Light it up

The UK’s Adam Lewis was the winner of the Siam Park Dunkerbeck Extreme Jump Challenge in Tenerife. The unique location for the tow at competition in a wave park and at night allowed JC to flex his creative muscles and capture Adam perfectly in this surreal setting.

Photo JOHN CARTER

The post ADAM LEWIS – PERSPECTIVE appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

BUYER’S GUIDE 2016 – 2017

Does your winter wetsuit smell like a biohazard or has it more leaks than Edward Snowden’s laptop? Fear not, you can put away the right guard and tiger balm as we have assembled a guide to some of the very finest bits of rubber on the market to withstand winter windsurfing and hear also from West Wittering warrior, Simon Bassett of 2XS, as he gives us his tips for winter wetsuits and sailing.

“The best advice for buying winter wetsuits is to try the suits on with someone who knows how to fit a wetsuit. If suits are too small they ‘overstretch’, stress seams and the thickness of the neoprene reduces, resulting in less warmth. Make sure the neck isn’t too high also to avoid chafing. The more you pay the more technology and features you will get such as drain holes in the legs/ankles and rubber grippers at the wrists and ankles. External piping is great for insulation but be aware that it does restrict movement. The more expensive suits have panels with a reflective fur at the chest and back so there is no need for under layers. Chest zips are becoming a lot more popular, they are harder to get in and out of but you do get used to them and with no gaps are warmer. Look for a suit with great flex, which makes it comfortable to wear and negates the need for the baggy forearms of older windsurfing suits. 

More than boots and gloves I prefer head insulation, specifically neoprene beanies or ‘neoprene surf hats with a chin strap’ – they are easy to take on or off and stuff down your suit if not needed. 

For boots I find the ‘latex’ style best and only use a 3mm version for more feel, even in winter. Gloves I use the ‘mitt’ style and go up a size so I can wear them over my wetsuit. A great bit of kit is a rigging jacket to stay warm before and after sessions. For winter windsurfing it’s best not to stop, if you hang around talking you’ll get cold, get out, keep moving and rig and derig as quick as possible. It might not be sociable but keep the chit chat for the fire in the pub afterwards!”

Simon Bassett, 2xs.co.uk

This guide first appeared in the October 2016 issue. 

Ion Strike Amp Skin 

SRP: £289.00

Info: www.ion-products.com

The new Strike Amp Skin is for true wind worshippers wanting a high performance suit that withstands even the gnarliest of conditions. Offering optimum wind chill protection thanks to wind and water repellent materials like the new Smooth_Skin, which is commonly seen in Triathlon or Vintage Surf suits where the slick surface allows water drops to run off immediately. This keeps the suit light and prevents evaporative heat loss. Our version has a PU coating on the top, which makes it more durable in comparison to most of the retro styles. Embrace the elements with a suit that delivers all-round performance.

Mormaii Windsurf 5/4/3 

SRP: £249.00

Info: www.zerogravitydistribution.co.uk

The Mormaii Windsurf is one of the few suits on the market specifically designed around windsurfing. With smooth skin on the body, arms and calves to reduce wind chill and reinforced high wear areas such as knees. The suit also has super stretch X3 material in key movement areas to reduce fatigue and increase range of movement. It has an internal waistcoat to minimize any flush and is made out of superlight foam to keep the weight of the suit to a minimum. Other features include blind stitched, anatomic design, Zipper® with handle of inoxidable steel and powertex kneepads.

NP Combat Amor-skin Front Zip 5/4 

SRP: £399.00

Info: www.npsurf.com

Packing serious heat for the wind sport adventurer, this hybrid wetsuit is engineered for the best combination of warmth, flexibility and durability. Armor-Skin neoprene fights wind like nothing else, exclusive neoprene combining warmth and wind chill protection. While strategically placed Apex-Plus panels allow for unrestricted freedom of movement. Also featuring ultra-warm and quick drying Fireline lining and a combination of P-skin tape, double-wrist cuffs and griplock seals for minimal water entry. Combat comes in a 5/4 version, which protects like a 6mm suit, and a 3.5mm version, which protects like a 5mm suit due to the wind-chill-resistant nature of Armor-Skin material.

O’Shea Stealth Hooded 5/4/3 

SRP: £299.00

Info: www.osheasurf.com

The Stealth 5/4/3 hooded is our top of the range winter suit. Performance, progression and precision, it’s a no compromise design, a perfect 360˚ anatomical fit combined with the best limestone based neoprene money can buy. This makes the stealth super stretchy whilst maintaining higher insulation value than most other suits on the market. We are one of very few companies using this material and combining it with water tight “Mitsu” tape technology in the global wetsuit market. The “Hooded Stealth” is one of the best wetsuits to sail in, getting you through even the coldest part of British winters!

RRD Fahrenheit 5/3

SRP: £TBC

Info: www.robertoriccidesigns.com

The Fahrenheit is the latest development available for a super quick drying wetsuit combined with extra durability and stretch. Quickdry is not only about a lining that dries quickly, at least as important is how much water the lining takes up when wetted. Our Quickdry takes up 20% less water and therefore dries quicker. The whole wetsuit is made without any stitches, it’s fully liquid taped on the outside and fabric taped on the inside to offer superior stretch and a longer lifetime. Now also available in a hooded version of 6/4 thick neoprene to be used in real winter waters.

