JP Tobin

National Park | New Zealand | January | 2012 Awesome four days...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:17:00 +1300

National Park | New Zealand | January | 2012

Awesome four days of riding the Central Plateau including Kinloch | Mountains to Sea | 42nd Traverse.

The Dutchman | 2011 World Champion | Dorian van Rijsselberghe

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:59:00 +1300

The Dutchman | 2011 World Champion | Dorian van Rijsselberghe

Medal Race | 2011 Sailing World Championships | Windsurfing | Men | Gold Fleet

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:46:00 +1300

Medal Race | 2011 Sailing World Championships | Windsurfing | Men | Gold Fleet:

World Championships | Fremantle | Australia | December | 2011

Race 10 | 2011 Sailing World Championships | Windsurfing | Men | Gold Fleet

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:44:00 +1300

Race 10 | 2011 Sailing World Championships | Windsurfing | Men | Gold Fleet:

World Championships | Fremantle | Australia | December | 2011

Race 8 | 2011 Sailing World Championships | Windsurfing | Men | Gold Fleet

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:42:00 +1300

Race 8 | 2011 Sailing World Championships | Windsurfing | Men | Gold Fleet:

World Championships | Fremantle | Australia | December | 2011

Fremantle | Australia | November | 2011 The Doctors Prescription...

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:11:00 +1300

Fremantle | Australia | November | 2011

The Doctors Prescription

Training action with Dorian Van Rijsselberghe (NED) and Zac Plavsic (CAN).

British Columbia | Canada | September | 2011 All time trail ride...

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:09:00 +1300

British Columbia | Canada | September | 2011

All time trail ride in the South Chilcotins, BC, Canada w/ Aaron McIntosh, Dorian van Rijsselberghe and Zac Plavsic…mountain pass x 2, altitude, bears, cougars…dropped in by float plane w/ three mates each armed w/ one Niner Bikes and one way out…TO RIDE!!!

British Columbia | Canada | September | 2011

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +1200

British Columbia | Canada | September | 2011

Portland Harbour (Olympic Venue) | United Kingdom | July | 2011

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +1200

Portland Harbour (Olympic Venue) | United Kingdom | July | 2011

Sail for Gold 2011 06 - 11 June | 2011 Weymouth | United...

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +1200

Sail for Gold 2011

06 - 11 June | 2011

Weymouth | United Kingdom

Result | 2nd

April : Straight into action at the French World Cup after the long haul flight from New Zealand…a bit on with time zone changes, however I was primarily in France to “check-in” and get back into the flow of big fleet racing, finished up 8th but more importantly worked in a solid hit out prior to heading up to Weymouth, UK to resume training for the British World Cup (BWC).

May : Weymouth is really becoming like a home away from home, as the Olympic sailing venue the plan is to spend more time on site and become increasingly more tuned in to the local nuances…the setup is ideal, conditions are superb and a sharp organizing team are on track to deliver a truly unique Olympic sailing competition.

Aside from a great sailing venue, Weymouth is a pretty sweet place to ride a bike, the Isle of Portland provides plenty of trails to piece together on training rides and missions with the local crew make sure we get the best out of the area, including some epic loops around the Jurassic Coast.

Following a few weeks of solid training in Weymouth, we travelled up to Medemblik, Netherlands for the Dutch World Cup, the timing of Netherlands in relation to our peak event of the BWC meant the focus was on pushing hard at race pace for the first half of the regatta…mission complete Dorian and I clocked out in first and second positions respectively.

Lee Taehoon (Korea) who I coach a bit was ripping, super stoked to see him perform well going on to win the regatta from Zac Plavsic (Canada) an integral part of our training crew in second.

June : Back in Weymouth and time to sharpen the focus for the main event, with selections and ranking points on the line it was well and truely game on…Nick Dempsey (Great Britain) Poitr Myska (Poland), Dorian van Rijsselberghe (Netherlands) (training partner) and myself swapped the overall lead a number of times during the course of the regatta.

Holding a one point advantage going into the final medal race it simply came down to Nick and me and who beat who to decide the overall title…

“The medal battle belonged to Nick Dempsey (GBR) and JP Tobin (NZL) – the pair fought each other all the way round the course, eventually leaving all but Nimrod Mashiah (ISR) in their wake. The points were so close it was a simple matter of winner takes all – and it was Dempsey who crossed the line just ahead of Tobin to take home gold. The Kiwi had to settle for silver, and Dorian van Rijsselberge secured bronze from the charging Israeli with a fourth place.” (Sail for Gold : Media)

GPS action replay confirmed how close it was at the finish…just four seconds!!!

