Nice Video and First PWA Slalom Result

Hi

Just a short post.

Video

Here is a message I received from Heru Prasetyo.  I watched the vid and have to say, found it inspiring.  Please click on the link below and see what you think.  The guy featured is a kitesurfer but is also a windsurfer (and therefor a brother) who decided that, following a personal tradegy, he was going to explore things which interested him regardless of what anyone else thinks. Bravo to him and a nicely presented short film.      

Hi Phil,  My name is Heru Prasetyo and I work on the Digital Content team here at Factory Media. Over the last few months we have been lucky enough to curate submissions for the Prime & Fire Selects amateur short film competition.  Over the coming weeks we will be releasing and promoting the winning entries. This weeks follows David, a 77 year old kitesurfer who, after the unexpected and tragic loss of his wife, made the decision to live every moment to the fullest. His story is inspiring and motivational, perfect for getting into the working mood after returning form a long bank holiday.  You can see this weeks winner below, let us know what you think!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rS4bafAdK8

PWA

The first PWA slalom event was run recently in Ulsan Korea.  They were beset by calm days and rain but managed to get a full day's racing in.

  

Antoine won followed by Pierre Mortefon and then Josh Angulo.  The surprise for me was Marco Lang achieving a 9th place.  A fantastic result for Marco and further proof that the Fanatic/North stuff is working properly. 

  

The ladies racing was won by Sarah-Quita followed by Lena Erdil and Fulya Unlu (who I know nothing about).  Sarah-Quita is now on Pryde sails and really smoking.  The fact that the top 5 ladies positions include three Turkish sailors attests to the depth of good windsurfers from that country.

Nice going

Talk to you soon

BTW the next big event of interest to us is this year's Defi Wind.  This will happen from 14-17 May and should be really interesting.  Antoine and a few other PWA guys are competing this year. The big guys usually ignore this race but it has become so popular that they have decided to give it the recognition it deserves.  Roll on this weekend!     

Maui Sails Challenges and Subsequent Events

Hi

Many of you will be aware that Maui Sails underwent a huge re-structuring in January/February.  I was going to do some commentary at the time but figured that you would see all the details on the Maui Sails site so I didn't bother.

For those of you who may not follow these things, here is the short version of what happened:

• The Chinese sail loft suddenly changed their conditions from a monthly payment schedule, to a quarterly schedule meaning that they required an up-front payment for an entire quarter's sail production.  This placed an intolerable strain on the company's cash flow.  Salaries could not be paid and the sponsored sailors left.
• Personal differences reached boiling point as often happens in times of financial stress and Barry and Artur pulled out.  Phil, having earlier bought out Rick Whidden (ending up with a majority share) now purchased Barry's share in the business as well.
• All this leaves the company and its products as it was but now fully in the hands of Phil.  I say "as it was" but this is not strictly true.  It now lacks sponsored sailors and is without a sail designer.  Shaky ground I would have thought but you have to admire the courage, dedication and tenacity of the man.  Impressive!

What has now transpired is that the three former Maui sails partners - Barry, Rick and Artur have come together to form a brand new windsurfing sail company called S2Maui which will have its sail range on the market next year.  I understand that they will be using an ultra-high tech material on these sails (stronger, lighter, more UV resistant)  Nice.

I always look forward to seeing something new in our sport so I hope that we see something innovative.  Light, fast, strong and clever - that's what we need!  

2015 AZORES FORMULA WINDSURFING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Hi

I probably do too little on formula windsurfing so here is some commentary on the above competition. The best formula guys in the world gathered in Praia de Vitoria, on Terceira Island in the Portugese Azores to battle it out in the final meeting for the world championship.

Gonzalo won followed by Janis Preiss and Sebastian Kornum from Denmark.

Gonzalo the man

  

Janis on awesome equipment

Steve Allen leading Arnon home

The slightly strange Elk Formula fin

Gonzalo and Janis both ride Elk fins.  Quite a co-incidence that I mentioned these blades in the previous post.  Looking at pictures of the event I notice that Gonzalo was on sails from Loft and GA. Seeing that he has recently joined Point 7 as a team member this is slightly puzzling but I think that they have not yet finalized their racing sails.  I suppose that Gonzalo will be having some input into the design and development of these foils.  

Janis rides GA,GA (Vapor3 board) and Elk fins.  Sebastian is on Pryde and Starboard (fins unknown). Basti Kordel was fifth on GA and Starboard while Ross Williams came in sixth on the same equipment as Janis.  A really good showing then, for GA sails, Starboard formula boards (168l) and Elk fins.  Basti was rocking the very high tech masts from Slake.  Nice!    
   

Ross pointing.  I note with relief that the big GA's are quite flat

That is all for now.  Talk to you soon

2015 Select Rhino and HiWind Fins - Some Commentary

Hi

I trust that you have had a look at the Select brochure from the link provided in the previous post. Right now the Select website does not contain the new brochure, preferring to provide a challenge for anyone interested in their new fins. (??).

Looking at the new Rhino alongside the HiWind - I have to say that the shape of these fins looks very similar.  Is the HiWind simply a G10 Rhino?  When Kevin Do suggested that the HiWind may actually be the new Rhino I dismissed the idea but he may have been closer than I gave him credit for. The tips are slightly different but all in all a pretty similar shape.  I'm sure that the bend/flex characteristics will differ though.







I have had a look at pricing on the new Rhino and note that it is being sold at between $350 and $400 depending on length.  This puts it alongside some pretty serious competitors and I have to wonder if it is going to sell.