The post WINTER WETSUIT GUIDE 2016 – 2017 appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Sales, Marketing and Bookings Administrator

Permanent Position (Full & Part Time opportunities)
£16,000 – £21,000 per annum, depending on experience / hours.

Working as a sales, marketing and bookings administrator you will be responsible for course and activity sales, taking bookings and payments over the telephone. You will also be responsible for managing the memberships and associated admin. For the right candidate, a management opportunity may present itself.

Click for full details;
http://www.braylake.com/bookings-administrator.pdf

Please forward you C.V. & cover letter to info@braylake.com. Should you have any questions, please contact Simon or Joanne on 01628 638860.

The post JOB OPPORTUNITIES AT BRAY LAKE appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

DUCK FOR GLORY

Words Peter Hart  //  Photos  Alex Best & Hart Photography

Originally published within the Sepetmber ’16 edition.

The duck gybe was the first planing freestyle trick. Harty affirms that it’s still one of the most rewarding and serves as a technique gateway. And unlike most others, it’s actually functional.

What is the best, most satisfying manoeuvre in windsurfing?
It’s clearly the one with which you had an instant bond; which complied with your skill set; which you have mastered to the point where you initiate it knowing you are going to succeed; which in turn allows you to relax and showboat; and which you enjoy rolling out time after time like a party piece, partly because it elicits a ripple of peer recognition and partly because it feels SO good. And if that same move is vaguely functional and ends with you facing a different direction, all the better.
So it’s subjective – except it isn’t. I can tell you quite categorically that the duck gybe is the windsurfing move – end of story. I’m not here to pooh pooh the upper levels of freestyle, which are magnificent. However, a ‘double Burner’ is as relevant to the recreational windsurfer as a Formula 1 car is to economic urban motoring. You need specialist kit and even more specialist athleticism.
The duck gybe, however, falls into the reach of anyone who can plane on pretty much any design of board or rig (although some are more suitable than others).

And hear this …
When the very best are training to do something new, they go through the same cognitive phase as regular mortals – crashing, burning, readjusting, crashing burning etc. But the good ones recognise when repeated failure during a session has caused them to over-think, tighten up and send the improvement graph into reverse.
At that point they stop and perform their ‘trigger’ move a few times. A trigger move is one which they can perform without thinking; which has a natural flow; which mixes power, balance and subtlety and which gets them moving like an instinctive athlete again. Having reset the systems, they return to the original task.
For many that move is the duck gybe. Why? For a start it happens on the water. You’re carving and therefore feeling and responding to that subtle board water contact. You’re going with the wind, tapping into the force rather than battling against it. There’s no move where you exploit the power of the rig more efficiently – dumping it and regaining it just at the right moments. The rig change is an explosive throw and catch demanding slick, mobile hands. And because it’s a fast curve, you have to take up dynamic, but not impossibly bendy positions to resist the centrifuge. That is, of course, assuming you do it well … which not everyone does … in fact it is possible to do it horribly …which is why we’re here.

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RIG and FOOT CHANGE TIMINGS
The beautifully hand crafted diagram left shows the relative timings of the rig and foot change between a carve gybe, the step version, and the duck gybe. The most obvious deduction is of course that the duck rig change happens much earlier. In fact if you’ve passed through the wind, it’s already too late. But it also shows how the transition is spaced out over the arc to give a sensation of unhurried flow. Of course normal carve gybes can flow too but it’s harder because rig release and foot change are all crammed in at the end.

What it is
Two elements separate a duck gybe from a regular gybe, on or off the plane. The first is that the rig change occurs before you pass through the wind. And the second is the rig change itself. In the regular gybe you release the back hand first so the clew swings over the front of the board. In the duck gybe you release the front had so that the mast swings away over the front of the board, at the same time you ‘duck’ under the foot of the sail to reach the new side.
The rig change is actually more efficient. In the regular rig change, the clew swings round through 180º or more. It takes a while. The longer the board is depowered and running on momentum, the more it slows down.
In a well-timed duck, the rig only passes through about 60°. You’re without drive for only a tick. Having the rig switched and sheeted in by dead downwind, you are like that motorcyclist opening up the throttle to scream out of the turn. That feeling of being able to power up the rail half way through is glorious in the extreme.
It sounds simple enough. Indeed when I get people to try the rig change on dry land with a small sail in light wind, the common reaction is: “why haven’t you shown us this before? It’s SO much easier!”
And so it is – but  ‘dry land,’ ‘small rig,’ ‘light wind’ gave the game away there. A planing wind brings extra, but not insurmountable challenges.

“ For those wallowing in the marshy wastelands of the ‘not quite planing out of carve gybes’ plateau, the duck gybe introduces them to the elements missing from their regular carving game, like speed and doing the rig change earlier while on the plane  ”

Bearing just off the wind, at this stage it could be a regular fast carve, with knees and ankles and body projecting to the centre of the circle and rig forward and sheeted in. The back hand is as far back as is comfortable.

One second into the carve about 20° off the wind use both hands to launch the rig at the nose and relax the grip of the front hand. Note the head is turning to look at the clew, which keeps the body moving over the rail.

Slide the front hand all the way to the end of the boom and let the rig fall away on an extended front arm. Your head ducks under the foot. The board is still carving.

As the sail pivots round and the new side of the boom presents itself, pull the rig upright by throwing the end of the boom over your shoulder. In this one the mast dropped pretty close to the water because we went for an early rig release and a steep carve.

