Basic windsurfing safety tips.

Windsurfing is not as hard as it may seem. All you need to do is get the basics right and follow some safety steps. After you are done shopping for your windsurfing equipments and the Must-Have accessories, it's time to glance at the safety tips.

'Better safe than sorry' applies almost everywhere, windsurfing included. The basic safety measures prior to windsurfing, is all it takes to ensure your adventure to be fun-filled and worth remembering.



Safety Tips Before Windsurfing:
Checking the equipment: Conduct a thorough check of your surfboard and sail for any damages, cracks, tear etc. that might pose to be a danger while sailing. If there is any problem with the equipment, get it fixed as soon as possible.
Local knowledge: Survey the area where you want to windsurf. Do some research by exploring around or talking to windsurfers, who have been surfing for a while in that area. Also, you should know:

The water conditions like tides, currents etc. and water temperature
A nearby windsurf repair shop
Whom to contact in case of an emergency.
Sail with a friend: If you are a beginner, it is best to sail with someone and not risk sailing alone. Sailing in numbers will not only help during an emergency situation, but you can also observe others performing a trick or two. Also let someone know your whereabouts and the approximate time of return.

Rules and regulations: Do check the rules of the area and follow it to stay out of trouble. Never try to flout the rules. They are for your own safety as well as that of others.

Dehydration: Drink plenty of water before you start windsurfing. Know the fact that dehydration rate is higher while near seas or oceans. Consume an ample amount of water to keep you well hydrated, and to prevent nausea.



Safety Tips During Windsurfing:
Sail slow: To avoid colliding with other sailors, sail slowly near the shores. Do not rush as it may cause an injury to you as well as others.
Help signals: In worst cases when you need help in deep waters, you must know the accepted and the most common distress signal. Waving both your hands outstretched above your head is by far the best way to send an SOS. Also remember that your windsurfing board provides you with the maximum buoyancy. So stay on it in case you take a tumble.

Hypothermia: Leave the waters as soon as you discover the first symptoms of hypothermia. Shivering, numbing and muscles unable to respond are the few signs which signal the onset of that hypothermia.

An alert mind: While sailing always keep an eye open for any kind of danger. Stay calm but react quickly. Keeping these windsurfing safety tips handy, I am sure you are going to set sailing safely. Remember, safety has no option or exception.

Source: http://www.basicwindsurfing.com/windsurfing-safety-tips.html

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog: Rich Simons Lands a Vulcan

The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog: Rich Simons Lands a Vulcan: "Rich Simons Lands a Vulcan

6a00d8341c890753ef0133f4e859d3970b-500wi He's done it. Chachi posted in the Long Island Windsurfing Group that Rich scored his first vulcan at Heckscher recently, which 'took me almost 3 years and well over a thousand attempts.' Rich was looking good and close last fall at the ABK freestyle clinic (photo by ABK instructor Brendon, above) so it should come as no surprise. I'll be he hits his next one before ABK arrives in late May. Congratulations, Rich!"

New Speed Fin Releases

Today I heard about 3 speed fins going into production. This got to be a new achievement, a milestone for speedsurfing. Again prove speedsurfing is alive and back.

The Sonntag Fins GPS_4 is the speedfin with conventional outline, the main thing we tested for was a good performance and safety/grip. The GPS_4 can be tweaked both in rake and lay-up from a flat water water powerhouse up to a chaotic off-/onshore grippy and safe fin. The Sonntag Fins GPS_5 is a new widebase design, made to make windsurfing possible in extreme shallow flat water. The GPS_5 has a wide range of working angle of attack, in other words its not needed to be the best most fit windsurfer in the world to handle this widebase. Read More about Sonntag Fins

The 3th new speedfin release is a complet new concept. From Black Project Fins. The Type X. Widebase AND asymmetrical, this is new.
But there is more, you don't order a type X in lenght! No you can order for the speed you aim for. A fin for 40kn, 45kn or 50kn. Both for starboard and port tack. Read More about the Black Project Type X

View the original article here

Guy Cribb opposes Poole harbour marina

Guy Cribb, the British windsurfing champion, is fighting against the construction of a proposed harbour marina, in Hamworthy Park, Poole, UK.

The 950 berth marina will affect the environment and finish all windsurfing and kitesurfing activities nearby. Cribb believes the project is "preposterous".

"It will totally stop all windsurfing and kitesurfing from Hamworthy Park and Poole Yacht Club, the very place that I honed my skills to ultimately represent the British Team in countless world and European championships, firstly as a racer then as the national coach", he told This is Dorset.

Guy Cribb is 14-time British national windsurfing champion and 5-time world champion. The waterman sailed dinghies in the harbour as a child and started competing from Poole Yacht Club in 1984. Cribb is now supporting an online petition to halt the harbour marina plans.

"An assertion that windsurfers would be able to sail in the ‘lagoon area’ created by the breakwater was clearly made by a non-windsurfer. I am currently the world’s leading windsurfing coach and multi-times UK champion. I am rather better placed to make any judgement on what is good for windsurfing in the area", says Cribb.

The online petition is available, here. Stop this £25 million offshore harbour.

View the original article here

Belgium lives the need for speed

When the weather is rainy and windy, only the true sports enthusiasts are out in the water. The Fanatic Belgian Speed Week 2011 has kicked off and nobody cares about the harsh weather. There's a need for speed in this European country.

Fifty one windsurfers are racing for the fastest times. In the first race, the wind strength was good, but the direction was not right and there was a swell of two-meter waves. The race officer decided that it was impossible to guarantee the safety of the riders, so he cancelled the race for that day.

Tuesday, the wind was not very strong, only around 14 knots, so the wind riders planned a slalom race. Fourteen windsurfers were ready to join the fun race, but when the course was all set up the wind dropped to eight knots and it had to be cancelled.

On Wednesday, the wind wasn’t that strong and the course was opened. If the speed was high enough it would be official. The wind gods were with Fanatic Belgian Speed Week 2011 and riders had a counting round.

David Garrel is leading the races, followed by Thorsten Mallon, Wilfried Vanherweghe, Patrick Van Hoof and Alain Degendt. In the Women's division, Nicky Van Hoof is in first place, followed by Birgit Höfer and Imke De Bruyn.

The Fanatic Belgian Speed Week 2011 will be concluded in the Easter weekend.

View the original article here

Finn Mullen windsurfs "Jaws" after injury

Finn Mullen, the Irish windsurfing champion, is stoked. After claiming several titles, the crazy windsurfer has taken an infamous wave called "Jaws". Yes, that one.

"Jaws" is known for being extremely difficult for windsurfers. The wave is fast, powerful and deep, making bottom turns very hard for wind riders with a sail.

Finn Mullen is not worried, even after suffering an injury in the last Belmullet Wavesailing final. So, there's not much time to full recovery. It's time to pack the board, mast and sail and hit one of the gnarliest waves in the world.

Finn Mullen has already conquered the Irish Wave Windsurfing titles. In the last months, Mullen has windsurfed giants waves off the coast of Ireland. Whether it's sunny or cloudy, the Irish wave emperor is always ready for the big challenges.

Despite his low-profile, Mullen is one of the best wave windsurfers in the world. Nobody knows Northern Ireland's windsurf spots better than Finn Mullen.

View the original article here

Curacao crowns IFCA Slalom world champions

Jean Patrick van der Wolde and Delano Moreno are the first windsurfers in the history of Curacao to conquer the IFCA Slalom World Championships.

Despite the lack of consistent winds, the windsurfers managed to sail one elimination round, so the official world champions could be crowned. van der Wolde and Moreno took the Under 17 and Under 13 divisions.

