Some 2015 Kit

Hi

I note from the sites that Severne, North, Fanatic and Tabou all have 2015 kit starting to make an appearance.  As per usual the wave stuff is brought out first and the offerings from Severne, North and Fanatic all look fantastic.

North provides a look forward at the entire sail range, even though they do not yet give details and visuals of the slalom stuff.  They have reduced their model range quite substantially and I think that this is a good thing.  I mentioned the new S-Type Slalom in previous posts and I would really like to try one out.  I am a bit skeptical of this sail following Martin Cross's comments regarding the 2014 S-Type.  I hope they have made the new model friendly and fast.

Tabou's 2015 Manta (not on the site yet) is peeping out as well:

They have replaced their very detailed paint job for something much simpler.  I like the 2014 livery a lot but I must say I also like this design - mat sea-green, some carbon showing through and a few discreet flashes of bright color.  Nice!


Ross has the following to say about the new boards.

Tabou are also showing their new Rocket Wide.  I assume that this means they will be dropping the Thunder from their new range.
If this is true I will be disappointed.  I think that the Thunder was a design with a lot of promise. Lengthen it slightly to facilitate easier planing off the beach, insert Tuttle fin boxes and you have a range that could challenge comparable slalom boards any day of the week.  I don't think that the Rocket Wide is going to offer anything like this performance potential.  I may be wrong of course.

That is all for now
Talk to you soon



  
 

Some Equipment of Interest and a New PWA Venue

Hi

Sorry about the long break - the lack of sailing for me, means that windsurfing is not uppermost in my mind so I tend to neglect the blog a bit.

Anyway, the next leg of PWA slalom circuit is underway.  This is in Awaza, Turkmenistan (??)
As is so often the case - bring a large number of windsurfers into one venue and the wind is very likely to disappear.  No wind for day one.  I understand that the forecast predicts better wind in the days to come.      47 men are participating and all the main guys are present.

Some equipment occupying my thoughts recently -

• Severne's Turbo sail.  Joos has ordered a 7.5 and a 6.5 for the coming season.  I am looking forward to seeing them on the water and if I'm lucky, will get to ride them and report back. Based on the pictures, specs and test results, the Turbo seems to be an NCX with added low end power, better control and better speed.  Nice!

• GA's Phantom 2014.  Regular readers will recall my impressions of the 8.5 Phantom of Julian Field and the speed and control he is able to extract from this (quite big) sail.  I hope we get to try one or two of these sails with the new GA 100% masts.

• North seems to be upping its game big time.  The 2015 S-Type Slalom Sail, as unveiled at Defi, promises to be something really special.  In addition to this, North's mast maker reports a new Aero mast which is lighter than the current model but just as strong.  This company is also producing a new boom line (to be called the Aero Boom) which is reportedly lighter and stronger than anything else on the market.  I like where this is going!  No pictures of the new booms and masts I'm afraid.  I think that they are going to unveil them in October.

That is all for now.  I will give some commentary on the racing if they have wind

Best Upwind Slalom Board (??)

Hi

Just a quick post.

Juan from Spain e-mailed me with a question that I have absolutely no idea how to answer.  He recons that modern slalom boards are now so specialized for downwind sailing that this has compromised their upwind ability.

Juan asked me to recommend a slalom board with good upwind performance.  I have to say I am unable to answer this question.  I know that pure slalom fins are fantastic downwind tools but struggle upwind.  This makes them not so suitable for most of us.  We don't engage in official slalom racing and most of our blasting comprises a long, tight upwind leg followed by a flat-out downwind blast. Most of us then, require a fin which will power us upwind at speed and not lose composure on the downwind run.

I had never considered that modern, pure slalom boards may also have developed a weakness where upwind blasting is concerned.  This may be absolutely true but I don't have the knowledge or understanding of board shaping to be able to comment.

What I recommended to Juan was that he consider a slightly bigger slalom board than the models he was considering.  He was thinking about a 107 iSonic/105 X-Fire/Falcon 110 etc - all around 70cm wide.
My experience of the 2014 Mantas suggests to me that the boards have become a lot easier to ride in overpowered conditions.  This means that a bigger 2014 slalom board will be as easy to sail as your old smaller model.  A bigger board will allow you to use a longer fin and this will be better upwind (assuming you have the right fin of course).  You can always screw a smaller fin into this slightly bigger board for overpowered sailing.