The hands drop into their normal places on the boom. Feet still in their carving positions, this is the fun part – powering out of the turn. Keep the sail open – don’t over-sheet. Check the extreme inside body angle to resist the sail and the centrifuge.

Crank across the wind in the switch foot stance and change the feet at your leisure. Check the head always looking out of the turn.

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The main challenge of the duck gybe is …
… Power control. The rig change happens from board reach to broad reach – the zone where it’s hardest to sheet out and control the sail’s power.
But that very challenge should provide a positive incentive. The best way to control power broad to the wind, is to go fast.
When you get your board speed up to or near the speed of the wind, the rig softens. Your first and best tip is right there – speed is very much your mate.
Unlike the normal carve gybe, it’s impossible to do a planing duck gybe slowly.

Ducking limitations
The slicker your technique the wider your window of opportunity. However, the duck gybe is not a move for all occasions. The nature of the rig change, passing behind the clew, means it’s not suited to huge sails. And once you commit to the rig release, you have to see it through and hold a steady line. If you slow down or divert course, the sudden build up of apparent wind from behind, will rip the rig from your grasp.
The regular carve gybe gives you more spontaneous control of the shape of the turn. You can delay the rig change, exit clew first, and therefore speed up, slow down and widen or tighten the arc for tactical or avoidance reasons. Hence it remains the gybe of choice for racing and tricky situations.

RIGHT TIME, PLACE, HUMAN and MACHINE
Your first attempt at this move will shape your relationship with it for years to come – so be good to yourself and make it a happy one. Choice of kit and conditions are hugely influential.

Sail type and size.
The hands move to the new side of the boom via the clew end of the boom, so the bigger the sail, the longer and more awkward that journey. For learning, go for a boom less than 190cm, which means a sail under about 6.5.
The less area under the boom the less the chance of getting a batten in the eye when you duck; hence a wave, freestyle or crossover design is better than a racy freeride or slalom rig.
As an 87 kg bloke, my favourite ducking size is 5.2 – 5.7. Ultimately, duck gybing very small sails is a real joy because the booms are so short. But in adult 3.5 weather the window for error is tiny and the mistakes especially violent.
A crucial design element for smaller people is clew height. On some models the clew is cut so high that they can’t reach the clew end of the boom – essential for a clean rig change.

Board design and size
Board design is less critical but favour something that is fast and carves sweetly – a fsw or freemove board is ideal. Err on the side of extra volume. A bigger board with a flat rocker has more glide and will carry more speed during the rig transition.
Wind and water. Force 5 and using a sail where you’re planing freely but not hanging on, is ideal. In the early stages being slightly underpowered puts you in a more go-for-it frame of mind.
Trying duck gybes for the first time maxed out could scar you for life.
Flat water is always an advantage. Chop kills speed and makes for reticent carving.

Qualified pilot?
You don’t need to be planing out of carve gybes but should at least be at the level where you’re embracing the feeling of accelerating into them. In the duck, you flip the rig before changing the feet, so if you favour the ‘old skool’ strap to strap carve gybe where you also exit switch foot, you’ll start ahead of the game.

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RIG GRAPPLING
Now I want to point out that both the athletes in the pics below, Steve and Andy, completed their gybes. But both now would be the first to comment that their hand positions are less than ideal. Andy is obeying the original manual, which says “cross the front hand over the back hand to grab the end of the boom.” The problem with that is that if you keep hold of the boom with the back hand, you can’t reach the end of the boom. Furthermore, the act of crossing the hands makes you lean back. Steve has not got his front hand far enough back and is trying to grab both sides of the boom at the same time – which leaves him with a nostril full of batten. The third character shows that if you throw the rig forward and get the front hand all the way to the end of the boom, you have space to manoeuvre and can see what’s going on.

Crossing the hands over to reach the end of the boom is popular knowledge but it makes you lean back. PHOTO Hart Photography.

A face full of sail comes from leaving the front hand in the middle of the boom and trying to handle both side of the boom at the same time. PHOTO Hart Photography.

Chucking the rig forward so the front hand gets right to the end of the boom opens up the pathway and lets you see what’s going on. PHOTO Alex Best.

NAILING the PROCESS
The duck is fun to learn because despite its speed and fluency, you can break it down and practise the elements separately before gluing them back together. The process of the rig change, which hand goes where, when and in which order; the release, throw and catch, is the same whether it’s force 2 or 10.
Session one should definitely be in a force 2 with a small sail (under 6.0) on a big board. I specify force 2 because by a 3 there’s enough force in the rig to make the non-planing duck almost harder than the real version.
Here’s what can be learned off the plane.
You get a feeling for the timing.
The mast falls into the wind direction so if you duck early across the wind it falls towards the water, almost behind you. You can recover it but you find yourself blocked by it.
If you go very late after the eye of the wind, the rig blows to the wrong side and the new side of the boom never presents itself.
When you release on a broad reach, the rig falls about 45° to the inside of the nose and the new side of the boom presents itself – perfect.

You get a feeling for the tempo.
You’ve got more time than you think… so long as you don’t panic. The common reaction as you release the front hand and the rig falls away is to lean or be pulled forward off balance as the mast drops away. The key lesson is that the sail only rotates as far as downwind and then it stops and plays dead. The trick is not to follow it but to stand steady and let it complete its rotation, and then move the hands to the new side.