"I am very proud. I don’t feel special but I did win", says Jean Patrick. "The means a step up. Now I have to prepare for the Youth class next year, which is much harder."

The Surf Town was perfect and thousands of spectators followed the event during the five days. The final heat of the Masters could not be sailed on the final day, so this meant that by official IFCA rules there are six world champions in the class.

The wind conditions were far from great, which is unusual on Curacao this time of year, but the the goal is to promote local windsurfing and to put the spotlight on Curacao as a perfect choice for future international windsurfing events.

"Event-wise it was fantastic: great organization, great food, great people but very unlucky with the wind", says Bruno de Wannemaeker, president of the IFCA.

Final Results of the 2011 Curacao Challenge:

Masters
1. Sergio Mehl (Argentina)
1. Monique Meijer (Bonaire)
1. Constantino Saragoza (Bonaire)
1. Joris Bosman (the Netherlands)
1. Nikaj Droop (the Netherlands)
1. Diego Domenianni (USA)

Youth – U20
1. Gutek Kurczewski (Poland)
2. Jocelyn de Souza (France)
3. Jordy Vonk (the Netherlands)

Junior – U17 (+U15)
1. Jean Patrick van der Wolde (Curacao)
2. Justin Denel (France)
3. Amado Vrieswijk (Bonaire)

Junior – U13
1. Delano Moreno (Curacao)
2. Alex Halank (Australia)
3. Jean Paul da Silva de Goes (Curacao)

Sports Class
1. Ben van der Steen (the Netherlands)
2. Behrend Veenhuizen (Curacao)
3. Remo Osnabrugge (Curacao)

View the original article here

Young Danish windsurfers train in Hvide Sande

The 40 places available for the Danish Young Gun Camp Summer Edition, held between 26th June and 2nd July, sold out in one week confirming the success and potential of young windsurfers. As a result of the huge interest, Neil Pryde will organizing an extra edition, in the following week.

This is the first year of the Young Gun Camp Summer Edition. The basic concept is the same as the famous JP Young Gun Classic, in Klitmøller, however at the Summer Edition there will be four NeilPryde/JP team riders connected as full time instructors and parents are not allowed at this camp.

The Summer Edition Camp takes place in Hvide Sande, in a unique location, with the North Sea on one side and a protected Fjord on the other side. This means the 40 young people, aged 12-18, can basically get all conditions for windsurfing and SUP within walking distance. Also, unlike the Klitmøller Camp, the young people and their instructors will sleep in tents on the beach.

"Many participants from the annual JP Young Gun Classic in Klitmøller (October) have asked us to organize a summer edition in a warmer period. So we knew about the demand, but I must say that I did not expect the summer camp to be sold out already within a week", says co-organizer Torben Kornum.

"It is my guess that from 2012 we can run 4-5 weeks of camps in the school holidays and still not cover the need for such events."

View the original article here

Windsurfing Maui Race Series 2011

It’s still wave season here on Maui so much of the focus on windsurfing on Maui lately has of course been on wave sailing. But, that’s not to say the slalom and racers aren’t busy. The 2011 Maui Race Series dates were recently finalized.

June 4 – Starboard SlalomJune 18 – DaKine ClassicJuly 2 – Maui Fin Company OpenJuly 16 – Quiksilver CupJuly 30 – Neil Pryde Hawaii State Championships

There’s a lot of pro windsurfing racers on Maui right now tuning up for the PWA tour. Even in the high winds we’ve been getting, these guys are out training hard. Check out Finian Maynard and Peter Volwater blasting around a couple of days ago at Kanaha in 30 knot winds.

View the original article here

Windsurfing Maui April Update

Things have calmed down on Maui the last several days – both wind and waves, at least on the north shore. The week started out on Sunday with both wind and surf. Kind of brutal but fun at Uppers on Sunday. Super maxed out on 5.0 outside the break. Barely any wind at all inside the break due to easterly wind component. Pretty gnarly outside but some fun logo high wind swell from the NE breaking, making for some fun rides.

Sailed Sprecks on Tuesday. Just about the whole Neil Pryde team was there doing photo shoots. Pretty gnarly early on with blasting, gusty east winds, but when the clouds cleared later in the day the conditions mellowed a bit. Very well powered on 4.5.

Back to Kanaha on Wednesday for a nice fun session despite being slightly underpowered on 4.5 – good in the gusts but the holes made it a bit of work to get and stay up wind in the head high surf. Lots of photo shoot action at Kanaha with Peter Biel and Antoine Albeau out blasting around on big 2012 Neil Pryde race sails for the helicopter and team North/Fanatic also in the break at Uppers with their own chopper.

Russ Faurot posted a nice little update with some nice photos of the action up the coast at Kuau and Hookipa the last few days. Check it out.

Neil Pryde continues to post their Neil Pryde photoshoot video series. If you’re hoping to catch a peak at the 2012 Neil Pryde sails there though, you’re going to be disappointed. You’ll have to find that elsewhere.

Epic Sessions continues to test and gear up for the Oxbow Ride the Sky event. Check out this update from Casey Hauser and Jake Miller.

We probably won’t see conditions suitable for the event for a few days. Looks like the best hope for return of wind and waves is Tuesday at the earliest.

View the original article here

March Maui Windsurfing

March trade wind insanity continued on Maui this last week. Trade winds have been making up for their anemic levels in February by blasting strong every day for the past three weeks. I thought we’d catch a break today with some lighter winds, but turned out to be just another day of insane wind – absolutely, ridiculously overpowered on 4.5.

During all this today, the Starboard and/or Severn team was at Kanaha for their photo shoot – helicopter and all. Get a sneak peak at some new Severne 2012 sails.

Waves for the past week have been wind swell generated surf. Some of it has actually been at a pretty decent angle for Uppers, and pretty fun.

Went up to Hookipa today after my short session, but it was looking pretty crappy – gray skies, light offshore wind on, pretty meager waves and not many people out. So, I didn’t get any photos or video of the action at Hookipa but there’s been a lot of photos of that action from the last few days:

Globalshot Pictures Facebook Album – March 25

Maui Water Shoot’s photos from March 25

And of course, Jimmie Hepp is the man to satisfy all your Hookipa photo needs:

March 25

March 24

March 23

Other Maui windsurfing related news:

Quatro is releasing its new 2012 quad lineup.

Levi Siver is set to launch his new website soon.

View the original article here

Bantry Bay opens the 2011 Irish Windsurfing Slalom Series

Fourty three windsurfers have kicked off the 2011 Irish Windsurfing Slalom Series in great style, at Bantry Bay, County Cork. Sailors traveled from Ireland, Scotland and all over UK, despite the difficult weather conditions.

The Gold and Silver fleets were ready to compete. Cormac Daly was one of the first on the water showing his ability to get planing early in light winds on his new racing kit. Another sailor with new sails in the Silver fleet and looking for success this year was Paul Green.

One of the standouts for the weekend and new ISS competitor was Fian McCabe. Fian was one of the youngest competitors attending Bantry, but showed some great technique and ability to get going fast. He’ll be one to watch because when he wasn’t on the water, which was rare, he was soaking up tips from some of the best sailors in the series.

Paul Rayner is also back at the ISS events. Unfortunately the wind did not deliver for official racing. A number of starts were called by OD Greg Day, but the 12 knot wind minimum was not consistent enough.

This was incredibly frustrating for both Gold and Silver fleet as the wind direction and speed needs to be perfect for Slalom racing to take place. Nobody was more disappointed than Greg Day, who again volunteered his help for the duration of the weekend.

