International Windsurfing Clinic in El Médano - September 2008
Local hero and PWA star Dany Bruch has been busy organising a clinic to take place in El Médano between the 15th and 21st September this year. Calling on the support of his friends John Skye and Nayra Alonso, it promises to be an unmissable opportunity to improve your sailing and be inspired on the water by three of the most approachable and intuitive celebrities on the PWA circuit.

The clinic price includes accommodation in the best hotel in El Médano - the newly refurbished Arenas Del Mar, and use of the equipment we stock here in The OTC, which by that time will include a lot of 2009 equipment from the leading brands.

For more information visit our Clinic Page, or click on the image on the right to see the full advertisement for the clinic.

News Posted - 27/06/08

Jamie Dominant in Aberdovey
The third round of the JP / Neil Pryde Slalom Series took place in Aberdovey last weekend, hosted by Boardwise. Jamie made the pilgrimage up to the Welsh coastal town to be greeted by varied conditions in the extreme. On the Saturday the wind was incredibly light, restricting any racing, but on Sunday the wind return with a vengeance gusting up to 45 knots. Jamie displayed a great deal of dominance, drawing on his experience to cope with the beach starts and harsh standing chop in the estuary, winning eight of the nine races. For more information visit the UKWA Website. Pic: UKWA.

News Posted - 24/06/08

Scott MacDonald's Blog
We currently have two Canadian windsurfers with us - Scott MacDonald and Devin Jones, making their first visit to Europe. Scott has just graduated from a university degree specialising in photography and regularly updates his blog to display his work and let everyone know what he is up to. You can be redirected to the blog by clicking on the image on the right. Good to have you guys out with us ... and just so that you know Las Americas is a bad example of European culture!

News Posted - 23/06/08

New Advertisement on Website

We've just updated our advertisement page on this website to include the latest addition. You can see it by clicking here.

News Posted - 23/06/08

Jamie Comes Second in Minster
We're a bit slow out of the blocks bringing this news, but we'd just like to congratulate OTC team rider Jamie Hawkins for finishing second during the second round of the UKWA / JP Neil Pryde slalom series which was hosted by Wet n' Dry at Minster last weekend. The competition was much stiffer for Jamie than at the opening event at Clacton, with Robbie Swift and Dan Ellis competing, on their way to the PWA event in Costa Brava. Jamie actually finished on equal points to Swift, but conceded the title due to Swift being more consistent over the six races held. The next event will be hosted by Boardwise at Aberdovey - we'll bring you news of Jamie's progress as soon as we know!

News Posted - 14/06/08

Ben Proffitt Training in Tenerife
Fanatic / Simmer team rider Ben Proffitt has been out with us in El Médano for a couple of weeks now, training in preparation for the PWA event in Pozo, which starts early next month. Armed with a waterproof video camera, he has also been taking some very impressive footage, mounting it to his kit before throwing himself into various stunts on the water. To see some of the footage, and read about all his antics during his visit, go to his website by clicking here. Great to have you out with us Ben.

News Posted - 12/06/08

Exocet in The OTC!

We are very pleased to welcome Exocet boards into The OTC centre. The brand was founded as a custom board manufacturer in the early nineties by Frenchman Patice Belbe'och - one of the leading sailors on the PWA, claiming the World Wave title in the mid-nineties. In 1993, his fellow countryman Jean-Marie Guiriec started shaping models under the Exocet name and with the confidence of their reception, the two decided to create their own line of Exocet production boards in 2000.

Going from strength to strength since the use of the production facilities at Cobra in 2004, Exocet pride themselves on their innovation and passion for windsurfing, and have a full range of boards available to cater for all sailor abilities and conditions. Their development into longboards, (now known as the legendary Kona One Design) has also given rise to the first dedicated longboard brand - www.kona-windsurfing.com.