This regatta was the first opportunity to gain selection for the New Zealand Olympic Team for London, 2012…finishing with Silver and Top Kiwi is significant in many ways and is a real boost to confirming my position as the Men’s Windsurfing representative for the New Zealand Olympic Team for London.

Next UP…Home for three weeks prior to heading back up to Weymouth, UK for the Olympic Test Event, from Weymouth it is back to NZ and into the next build for the 2011 World Championships…Special thank-you to all my supporters…POW!!!

Xterra 2011 | Blue Lake | New Zealand | April | 2011

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +1200

Xterra 2011 | Blue Lake | New Zealand | April | 2011

Xterra New Zealand 09 April | 2011 Blue Lake | New...

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +1200

Xterra New Zealand

09 April | 2011

Blue Lake | New Zealand

Result | 1st (30-34) | 6th (Overall)

2011 is the third year in a row that I have lined up for Xterra NZ and the race continues to inspire…the location is stunning and all three disciplines are well setup to take in the best of a very unique and natural environment.

My build for Xterra 2011 followed a similar pattern as previous years with total swim training based upon Xterra the year before, consequently my 2XU Elite is a very important piece of equipment…bike and run feature more consistently as integral component’s in my windsurf training, however with a big summer program on the board both disciplines have been just ticking over…I had to quickly find some pace and thanks to Total Sport the timing of both The Dual and The Nugget were ideal in helping me gain some pedal strength and leg speed.

Onto the race…the swim felt pretty short which I guess is a good sign and I arrived into bike transition in reasonable shape, took some time to get sorted for the ride which was mostly due to trying to balance, it actually feels pretty unnatural getting ready to race a bike having just been for a swim, couple this with the fact that my shoes are mountain bike specific as opposed to triathlon so involve coordinating (while still trying to balance) a number of closure systems.

On the bike I was hoping to not repeat the previous two years in which I welcomed back my breakfast…the plan during the swim this year was to focus on the leg drive, particularly during the last quarter to ensure good blood flow when exiting the water, it seemed to work and I felt pretty solid through a great bike course which takes in some of the best trails in the Whakarewarewa Forest network.

Thanks to Niner Bikes NZ for assisting in putting together one mean machine…racing the Niner rigid (non suspension) resulted in a super light weight ascending weapon with the tradeoff coming in speed/control through the technical sections.

Nutrition stayed with the bike this year, so arrived into T2 (bike-run transition) fueled up and good to go, reasonably quick through T2, a whole lot more straight forward in transitioning from bike to run.

Picked up some extra positions on the 11 km trail run (two laps around the Blue Lake) to finish up 6th overall, first in age group and first non pro…qualifying for the Xterra World Championships in the process…pretty happy as this is my best result to date.

Next…Flying to France on the 19th April to race in the French World Cup Regatta (April 24-29, 2011) from there it is onto Weymouth (Olympic venue) to join back up with “The Team” to pick up and push on towards the British World Cup Regatta (6-11 June, 2011).

The Nugget 02 April | 2011 Waihi Beach | New Zealand Result |...

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +1300

The Nugget

02 April | 2011

Waihi Beach | New Zealand

Result | 1st

Multisport is addictive…particularly in New Zealand where locations are stunning, case in point The Nugget Multi Sport Festival, Waihi.

The Half Nugget which consisted of a 10 km trail run from the Northern end of Waihi Beach to Orokawa Bay before heading inland to the mountain bike transition, on to the bike for 29 km of road back to Waihi finishing off with a 2.5 km run around the rim of the Gold Mine.

The Dual 26 March | 2011 Rangitoto-Motutapu Island’s | New...

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1300

The Dual

26 March | 2011

Rangitoto-Motutapu Island’s | New Zealand

Result | 3rd

Five o’clock wakeup call, rain, wind, mud…whats not to love about The Dual 2011.

Following a roughish ferry ride out to Home Bay, Motutapu the stage was again uniquely set for an amazing race, conditions were very different in 2011 than in the previous two years with the course a little more fluid in texture, so much so the Kaenon’s were needed and it wasn’t because of the sun.

The pace was on from the start with the lead trio of Richard Ussher (The Dual is starting to attract some big names), Thomas Reynolds (defending champion) and myself forming on the climb out of Home Bay…after a busy summer on the board during which riding has been pretty low key the pace was getting a little too hot…as I eased up on the pedals slightly to make sure finishing was still an option Ussher bolted…very impressive to watch one of the best multisport athletes on the planet in action, even if it was only for a few kilometers.