Just before Saturday lunch, the wind did pick up and two fun races were quickly organised which saw the entire fleet of 43 sailors planing towards the gybe mark. It was a fantastic spectacle for spectators and the local people of Bantry to see all these windsurfers planing across Bantry Bay.

Barry ‘the Bat’ Whitelaw was in good form and ‘allegedly’ crossed the line in first place The stewards enquiry is still ongoing! Neil Sandes was as usual looking as overpowered as possible going into the gybe mark.

With zero wind on Sunday, a lot was learned from ISS Champion Pearse Geaney who hosted a rigging demonstration. New manoeuvres were also put into practice. The ISS is claiming a new technical start line manoeuvre dangerously titled ‘the Maurice Manoeuvre’.

View the original article here

April Ho’okipa Beach Clean Up

Surfrider Foundation, Flatbread and Positive H2O present The Hookipa Flatbread Beach Clean Up April 17 from 8am to 11am at Hookipa Beach Park.

Meet windsurfing icons and +H20 Founders Levi Siver, Keith Teboul, Jake Miller and Pascal Bronnimann as we work together to clean up one of the most celebrated surf spots in the world!

Surfrider Foundation and +H20 April Monthly Beach Clean Up: “Flatbread Ho`okipa Beach Clean Up”, Sunday April 17th, 8-11 am

Celebrity watermen will be on site for interviews with press.

Every third Sunday of the month from 8-11 am, Surfrider Foundation Maui Chapter in partnership with +H2O present a beach clean-up on Maui. Lunch is provided to all volunteers by a restaurant sponsor. 2011 Beach Clean Up Shirts will be free to the first 100 people to attend a 2011 clean up. Community Work Day provides all supplies.

“Flatbread Ho`okipa” Beach Clean-Up

Sunday, April 17th

8-11 am

Meet at SRF booth at Ho`okipa at 8 am

Bring: re-usuable water bottle, sun protection, (garden) gloves

For More Information:

Visit: www.Surfrider.org/maui or http://www.surfrider.org/maui

Email: maui@surfrider.org Call: 808-283-2470

Follow us at: www.Facebook.com/Surfridermaui and www.facebook.com/positiveH2O

View the original article here

Windsurfing Maui – Good Start for April

Windsurfing in April picked up where March left off with good trade winds and some decent waves. Winds were supposed to lighten up to super light southeasterlies this week but that hasn’t happened yet.

There’s all kinds of photo and video coverage of windsurfing on Maui right now since it’s photo shoot season. Neil Pryde is running their social media photo shoot series, though they seem to be doing their best to avoid showing you the actual 2012 Neil Pryde sails.

Neil Pryde photo shoot Day 1

Neil Pryde photo shoot Day 2

Follow the action on Neil Pryde’s Facebook page.

Harry Weiwel takes you on a magic carpet ride to catch some of the action on Tuesday at Hookipa and manages to captures some of those elusive Neil Pryde sails too, frustrating the efforts of the Neil Pryde photo shoot team to control what the windsurfing public sees of their sails.  ;-)

View the original article here

Behind the Scenes

Today’s menu, some behind the scenes look into some aspects of the windsurfing industry, including some insights from sail designers Maui Sails’ Barry Spanier and Neil Pryde’s Robert Stroj & Jamie Mclellan as well as some personal perspective from Maui rippers Kai Lenny and Bernd Roediger.

But before we get to that, I heard news at Kanaha today that Severne/Starboard rider  Boujmaa Guilloul may have had a bad accident at Hookipa today. Word is that one of his trademark big air moves went bad,  he got separated from his gear and it hit him in the head, knocking him unconscious. Luckily someone was nearby to pull him up from underwater and resuscitate him. That’s a third or fourth hand report and unsubstantiated, but best wishes to Boujmaa for a quick recovery if it’s even partially true. When I learn more about this, I’ll post it here. I’m guessing that regular Hookipa bluff dwellers GP or Jimmie Hepp will have something more on this later.
UPDATE: Starboard posted some info on their Facebook page about this. Sounds like without the help of Klaas Voget and the lifeguards, it could have been a lot worse.
UPDATE 2: More info at Continent Seven and you can wish Boujmaa well at the Boujmaa “triple loop” accident support page. Check out Jimmie Hepp’s photos of the action at Hookipa yesterday.
UPDATE 3: GP just posted a bunch of photos of Boujmaa’s jump and rescue.

Now on to the behind the scenes. As part of its “Neil Pryde Photoshoot 2012, Neil Pryde’s sail designers Robert Stroj and Jamie Mclellan sat down to talk a bit about sail design.

I always find it interesting how sail designers and board shapers talk about incorporating feedback from the pro team riders, like Robert talks about incorporating feedback from Jason Polakow and Kauli Seadi. That’s all well and good, but why don’t they ever talk about getting and incorporating feedback from the 99% of people that use their gear – the general consumer? Is feedback from the people who actually purchase the product irrelevant? What if I want more low end power and a softer feel in brand X’s pure down the line sail? What if 90% of the users do too. Is that irrelevant because Johnny pro doesn’t need that extra power cuz he’s got mad early planing skills? Just sayin’… Anyway, I think I’ve digressed somewhat.

If you didn’t know that it’s the annual photo shoot season here on Maui you’ve been living in the proverbial cave. There’s been a bit of drama lately about how photos and video of 2012 windsurfing gear showing up on blogs like this and GP’s as well as Jimmie Hepp’s Facebook page and other internet and social media venues is bad for the windsurfing brands. My big rant about it generated a few comments, but mostly just from windsurfing consumers and a few retailers.  But, I just stumbled upon a kind of response from Maui Sails’ Barry Spanier about the issue:

It’s an interesting story Barry has, but the critical thinker in me has to wonder how applicable it is to the current situation where we’re talking about minor improvements in sails from one year to the next rather than huge advancements in sail design like those happening in the 80s. And, for what it’s worth (FWIW1), GP, Jimmie Hepp, Ben Jones, myself and others aren’t “the media.” We’re just ordinary windsurfing consumers who now have an voice thanks to the internet and social media. And FWIW2, when I’m at Kanaha I often see competing sail designers rigging up new prototypes in full view of their competitors. Neil Pryde’s  guys and Maui Sails’ guys and North Sails’ guys are all their in broad daylight, of their own volition rigging up and testing new prototypes right in front of their competitors. How does that play into the equation? And FWIW3, you may not have to go to Timbuktu. For development there are a lot of other places on Maui to go and I know for a fact that Maui Sails and several others do go to other venues to test in secret. But Hookipa is THE most photographed windsurfing venue on the planet. It’s absurd to expect privacy at such a venue.

Nevertheless, it’s good to hear back from someone from inside the industry and I’d love it if other industry folk came forward and weighed in on the issue. I do still feel though that the internet and social media have changed the game completely for everyone and that those who figure out how to adapt to it and deal with it are going to succeed, while those who bury their heads in the sand, wishing all this internet and social media stuff would just go away, are doomed the fate that natural selection brings to all those who fail to adapt to changes in their environment. And, isn’t it ironic. Windsurfing is the perfect example of having to adapt to changing conditions. Wind dropped and your 4.5 isn’t enough now? What do you do? Do something different. Let out downhaul or outhaul, rig a bigger sail, get a bigger board… Get the picture? Stepping down off of my soap box now…

I’m probably coming across as trying to pick on the windsurfing industry and possible Maui Sails in particular. But that’s not the case. I just feel strongly that social media and the internet is a complete game-changer. For some further reading check out: Social Networks Will Change Product Innovation and 4 Ways that Social Media is Changing Business. Windsurfing companies need to fundamentally rethink their business models. Perhaps some time spent on reevaluating your business plan vs product development might be in order. And that’s directed at all windsurfing businesses, not any one in particular.

