
buy Disney land’. I should have either been more confident in myself or
done some research on what disneyland is worth before sayings stupid things
like that.

Arriving in lax is always exciting just because it’s America. Everything is
bigger,louder,faster. Bigger cars,meals,roads,boobs. Louder
machines,people,outfits. And life in general is just faster in the USA. I
feel like I am just keeping up with the pace when I spend a week in the
american fast life.

3 hours of queuing for customs, immagtation , car hire and Starbucks later
we hit the 50 lane hyway of the 405 heading for San Clemente with a
jetlagged child in the back.San Clemente is the coolest town I have been to
in america. I’m not sure if it’s because the Gudauskas boys live there or if
it’s because I have only really ever been to Huntington. Either way I
honestly love San Clemente and the local surf community feel. Great
restaurants and cool people. There are little side streets that I didn’t
know existed until this year that are filled with perfectly maintained
gardens and beautiful holiday houses and units. Cazador lane was where we
found a cool little unit for rent for the week for my little family and my
best mate Adrian Buchan. Ace and I have been surfing and traveling together
for years and have grown to be a perfect little team when it comes to
contests. The past couple of years I have worked with him at some events
it’s shown that simply two heads is better than one. This year at the gold
coast wct Ace took down some tough names and we really put it down to good
preparation and heat strategy mixed with confidence in your ability.So this
week we were basically coaching each other through round after round. We had
a few tactics that were faultless and we both grew more confident each day.
As the draw got harder the team got stronger.

It’s Friday morning and we are back on the poison oak lined track down to
lowers. 4 boards, 2 wetsuits,1 wife,and pram filled with 1 baby and
everything you need for a day at the beach with a tiny human. By now I was
getting jealous of Zara kicked back in her mountain buggy while my legs were
burning and pits sweating going up and down the track each day. As we cross
the railway tracks and see the ocean Ace and I go straight to work talking
tactics and assessing conditions while Jemma did her job of entertaining
Zara so we could focus. Tuesday – Friday we had the same routine so we all
knew our roles that would make the team work at its peak. We were like a
well oiled machine going through the paces each day. We made our way back up
the trestles track Friday afternoon still contenders for a railway spike.
For me its a small goal to be still in the event on the last day because you
have surfed a few heats,found your groove and can see the finish line. Your
in your routine,you know whats working so the final day for is all about
staying focused and finishing the job. Ace and I were on the opposite sides
of the draw and were both dreaming of that final together like you pictured
as grommets. We had coached each other through heats all week but today was
every man for them self due to lack of time between heats.

Jeremy Flores was surfing so sharp all week so beating him in the first heat
of the day was just the confidence builder I needed. Post heat I wondered
down the beach to chill for half hour with jemma and zara and watch Ace take
down Patty Gudang in a close one. Pat was ripping all event so it was sad to
see him lose although I was forced to root for my team mate. The dream final
was looking so close but Disneyland was getting further away.
I’m pretty sure no one in world would have picked me to beat Jon Jon in the
semi and I don’t blame them. He’s a super freak and trestles is a wave that
allows super freaks to do things that no one can fathom. I had become so
confident in my plan through the whole event that I strangely felt like I
had a good chance. A slow start to the heat and The fact he fell off his
first 3 waves helped my strategy perfectly. He eventually pulled off one of
his insane airs and it became a scrap for a second score. He found the 2.9
he was after and I was sitting there out the back with 2 mins remaining
knowing I needed a small score to keep the dream alive. My little Irish
grandad always says to me when I’m heading away for an event ‘ I will send
you a wave’ , then waves his hand. Good old Irish humor! So as I always do
when I need a wave I ask grandad to send me that wave. A little bump popped
up and gave me my chance to make my first final in a prime event. To add to
the pressure ace was in the lineup right next to me when I paddled into the
wave because he was in the next heat. I knew if I got through it would give
him extra incentive to win his semi. The little left stoop up just enough to
let me get a few little turns in and just get the score I needed. Thanks
grandad but Sorry Zara but no Disney land this trip.