We currently have a total of 10 Exocets in stock, including the X-Wave in 73, 83 and 93; the U-Surf 76 and 84; the Cross in 94, 106 and 118, and the S-Cross 115 and 130. There is no exclusivity in The OTC centre - all boards and sails we stock are available to try when you hire from us, so come and take advantage of the unique opportunity to test the performance of Exocet boards directly against that of their rivals.

For more information on Exocet and their products, click on the picture of the boards on the right.

News Posted - 26/05/08

Newsletter 008 Out Now!

We've just sent out our latest newsletter out, full of news from The OTC and El Médano. If you would like to view the new newsletter, just send a quick email to us at info@otc-windsurf.com, and to receive future newsletters you can subscribe by clicking here.

News Posted - 05/05/08

OTC on windsurfzone.it
A good friend of ours based here in El Médano has written a news piece about The OTC and sent it to various Italian windsurfing-specialist websites. WindsurfZone.it has recently gone live with the news piece about The OTC on their homepage, which can be viewed by clicking here or on the image of the page on the right. Thanks very much to Andrea Palazzo and Windsurf Zone for their great support.

News Posted - 05/05/08

Moo Custom Mooooooved!
Jon Kennett of Moo Custom has just been in touch to let us know that they have changed their website to a .co.uk address. Based in the north west of England, Moo Custom offer top quality board repairs as well as some excellent performing custom boards, made to measure. You can check out their website by clicking on the picture on the right.

News Posted - 27/04/08

Jamie Hawkins Wins On His Return
Last weekend turned out to be even more successful for OTC team riders than we initially thought. Not only did Dany Bruch win the national Spanish event here in El Cabezo, but Jamie Hawkins celebrated his return to slalom competition after more than five years away by winning the first JP/Neil Pryde Slalom Series event of 2008, held in Clacton. A total of five races were completed for the Top Flight on the Saturday, of which Jamie won three, and with two discards allowed he finished the event with maximum points. Well done Jamie! The next event in the series will be held in Minster on the weekend of the 7th June, so go along and join in - it will be a great social event for everyone. Pic: UKWA.

News Posted - 17/04/08

OTC Team Riders Do Us Proud in National Event

Local event organiser Luca Orsi, has been working very hard these past few months, and all his efforts culminated this weekend when the Spanish windsurfing federation held their first national event of the year here on El Cabezo. The event was a great success, with wind and waves on both Saturday and Sunday, attracting all the big names to the event and making standard of sailing incredible. OTC staff members, Graham and Adam both sailed superbly well - Graham was unlucky to draw a heat against on-form local rider Sandro and went out in 13th place, whilst Adam fought his way through four back-to-back heats in the second elimination to finish an excellent 7th equal. But it was local favourite Dany Bruch who showed he was the man to beat, beating Marcos Perez in both the elimination finals to claim the victory. Our congratulations to Dany and to Luca and his team for putting on a great event. Photos by Nikki Attree. To see more of Nikki's work, click here.

News Posted - 14/04/08

South Bay in South Wind ... and Waves
El Médano has gained its' reputation in windsurfing by playing host to the Canaries prevailing NE tradewinds. However, every now and then the wind swings through 180 degress to produce smooth, easy flat-water conditions in South Bay. What is more, once in a blue moon this wind direction is combined with a south swell, transforming the bay a starboard tack wave riding Mecca. Most of this week we have had just such a thing, with fun waist high waves peeling down the bay just asking to be ridden. We are now waiting for one of those fabled days when the waves become big enough to be ridden right from the point on the outside, all the way into the bay ... can't wait! Photo by Dirk Johannsen a.k.a. Johnny.

News Posted - 11/04/08

Dany Goes North (Yet Again!)
Ever on the hunt for yet more places to windsurf, Dany headed to the north of Tenerife again yesterday and scored some fairly meaty waves in Caleta - yet another spot just downwind of the famous 'la izquierda del faro' Dany rode late last year, the pictures of which were published in various international magazines. Caleta is very reputed amongst the surfers of the north, but again Dany is quite likely to have been one of the first to champion the location on a windsurf board, playing hide and seek amongst the waves (right). Photos by CMD.