Time to turn our attention to something that hopefully won’t inspire me to wander off on another tangent or get on another soap box. Some cool insights from a couple of Maui pros. First Kai Lenny dons a helmet cam and takes you for a spin around his backyard at Sugar Cove.

Next, Kai’s fellow Naish rider, Bernd Roediger provides the inside scoop about how Hookipa can be such an expensive place to sail.

Uppers Kanaha today

And finally the sailing report. After a couple days of somewhat light winds, the trades kicked back in full force today. Winds were a bit offshore at Kanaha, but blasting outside the break. Conditions were a bit brutal for my 5.0 but there was some fun NE wind swell-generated surf to play in making for a brutally fun session.

Looks like more trade winds tomorrow and Tuesday and then the forecasters are saying the wind will turn to light southeasterlies again. But, they’ve been known to be wrong before…

View the original article here

Maui Son: Graham Ezzy Portrait

The April 2011 issue of Windsurfer International magazine is out and features a nice article and video of Maui’s own, Graham Ezzy. Check it out and make sure to catch the sweet video by Umi Pictures at the end.

View the original article here

Windsurfing Maui – March 2011

After a slow February and a slow first few days, Maui has gone off in March. We’ve had 30 knots of wind just about every day, some big wave events, including more Jaws days, and of course a tsunami to spice things up even more. Most people wouldn’t admit to needing a break, but there’s a lot of tired and sore windsurfers on Maui right now. And a lot of smiles too. Definitely the windiest March I can remember for windsurfing on Maui in many years.

Lots of commotion all along Maui’s north shore as brands and team riders are here for photo shoots. All the way from Kanaha to Camp One to Sprecks to Hookipa to Jaws, you can’t go anywhere without seeing team riders and brand managers and photographers and helicopters trying to get their shots in of the 2012 gear. I’ve been too busy to get out and catch much of this action but there’s plenty of other options on the web for you to get a sneak peak of all the new 2012 windsurfing sails and boards.

Jimmie Hepp’s photos

Kevin Pritchard’s take on the windsurfing conditions here on Maui lately

MauiWaterShoot has some great shots of recent action at Hookipa

The County of Maui made it official with a press release about windsurfing competition returning to Maui this year

Looks like we may get a couple more days of wind, albeit a bit lighter the next few days and then it looks like we may be in store for a change in the weather some time next week where the trade winds may go away for a few days – replaced by some unsettled, rainy weather.

View the original article here

New Windsurfing Gear and the Cluetrain Manifesto

Peter Volwater at Hookipa

Spring 2011. We’re barely into the new year, but in the relentless pursuit of progress and better gear, the windsurfing companies are finishing up their line-ups for their 2012 gear and busy here on Maui right now with photo shoots of their team riders on the new gear.

If you’re an internet-surfing windsurfer you’ve no doubt already stumbled upon photos and video of 2012 sails and boards in action at Hookipa or Kanaha – some here on this website, many more on other blogs, websites and Facebook pages.

That’s great for you the windsurfing consumer. You get a sneak peak at new windsurfing gear, months before the products hit the stores or are even released in product brochures. You get to share photos and videos of that new 4 batten wave sail from brand X with your windsurfing buddies and speculate on the new material and panel layouts of sail brand Y or the new octo-fin wave boards from brand Q.

But did you know that this internet-fueled bonanza for you, scares and frustrates the hell out of many, if not most of the sail and board makers? How the hell are they supposed to control their marketing and branding if all of us bloggers, photographers and videographers are posting their new gear online months before they’re ready to promote it?

To be fair to the windsurfing brands, the problem isn’t unique to the windsurfing industry. It prevails across all industries in this internet age of social media empowered consumers. But the reality is that there really is no way any brand is going to be able to control what their customers and market are saying about them in this day and age. (For further reading on this check out: You No Longer Control Your Company’s Brand and Let Go, Customers Control Your Brand). So, the only alternative is to go with the flow, embrace and leverage it.

Why am I rambling on about this? Because, over the seven years I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve received feedback from some brands requesting that I take down or not publish some content that I get at the beach. When this happens, I usually comply, but end up just shaking my head, bewildered that sail and board makers, for the most part, haven’t accepted, much less embraced how the internet and social media has changed the game for them.

So, here’s the challenge to any windsurfing brand managers who may happen to stumble upon this little tirade of mine. Most of you need to rethink your whole marketing approach. This is the internet and social media age. People aren’t listening to your marketing message nearly as much as you think they are. They’re listening to what their friends are saying about your sails and boards on Facebook and on blogs and in YouTube. Accept the reality that photos and video of your gear is going to be online,  available to the public much sooner than it was 20 years ago. Stop trying to control it and figure out how to leverage this buzz.

Think I’m a crackpot and don’t know what the hell I’m talking about? This advice isn’t mine. The essence of this advice stems back to 1999 and a seminal work called the Cluetrain Manifesto. Windsurfing brand managers, get a clue and at least read the summary theses of the the manifesto. Then figure out how to change your old school marketing approach to leverage what people are saying, writing, and posting about you online.

The windsurfing brand that seems to be figuring this out the best, from what I can tell is Neil Pryde. I think it was a brilliant idea they came up with to do their 2011 photoshoot live. Update: I was pretty disappointed to see that Neil Pryde did their best to avoid showing you the actual product in these Live 2011 Photoshoot. Good idea, but they didn’t go far enough in my opinion. Maybe they finally realized that people like GP, Jimmy Hepp, myself and others will be posting photos and videos of their 2012 sails in action at the photo shoots long before the “official” photos end up in a brochure or magazine ad. So they’re embracing and leveraging the power of the internet. I’m hoping they take it a step further and embrace the inevitable consumer-generated content as well, not just their own.

So, the challenge the brands may perceive is how to present something new for their customers, when we bloggers have been splattering their new gear all over the web many months before they’re ready to release the info themselves. Maybe what the challenge should be is how do they maintain and grow that buzz and build off of what the bloggers and photographers have been putting up for months already?

Maybe a contest where the fans can participate, create mash-up videos of the new line-up? Maybe they don’t have to worry so much about presenting something new, but just fuel the buzz that’s already been started? A contest where they can have their customers vote on the favorite video or photos of  their gear that’s been posted online already? Maybe they need to get more proactive and just share content earlier. I have a suspicion that this is a big part of KP’s new role at Ezzy.

Are you a brand manager or work for a sail or board company? Have some insights on all this you’d like to share? Feel free to comment in the comments section. Give us your perspective.

Now some questions to you, the windsurfing consumer. What do you think about these sneak peaks of new gear? Do you want to see new gear now? Or would you rather wait to see it when it’s “officially” released during the summer? Do you think sail and board makers should step up and share stuff earlier? Should the windsurfing blog and Facebook community hold back the photos and videos of new gear until later when the brands are ready for it to be made public?

Ok, enough rambling. Time for a sneak peak video of some 2012 gear – Peter Volwater at Hookipa on a new Maui Sails Legend.

Special thanks to Maui Sails for being cool with me posting this short video online.

View the original article here

Bernd Roediger Talks about the AWT

The American Windsurfing Tour is is about to spool up into full-on mode as the the kick-off event, the Santa Cruz Classic, starts in just a few short weeks. I met with event coordinator Samantha Bittner and her partner Russ Faurot yesterday to lend some support to their web efforts, and they are so excited about this tour. Lots of great stuff happening related to this tour. It’s super cool to see things falling into place and there’s more exciting news coming soon, but I’ve been sworn to secrecy for the time being.