“  Most of the shape and power is in the front of the sail, which is why the mast drops so suddenly to the water when you release it ”

Lets not get over-excited. There’s a quite a leap between doing it at 5 mph and 20 mph. But at least now you have a sense of what it is, the timing and the mechanics of the rig change. All you have to do is chuck in the carve…

DUCKING – the ISSUES.
The greatest challenge as you take the duck into planing winds, is actually making yourself go for one. The thought of letting the front hand go at speed, despite all the light wind practice, still feels wrong – there is so much force there, you will surely just pile in on top of the kit. The problem is that if you obey survival instincts, slow down and stay close to the wind, the power build up means that if you do release the front hand, the mast will smack the water, the board will stop but you won’t. The resulting Superman act is more spectacular than painful but it confirms your suspicions that it was never going to turn out well. Like the forward loop, it’s the act of playing safe that makes it dangerous.
There is no easy way. Success only comes from embracing the paradoxical notion that to avoid a crash you have to bear away and go fast.
Once embraced, the chances of completing a duck are very high. The aim then is to up the success rate and make them look beautiful.

“  If you want to get military about it in the carve gybe you release the rig after 3 seconds. In the duck gybe it’s after just one second ”

LOOK, THROW, DUCK!
From the crow’s nest we get the perfect view of the key moment – the initiation and the throw. You can try and play safe by just letting go and trying to scramble your hands to the new side but it rarely works and is never pretty. The only true course is total explosive commitment. You need to boss the rig and open up the pathway to the new tack by hurling it forward out of the way. In the first pic you can see how the turn of the head to look at the clew initiates both the duck and the carve – so by the second frame the body is totally committed to the inside.

Both arms bend as they prepare to hurl the rig forward – and front hand is opening its grasp …

… ready to slide all the way to the end.

BEAUTY in the BASICS
Beautiful, consistent duck gybes come from adhering to the same basic principles you employ to improve tacks, normal gybes and whatever; attack with speed, commit and make space by handling the rig at arm’s length. The latter is especially relevant to the duck gybe.

Rig huggers
When threatened we tend to hug the rig like a safety blanket in the vain hope that it will support us in our time of greatest need – forgetting that the closer it is to you, the less room you have to move and the less chance you have of keeping out of its way.
The commonest sight is that of sailors not getting their front hand to the back end of the boom and then trying to hang onto both ends of the boom at the same time. The consequences are many and varied.

Leaning back
If you don’t move your hands to the back of the boom, the end of the boom or the foot batten can smack you in the mush. That only has to happen once for you to instinctively throw your head and shoulders back out of the way as soon as you duck. Just like the normal carve, as soon as you move into the back seat, you sink the tail and slow down. If you slow down and stop carving, you’ll get over-powered.

Blocked hands
To control the power on the new tack, you have to get your new front hand onto the new side of the boom in front of the balance point – i.e. in front of the harness lines. From that position you can open the sail and spill wind.

But if the foot of the sail is in your face, you physically can’t reach to the front of the boom. And if you grab the boom behind the harness lines, you will accidentally power the sail up … in a bad way.

SEXING it UP
My friend Harry’s duck gybe was something to behold. It was he who inspired the famous ‘3 counties gybe’  – a gybe so long you pass through 3 counties on the way to completing it. You could see him building up from miles out, creeping the back hand further and further back and bearing away more and more. At warp speed with the drums rolling and virtually on a run he would level off (this only worked on very flat water) and release the front hand. There followed a frantic and hugely comical dance where he appeared to be wrestling a set of bagpipes as the board squirrelled from edge to edge. With the grace of a young hippo he’d seize the new side of the boom and sit down to resist the surge.

But it wasn’t over yet. Almost stationary and still on a run, he’d use the sail to squirt the board around the last 90° – followed by a cacophonous “yes!”
What it lacked in flow, speed, grace and efficiency, it made up for with enthusiasm. Such an interpretation is pretty common.
Here to finish are 3 ways to make a good thing great.

“  Timing. Everyone goes too late to begin with because thanks to carve and flare gybe conditioning, that’s what they’re used to ”

NO GROPING
With victory in sight, it’s tempting to lunge for the new side of the boom and grab it … wherever. But if you so much as touch any part of the boom behind the harness lines, you will power the sail up and away it flies. The lessons are:  pull the sail to you, don’t go looking for it; and: the new front hand has to grab the sail in front of the harness lines if it is to be able to sheet out and control it.

(Left) The front hand has grabbed the boom too far back and has sheeted it in prematurely – and that sudden power is driving the rail under. From the facial expression you can surmise that all did not end well.

(Right) It’s an easy move to drill on the beach – that of hurling the end of the boom back so the front hand falls into its rightful place.

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Launch, release and catch
The instruction to absorb with caution is ‘start the rig change by releasing the front hand and crossing over the back hand to reach the back end of the boom.’ It sort of works but the act of crossing the hands makes you lean back.
What we want is a carve gybe where you maintain your committed, forward-leaning position and make the rig move around you. The moment you reach here and there and go looking for it, you’ll take the pressure off the edge and the board will misbehave.
In an average duck gybe people just let go of the rig – in a good one, they actively launch it out of the way. As you initiate, you use both arms to throw the rig at the front of the board; and then catch the end of the boom as it whistles past you. To take control on the new tack, don’t lean forward and go looking for the new side of the boom, but hurl the rig back, LET GO and drop the hands into their sailing positions as the boom comes in reach.

