Some More 2020 Equipment and Luderitz

Hi

Sorry for the long delay. I will look at some more new equipment, add some thoughts and then briefly discuss the speed event in Luderitz.

New Stuff of Interest 

Patrik

Patrik has tweaked his designs slightly and done away with the two construction approach.  He has also come up with really nice colours for the boards.  

He discusses each of the ranges on his site explaining the design approaches adopted for each model together with his reasoning.  Fanatic and Starboard have always done this properly and it is good to see Patrik join them in providing useful information for us.

If I had no equipment, a large bank balance and was looking for a board quiver to cover all of my windsurfing needs, I would consider ordering 2020 Patrik:

•        Slalom 125
•        F-Race 120
•        F-Cross 103

Look at this thing – awesome colours, two footstrap plug rows, foil box…
a masterpiece of beauty, form and function.

The F-Race is light, long and cool.  It sports a long flat section under the feet for early planing and comfort.

The F-Cross is one of the perfect boards for high speed blasting over choppy water – no cut-outs, not too short, round tail, power box for your high end fins – awesome.

This 3 board combination would adequately cover all of the regular sailing conditions we experience here in Langebaan.   

The F-Race could be substituted with a goldilocks board like JP’s Super Ride, Severne’s Fox, Goya’s Carrera etc if a more playful sailing approach is preferred. 

Because of the advances in foiling, I am now of the opinion that we don’t require big slalom sails any more.  I would not go above 7.5m in the windsurf sail quiver.

Very light winds can be handled with foiling equipment which would add massively to overall time on the water.  A good time to be alive!

Gun Sails

I have always regarded the products of Gun Sails as being good value/middle of the road offerings – not worthy of too much attention.

Lately, the principal of “high quality sailors in an organisation, push the generation of high quality products” has hit Gun Sails.  Pieter Bijl, Ben Van Der Steen and Steven Van Broeckhoven (three mighty sailors from the low countries) have all been working on Gun’s flat water products and some real excellence is starting to emerge.

   

Note the Seal in high tech fabrics.

 

Look at the new Bow which I wrote about in a previous post – an inspired concept which represents just one example of Pieter’s creativity.  Search for his own high tech booms 
(Pro-Boom) for another example.

The 2020 Bow comes in two configurations – Bow Slalom and Bow-Fly Foil.

These new designs allow for high speeds in total comfort whether foiling or blasting on your standard slalom board.  All sizes rig on the special 490 bow flex mast.

One of these sails (the slalom model) was on the water here last week and I spoke with the rider.  His comments make me think that the Bow is an excellent concept but not quite past the prototype stage yet.

The guy said that the sail provides fantastic low end power, keeping good control as the wind picks up.  It is however, extremely heavy – heavy fabric and heavy 70% mast.  

The sail is heavy, both in terms of physical weight and because it works your body like a race sail (4 cams!).

Here are some (humble) suggestions for this concept going forward:

•      Reduce the sail weight to half of its current weight

•      Reduce the number of cams to 2 and maybe the battens to 6 as in the foil model.

•     Reduce the mast weight.  Make it 100% carbon.

•      Make the bottom half of the mast an ordinary Gun 460 or 430 (top spec) mast which could then come with two upper sections – a regular top and the bow top.  This would enable a buyer to sail regular sails as well as the Bow, with the same mast.

•     Make the bow top, pre-bent for easier rigging.

 

Some things for Pieter to consider.

What I suggest is that we all keep an eye on Gun Sails.  The three above-mentioned sailors are creating something special in this company and some great new sails could emerge.  They were recently joined by JuJu who is rocking their pure slalom sails in the PWA and no doubt providing (with Ben), useful feedback to the designer.

Luderitz Speed Challenge 

This speed event kicked off at the start of November and they have had good winds.
  

Two of our local sailors, Karo and Louis, entered and participated 2 weeks ago.  They both did well, Karo hitting 44.55 knots, making her the fifth fastest woman windsurfer of all time.  Very nice and well deserved – she has really worked for this result and has to be the fittest person on our water right now.