All I wished for now was for ace to combo Gabriel to make our team
officially unbeatable for the week. Unfortunately Gabriel is another super
freak and did 10 airs on his first wave and got 10 to put a dent in our
hopes. He then backed it up with a 9.8 to crush the dream all together. I
didn’t know if I was more disappointed that gabe beat ace or the fact I had
to try and beat that kind of surfing in the final. I personally thought he
got 2 tens in that semi. A I knew gabe would post big scores in the final as
he did every heat so my only shot was to be on A+ waves and surf them at my
best. Unfortunately the final didn’t go to plan at all. Except the part of
him getting big scores. I couldn’t find any good rights and he tore the
lefts to pieces. Gabriel was the best surfer all week by far and truly
deserved the win so congratulations to him. He showed he is not only
naturally talented, he is determined and smart in his approach to heats.
Signs of a world title contender!

As we did our last walk up the trestles track for 2012 ace and I agreed it
was a bloody good week for the team. Only one person beat us this week and
the surfing he was doing deserved to win.
We earn’t ourselves a night at the Roosevelt hotel in hollywood to sip
coronas and cocktails while Zara was being babysat.

Luckily Zara won’t remember me saying I would buy her Disneyland if I made
it to the last day because I checked and it’s worth 54 billion dollars. My
silver railway spike is awesome but not that awesome! Maybe Gabriel and his
gold spike can buy it for us.

Petite news avec quelques photos concernant la 1ère épreuve de World Cup en Autriche qui s’est déroulé il y a moins d’une semaine.
Sur cette première étape, je termine à une belle 5ème place sur 50 compétiteurs. Je me fais éliminer par le Champion du monde en titre Gollito Estredo et vainqueur de l’étape.
Au final, je suis très satisfait de ce résultat pour vu que ça dure !

A très bientôt

Sportivement,
Nicolas Akgazciyan.

La dernière journée de compétition sur cette première étape du « Classiques » Tour Funboard 2012 n’aura pas permis de valider de nouvelle course officielle. Les conditions sont restées trop légères, laissant Astrid Muldoon et Jules Denel l’emporter en vagues, et Delphine Cousin et Antoine Questel en slalom.

La matinée de ce dernier jour de course sonne comme un air de déjà vu. Le vent reste léger et la température est fraîche sur le village de la Torche. Après un briefing rapide, le constat est vite fait : il sera difficile de courir aujourd’hui. La matinée s’écoule rapidement, notamment en rangement pour la plupart des coureurs reprenant la route le soir même.

Dans l’après-midi, un nouveau contest de SUP est organisé, une dernière occasion pour les coureurs de passer un bon moment ensemble sur l’eau. Durant cette session, le président Mathieu Bonno s’illustre notamment dans une version très freestyle du SUP Sailing…

Malgré un vent plus consistant que les deux jours précédents, les conditions restent pourtant insuffisantes pour valider une nouvelle manche de slalom ou débuter la double élimination en vague. Lors de la proclamation des résultats finaux de l’étape, les podium provisoires établis en début de semaine restent donc inchangés : Astrid Muldoon et Jules Denel s’adjugent l’étape en vagues, tandis que Delphine Cousin et Antoine Questel remportent pour leur part le slalom.

En attendant les classements définitifs complets de cette première étape très bientôt, rendez-vous en septembre prochain à l’Almanarre pour la seconde étape du circuit.

Plus d’infos et de photos : http://www.aff.net/news.php

Junior Tour Hivernal Aquitain 2012

C’est à Lacanau, citée balnéaire de Gironde qu’a eut lieu la finale du Junior Tour Hivernal Aquitain 2012. Organisée par le Comité Régional d’Aquitaine de Surf et le Lacanau Surf Club, cette compétition réservée aux surfeurs et surfeuses de moins de vingt et un ans, a réuni plus de cent cinquante participants venus d’Aquitaine, de la Réunion, de Vendée, de Bretagne et aussi d’Espagne.

A l’issue des deux premières étapes, le classement final était loin d’être défini. En effet, après une première étape dominée par les Aquitains, les Basques Espagnols, en raflant les médailles d’or à Capbreton, revenaient dans la course.