My recommendation to Juan then, was to look at the iSonic 110 instead of the 107.  I also pointed out that Fanatic's 120l Falcon is 74cm wide - a worthy contender.  As a wild card I included AHD's SL-2 122l.  The AHD is probably not as highly specialized as the others and so may be a little better upwind. Who knows?


To change the subject I thought I would include this picture of Antoine gybing.  Note how far he bends his legs.  This is something which very few of us do correctly.  I always think that I am bending my legs properly but if there are photos of the session, I notice that they were almost straight in the gybe. Well, here is the main guy getting right down.  Low center of gravity = great stability.  Thanks for the master-class champ!

  

Some Results and Reader Feedback

Hi

Sorry for the long break.  I have been involved in a project and have not felt like posting.

The Defi and the initial stage of the PWA racing are both behind us.
Andrea Cucchi won the Defi after 6 races.

I note that Denis Standhardt came in 4th.  I had to smile - Denis sails here every year in December and I have to say that he is a combination immovable object and irresistible force.  When I am out holding onto my 6.4m for dear life, Denis is screaming up and down on his Vapor 7.9.

I watched him almost sail over the toes of two kiters once, at top speed.  He was totally unfazed whereas the kiters came directly into the beach, packed up and departed.  Good man Denis!

Denis blasts past the first kiter

The second kiter's near death experience

Denis calmly cranks out his gybe and continues on his way.  Awesome!

The PWA, Costa Brava leg yielded a few interesting results.  Antoine won the event with Cyril second and Pierre Mortefon third.  Stellar performances all round.  Of interest to me is the fact that in the first eleven places, three are GA/Tabou riders.  No other sail maker and no other board maker has three places in the top eleven.  Ben came fourth, Cedric came in seventh and Ross was number eleven.

Cedric Bordes is perhaps my biggest surprise.  He usually sits way down in the rankings but I kept on seeing him featuring in the heats.  Initially, I thought that he just got lucky but as the heats and elimination rounds progressed, he was always there.  GA/Tabou have definitely made a breakthrough this year!  The kit works!

Kevin Do has been trying his new VMax fins and recons that he gets faster times downwind with the VMax2 than with the series 1.  He agrees with us here that the series 1 is slightly better upwind than the 2, but for downwind, the 2 is slippier, more controllable and generally faster.  He is also getting great speeds from his Vector Volt Carbon and will be spending more time evaluating this blade in the coming weeks. Interesting stuff.

Kevin reports that one of his VMaxes failed on him (it just started twisting easily in the hand) but that Select replaced it - no problem.  Nice one Select!

OK that's all for now
Talk to you soon (ish?)    

Defi Wind 2014

Hi
Just a short post about Defi Wind in Gruisan.  I posted about this race last year - a drag race 20km in one direction, round a bouy and 20km back to the start.  One thousand racers participate and it must be one fantastic experience for those lucky enough to participate.  They had the first race yesterday and it was won by Nicholas Warembourg.  Nicholas is the guy behind those fancy fins I told you about a while ago.
The same guys seem to fill the top ten positions every year.  Clearly they know how to do this thing (as well as being peerless sailors of course)

The always slightly kamikaze start to this race.  

Windsurfing manufacturers often take the opportunity to showcase upcoming models at this event.  A good plan - where else can you get 1000 eager participants (and their followers) in your sport in one place.  Only at Defi Wind!


This is the upcoming Naish Noa - a camless race sail in sizes 5.8, 6.4, 7.0 and 7.8

North have done a really intelligent thing in my opinion with the development of their new S-type SL sail.  This is a combination of (and replacement for) their current Ram and S Type models.  They seem to have combined the best of both models creating a soft, fast sail with one removable cam for added ease. Right up my street!  Sizes will be 6.0, 6.6, 7.3, 7.8, 8.3, 8.8.

 

Sorry about the poor picture but this is all I can find right now.

OK that's all for now.  Talk to you soon

PWA - First Race of the Season

Hi
The racing on the Costa Brava has finally begun and they have managed two days of good racing.  It has only been possible to start around 15:00 hours each day but they get through the heats pretty smartly.  Here are the guys who made it through to the final heat and their positions:

1. Menegatti             (Point 7/Starboard) 
2. Moussilmani C     (Severne/Starboard)
3. Buzianis              (Maui/JP)
4. Frans                  (Maui/Starboard)
5. Albeau                (Pryde/RRD)
6. Quentel               (Pryde/RRD)
7. Vonk                  (Point 7/Starboard)
8. Moussilmani S     (Simmer/Starboard)

Alberto shows that he is deadly serious about building on his success of last season.