Joos, Karo’s dad, accompanied her to help with rigging, carrying and general kit administration.  He says that the vibe in Luderitz is fantastic.  You have the fastest sailors on the planet, in one venue, happily sharing knowledge and experience.   You learn more about tuning for speed, fins, sails and board design in one week than you could learn in a lifetime on your own.  A unique event in a unique venue.

The best time so far has been from Vincent Valkenaers who clocked 53.25 knots on Sunday.  He is on JP Boards, Pryde sails and Z Fins.  

Quite a high percentage of the guys are on Severne sails.

Aurelio Verdi attended, bringing with him a pile of his new speed boards.  I had a look at Karo’s when she got back and it is a thing of beauty.  His workmanship is perfect and incorporates aero-space materials.  Very impressive.

Aurelio has joined Ben Severne and Patrik Diethelm to make three designers who attend the event, enter and ride their own creations down that hectic ribbon of speed and adrenaline.  Respect!

Good Winds    

Some Comments on Recent Racing

Hi

I mentioned that I wanted to discuss some of the PWA Slalom racing.  I wanted to go through the final race at Marignane where Pierre Mortefon sailed away from Antoin because of a better choice of equipment for the conditions. 

Well, all of that has been eclipsed by the current racing in Fuerteventura.

The heat videos from this event contain the best slalom racing I have ever seen.  Please go to the PWA site and watch them.  Anyone interested in slalom racing needs to watch every heat for a free master-class.  

Why is this racing on such a stratospheric level and so enjoyable for spectators?  Here are the factors as I see them:

• The organised winter training has produced massive benefits for the athletes. The skill levels of the fleet have ramped up making everyone a contender.
• Coverage of the event is fantastic. Drones are being deployed so effectively for us to see every move and Ben Proffitt is absolutely the right person to be commentating. 
• The wind played along in Fuerte this year. The water state is not good however and this makes the speeds being achieved by Antoine, Pierre and Matteo almost unbelievable.
• Current racing equipment has been engineered to levels which make these feats possible.
• The almost super-human windsurfing abilities of the top three racers

We are lucky to be able to witness events such as this.

Good winds

Phil

New Equipment for 2020 1

Hi

I was going to do a piece on the recent racing but that will have to wait.  Instead, here is commentary on some new equipment which has caught my eye.  Manufacturers have started posting their new ranges and I will keep watch for interesting developments.

 

Starboard 

Starboard have done something I have been waiting for, for a long, long time.  They have taken a freestyle board, added outboard strap plugs (in addition to the normal inboard ones) and are supplying it with two fins – a trick fin and a freeride blasting fin.

 

This gives us a normal trick board with instant pop, instant acceleration and crazy speed but which allows us to deploy these attributes for high wind blasting.  Well done Starboard - a master stroke from you.

The board is called the Ignite and is something all of us need to have on our wish lists.

Here it is:

  The board

The fins - look at the fat tail.  No sinking in gybes.  Awesome!

The boards (three sizes) are short and wide and just look right to me.  If you sail in high winds but are tired of your small slalom/freeride board sinking in the lulls, this may be the answer for you.  The Ignite will shine with small wave sails like Severne’s Blade Pro, but also something light and really fast (Severne Gator/Hot Sails Maui GPX for example).

 

The Power fin box means that you can experiment with your existing fast b&j fins .  The short fin is easy to dismiss for those of us not interested in tricks but don’t write it off.  If you sail in shallow water (a tidal bay for example) you sometimes need a short fin.  Trick fins can be a whole lot of fun and allow for really sick gybes.  You may even be tempted to try a trick or two.

If you have a small kid who is keen on the sport, this has to be the best board – no question.  Something both of you can share in different applications.

Naish

Naish has posted its new equipment range.   Of interest to me are the new Starships and the Galaxy.  My only concern is the weight of these boards.  They furnish no weight specs and as most of us know, Naish is capable of building really heavy stuff.

   

If the weights are not too horrible, these boards have to be worth a look.