At around the 35 km mark the leg’s were done for the day with the Motutapu section of the race proving to be the game, the wet grass tracks making sure any plans I had of chasing down Thomas who had been in constant view up to this point were purely theoretical.

Over the final 15 km’s to the finish I was crawling giving away over 6 minutes to Thomas and who knows how many to Richard…all said I was pretty happy to see the line.

With the Cannondale in pieces I was super stoked with the performance of theNiner Air 9 courtesy of Niner NZ as well as the speedy recovery provided by2XU Compression.

It was also a real honor to be presented with place by one of New Zealand’s best ever Sir John Walker.

On the ferry back to Devonport I was invited to take a seat, I quickly realized the invitation was from the current Mayor of Auckland Len Brown we discussed a few interesting projects that Auckland has on the go at the moment including the National Ocean Water Sports Center a huge project which I am looking forward to see completed.

Next…

Full on period of training on the board with a mid April departure for Hyeres, France for the French World Cup, from France it is on to Weymouth, U.K to build into the British World Cup which is my first opportunity to gain selection for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

New Zealand Championships 17 - 20 February | 2011 Manly | New...

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +1300

New Zealand Championships

17 - 20 February | 2011

Manly | New Zealand

Result | 1st

The New Zealand National Championships are done and dusted for 2011…After seven races I finished up on top to claim the National title in a predominently light wind event.

With the fleet comprised mostly of International sailors the main competition came from my training partner Dorian van Rijsselberghe (Netherlands) and compatriot Tom Ashley “technically” Dorian won the event by one point (!!!) from me, however I had to remind him that “technically” without a NZ passport he was not on the race course.

Once again the beach and water crew combined to produce one of the most unique regattas on the planet, big thanks to all who worked to make this the best National Championships yet.

Next up we are back into training mode in preparation for our assault on Europe with primary focus on Sail for Gold Regatta in June.

World Championships 29 August - 05 September | 2010...

Sun, 05 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1300

World Championships

29 August - 05 September | 2010

Kerteminde | Denmark

Result | 8th

The World Championships for 2010 concluded on Saturday bringing to a close a long 2010 competition season.

During the worlds week the racing was full on with the final top 10 medal race keeping things close and undecided right up to the finish line.

The podium positions we claimed by Poland in 1 and 2 and Israel in 3, however there was literally a wind shift or two separating the majority of the top 10 from standing on the dais.

One thing is for sure the game is tightening, four of the top 10 including the winner from Sail for Gold (Weymouth) contested two weeks prior finished outside of the top 10 in Denmark.

Overall plenty of points to develop but also some solid performances from “The Team” (Alex Guyader (France) Dorian van Rijsselberge (Netherlands) Zac Plavsic (Canada) Aaron Macintosh (Netherlands Coach) (New Zealand).

Race 5 in particular stands out as a highlight with Dorian (1st), Me (2nd) and Alex (3rd) after putting a solid gap on the chasing fleet we battled the race out “in house” with Dorian just managing to sneak by me, the training we as a group have put in together has been exciting to be part of and I am really looking forward to see what we can achieve leading up to and including the Games in 2012.

Perth International Regatta 17 - 21 November | 2010 Fremantle...

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +1300

Perth International Regatta

17 - 21 November | 2010

Fremantle | Australia

Result | 3rd

A solid line up for the Perth International Regatta including four of the top ten from the 2010 World Championships, five of the top ten from the ISAF World rankings and the current Olympic Silver and Bronze medalists.

Training leading into the event could not have been better with the “Fremantle Doctor” in at full force and the local’s (Dolphin’s, Sea Turtles, Flying Fish) all doing their thing.

Race day bought an increase in temperatures along with strong hot offshore winds essentially breaking the sea breeze cycle, given that we were primarily in Fremantle to test the conditions in preparation for the ISAF World Championship in 2011 it was important to train, race and experience a comprehensive range of wind, water and environmental conditions…we got them.

The varied conditions along with a small but loaded fleet resulted in tight racing and some epic battles ensued particularly with training partner Dorian van Rijsselberghe eventual winner of the regatta.

Ricardo “Bimba” Santos (Brazil) squeezed ahead into 2nd with Ivan Pastor (Spain) 4th and Nick Dempsey (Great Britain) 5th.

The ISAF World Sailing Championships (Olympic Qualifier) will be raced off Fremantle in December 2011.

Sail for Gold (World Cup) 09 - 14 August | 2010 Weymouth |...

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +1200

Sail for Gold (World Cup)

09 - 14 August | 2010

Weymouth | United Kingdom

Result | 6th

Just finished up Sail for Gold which has worked out as a pretty nice warm up for the upcoming World Championships (Denmark) now a little under two weeks away.

