At time of writing, since the England rugby team recruited Eddie Jones as coach, the team are headed for a record winning streak and growing from strength to strength. Looking back at the career of David Beckham, much of his success can be attributed to having Sir Alex Ferguson as a mentor on and off the pitch. Windsurfing trainer Scott Sanchez helped Francisco Goya, Micah Buzianis and Daida Moreno all win world titles and we even heard that Dave White once turned to Peter Hart for advice, but never listened. A good coach can make all the difference in sport; the big question for us on our holiday was could Brian Talma turn things around for Downwind Dave?
We left behind a bleak winter’s day in the UK and eight hours later exchanged it for a 28°C. balmy sunny Barbados afternoon. This year, rather than try to sneak off to the spot whilst on ‘hols’, we had somehow convinced our wives to stay at Brian’s deAction apartments at Silver Rock, the best beach on the island for windsurfing. It is a mere ten minutes from the airport to Silver Rock and there is no mistaking when you arrive at the Talma deAction centre, with everything in proximity covered in his unique art, words and bright Caribbean colours. At the back of the car park Brian has his two apartments, a small café and his wind, SUP, surf and kite centre all looking over the stunning turquoise water and white sand beach out front. The two colourful beachfront apartments were ideal for our two families and were set to be our home for the next seven days! With mostly light winds on the menu and a well-known rip that flows downwind, Dave was keen to find out the local tricks of the trade to stayupwind, so immediately put the question to Brian for his tactics.