They just released their latest video. Kevin Pritchard is pitching in and doing a lot of photo and video for the AWT and he just posted the latest AWT stoke video featuring Maui phenom, Bernd Roediger. Check it out.

Bernd does absolutely rip so I won’t be surprised to see him take down some well known pros on the tour. Check out this video of him I posted a few months ago.

View the original article here

Surf Town gets ready for The Curacao Challenge 2011

The Curacao Challenge 2011 is almost hitting the waters and will be presenting the IFCA Slalom World Championship Slalom 2011 ProKids, Junior, Youth and Masters. The windsurfing event takes place between April 19th-24th.

The local volunteers are working hard to build up the Surf Town in old school driftwood and bamboo. The Sports Class has been opened to all windsurfers, from 0-to-100 years old.

All windsurf races and competitions will be held in St. Joris Bay. During the event days there will be a web camera pointed at the race area. So if you really can’t make it to Curacao, follow all action through www.curacaochallenge.com/livestream

Curacao is one of the Caribbean's best-kept secrets. It offers splendid wind conditions for windsurfers, kitesurfers and yacht sailors.

In the month of April, the local trade winds - also known as "kwarisma" - are usually at their strongest, so it's the best time for a windsurfing event. The Curacao Challenge is definitely the windsurfing competition you do not want to miss.

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Boujmaa Guilloul suffers windsurfing accident at Hookipa

Boujmaa Guilloul has suffered a serious accident while windsurfing at Hookipa, on the north shore of Maui. The professional windsurfer got severely injured after attempting a Triple Loop.

Guilloul was rescued by lifeguards and taken to hospital and he is still recovering. "I am now out of hospital and doing well. I think my hospital bill was supported by the insurance company. I have not heard anything about it yet, but I thank the windsurfers who have been worried about me and how this bill would be paid", said the windsurfer.

He will be healing his hand before returning to freestyle windsurfing. "That does not stop me in the quest for the Triple Loop. But next time I will wear a suit and a helmet!"

The Moroccan sailor was enjoying the big Hawaiian ramps when the rotations didn't go as expected and Guilloul hit the water leaving him unconscious. Klaas Voget and Ferdinando Loffreda quickly run to help him and lifeguards backed them up.

Water in the lungs, a broken finger, some bruises and a split lip was the final result. Get well soon, Boujmaa.

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British windsurfers head to Hayling Island

The curtain opener to the 2011 British Slalom Series promises to be a great spectacle, showcasing many of the new and exciting additions to the competition. The Hayling Island Slalom will be run on Easter weekend, that is on the 23rd and 24th April.

Three fleets in the British Slalom Association support all levels of windsurfing, including youngsters and novice racers. There will be goodie bags for all competitors, professional photography of every rider and plenty of prizes for all fleets.

At the same time, 2011 UK Freestyle Tour kicks off. Don’t worry about the weather forecast, even if the wind isn’t strong enough for a fully planing competition we can run some optional fun freestyle in light winds.

Just being on a board and pulling some moves in the sunshine is really enjoyable and will still improve your technique ready for the next time the wind blows.

If that’s not enough, Jamie Gibbs and Paul Simmons will be on hand with a van full of demo kit to try out all weekend.

The HISC "Round Hayling" takes place on Good Friday, so if you’re in the area, why not make it a double-whammy and take part in both?

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iSonic speed special W54 in red zone (43kn)

Photo of equipment used (token late 2010)STOKED, bizarre, Crazy, abnormal. What A day, totally unexpected!?! New personal records for W54- GPS_2 300 - Reflex 6.2. The sweet water still in frozen state at some places!!

Check the speeds here: http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=user&val=72972&uid=870

Today I went buying a new harnass (since my others are broken or bended). At the Amstelmeer I saw "the Brace wind direction was there". Also a lot more wind than expected.

Soo managed to get Peter and Marcel (living close to the spot) to go sail with me. The choise for W54 was easy, this was the only speedboard in the car. Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow, today it came together and I was lucky to see this in time.

On the water the speed increased every run. I started with 37kn run and ended with 42kn run. Still there is even more to come for the W54, I used a damaged GPS_2 300 (new fin was planned March or soo). The new Dakine Harnass (thx Erik/Kater for the recommendation!!) made my day, the best runs I was
only sailing with the harnass (my arms were gone, no more energy). Soo from ideal trim point of view there can be made some little improvement. Who knows I can crack someday the 43kn average barier on this 54.5cm wide board :) :) :), this is crazy stuff for someone near 80kg bodyweight.

Best 2011 speed day soo far, good teameffort ;)

Back in GPS top 10, hehehe.

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How Fins Work in New Windsurfingmag.com

The new February windsurfmag is out and this one features some nice information about windsurf fins, and how they work. Not each fin does work great for everybody is a message, this is something I completly share.

Read here more: http://www.windsurfermag.com/magazine/pro-slalom-windsurfing-fin-tuning-tips-kurosh-kiani-vector-fins/?params=M3w2Mnww

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Speedsurfing Blog readers Nationality top 10

Did you ever wonder who does read speedsurfing stuff and from which places?? 86 nationalities have visited this blog lately, big (example: USA, Russia) to small (example: New Caledonia, Cyprus).

For the record: all analytics from speedsurfingblog are anonymous, privacy is very important
Top 10 website visits last 30 days (February-March 2011)

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About Patrick Miller

Speedsurfingblog.com welcomes the newest author Patrick Miller. Read below Patrick his story and goals on speedsurfingblog. Read more about the change to a multi-writer blog here.

On speedsurfingblog.com: Editor
Expertise: Speedsurfing in Germany, speed development from Germany
Contact Patrick Miller

What does speedsurfingblog.com means to Patrick?
At the beginning of speedsurfingblog in 2008 it was mainly Erik’s personal blog in which he
presented his own findings related to speedsurfing. From initio most of the articles were also pretty
understandable for non-speedsurfers and maybe for non-windsurfers, too. By time the plurality of
articles advanced and speedsurfingblog has started to become interesting for even more people.
On the one hand the blog stayed interesting for speedsurfers with adding intervies of famous
speedsurfers and presenting up to date news about speedsurfing and on the other hand for example
articles about Hypothermia are accessible for a broad public.
Now in 2011 we would like to release some articles written by different authors/experts to present
different thoughts and some additional information. While doing this the main goal is always to make
speedsurfing accessible for many people and to point out it is big fun and not only for pros.

Stats and Numbers
lenght: 1.82mweight: 74kgSponsors: http://www.windcraft-sports.de/education: Diplom Wirtschaftsmathematikerbirthdate: 06-03-1985sailingstyle: In general I prefer to be really powered up or slightly overpowered, independent if surfing a 5.6 or a 9.0. Just lean back and let it go.Hometown: Leverkusen, Germany

Personal Records:
USM Results:
5*10sec average: 37,46knots
Alpha-Racing: 25,86knots
2009: 27th overall
2010: 21st overall

Some History
I started speedsurfing in 2008 with a mix of Slalom- and Freemovestuff and after hitting the first
60km/h I orientated my quiver more and more for Speed-/Slalomsurfing. In 2009 I did the next step
to 70km/h and furthermore I started to participate in the USM. At the moment I’m hunting the
40knots…

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500 people like Speedsurfingblog.com

Wow a new benchmark for this blog, liked by 500 people. Speedsurfing may not be the biggest sport, but interesting enough to blog about and be liked by 500 people. I like it :)

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Fishnet Alert Amstelmeer

In the South-East corner of the Amstelmeer there are 2 nets placed from today 13 till 18 February. I will give an update of the depth of these nets.