News Posted - 10/04/08

New Advertisement on Website

We've just updated our advertisement page on this website to include the latest addition. You can see it by clicking here.

News Posted - 06/04/08

Cabezo Gallery Updated

Today has been the first 'light' wind day we have had for quite some time now, providing the opportunity to sift through some of the photos we took of the action witnessed in Cabezo over the weekend. Dany Bruch, fresh from his trip to Cabo Verde, was out on his home turf, jumping higher than most would ever dream. Bart David was also out - he is an institution in Cabezo, and was the stand-out sailor for many years, beating many top pro sailors when he competed on the World Tour. Unfortunately due to repeatedly breaking his ankles, he no longer windsurfs with straps, yet has modified the deckpads of his boards so that he can still land back-loops! Pretty embarrassing for the rest of us that use straps and still come nowhere close to his consistency! You can see the gallery of Cabezo shots by clicking here. Bart is the sailor using the black / white and gold Neil Pryde Combat from 2006.

News Posted - 02/04/08

Surfstore's 2008 Catalogue Out Now
Surfstore are one of the most established windsurfing retailers in the UK, with a long history in the sport dating back to 1981. The shop has five full time members of staff who are all super knowledgeable and pride themselves on providing the highest standard in customer service. This year, The OTC and Surfstore have come together to provide an extra service to Surfstore's clientele, whereby you can gain a comprehensive pdf test report of any board or sail of interest by writing to Surfstore. For more information, click on the images on the right.

News Posted - 31/03/08

March Ending In Style
March has been a fantastic month for wind here in El Médano with solid planing conditions on every day bar three. In fact, because the wind was good at the end of February we have had 31 planing days out of the last 35 days so far. And it looks set to continue until the end of the month, with Sunday and Monday forecast to produce winds touching force 8 or 9! We are battening the hatches down now ... an preparing our smallest board and sails. To see the latest forecast, click on the image on the right.

News Posted - 29/03/08

WindsurfingTenerife.com Displays The Action
Yesterday was the first day of no wind here in El Médano for more than three weeks! March has been an excellent month so far, and the wind looks set to come back early next week ... but a run of 22 days in a row of wind during a supposedly less consistent time of year was fanatasic fun, bringing superb conditions to our shores. Many of the action over the last few weeks has been captured by the website Windsurfing Tenerife so be sure to visit the site to see the action. The shot on the right is actually of the website creator Jochen, going some way to proving why he is one of the standout sailors in El Médano. Photo: d'Jo / D'Light.

News Posted - 21/03/08

Quayside and Solent Sailboards score wind every day!
We have just said goodbye to a large group of windsurfers from trips organised by the UK based shops Quayside and Solent Sailboards. Both shops were out with us for a week and scored wind during every day of their visit. The atmosphere in the centre was fantastic throughout the week, with everyone making the most of the variety of equipment available to them. And as you can see in the photo, everyone was on best behaviour as the centre dog and team member Stitch conducted this photo! Great to have you out with us guys, and hope to see you again soon. Photo: Daniel Hobbs.

News Posted - 18/03/08

Dany Finishes 21st in Cabo Verde
Big congratulations to Dany for finishing 21st overall in Cabo Verde, which is all the more impressive when you learn that he tied the spot with seasoned PWA veterans Nik Baker, Scotty McKercher and Levi Siver. Dany was sitting in 9th place after the single elimination, but fell to the young up and coming French sailor Jean-Baptiste Caste in the second elimination. We know, being the person that he is, Dany will feel he could have done better, but when he rarely gets to sail in starboard tack conditions, we are justly proud of his efforts. Well done Dany! Photo: Carter/PWA.

News Posted - 18/03/08

OTC Galleries Updated

With excellent conditions here in El Médano for the last couple of weeks, we've been able to get out there with a camera lens and capture some of the action. This has given us plenty of up-to-date shots to include in our galleries, which can be viewed by clicking here. We will update the La Tejita gallery as soon as we have more news on its' anticipated opening date ... watch this space!

