Hola from Mexico! On October 13th, I left Vancouvers cold and nasty weather behind for a training camp in Mexico! I was invited by the Mexican windsurfer, Demita and her coach Adrien (a French RSX racer). We spent the first week in Cozumel, Demitas home island. I got to see her home and meet her pet bambi - Nella. We were able to rent one of the few houses onthe beach tucked in between 2 hotels, with an almost perfect grass rigging area leading to the beach (only almost perfect as we were attacked by fire-ants and mosquitoes). During this week there were many small storms that came through, giving us a wide variety ofconditions to train in. We worked very hard, spending 3.5 to 5 hoursof quality sailing time on the water each day.

This past weekend we attended a regatta in Tulum, where I became the 2007 Quintana Roo State RSX Champion. We had six races in a variety of conditions and I won the girls title by 4 points to Demita and both of us beat all the guys!!! It was a very interesting regatta venue as there was only about 200 m between the beach and the reef that we could sail in, thus depending on the wind direction, the courses would vary and on an upwind we would have to do at least 5 tacks (normally in windy conditions 1 or 2 is the norm). So, it was great training for all of our manoevers as well!

My trip to Mexico has been both great training and very fascinating!!! Demita was a great host, introducing me to Mexican life and showing me wonderful places in the Mayan Riviera. We went surfing in a place where the roads get closed at night so the turtles can cross the street, we visited Xcaret; a Mayan culture eco-theme park, the Mayan Ruins in Tulum, went snorkeling not only to see the beautiful coral reef and its fish, but we also saw the cannons that the Spanish had shot at the Mayans when they came to conquer Mexico during the 16th century, and while stretching one evening on the beach about 50 newly hatched turtles were making their way to the water for the first time!

Now home for some physical training before I am off to New Zealand on the 16th of November for a few months. I have 6 weeks of training planned leading up to the World Championships in January, which is my Canadian Olympic Team qualifier. Thank you for your support!

Nikola Girke (www.nikolagirke.com)