Update nets are 20cm under watersurface!! So definitly keep away of these nets

View the original article here

Good results come early this year and Personal Report

Dirk-Jan Knol claiming a new strand horst record 82,13km/h average in shallow water, heard he said 3 runs the fin was in the ground and the others in the air. Oisin van Gelderen and Jacques van der Hout did a  national record. Gerlof Hansma, Hans Kreisel did a new spot record. MANY improved their personal best. I would say a pretty good week for speedsurfing. GPS-speedsurfing.com had a lot of visitors for sure :)

My own story,  Wednesday I had a great session with W54. After this the tide went wrong each time for the brace, Strand Horst was too shallow for me since I had a 25cm fin. I didn't dare. Saturday I fixed my car with my brother in a garage, this has to be done because my car gets today checked for vehical testing regulations. Sunday the proto sonntag 21cm fin arrived. Sunday it turned out 5 guys were lucky and the water dropped (I swear this was on the edge for winddirection).  Sunday I did went windsurfing on Amstelmeer and soon discovered the wind was exactly Southwest... No fun, and I quited before anything got broken, had to swim for the futura 93 and reflex 6.2 after exploring.

Monday we went to the Brace, and wind looked not very strong onshore. Just good enough for some personal records. I rigged W44 and 5.6 Reflex and went walking. Soon I got excited about the windforce, but once there I realised it was actually over the edge. And we needed a boat more than ever, this was dangerous. Gusting over 50kn. Peter, Serge and Jan went on the water. I wanted to look at them first, Peter and Jan had the first run with wind around 40kn (especially the beginning was possible to enter).. Serge however arrived in at least a 45-50kn in the beginning, and not able to go on the course at all. After this Jan and Serge stayed onshore, and Peter tried the second time, but this time he also had a killer gust like Serge and crashed a couple of times in row. Must say I was scared to see him get in trouble, quickly Gauke and Serge ran for Peter and I kept all windsurfing gear on the ground.

When Peter was onshore again, both Gauke and Serge came back at me soon. I still wanted to go, but testing a new fin in these conditions didn't make it an easy decision. It was good my teammates convinced me not too go. To much risk, but conditions were definitly good enough for maybe a world record. However offshore and once in trouble no plan B for comming back. Water 4 degrees celsius, I would say life expectation is 30min once in trouble. (or even shorter if one panics).

One thing to be mentioned, don't be affraid to tell your surfmates not too go when risks are too high. Offshore in gusts over 50kn in cold tempratures was too much, and nobody should have left the safe shore that day. Afterwards I checked windforce and it turned out Monday the wind&gusts was 8kn stronger than the day before. You really feel stupid seeing someone in trouble and knowing you can't do much and worst-case-scenario is getting realistic.

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Speedsurfing / Windsurfing - Hypothermia Risks

Last session it was still cold, both the air and water temperature was around 3 degrees Celsius. But we went windsurfing, I was not aware it was this cold somehow. My bottomline at this moment with my current wetsuit is 5 or 6 degrees air temperature. The session was quite fun, mainly because I didn't stay long in the water and didn't have to swim (yeah I really liked the futura for maximum fun but also great speed). Personally I always have a plan B for when it goes wrong (and windsurfing is impossible), knowing how to survive as long as possible is essential.

Anyway I like to share some knowledge that might safe you some day. From the wikipedia hypotermia page some interesting qoutes that all windsurfers should know. These are important when it goes wrong and windsurfing back is impossible caused by personal injury or gear failure:

"Hypothermia is defined as any body temperature below 35.0 °C"  -Just the definition

"Moderate hypothermia, low body temperature results in shivering becoming more violent. Muscle mis-coordination becomes apparent."  -Fatal for windsurfing, mis coordination of muscles, it could even be you can't do the last 100m to the beach. You feel sick and weak, also thinking normal gets hard.

"Alcohol consumption increases the risk of hypothermia" - Soo beers, whisky, vodka, etc is not helping.

"Heat is lost more quickly in water than on land" - When your board is big enough, sit on it, even if its small try to sit on it. It gives you much more time when at least your core&head is above the waterline. I used in the fishnet accident my legs to stabilise when I floated back, rest  (body, arms, head) was above the water.

"Water temperatures that would be quite reasonable as outdoor air temperatures can lead to hypothermia."- Soooo even when the water is a bit warmer compared to air temperature(at sea at this time in the Netherlands) try to keep out of the water.

"A water temperature of 10 °C (50 °F) often leads to death in one hour, and water temperatures hovering at freezing can lead to death in as little as 15 minutes."- Without wetsuit in normal clothing, I guess the wetsuit buys you some extra time (but not hour(s))

"The United States Coast Guard promotes using life vests as a method of protection against hypothermia through the 50/50/50 rule: If someone is in 50 °F (10 °C) water for 50 minutes, he/she has a 50 percent better chance of survival if wearing a life jacket."- Weightvest ot lifejacket anything on your body will help to keep more heat. Don't throw it away, however for a weightvest it might be smart to dump weight at one point for safety reasons.

Extra
Last but not least don't panic, also keep faith you'll be helped, even when chances are small, each minute alive makes it more likely you will rescued. And remember in lots of rescue actions when the boat or heli arrives the people in problems let go and drown, soo hold on till your safe!!

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Vestas Sailrocket 2

The new Vestas (you know from the windenergy) Sailrocket 2 is ready for action! And what a nice finish it is. Lots and lots of interesting details, its anyway a piece of modern art. Will it be as fast as the previous sailrocket, or much more faster, lets see next year(s).

Vestas Sailrocket 2 from Richard Langdon on Vimeo.

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Kitesurfing versus Windsurfing on the Web

Interesting numbers, kitesurfers vs windsurfers :). Its true again we windsurfers don't get a bigger volume (visitors/pages) on the web, I believe there is space (or NEED) for some more windsurfing related quality articles on the web. Kitesurfers are doing good compared to windsurfers according to Google. Maybe you know THE speedkiting site http://www.speedkiting.org/site/

Check out the Google Trends: http://www.google.nl/trends?q=windsurf%2C+kitesurf&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

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Strand Horst action!

While I was working today getting my car good enough to get road-legal again the wind was strong. Strand Horst turned out to be really fast... some rumors:
89km/h topspeed & few 84km/h runs for Dirk Jan KnolMartin van Meurs in hospitalMANY 80+++km/h peaks from different surfersWaterlevel was -60cm  at deepest.  This is crazy, almost kitesurfing style. Even when I wanted to go there is no 20cm fin available yet from Sonntag Fins, should receive a proto soon (quick postservice).Also congrats for Gerlof Hansma, claiming the Lauwersmeer spotrecord!!

Keep an eye op Gps-speedsurfing.com next 24 hours!

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Ground Effect 2.0

A story for the advanced speedsurfer / recordhunter or interested windsurfers. This story involves a lot of techtalk and recordhunting stuff (just remember speedsurfing is NOT only about records).

Since almost 1 year after witness some amazing stuff but also rumors I believe there is something special in the (dutch) GPS speedsurfing scene, maybe caused by the origine of the Netherlands (living on a delta of rivers with a lot of soft ground (soil) like clay, peat/veen). There is a new ground effect and some speedsurfers used this principle for a longer period of time (without knowing?). The "ground effect 2.0". You go faster, its easier and can be done with current equipment. Really?? Anyway I decided to share the story and hopefully get some responses.

The white stripe behind this
"boatplane" looks like the windsurfer But first what did we mean with the "original Ground Effect"?
It is about compressing a liquid/gas. At the bottom of a foil/board there is always a high pressure. Ground effect does show when the distance between foil/board and ground is extreme low (with or without water inbetween). Example: when using waterski and behind a speedboat entering a spot with 5cm deep water instead the normal 100cm, there will be more vertical lift and therefor drag surface will decrease. In other words at one point it become much better.