News Posted - 08/03/08

Dany Qualifies for PWA Cabo Verde
Our congratulations to Dany for making it through the toughly contested trials in Cabo Verde to qualify for the main event. The winds were light throughout the heats, but Dany is very used to riding waves in little wind after his winter's training! Registration takes place today and we're all hoping for a re-enactment of the conditions the event experienced last year. To read about Dany's progress on the PWA's site click here. Best of luck Dany.

News Posted - 07/03/08

Pretty in Pink
We have just said goodbye to a group of guys from Lymington, out here under the guise of a stag week for their friend Luke Puckett (double checked I got the surname right!). The week was lined up for a lot of drinking and typical stag-do entertainment, yet the wind put a halt to most of the debauchery by blowing every day of the week bar one and tiring everyone out! Instead, Luke was only marginally embarrased during one evening where he was made to wear a bright pink suit whilst out in town. So we felt the need to step in and provide a shot of the suit for a wider audience to marvel at! Great to have you out with us guys, and our best wishes to Luke and Sue for the future.

News Posted - 03/03/08

Bruch's Final Training Session in Alcala
Dany is now in Cabo Verde, getting used to the conditions before the start of the opening PWA event of 2008. But before he left, he managed to squeeze one more training session in at Alcala - a punchy hollow wave located towards the south coast resort of Los Gigantes. He was joined on this occasion by OTC co-founder Ben Wood (right), who proved he's as comfortable in these size waves on a windsurf board as he is on a surfboard.To see more shots from Alcala, visit windsurfingtenerife.com. Best of luck in the Cabo Verde event Dany!

News Posted - 02/03/08

OTC on Italian Website Surftribe
A good friend of ours based here in El Médano has written a news piece about The OTC and sent it to various Italian windsurfing-specialist websites. Surftribe.it is the first to go live with the news item, which can be viewed by clicking here or on the image of the page to the right. Thanks very much for your support Andrea.

News Posted - 01/03/08

Dany North Shore Footage on YouTube
By now, many of you will have seen the images of Dany in various international magazines of his trip to the north shore of Tenerife late last year. Dany jumped off a cliff into unchatered waters, and rode waves never before dropped into by an unaided surfboard, let alone a windsurf board! The size of the wave and fearless abandon of Dany are all too clear to see in the stills, but now you can witness the action in video as well! Watch it by clicking here.

News Posted - 28/02/08

Dany in Playa de Socorro
It seems Dany is trying every possible launch site around Tenerife's shores this winter. Having conquered La Caleta and Punta del Hidalgo during previous hair-raising trips, on the 13th of this month he launched at the main beach-break of the north - Playa de Socorro. Having played host to WQS surfing competitions in the past, Socorro is quite a heavy punchy wave that doesn't tend to take any prisoners. Dany made quite light work of it however...because he had a bit of wind this time! Next on the schedule is Alcala - images to follow! To see more on this particular story however, visit windsurfingtenerife.com. Pics: Jochen Scholtz.

News Posted - 20/02/08

O'Neill Wetsuits Fall Meeting in Town
We are very pleased to be hosting O'Neill Wetsuits, who have been holding their Fall Meeting of their winter 2008 collection here in El Médano throughout this week. Extending the event from its normal duration of just one day to three days, it has enabled the O'Neill Europe HQ team (based in Midhurst in the UK) to discuss the development of the suits in much more detail with their European distributors. More importantly, it has also enabled them all to get out on the water and try the latest developments for themselves. It's our pleasure having you out with us, and hope to welcome you all back again soon.

News Posted - 15/02/08

Dany in the North (Again!)
Just when you think Dany has scored the most waves of any professional windsurfer this winter, he travels to the north of the island and hunts down some more sets to ride! This time he scrambled across the rocks of Punta del Hidalgo - one of the most revered waves on the island. The launch was precarious, and the landing was only possible after a full de-rig and paddle back into the jagged lava rock cliffs, where friends were waiting to assist. But in between all that the conditions made it worth his while! Pics by www.windsurfingtenerife.com; to see more shots of the day's action, click here.