I am still currently in Weymouth getting some post race recovery with the crew (including some nice rides exploring the beautiful Jurassic Coast of Dorset) and planning the next build, heading back out to Denmark on Wednesday.

Overall some solid performances in unstable conditions, entered in to racing with a focus of keeping consistency across all ranges which I achieved despite picking up a virus mid competition which needed a dose of antibiotics to knock on the head as quickly as possible.

Remained low key for the final three days of racing to try and assist in a quick recovery, fortunately I was still able to remain consistent in my results to qualify for the medal race (top 10) and sixth place overall for the regatta.

Now really looking forward to getting back to Kerteminde, Denmark to shift and narrow the focus for the main event.

Delta Lloyd Regatta (World Cup) 26 - 30 May | 2010 Medemblik...

Sun, 30 May 2010 00:00:00 +1200

Delta Lloyd Regatta (World Cup)

26 - 30 May | 2010

Medemblik | Netherlands

Result | 10th

The Delta Lloyd Regatta concluded three weeks of training in Europe, firstly thanks to the Dutch team on a number of levels for all their support during this European phase, including hooking me up with equipment which literally got me on the start line and keeping me on the water with help from their physio when I tweaked my neck in race six.

Kicked things off with a quick fire five days of training in Weymouth with Dutch, Portuguese and French…arriving off the plane from NZL literally onto the bike for a four hour training ride, the lads were already in Weymouth and had scored me a sweet demo bike of the crew at Mudsweatngears which has quickly become our local for the lead in to the 2012 Olympic Games…a trip to the shop became a daily post breakfast habit.

Weymouth also marked commencement of a 15 week focused preparation phase leading into the 2010 World Championships.

Following Weymouth I shot to Sicily (Mondello) to meet up with NZL team for the European Team Racing Championships, Albaria the host club for the event generously covered the travel costs to get us all to and from Europe.

Back up to Holland and into more racing, it has been a while since I have sailed on the Ijsselmeer with Medemblik always one of my favorite venues despite how cold it can get.

Day One: Having not raced in big fleets for some time it took a bit to get used to getting off the start line in traffic, I managed to hold my line well enough and sail back through the fleet in all 3 races for a solid start to the regatta. (7, 5, 6)

Day Two : Only one light wind race completed, start was crap but managed to work back into the mix. (9)

Day Three : First day of finals, epic first race of the day with breeze and a five man breakaway (inclusive) fin started to release on port under load towards the end of the race, I initially put this down to the wave angles on port tack, this was until race six when the cavitation increased, it became apparent something was up with the fin, during race six I also somehow tweaked my neck on the final downwind.

Started race seven but decided I was not really keen on testing the neck out anyfurther so back to the beach, on shore it became clear the fin with less than 20 hours of sailing on it had cracked right through the base, it also was clear that my neck function was not ideal… fortunately the Dutchies quickly had me into their team physio for repair. (5, 11, DNF)

Day Four : Quick morning visit to the physio for some pre race manipulation and a cautious all clear to race, marginal planing conditions and only one race completed. (15)

Day Five : Medal Race (Top 10) : Super close racing over a short sprint style course, GPS tracking of the medal race can be viewed here. (8)

Given only two weeks of training on the board a top 10 result in Holland was solid, my main focus for this trip was to check in with the competition and push off to the 2010 Worlds, plan now is June training at home prior to heading back across to Europe early July to continue build up to Denmark.

Anaconda Adventure Race 24 April | 2010 Waihi Beach | New...

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +1200

Anaconda Adventure Race

24 April | 2010

Waihi Beach | New Zealand

Result | 4th (Team)

Swim (1.6 km) | Ben Fouhy

Paddle (14 km) | James Kuegler

Run (14 km) | Mark Richardson (Captain)

Mountain Bike (27 km) | Me

Team Run (2 km) | Team Total Sport

Solid result by Team Total Sport, put together last minute, the team was selected for but not necessarily matched to their respective specialist disciplines. Despite this some O.K individual leg times were posted, all bought home by the fastest final team run (3rd fastest overall). The bike was fast over mixture of farm, road, walking and gravel, a great ride complete with a couple of loops around Waihi’s gold mining areas (normally closed to public) and a couple of short sharp climbs to break it up, racked the bike at final transition with GPS reading 01:02:06 (official race time clocked at 01:05:50??? which was third fastest bike split) I prefer the GPS which was fastest). The 2010 Anaconda Adventure Race was one sweet event, looking forward to 2011 and the chance to race the course solo as the entire team (aside from the captain) have now apparently been cut…CGW News