Can we use the original ground effect for a windsurfer?
I can not imagen a situation where the water is shallow enough for the ground effect on water. Also with any chop it will not be possible for ground effect in combination with water. Compressing water is no option. But the boardshape in the AIR is VERY interesting, because we can use the board and benefit from some ground effect. We use a little bit ground effect with the current boardshapes, just think about the white area behind the board. If the water is choppy enough it is possible to make a little airflow underneath the board for less drag (the original ground effect).

Ground Effect 2.0* ==> what ??
Ground Effect 2.0 this is speedsurfing and running a part of the fin IN the ground. Example: a speedsurfer sailing in 20cm water with 23cm fin. What do we need for a positive effect, a soft kind of soil like clay, it could be 50/50 mixed with some fine sand (It should be soft enough to just sink in a few cm when standing there). Also the ground (bottom) NEEDS to be reasonable flat. How can running the fintip in the ground be a REAL benefit?

Effects (theory):
Maximum Efficiency on the finpart still in the water. When using a 30cm or smaller fin in less than 30cm deep water, you can imagen VERY little chop can build. Soo maximum efficiency for the complete fin surface, not average xx % out of the water flying between chop.Fin does generate extra drag, when the fin gets deeper in the ground the drag increases fast. A lot of speedsurfers will know what I mean, at one point you feel it is going totally wrong. In medium/ rough sand it would happen in 2-3cm or soo.  You can imagen any small underwater sand dunes can lead to HUGE crashes.The fin/board angle of attack stabilises and will be less on average. Normally on chop/ open water the angle of attack is anything BUT consistent. This little bit less angle of attack will generate less drag, but  NOT near enough to compensate this drag the fintip generates. The stabilisation is important, I remember a extreme safe feeling, possible to generate MUCH more forward forces with the sail. This is big benefit NR.1, good enough to compensate the extra fintip drag.Last effect is the vertical lift becomes a bit more at the back of the board without losing grip (horizontal lift). More vertical lift without losing grip, if there is anything THIS is the key to records. For your information: very well trained speedsurfers can pull the back of the board in the air with the backhand/ harnass. Extremely dangerous stuff (remember this Albeau crash during his recordday)Experiment description (I simply had to have some real world experience):Tested on a tidal spot with very soft soil, using a reasonable proto thin fin, that would break when hitting something massive (for safety reasons). THe ground was tested to be soft enough when standing there my legs dissapeared at least 30cm! In this very soft soil there were shells, when running speedruns I definitly heard hard tapping against the fin. From the moment the tapping begon the equipment started to accelerate significant, it is easy to feel the fastest spot. In this case my fintip was about xx cm in the soil for maximum performance. NOTE: my fin 30cm had scratches up to 10cm from the base without any crash.... Speeds were double the windspeed 38kn boardspeed in 19kn GUSTS or soo.. And in deep water I lost at least 5% speed.Running the fintip in the ground... Its legal according to the GPS-Speedsurfing records, definitly NOT legal for official World Speed Record. No worries whatever you do (but keep your own safety/health as priority, since nobody does make a living from speedsurfing these days)General facts that (could) back-up the theory:Strand Horst records lately with extreme shallow waterSmashed up fintips that often do recordsEXTREME close to shore pictures from top riders running at high speed. (where there is clearly no waterstate difference the first 8-10m from shore)*Ground Effect 2.0 is no proven theory, I believe to see some experiences/facts pointing towards this theory. The size of this possible advantage is also not clear. Maybe it is only good for accelerating up to 35-40-45kn...

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Speedsurfing with Freeracestuff – Part1

I started Speedsurfing with a mix of Freemove- and Slalomstuff and orientated my quiver more and more to Slalom- and Speedsurfing. For a lot people who like to go fast and thinking about starting Speedsurfing it is a tough question if it makes sense to buy pure Slalommaterial or to start with something like Freeraceboards and -sails. Especially during the last few years some brands introduced Freeracematerial which should be nearly as fast as pure Slalomstuff, but easier to handle.
I have checked the GP3S database and tried to analyze the potential of this Freeracestuff. Okay you get much more information about Slalomboards and -sails, but in my opinion there was enough information to get a trend. The first part of the article contains my results and in the second one I will tell something about possible reasons.
The usual (slalom) iSonic
+ fullrace sailLet's start with the easier chapter, the sails. Are Freeracesails only the little brothers of full Racesails? Okay, no Freeracesail reached 50knots until now, but most notably the Neilpryde RS:Slalom, Northsails Ram and Severne Overdrive scored a lot of sessions with 40knots+ averages. 40knots+ average is a really fast session for nearly everyone and the best sessions with these sails are around 42,5knots which mean you are close to the top 50 in the GP3S Overallranking. In my opinion there are definitely competitive Freeracesails on the market!To analyze the potential of the Freeraceboards is much more difficult, because you have to consider that more sessions were done with Slalomboards and furthermore the trend is not as clear at it is with the Freeracesails. Obviously you have to compare the Freeraceboards with the Slalomboards and not with the smaller Speedboards on which most of the highspeeds were done.
VERSUS (freerace) Futura 93
+ fullrace sail I have heard the rumor that the Starboard Futura is maybe faster than the iSonic. Well, the GP3S database doesn't really confirm this all up, but average speeds around 36,5knots done on a Futura 93 demonstrate the potential of this board. The best speeds on iSonics with the same width are around 38,5knots and on JP Slaloms or Fanatic Falcons even faster speeds were set, up to 40knots. It is hard to evaluate this speeds because, as I said, more sessions were done on Slalomboards, but in my opinion 2knots or more are a bit too much to say the Futura has the same potential as the iSonic or another pure Slalomboard, on the other hand 36,5knots is really fast and with a bit more comfort the Futura is definitely an option. Beside the Starboard Futura the JP SuperSport/Cross 96 had also great results with speeds around 36,5knots average.
Viewing the next two sizes verifies this impression. With a margin of around 2knots+ the Slalomboards stay ahead of the Freeraceboards. Moreover the treatment of the real big boards is very interesting, now the advantage of the Slalomboards decrease notedly. Many Freeraceboards like Starboard Futura 122/133, JP Supersport 74 or Fanatic Ray 125 scored really good results. As a matter of fact the fastest session on a Futura 122 was 34,36knots and therefore it is slightly faster than the one on an iSonic 122 which was 34,29knots...

All in all many Freeraceboards have a good potential for going fast even though the pure Slalomboards seem to be a bit faster, especially the smaller sizes. For starting Speedsurfing some Freeraceboards are an intersting option, you get some comfort like more volume and you can go really fast. Maybe you can beat your friend on his Slalomstuff :)

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German Speedchannel!!

German speedchannel in the makingFinally the channel will be ready this season, a topsecret project for many years. Dimensions 2100m long and 150m wide, curved course. It will be great to have a speedspot without tidal problem and free to use. Manfred Merle and Thomas Doublin claim the record will be back this year.

Read more at: http://www.speedwindsurfen.de/

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New event: ODYSSEY of Speed

Karpathos, Greece
02.08.2011 – 21.08.2011

Notice of Race
The Event
As the event includes various disciplines (challenges) of speed/slalom surfing (see rules
below), the event is named as the  'Odyssey of Speed'; in the tradition of the ancient
greek hero Odysseus, who had several adventures to overcome.

The philosophy of this challenge should be to bring together people from around the world,
which enjoy the same passion of windsurfing in strong winds at high speeds. Therefore the
participation is open for everyone in the windsurfing community from all skill levels from
fun sailors up to serious including professional level.