Carve, carve and carve!
The trigger to throw the rig should be the act of carving. If you think about moving your hip towards the clew and actually ducking and looking under the foot of the sail, not only can you orientate yourself but will also naturally move over the inside rail and carve. And the faster you turn through that downwind zone, the less chance you have of losing it.
Keeping the arc long is a good way to get one in the bag – but the tight ones draw the crowds. One way to make yourself commit is to go for a very early rig change almost across the wind. The mast seems to be heading for the water but if you crank hard on the rail, the board suddenly catches up with it to enormous applause.

Depower then throw
The act of releasing a powered up rig brings about a massive trim and balance change that rarely ends well. The best depower the rig just before releasing so the sail rotates with less violence. Just like a normal gybe, there are 2 ways to do it.
Over-sheet. Make it part of a lay-down gybe. Drop the rig forward and down to hide it. If you over-sheet it as well, the clew should be right in front of you. Sheet out. Just before ducking, open the back hand momentarily so the rig is almost balancing itself – and then throw it upwind of the nose of the board. This also increases the arc of the mast and gives you a little more time to showboat – drag a hand, scratch your nose etc.

“  The regular rig change happens at the back end of the gybe at the point where you’re usually losing speed. The ducking rig change happens at the beginning when you’re still accelerating ”

Accelerating out. If you’ve got the sail vaguely under control downwind on the new tack but are not planing out – well shame on you; but it’s typically one of two things.

Over-sheeting. At the end of a carve gybe you pull on the back hand to
power up and plane away. It’s a natural reflex to do the same in the duck, except this time you’re very broad to the wind. At this point of sail, to pull in the back hand is to oversheet and depower.  Instead think about holding the back hand open to present the sail to the wind, and only gather it in as you carve across the wind.

Levelling off. If you let the board flatten off downwind, you will quickly run out of gas (there’s no power that broad to the wind.). And if you let your hips drift over the centreline, you can’t resist the power as you sheet in, nor maintain any pressure on the rail.
The key to a planing exit in the standard carve and the duck, is to push the hips across and make yourself the centre of the circle right from the off.

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Harty has a fabulous new website www.peter-hart.com revealing news of everything windsurfing including spaces on up and coming clinics. Email him for his monthly newsletter on harty@peter-hart.com or like his Peter Hart Masterclass page.

The post PETER HART – DUCK FOR GLORY appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

” Last weekend in Margaret River. Attempted to film from different angles away from the glare but a snake scared Carla off. Decided to stick to the safety of the lookout and have tried to adjust the clips that were too dark “.

Camera: Carla

Music: Foals – What Went Down

Via stonesurf

The post JAEGER – MARGARET RIVER 2017 appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Flashback friday!…

What a great day with friends in winter wonderland and a little bit of wind. The ice was pure black gold and together with the sun it was a day to remember. I took the drone out for a flight and captures the guys on tape and made a little edit of this. Hope you like it and feel free to share on your social streams. Cheers!

instagram.com/littelairtime/
#Icesurfing The Netherlands 2017 – #DRONE #ijssurfen #windsurf #winter #fun

Via NED13.com

The post ICESURFING THE NETHERLANDS appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Action here from Matteo Nativelle at the recent Taïnos Soukouss wave contest at Batri, Guadeloupe where Antoine Martin took the honours.

The post GUADELOUPE | TAINOS SOUKOUSS 2017 appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

This summer 2016, we went on a family road trip to the Cyclades Islands: Paros and Naxos. After 1000 km by car, we had three week to discover these windy islands for the first time and escape from our daily lives. The trip by van remains the easiest although it requires more organization with a baby. The idea of sleeping at a different place each night is rather exciting and enriched considerably the trip.
Sun, cristal clear blue water and a good Meltelmi, that’s all you need for “Tzatziki”.

Via Baptiste Mure

The post TZATZIKI appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

A suggestion of quitting windsurfing was the best motivation reader Michael Fairrie ever received. Read on to find out why.

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Words  Michael Fairrie

  //  Photos  Steven Quigley & Claire Fairrie.

Originally published within the October ’16 edition.

So I guess you’ll be giving up windsurfing, you certainly won’t have any spare time, that’s what happened to me” was the sagely advice from my neighbour when talking to him outside my house next to my heavily pregnant wife. Then he came in with the second body blow, “You’ll no doubt be selling your gear, and your van.” As we were expecting twin boys I knew I was looking down the barrel of a life changing event, but giving up windsurfing was not something that I had ever even considered, and selling my gear – well hold on a minute.  I’ve lost count on the number of times I’ve been asked, “what size are you rigging up?”, a universal greeting amongst strangers on the beach and old and new windsurfing friends.  But more alarming, I’ve also lost track of the numbers of excuses I’ve heard for people quitting windsurfing: work, family, backaches, no spare time and even kitesurfing.