This is the Galaxy - a versatile slalom board with many footstrap options and a foil-ready fin box.  Watch Robbie’s video which is interesting and quite compelling.   I like the informal shape and vintage paint colours.  

A nice thing (if it is not too heavy of course).

Good winds   

Racing and Two New Boards

Hi

The first block of this year’s PWA slalom racing is over and results have been interesting.  I will say something about the racing but first I want to mention an interesting development within our sport.

Most board and sail companies attract top sailors to their stables.  These athletes showcase the equipment in competition and also play an important role in the development of high end products.  

This approach has resulted in a steady improvement in board/sail design and construction (to the benefit of everyone).   

JP’s boards have improved significantly due to the work of guys like Nicolas Prien and Seb Kornum.  Watch them improve even more now that Antoine has joined the team.

Recently a new phenomenon is taking hold.   Single athletes are breaking away to launch their own board brands.  I wrote some time ago about Dany Bruch’s new board brand (Diamond Boards – now re-named Bruch Boards).

 

In the race arena, we have Arnon Dagan’s Future Fly boards and Finian Maynard’s FMX range.  I wish both of these guys every success but I am uncertain about whether their business model is going to succeed.

These endeavours are one man affairs so budgets for team riders, travel, product development etc will be really thin.  You need to sell a large number of boards to keep afloat and my concern is that it will prove difficult to attract buyers when established companies have such good products now.

Anyway here is some commentary on the two new brands:

Arnon’s slalom range is the Dark Horse and Finian’s is called Invictus - the names reflect the personalities of the respective founders I suppose.

Arnon – a bit playful, a bit disruptive, a bit subversive

Finian – No nonsense, totally mission-focussed

Arnon’s team comprises Arnon and Taty Frans.  

Finians team is Finian and Maciek Rutkowski (four awesome sailors for sure).

  

Arnon’s shaper is Aurelio Verdi, Finian’s shaper is er ..Finian.

  

On seeing this, my thoughts were that Arnon’s boards would probably be superior (I am a huge Aurelio Verdi fan). 

I awaited the first slalom event with interest.

Anyway, here are the boards:

Arnon offers his boards with the option to include a Z fin (the actual model and size used in the board’s development).  Nice touch.

  

Finian’s boards have 2 footstrap plug rows and removable cut-out blades.  Nice!

Each brand professes to offer superior construction (compared to established brands) and each claims faster bottom shapes.  I have to say, both boards look sensational but performance is what matters of course.

So-how have the boards been doing?

The first round of racing was in Marignane.  

Arnon and Taty dropped out in their first heats with Maciek going shortly after.  

Who did we see in the winners final? -  Finian!  His boards work!

The second event was windless but the third slalom event in Ulsan had wind and produced the following placings:

1.       Mateo Iachino

2.       Jordy Vonk

3.       Tristan Algret

4.       Antoin Albeau

Arnon, Finian, Maciek and Taty were placed between 17^th and 29^th.

The Defi Wind has been held and Arnon came 6^th in the first race and won the second race.  He was disqualified in the second race for not signing some piece of paper but as far as you and I are concerned, he piloted his board to first place in that race.  

Defi is far closer to the type of sailing that most of us do and a Dark Horse ran away from everyone on that field.

 

What the above facts tell us is that the two new board lines work.  Depending on your style and specific requirements you could get exactly what you are looking for from one or other of the two lines.   

My impression is that Finian’s boards will be more race-focussed and Arnon’s, slightly easier to sail for the average sailor.  I think that his straps are slightly more inboard (?).  

Would I buy one of them?   Absolutely.   I would buy a Dark Horse 117 if pushed, but would ideally need to test it against a few alternatives before signing actual money away.

I said that I was going to discuss the racing but I have been waffling on a bit so I will end now.  I will talk racing and some product news in the next post.

Good winds

Phil

Some 2019 Equipment

Hi

Just a quick note on some new stuff.

Everything of the best for the new year to all of you

I mentioned in the last post that I would be discussing foiling and Guiseppe Scullino's findings regarding light wind options.  I am not going to do this right now but will include these topics in an upcoming post.