The 'Odyssey of Speed' is dealing with various disciplines of speed/slalom surfing, rather
than focussing on max. speed only. This way we would like to attract also the 'normal'
Greek Summer windsurfers to get involved, who might be reluctant to compete on pure
and specialized speed events and/or who might not have the highly specialized
equipment.

In addition to the competition it is also most important just to have fun, enjoy the
windsurfing sessions and meet people after the sessions. Generally built relationships and help to grow the community of speed surfers.

The 'Odyssey of Speed' will  be based on current GPS-measuring standards and rules.
Due to generous sponsoring we will have (10) LOCOSYS BGT-31 GPS Units incl. waterproof  AQUAPAC cases  available on-site for renting at  no cost. We  also  have  attractive
offers available on-site for purchasing the GPS equipment. (see GPS Equipment below).

Location
The 'Odyssey of Speed' will take place on the island of Karpathos, Greece.
The island of Karpathos is famous for its steady and strong wind conditions in summer and
also well known from past World Cup events and championships in Speedsurfing. The
three bays of Afiartis named Paradise, Gun and Chicken Bay are the perfect location
offering various kinds of windsurfing conditions, plenty of space on the water and perfect
infrastructure at the various surf stations.

However, the event shall not depend on a certain location and venue, except sailing in the
waters of Karpathos.

Date
The 'Odyssey of Speed' will take place from the 02.08.2011 until 21.08.2011.

Rules
The Basic Rules of www.gps-speedsurfing.com Version 8.0 (ref. 1) apply.
(http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=item&item=BasicRules)
Within the course of the event the following speed/slalom categories will be considered for
the ranking:

 Cat. A: 2 sec GPS max Cat. B: 5 x 10sec GPS average Cat. C: 1 hour GPS max Cat. D: 500 m GPS max Cat. E:  Alpha Racing (500m) Cat. F:   Maximum Distance travelled during one day (24 hours)
Each session result needs to be uploaded  to  www.gps-speedsurfing.com using the
automatic upload function of the approved evaluation software (see ref.1. §8).  Multiple
sessions during a day are allowed (see ref.1 §.11), however should be avoided. Session
uploads are possible until 21.08.2011. 18:00. Any session uploaded after this deadline can
not be considered for the ranking.

All GPS tracks needs to be available for verification by the event organization at all times.

Scoring / Results
Points will be awarded for the best performance in each category within each  calendar
week of the competition, with one (1) possible discard per category during the entire event.
For each calendar week of the event all competitors are awarded points equivalent to their
ranking position in each category, except the first place,  which is awarded 0.7 points.
Competitors who will not supply a result for a category in any week of the event or who are
disqualified score the points awarded to the last possible finishing position in that week.
The Overall ranking will be based the accumulated points out of all categories.
The updated daily results will be communicated  on www.gps-speedsurfing.com and in
the race office on-site in Karpathos.


Sailing Equipment
Only windsurfing equipment is approved.

GPS Equipment
The official GPS of the 'Odyssey of Speed' is the LOCOSYS GT-31/BGT-31. This are the
only GPS units currently recommended by International GPS Speed Sailing Organizations.
Only sessions recorded by GT-31 (and GT-11) units will be recognized.
(10) LOCOSYS BGT-31 GPS Units incl. water-proof AQUAPAC cases will be available
on-site for renting at no cost. Please contact us before the event to reserve a GPS unit if
needed. The GPS units can be kept for the duration of the event and must be returned at
the end of the event, or before leaving Karpathos.
In the race office on Karpathos we will give support for setting up the GPS units, for the
use of the evaluation software and the data upload to www.gps-speedsurfing.com.
We  also  have  attractive offers available on-site for  purchasing the GPS equipment.
LOCOSYS is supporting our event and we are able to offer GPS units for the following
price:

AQUAPAC is supporting our event by offering discount to subscribed riders  to buy any
products from their website at a 40% discount. For the purchase a code is required, which
can be made available after subscription to our event.

Facilities
We intend to offer special arrangements on-site at the various surf stations (Club Mistral,
Pro Centre Chris Schill, Planet Windsurfing Centre) for airport transfer, storage, rental
equipment, etc. during the event, e.g. at  Club Mistral storage + airport transfer 1 week
60€, 2 weeks 90€. Further details to be communicated soon.
Our sponsor  NETtoSun is offering for all competitors double mileages in their frequent
traveller program for any booking made through them, this includes flights,
accommodation, rental cars, etc. .

Entry fee 
The 'Odyssey of Speed'  is free and there is no entry fee.

Awards
We do not plan to have prize money.
We will have attractive prizes for the Top riders in the Overall ranking of the contest.

Men:
1. Place  NETtoSUN travel voucher of 12.000 Miles in the NETtoSUN frequent
traveller program, equal to a value of approx. 300 €.
2. & 3. Place  LOCOSYS BGT-31 GPS device + AQUAPAC 212 Case

Best  woman and best  youngster (under 18 years) will both receive a GPS bundle
comprising a LOCOSYS BGT-31 GPS device + AQUAPAC 212 Case.
Further prizes to be announced soon, as we are awaiting further sponsoring.

Safety
Each participant should take responsibility for himself and can be disqualified if he/she
exposes herself or others at unnecessary risk. If extra weights  are used  a vest must
support the weights or equivalent that provides a positive buoyancy of the weights.
Wetsuit, etc. are not counted as flotation devices.  Sailors who refuse to provide help to
those who show emergency signal will be disqualified.


Disclaimer
Every rider has responsibility for himself. He/she has to have all insurances needed. The
organizer will not take any responsibility for rescue operations nor racing accidents.

Sponsors
The 'Odyssey of Speed'  is supported by the following sponsors:

The event is open for further sponsoring.

Organization
The event is organized by Tim Otte, Manoli Kritsiotis and Patrik Pollak
Contact:  odysseyofspeed@online.de

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About Hans Kleingeld

 Hans will be the weather expert on speedsurfingblog, articles about weather&effects related to windsurfing. I do have many conversations with Hans Kleingeld about weather, windsurfing & fun, sometimes for hours.

On speedsurfingblog.com:  Editor
Expertise: Weather
Contact: Hans Kleingeld

What does speedsurfingblog.com means to Hans?
In mid 80 Hans started windsurfing on one of the many inland lakes Holland is rich of. During his study Meteorology in the 90 he discovered speedsurfing with a fanatic mega jag as one board speedsolution. Lake Horst became his homespot from then on. In 99 GPS gave him a boost while he was provided with essential data every speedsurfer wants to know; velocity. He has combined his work in an offshore weatheroffice with forecast for windsurfers. Correctly forecasting wind is very difficult because we live on a highly heterogeneric boundary between earth, water and air. His goal is to meet people on the blog, share enthousiasm for windsurfing, learn from each other and making difficulties about weather and wind understandable.

Stats and Numbers
length: 1.78m
weight: 94kg
Sponsors: ---
education: Master of Meteorology
birthday: 31-07-1973
sailing style: powered midwind conditions with relative large boards
Hometown: Ede, the Netherlands

Some Results
North university of Speed 1996: 36,0 km/h with fanatic megajag and naish mana 6.8
First GPS-data: february 2000: 57,2 km/h with copello redline 269 and naish mana 6.8
First time 60+ km/h: summer 2005: 60,8 km/h with fanatic Stingray TT130 and NP RX1 6.4
Current pr: 73.2 km/h with futura 93 and Severne Reflex 6.2

Some History
Married, three (four) children, currently teacher physics near his favorite lake. Doesn’t like (deep) water. Bad experience: almost washed through flood barrier Oosterschelde.

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