This throw away comment from my neighbour had a real impact, and left me thinking. No more windsurfing?, if it can happen to him can it happen to me, that can’t be right?. Giving up wasn’t even an option I had considered! Was this true?, would I end up being another casualty making excuses for quitting!. No, no way, this throwaway doorstep comment turned out to be the best windsurfing motivation I’d ever received. The reason his comments touched a nerve was that for me windsurfing is so much more than just going out sailing, it’s representative of so many things: freedom, energy, creativity, exercise, natural beauty, health – the list just goes on. It’s a lifestyle, an identity of being a windsurfer, and as life gets busier the need to have a place to escape for a few hours grows, and for me that place has for many years been windsurfing. The excitement and sometimes slight fear of arriving at the beach in sub 5 metre weather quickly banishes the stresses of life to a distant corner of the mind. For me there is no form of exercise that gets close to working every muscle, joint and tendon in your body the same way that windsurfing does. With endorphins pumping, a good session leaves you feeling broken yet buzzing and, like an addiction, just wanting to go back for more. Through windsurfing I’ve met people with the most infectious energy and zest for life, people who push boundaries and find a great balance between family, work, time on the water and for the things that are really important. With increasing work and family commitments I had perhaps left attempts at competitive windsurfing too late. For me catching the odd wave, jumping high, claiming the occasional forward and clocking up half decent GPS times gives untold pleasure and everything I want from windsurfing. Despite considering myself a fairly advanced windsurfer it’s great to be reminded that there is just so much more to learn.

A while ago I spent an evening discussing fins, well actually the stiffness of fins. I came away knowing a bit more about fins, but also realising that we hadn’t really scratched the surface of this whole new area of windsurfing I’d previously given little thought to, having simply gone with manufacturer supplied or recommended kit. For sure I still want to keep learning, but alarm bells about risking injury ring a little more loudly now. I still want to push myself and dream of windsurfing on Maui with my family. The same goes for work, lots of things I’m still going to achieve, but windsurfing and family has helped shape a brilliant work life balance. Personally being with my family and sharing experiences with them is the most important thing, and seeing my now nearly 5 year old boys playing in the sea is priceless. I’m not making some dramatic statement that windsurfing changed my life, but it has most certainly contributed and inspires me to live life to the absolute full. It was the realisation and possible fear of stopping windsurfing that shaped the way I work to ensure a healthy life balance, which for me is so important for one’s soul, family time, and life generally.

Now to some extent my neighbour had a point, the van did get sold and replaced with a more suitable family wagon but the kit certainly didn’t, and due to a hugely supportive wife and the good fortune and ability to frequently squeeze sessions in around my work, I rarely miss a great forecast. Becoming a parent is, as it should be, a totally life changing event for which I feel blessed everyday, well nearly! It’s the best job ever, but everyone needs a break from even the best job and squeezing in a quick sail before or after work or grabbing a couple of hours at the weekend is somehow more rewarding and recharging than lazy weekends of old spent waiting for the wind and the disappointment when a forecast didn’t deliver. I’m grateful for every session I get on the water, and also more accepting of those windy days missed. Windsurfers are a dogged breed, who else would get excited by appalling weather forecasts, drive miles in the hope of a decent session and invest hours getting battered in the process to perfect carve gybes, forwards etc. Applying the same dogged determination to creating a work life balance has enabled some great things. Being a quitter isn’t compatible with windsurfing, I’ve spoken to so many people who’ve said, oh I used to windsurf but this got in the way, or work was too busy or this excuse or that, don’t let it be you making the excuses!

About the Author
Michael Fairrie, originally from Ipswich on the East Coast, has been windsurfing for 25 years and now lives in Surrey where he sails regularly at Queen Mary Reservoir, Hayling Island and West Wittering. He lists his greatest achievement as his family and finally cracking a forward loop at the age of 41. “This short article has been sat on my desk for months, and whenever I hear of yet another reason from somebody for quitting windsurfing I revisit it.”

The post MOTIVATION – REASONS TO WINDSURF appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

PRESS RELEASE:
Organisers of the National Watersports Festival (NWF) have confirmed that after 10 years of hosting the leading windsurf and stand up paddle boarding event on Hayling Island in Hampshire they are moving the event to Rutland Water, East Midlands where a new chapter of the event kicks off on 2nd to 4th June 2017.

Hayling Island has provided the perfect home for the NWF with its welcoming beachside venue and the unwavering support of the local community. However, with the growth of the event over the past decade organisers have been looking at how they can develop the festival further and Rutland has been chosen as the venue to provide this opportunity.

Rutland Waters is the second largest reservoir in Europe and is renowned as a centre of excellence for watersports and will give the event plenty of room to expand. There are a host of facilities onsite which include camping for 600 people, an aqua park, zoo, cycles trails and climbing facilities, which will attract even more people to the festival and the area as a whole.

Allan Cross, events director, explained: “We have loved our time on Hayling Island and will look back over the years with very fond memories and our thanks to everyone who has supported the event.

“Rutland will help us to deliver the NWF over the forthcoming years and we’re really excited about the move. Our aim now is to get more families involved with the festival, so we’ll look to get more clubs and youth participation and are looking to combine the main NWF event and the NWF Junior into one big super festival.

Within this we’ll also provide more access to disabled riders. “We’re proud of how we’ve introduced the sports of windsurfing and SUP to many thousands of newcomers over the years and we want to use the excellent facilities at Rutland to help develop an even larger ‘taster’ session element in order to get more people out on the water and enjoying the sports that we hold so dear.

“We will continue to deliver the windsurfing aspect that we always have but our new model will also cater for the ever increasing number of recreational paddlers and wind SUP users.

“We’ll have the usual parties, live music, racing, trade area, clinics and a whole lot more to welcome the next decade of the NWF. We’ve got the full support of the industry so it’s all systems go!”