Gators

Ellie and I recently acquired two 2017 Severne Gators (6.5 and 7.0) and our first few rides on them have revealed how astonishingly good these sails are.  They are fast light and versatile.  

I knew that they were going to be good but they have surpassed all expectations.

    

I do not have Severne masts yet so I rigged the 7.0 on an old Fiberspar 460 mast.  This was totally wrong for the sail so I had to modify the mast using an old left over 490 Powerex top, cut down for improved stiffness.  

If any of you are interested to find out more about this Frankenstein mast, the process and logic behind it - please e-mail me.  I’ll explain the whole thing.  The altered mast allows the sail to set beautifully and work properly on the water.

Severne Mach2

Severne have refined elements from their Mach 1 race sail to produce the Mach 2, and what a sail:

• At last they have cut the batten count to 7 across all sizes. 
• The sail now appears to be the lightest race offering out there
• Sizes 5.0, 5.5, 6.2 all rig on rdm masts
• The thing looks so right

 Well done Severne - you may very well have created the best race winning sail on the planet.  I can’t wait to watch the 2019 race vids to compare its behaviour and performance on the water with the awesome blades of Pryde and Duotone.  

A new contender is here!

What a thing!

 

RRD Race

Speaking of new contenders, RRD have developed a pure race sail which looks really interesting

(correct number of carbon tube battens, wide sleeve etc).

Cyril has left Severne and will be racing this new sail (X-Wing Mk 1) on the RRD slalom boards in the new racing season.

 

Avanti M-7 

Avanti have also unveiled their new race sail which exhibits the usual Avanti strengths (beautifully executed load path architecture, faultless integrity of design and bomb proof construction).  

Very,very cool

Gun Bow

Gun Sails are offering a Bow sail/bowflex mast.  This is one of Pieter Bijl’s projects and resurrects a concept introduced by Gaastra in the mid 90’s.  Here is how it works:

The sail sets on a special mast which has an extremely bendable, whippy top portion

This ensures that the sail is not a loose leech design – it bends off on the mast tip and bends off a lot more than a conventional design is able to, even when properly down-hauled.

This means that the release area (that band which adds area to the sail in low wind and disappears as the sail twists in gusts) is so much bigger on the Bow sail.

The result is a sail which constantly adjusts to wind strength, adding power in lulls and reducing it in gusts.  As you spool up under power, the release area is minimised.  When your speed is equal to the wind, the sail closes, bringing ever more power and speed - an organic thing constantly adjusting to conditions to optimise speed over distance.

This is an interesting concept which unfortunately comes with marketing challenges.   The proprietary mast can only be used with this sail.  Say you buy a Bow sail and bowflex mast but the sail does not succeed in the market.  You are potentially stuck if Gun discontinues the model.  When your sail wears out you are left with an unusable mast.  Not good.

I really hope that this concept works and becomes main-stream for certain applications.  It is reportedly perfect for foiling in addition to being a really fast, free-race design. 

   

That’s a whole lot of ugly on the water but if ugly works it can be kinda cool.  

I’m not sure what Pieter is shouting at but I’ll bet it’s a kiter jumping in front of him, oblivious of other water users.  I recognise the attitude and body language from similar scenes on our local beach.

2020 Fanatic Falcon 100

Craig and Jordy from Fanatic were here recently, testing a proto 100 litre Falcon for the 2020 line-up.  They had it on a 2019 Warp 7.0 and from what I could tell, a Z fin of 36cm.  I don’t think I’ve seen such easy speed from a fast slalom board.  The thing is like a turbo charged hover craft.  All I can say is that if you are in the market for a new small slalom board in 2020, please include this Falcon on your short list.  Fingers crossed your list will also include a slalom offering from Severne (?).

Zulu Foil

Zulu have developed their new foil and like all Zulu products it is a properly resolved and fastidiously developed piece of equipment.

The main comment I hear from everyone who has tried it is how easy it is to sail.  This is a really nice product at a very good price.  Give Robbie a shout if you are interested.

OK, that’s all for now.

 

All the best and good winds

Phil