Neil Burnie

mrgybe · Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 5180

Some of you may have bumped into Neil "Saxman" Burnie from Bermuda. He died last week in a free diving accident clearing lobster pots that had broken loose in the recent hurricane. Neil was an outstanding windsurfer. He placed near the top of Aruba Hi-winds competitions several times. He was fast. The speed he would generate through a lay-down jibe was a sight to behold! A great character, perpetually enthusiastic, who lived life fully. Great shame. RIP.
http://bernews.com/2014/11/photos-remembering-dr-neil-burnie/

adywind · Joined: 08 Jan 2012 Posts: 665

He must have been a great person.RIP Neil!!!

scottybda · Joined: 04 Sep 2012 Posts: 67

I had noticed this post when I first joined this forum recently. So Neil was a good friend, I had traveled and raced with him for quite a few events over the 20 odd years I knew him. He was a very generous fellow often volunteering his boat for outer reef wave sessions. He was also pretty mad, often leaving us younger fellows on the beach as he headed out in insane hurricane surf!

So a bunch of us decided to make a tribute of sailing around Bermuda as he had many times. I recorded the footage on my GoPro. It wasn't the best direction, but we went for it anyhow! Shocked

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBv4t5LCqGg

mrgybe · Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 5180

Thanks for posting that. Bought back a lot of memories. Never did the round the island.......nearly 65 miles in one run with lots of big fish was too daunting! I remember the day Neil broke the record, but I had forgotten it was 2hrs 11m. As I recall that included a decent swim to get round one end of the island. 30mph+ average speed for over 2 hours, in a circle, is astounding.

Well done to all of you. That's a tough sail. Pity Neil couldn't be with you.

scottybda · Joined: 04 Sep 2012 Posts: 67

Cheers mrgybe

Sounds like you lived here for a while? I went around with Neil in 2011, he broke his boom and I got round in 2h 14m. Was pretty brutal as my feet were beat up from the constant slamming! It meant for the stretch from Fort St Catherine's to Daniels Head I was probably going at 70%.

In the right wind direction the distance covered would be about 42 miles or so. Yeah seemed strange to do it without Neil. I'd done it 3 times before with him.

mrgybe · Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 5180

2hrs 14m.....42+ ocean miles. Very impressive! You're a better man than I Gunga Din! I left in the early 90s after a number of years. Learned to windsurf in Bda. There was a great crowd in that era, including Neil. Turquoise warm water, launches from every direction. Pink beaches. Doesn't get much better than that! Lucky dog!

scottybda · Joined: 04 Sep 2012 Posts: 67

Sounds like we never crossed paths then, as I started around 92/93ish I think. Was a great scene then, they had a club and many members. Neil loved me as I was 19 - 20 at the time and would buy all is old gear! But Neil's old gear was full on custom Fiberworx, Protech, AHD race boards so I was very spoiled but also had to learn fast!

He was a team rider for Protech latterly and so most of us ended up on that brand which I was a big fan of. Even now if you look at the current production boards and compare the surfaces, the Protech's are very true, none of the waviness on the Cobra boards.

The worst part of going around is the offshore side, about a mile out so don't want anything to fail! Shocked

Anyway making the vids is fun, just made a new one, will upload on the weekend. It's a fun one, me and my kite buddies mucking about.

mrgybe · Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 5180

BBSA! Still have the tee shirt!

scottybda · Joined: 04 Sep 2012 Posts: 67

Is that the teeshirt with the image from the Aruba Hi-Winds? I'll have to find the old newletters, Steve O used to write them was quite snarky!