For further updates keep checking the NWF website

www.nationalwatersportsfestival.com

<ENDS>

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WINDSURF MAGAZINE #363 MARCH ISSUE ON SALE NOW

The March 2017 Issue of the world’s only monthly English-language windsurfing magazine is out now!

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Subscribe or buy your copy here in either 

Digital or 

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Fresh – Racecraft: Racing Secrets, Kevin Pritchard’s Motivation, Lancelin Classic 2017, Peter Hart’s Forward Loop Technique, Tested: Freeride Special – 2017 105 Litre Boards & 6.5 Sails, Lake Garda Guide, Jem Hall’s Chop Hop Tips, The Pleasure And Pain Of Jaws

BIG JUICY READS

RACE, RIDE, RAGE, REPEAT
Combining competition with a healthy social scene, the Lancelin Ocean Classic kicks off the windsurf event season in style. Read the lowdown on the action on and off the water.

PLEASURE AND PAIN
For every great gybe, jump or reach comes the inevitable crash, splash and fail. Antoine Martin and Marcilio Browne tell how they balance pleasure and pain when sailing and surviving at Pe’ahi / Jaws in Maui.

RACECRAFT
A selection of the world’s elite windsurfers share their insights on best practice for the race course, covering everything from training to start line, gybing, overtaking and the all important podium.

FRESH LINES
When Kevin Pritchard won the Aloha Classic in 2016, he surprised everyone but himself. So how in his 40s does he do it? Read on as Pritchdog explains his motivational tools.

INSIDE ARNON
Arnon Dagan from Israel has been a stalwart of the PWA scene for well over a decade and a tester for both RRD and Neil Pryde. JC gives an insight into one of the professional tour’s most interesting characters.

ÎLE AUX VACHES
West Brittany has a reputation for world class windsurfing. On hand for a day at one of its best breaks, Île Aux Vaches, was photographer Loïc Olivier and Thomas Traversa, they tell us more about one of France’s premier wave sailing spots.

FRESH WATER
Italy’s largest lake, Lake Garda, is a home away from home for Italian freestyle young gun Riccardo Marca. Read on as Riccardo gives us his guide to Europe’s most popular freshwater windsurfing venue.

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FRESH START
Vickey Abbott tells us about her adventurous journey to follow her dreams of becoming the first British women to sail Jaws and making a fresh start on her newly adopted homeland in Maui.

GEAR SHED

105 LITRE FREERIDE BOARDS
The test team report on the latest 2017 105 litre freeride hulls.

FANATIC GECKO LTD 105,
GOYA VOLAR 105,
JP MAGIC RIDE PRO 103,
RRD FIREMOVE 100 LTD,
STARBOARD ATOM IQ 104 CARBON,
TABOU ROCKET WIDE LTD 100,

6.5 FREERIDE SAILS
2017’s 6.5 freeride designs are put to the test on UK waters.

EZZY LEGACY 6.5M,
GA SAILS HYBRID 6.2M,
GOYA NEXUS 6.4M,
NEIL PRYDE RYDE 6.5M,
NORTH SAILS E_TYPE 6.6M,
POINT-7 AC-F 6.4M,
RRD EVOLUTION MKVIII 6.8M,
SEVERNE CONVERT 6.7M,

TEKKERS

PETER HART – OPERATION ROTATION

MOVE ON UP WITH JEM HALL – JUMP THE BUMP
Jem Hall focuses on the chop hop and how to start getting air under your board.

HOW TO JUMP HIGHER

BOARDSHORTS

LATEST & GREATEST  
No ‘Alternative facts’ or ‘Fake news’ here, we have analysed every possible leak, tweet and trending hashtag to bring you windsurfing news so fresh, even the Russians haven’t hacked it..yet!

RYA KNOWLEDGE   

SITTIN’ ON THE DUNNY

EDITORIAL -FRESH

AFFAIRS OF THE HART – COME THE REVOLUTION     

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“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” – William Arthur Ward. On a rare forecast, Finn Mullen scores an even rarer starboard tack day on Ireland’s West Coast. Against a post brexit and crash of the celtic tiger backdrop, he examines the cultural and economic shifts on a land rich with windsurfing treasures.

Words  Finn Mullen  // 

Photos Katie McAnena & Graham Reid

Originally published within the October ’16 edition.

Post brexit is a period of change across the UK and Europe and nowhere more so than in Ireland. The only country to share a land border with the UK, it is uncertain how the physical, commercial and cultural lines will alter between the two countries. What has become clear however in the mire of speculation is the surprising number of ‘Brits’ applying for Irish passports or thinking about relocation to their western neighbour. Post brexit it was reported that Ireland’s embassy in London fielded more than 4,000 passport enquiries compared to the 200 a day it usually receives, an Irish recruitment company had a 300% surge in applications and at a leading estate agent’s website, hits went up to 30,000 on the weekends after the momentous announcement.