For the same money you can buy an iFins Nano and will have had the opportunity of seeing Ben vd Steen blasting past the fastest slalom guys on the planet with one of those screwed to his Manta.  You will have seen Ross Williams destroying the formula racing fleet on his Elk fins.  You could have watched Steve Allen winning the Lancelin long distance race against the best on a Carpenter fin. Pieter Bijl has been devastating on his Vector fins of late.  My point is that all of the aforementioned fins have proven themselves to be capable of winning against the best slalom windsurfers around.  We have yet to see anyone winning anything on a Select Rhino but are being asked to fork out one large pile of cash to buy one.

This is not to say that there is anything wrong with the fin.  I predict that it is going to be something special but with no track record I have to think that the initial price could have been set a bit lower.

Talk to you soon    

New Select Rhino Fins Finally Break Cover

Hi

The new Rhino fins have finally broken cover.  I am struggling to copy the visuals across to this post but if you click on the link you should get through to the latest edition of their line-up.


Select Fins Catalogue - Most Recent

I will import the images as soon as I work out how to do it and will also get some details regarding pricing.  In the meantime - enjoy the data and visuals on this fin.  I will give some commentary in due course.

Good winds

Local Zulu Slalom Fins

Hi

A while ago I wrote about the new slalom fins being developed by Robbie Bense, one of the top local racers.  I have had a chance to ride two of these blades and would like to give you some feedback.

Robbie left a “soft” 40cm fin with Anthony and a “hard” 40cm fin with Andy for them to try.  They handed them straight over to me of course and I have been having a fair amount of fun riding them.

I put the soft blade into my Falcon 113l and the hard one into my Falcon 124l.  What differentiates these fins from slalom fins previously sailed, is their bend characteristics.  They are very stiff and resistant to twisting in the upper section but are quite bendy towards the tip

Two Beautiful Zulu Fins from Robbie.  Nice Work!

On the water the fin seems to lift the board over oncoming chop without ever getting into uncontrolled tail walking.  I can only attribute this effect to the flexible tip which seems to impart an organic feel to the ride – lifting the board at speed but cancelling excessive lift in the gusts.  It lives! (very  clever). 

I have finished testing the soft fin having sailed it completely overpowered for an entire afternoon.  Gareth was with me hanging onto a 6m sail and small free-race board/small fin.  I was on a 6.4m/ 113 with the 40cm soft fin and just flying.  No problems in conditions where I would usually change to the 3S with smaller sail and fin.  Upwind and downwind performance was simply excellent and no spin-outs.

 

The hard model is quite small for my big slalom board and in marginal conditions I feel under finned but as soon as the wind lifts, it flies.  Being that the fins are in different boards, it is difficult to compare them against each other fairly.  If pushed, I would say that the harder fin is a bit more business-like and immediate while the soft model may be a bit fuzzy but is supremely comfortable.  For most of us comfort = speed.  I would really like to try a soft 44cm fin in my big Falcon.

What I would say after testing these fins is to urge you to seek out a slalom fin with these characteristics (solid/unbending/no twisting in the upper part of the fin but with bendy tip). Ensure that the fin is from a designer who knows his stuff and ensure that it is in carbon. If the designer has managed to balance the various dynamic effects as successfully as Robbie has done, you are going to experience something special. The blade will create a new dimension which may get you onto the water on slalom stuff in far stronger conditions than you are accustomed to. Frighten your mates. Nice!

Good winds

Review of the 2015 Tabou 3S, 106

Hi

As promised, here is the review of the 2015, 3S (106).

You may recall that I included this board in my ideal quiver.  It is the smallest board recommended for the 90-100 kg blaster.  Being a non-slalom shape, it needs to be a chameleon (able to rock with a slalom fin or play on swells with three straps and swept back fin).

My objective with the test was to ensure that this latest 106 is able to fill these requirements.  This size has undergone some pretty significant upgrades over previous models.  It now has fairly complex tail cut-outs and  Fabien has moved the outboard strap positions further out.  On paper, what we now have, is a machine which should be able to rival Patrik’s biggest FreeStyleWave design accross a range of conditions.

I took the board out with my Cross 6.4m sail and a 34cm slalom fin (elliptical for rough water).  I was pretty much overpowered for the entire session so – perfect conditions.  The water was rough and the wind blew hard – Nice!

The 2014 3S models all have one thing in common.  They are kind to the rider.  They are also compliant and will do anything you demand of them.  My impression with my 2014 116, is that the board treats me with care.  The 2015 model – not so much.   Sheet in, blast off and stuff happens!  The board is far edgier and performance orientated than the previous model.  I’m sure that I could tame it with a smaller, swept back fin but with this biggish slalom fin, the board rocks at speed.  It is still easy over the chop but slightly more concentration is called for.  The properly situated footstrap positions are perfect for control over the fin at speed and the board goes as fast as most of us would dare to go.  

I eventually became totally overpowered and had to come in.  This very rarely happens on the 2014 116 so the new shape is less of a plaything and more of a missile (unguided when the wind really gets up).  My feeling is that the board will be happiest with a Select Edge 33 for normal sailing and an Edge 29 or 31 (I would need to compare back-to back) for strong wind/ small sail conditions.  What I would do to complete that package is to add a 33 cm Select S1 Hi-Wind fin for faster blasting across smaller chop.  We have yet to see the new G10 fins from Select but they look really cool and are very likely to be awesome for controlled speed.

So the question is – does this board meet the requirements for a small, high performance machine when teamed with fast, soft sail and fast fin but also able to play in small waves and swell?  You bet!  It joins the Turbo and Reflex sails on the list of the top equipment tested this season.  Congratulations Fabien – a platinum grade product though perhaps not for the faint hearted. 

Good winds