C’est à 10h00 que le premier coup de trompe réveille le front de mer de Lacanau. Déjà Aldric God, revenu du stage de l’équipe de France en Australie, se positionne en favori. De gros re-entries et floaters dans le shore break le mettent hors d’atteinte de ses poursuivants. Il accédera à la finale qu’il remportera devant Charly Quivront et Harry Delanne . Chez les filles, c’est à la dernière seconde que Fanny Brice remporte l’étape devant Ana Morau et Joséphine Costes.

Pour le classement final, c’est la régularité qui paye. Ana Morau et Maxime Comet repartent au Pays Basque avec les titres féminin et masculin de cette deuxième édition du Junior Tour Hivernal Aquitain 2012.

Vous trouverez une sélection photos à l’adresse :

http://www.photodesurf.com/jpeg%20lacanau/album/index.html

Nous remercions le Lacanau Surf Club, ses bénévoles et ses partenaires, ainsi que le Conseil Régional d’Aquitaine, Protest et tous les bénévoles et autres partenaires du Comité Régional d’Aquitaine de Surf.

Cordialement

Le Comité Régional d’Aquitaine de Surf

En Mars dernier, Le team Loftsails international se retrouvais dans les Sud de l´Espagne pour une session d´entrainement Slalom pour se préparer a la coupe du monde Slalom PWA qui débute en Avril prochain en Italie. Les team riders Antoine Questel (12eme mondial) et Ludo Jossin (19eme) se retrouvais donc au coté de Ben van der Steen (actuel 3eme mondial) Alex Guyader pour du gros tirage de bourre durant 2 semaines a Tarifa.

During the mast March, the pro team Loftsails was meeting in the south of Spain for a training session to prepare the upcomming PWA worldcup season witch start in April in Italy. Team riders Antoine Questel and Ludo Jossin ( ranked 12 and 19 in 2011 PWA world cup) together with Ben van der Steen ( current 3rd in the World) and Alex Guyader meet in Tarifa for two weeks of extreme slalom actions .

Date of birth : 22.08.1985
Nickname : no
Where do you come from : Germany/Kiel
When did you start kiteboarding : 2002
Sponsors : spleene, two.ag, soöruz , VW-Nutzfahrzeuge, Immunstabilat, KERN-energy
Your Favorite equipment : Spleene SPX in 10.5 qm and Two.ag SP PRO in 130 x 40 cm
Your Favourite tricks : Slim Chance, Front Blind Mobe, Crow Mobe
Your Favorite rider : I don’t have an idol or favorite rider, but i like the style of Alex Pastor and Youri Zoon
Home spot : Hear at the bay of Kiel there are a lot of different spots for different wind direction. Often there is flat water or small waves.
Favorites spots : Le Morne on Mauritius, Kitebeach on Sal (Cabo Verde)
Your trips around the world :
spain, marocco, capetown, france, netherlands, poland, denmark, canada, austria, italia, switzerland, cabo verde, mauritius and many more …
Best Results in competition : 1st place KPWT canada 2009, 2nd place KPWT Germany, 4th place KPWT Marocco, German Vice Champion Kitesurfing: 2007, 2008, 2009, German Vice Champion Snowkiting 2009 and 2012, 3th place german championships 2010, 3th place european championships 2010.
Results for 2011 : 4th place in german championships, 9th place KTE france and 9th place KTE germany.
Results and Projects for 2012 : German Vice Champion in Snowkiting (Freestyle) and 4th place european snowkite championships (Freestyle).
There are a lot of video productions planed, last week i was on sal to film for gleiten.tv a online-magazin for surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, wakeboarding and longboarding. In the next episodes of course i will be also in it.
Every week i release the Trick of the week to motivate kitesurfer to learn new tricks …
Hobbies: Wakeboarding, Soccer, Skateboarding
Favorite food: Pizza, Noodles
Music you listen: Indie rock and a lot of electronic music
Do you have a website : check out www.stefanpermien.de
Facebook: be my friend!