Note how much downhaul he has on the Point 7.  Nice!


Cyril and Micah show that they still have what it takes and that their equipment is working.

The Severne/Starboard combo working beautifully for Cyril.  I think that is Ben in second place.

Is it just me or is Micah looking particularly lumberjack-like these days (?)



Taty Frans is a huge threat as I mentioned last season.  The freestyle guys have such outrageous skill that if one of the top guys decides to get serious about racing - watch out!

Taty has rigged his sail like a typical freestyler - not much downhaul resulting in a sail with instant and constant power which he has the skill to handle and manipulate.  Compare this set with Micah above.  Micah has a much bigger sail but pulled right down.


Jordy Vonk is a Dutch sailor and the youngest competitor at 20 years of age.  He is hanging with the best so will definitely become a force to be reckoned with. Watch this space!

Jordy rocking his Starboard/Point7 combo





Disappointments for me include Basti Kordel going over early in heat 10 disqualifying himself for the rest of the elimination round.  He had been doing fantastically well against some real heavyweights but ended up on the beach.  Ross Williams went over early on a heat but managed to avoid disqualification by tacking back round the start bouy. The problem was that by the time he got going, the race had started and the others were already at the first bouy.  Both Gonzalo and Arnon jumped the gun in heat 9 and were disqualified.  Peter Volwater only came fifth in heat 7 so was unable to advance.
I am always disappointed when seasoned racers mess their start up and are disqualified.  There is really no excuse since this aspect of the sport is every bit as important as being able to sail fast. Neither Antoine nor Alberto are ever caught like this because they have made sure that they train for and get it right.  That is how they maintain consistency and keep out front!  It is such a waste for a sailor to get himself disqualified early on and shows a lack of professionalism.  I can forgive Basti but not the likes of Arnon and Gonzalo (old,old soldiers!).

Basti Kordel is a guy I am watching with interest.  He has a great record under his belt and is one fine sailor despite being only 23 years of age.  He has always sailed Lorch boards but this season, fell out with them.  I notice that he is on Starboards for this regatta but says that he will be evaluating a few brands through the season.  I am hoping that he joins Tabou since his sail sponsor is GA but we'll see.

Talk to you soon

Some Racing and Industry news

Hi
You will probably have noticed from the Tabou and Gaastra sites that Ross Williams won the 2014 Formula Windsurfing Championship in the Azores.  His equipment is clearly working properly - the new Vapor formula board, his Elk fins and the new GA Vapor sails and masts.  Nice one Ross and impressive work Peter and Fabien.  I read that the conditions were really tough with vicious gusts interspersed with lulls.  Unpleasant but Ross just squirted along with each gust and powered through the lulls, taking everyone else to school.

IFCA also ran their 2014 slalom championship in the Azores.  Ben van der Steen won easily on his Manta 116/GA Vapor 8.6 and iFins Streetracer 40cm fin.  If you go to Continentseven they have a video of the final race.  This performance has to dispel any doubts about the potential of the new GA Vapors and Tabou Mantas.  I have a slight reservation because Antoine, Bjorn, Peter Volwater, Micah, Finian etc did not compete but there were plenty of other hot racers.  Only Matteo Iachino (Fanatic and North) managed to hang with Ben for a while but by the last leg was way back.  Everyone else was simply not in the race!  I await the first PWA slalom races with real interest.  The performances of Ross and Ben have me excited about the new GA/Tabou lines.  The new softer top GA race masts (I have been crying for this for years!) have resulted in beautifully manageable sails.  Add the fantastic new Manta shapes into the mix and you have a potential for something very special.

Eric Kamminga e-mailed me about Chris Lockwood's new fin line.  The first models are all G10 at this stage but he says that carbon fins will follow.  Here is the link to the site for Tribal Windsurfing - Chris's company  http://www.tribalwindsurfing.com/   I note that the slalom shapes appearing on the site are his Series One fins.  I like his Series Two fins with their shark fin plan form.  Very cool and highly rated by the guys who sail them.  Chris, as you are probably aware, is one hot designer and is also one of the fastest guys on the water so I have huge respect for his designs.

Hopefully these blades find their way into the Tribal range soon

Talk to you soon