News Posted - 09/02/08

Airborn Become Men!
OTC Team members Graham and Adam have been in a team of their own with George Shillito for some time now. Over the last month or so they have been joined by George out here in El Médano and have been training hard both on and off the water. Their sailing progression has really accelerated as a result, and they are sure to be a force to be reckoned with on the competition scene this year. As such they felt that a relaunch of Team Airborn was in order, providing the unmissable opportunity for the strap-line of 'boys to men' on a recent Boardseeker news piece! It can be viewed by clicking here.

News Posted - 07/02/08

Dany Everywhere This Winter!
Browse any of the popular windsurfing news websites this winter and you can't fail to have seen just a few shots from Dany's exploits this winter. If there has been any swell or wind forecast at any corner of Tenerife, he has been there; in fact even if there hasn't been any wind, he has still ventured out! In the next few weeks many of the industry's biggest magazine titles will print the most awe inspiring shots of one such adventure to the north of the island, and although we have seen the shots, we promised not to display any here to respect their exclusivity. Instead, here are a few shots of Dany playing on a small day at La Fitenia late last month. Pics: Sven Neils.

News Posted - 02/02/08

Two Weeks Left to Make Most of Summer 2008 Offer

For the summer months this month we will be implementing a peak price period between 15th June to 31st August, but if you book for your summer visit before the 31st January, you still pay our 2007 price, avoiding the peak price and grabbing a potential saving of up to 20%. For more information on our 2008 prices, you can visit our 'How to Book' page by clicking here, or to find out more information on our summer offer email us at info@otc-windsurf.com.

News Posted - 17/01/08

OTC and Shinn Centre on Motion Website
Mart Kuperij, the Chief Editor of Holland's Motion Magazine, was out with us in Tenerife for most of November last year and has just updated the magazine's website to include details of both The OTC and Shinn Centre. The item will also be featured in their forthcoming newsletter and includes a little competition to win a long sleeve T-shirt from The Shinn Centre. You can see the news piece on the Motion website by clicking here.

News Posted - 11/01/08

New Advertisement on Website

We've just updated our advertisement page on this website to include the latest addition. You can see it by clicking here.

News Posted - 11/01/08

El Médano Video Guide on Quayside Website
Neil Greentree of Quayside Windsurfers came out to Tenerife for a week in December with his partner Sara and made a video diary of his trip. Both informative and entertaining, it can be viewed by clicking here. He also took the time to produce a few tutorial videos, which can also be viewed from links on the same page. Neil has organised a Quayside Windsurfers trip out here to El Médano from the 9th to 16th March. For more information, get in touch with Neil on +44 (0)8700 347414.

News Posted - 08/01/08

January Sale Now On!

To welcome in the New Year we are having a January Sale, offering in excess of 20% discount on all our 2007 boards and sails still in stock, bringing the price of each board to a staggering £400 (€560) and all sails to £150 (€210). (Transfer for the kit back to the UK and to your door is £30 for the first item and £5 for any subsequent items.) All the equipment is in fantastic condition, a far cry from the typical standard of second hand kit you expect from a rental centre. This is because all OTC kit is washed thoroughly with fresh water after every use and every board checked before it goes on the water. You can get in contact with us to enquire about delivery and reserve a board or sail of your choice. For full lists of the boards available click here and sails click here.

News Posted - 04/01/08

Fantastic Offer for Summer 2008

We have just released our prices for 2008, and are pleased to announce that you can now benefit from a 10% discount on the price if you pre-pay for your kit hire prior to arrival in El Médano. For the summer months we will be implementing a peak price period, but if you book for your summer visit before the 31st January, you still pay our 2007 price, avoiding the peak price and grabbing a potential saving of up to 20%. For more information on our 2008 prices, you can visit our 'How to Book' page by clicking here, or to find out more information on our summer offer email us at info@otc-windsurf.com.

News Posted - 02/01/08

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