As a destination, ‘Brits’ continue to travel to Ireland in increasing numbers year on year, the UK being Ireland’s largest tourism market by numbers and a popular haven for expats. For windsurfers, Ireland’s west coast has long been the drawcard for its exposure to Atlantic winds and a large range of bays and beaches to discover everything from flat water to raging surf. There is however one catch, especially for England’s south coast based sailors, the majority of Ireland’s wavesailing is port tack on the predominant south-westerly airflow. On certain beaches with West to North winds, there are some rare options for starboard tack, (Achill for westerly winds and Dingle / Belmullet for northerly) but in the main it’s right foot forward for wave riding, which suits the majority of those dreamy west coast reefs, also known as the ‘land of the left’. It’s human nature to want what you can’t have of course and so for years I’ve dreamt of scoring some of Ireland’s rare right hand reef breaks that provide solace for the regular / left foot forward surfers. The catch in turning these dreams to reality however is that it requires the ultra rare combination of ground swell and strong easterly winds, with normally around the same odds of happening as Nigel Farage subscribing to the Guardian. Just as in politics though, never say never in windsurfing and so of course when Murphy’s law collided with chaos theory, it came to pass that the forecast I’d dreamed of for longer than it is polite to mention came to fruition at the same time as another dream of mine – to have a child.

GREEN LIGHT
Due dates, as any mum or dad know, show no respect for forecasts, windsurfing or anything else for that matter and rightly so, but fortunately I had one trump card to play. My wife and mum to be, Dr Katie McAnena, was 9 months pregnant but having spent the last 3 months actually delivering babies assured me that I had a pass to go play ‘search a spot’ and in fact she wanted to come along, even though I assured her I had no idea where I would end up, only that it involved a lot of bumpy back roads; perfect she reasoned for inducing her waters to break and returning to windsurfing as soon as possible!  Mission on, we headed west with the caveat of no further than one hour from a hospital in search of cross off and as many potholes as possible, which in this part of the world is about as hard as finding an odorous European food you’ve never heard of in Lidl.

BANANAS
‘Have you any bananas?’ I asked casually, ‘You won’t find them out this far west boy’, said the shopkeeper, looking at me square in the eye with the sort of visual underline normally reserved for an invitation to a cage fight with Rottweilers. Although it happened many years ago, the experience stuck with me, not just for the strange mix of corner shop masquerading as a front for the headquarters of UFC meets Crufts but also for the mindset of a generation who were here long before surfers and windsurfers chased along their shores. There are two groups of people who live here, those from the area and those that have moved here. Farmers and fishermen mix with artists and surfers escaping to the west. Traditionally employment here has been ‘off the land or sea’, tough acres to farm and rough waters to sail breed character and at times can conflict with visitors ignorant to the hardships and commitment it takes to live here. ‘Surfers, slow the ^&%$ down’, laughed my friend as he recounted the sign at the side of the road. You drive carefully here for many reasons. While the sheer range of uncharted breaks begs exploration, you have to be mindful where you roam to respect long held land ownership and not ignite the ire of farmers who don’t want biocontamination of their fields from outsiders and given Ireland’s history of ‘land grabbing’, are robustly defendant of their lot. Good manners and a slow pace however will take you far and take the time to speak with locals and you will learn what has drawn expats to live here.

GO WEST
Post brexit the Irish Times recently published a series of interviews with British people who have settled in Ireland’s western fringe. The anecdotes painted a heart warming picture. One man recounted how after his wife’s untimely death, he went to the local bank to close his wife’s account and the teller came round the side of the counter to give him a hug on hearing the news. When he went back to England, to a place he had banked with for over 40 years to do the same account closure, they barely looked him in the eye. Another expat recalled seeing a grocery van pull up at the side of a road, lift a stone, take money and leave a bag of groceries. He took that as a sign he had come to the ‘right’ place. Warm welcomes are more common than swift rebukes here. In the cold war paranoia of the 70’s some people moved to Ireland on the basis that in the event of a nuclear holocaust it was far enough to the west to escape the radioactive fallout. These days bohemians are drawn by inspiring land and seascapes, a quiet life to create amongst and a culture of love of the arts that counts one of the world’s great wordsmiths, William Butler Yeats, amongst its family.

FREE ECONOMY
On our way to the beach we pass a newly opened ‘foodie’ café. In the boom celtic tiger years the west of Ireland felt the effect in a rise in house prices from holiday home investment but outside the reach of locals who felt justifiably disgruntled at being priced out of their own homelands. Ultimately unsustainable, now, post crash, new businesses and residents are more focussed on long term lifestyle gains rather than short-term gross profit. Ireland’s highest profile surfer, Fergal Smith, recently entered politics campaigning for the green party and advocating community based farms and local economic ventures. It feels fitting as we pull up to our first surf stop that we are here to enjoy a resource that can’t be taxed or economically crashed but will provide me with sublime pleasure beyond monetary means. Kind of like chocolate only calorie and cost free.

GOOD TIMES
I’m sticking hard to the ‘never leave wind for wind’ rule, there’s spray flying high on every mile of the coast and each break downwind looks more epic than the next but I’m going with our first stop, not least because we might have a baby in a few hours, so every second counts! Conditions here looked sort of good but it was hard to tell. I say ‘sort of’ because it had the look that spawned the well used surf idiom, ‘It’s always bigger than it looks!’. I rigged hastily my favourite combo when wracked with indecision, a 4.5 and twin fin Starboard Kode 82, a set up with a huge range to face the unknown. I’ve never windsurfed here before but I know the jump off spot from surfing. I exercise a good rule of thumb for launching at a virgin reef by launching off the back of the surge of the last wave in a set to give clear and deep water to progress from.

I make my way out to the break, quickly realising that it is definitely ‘bigger than it looks!’, trying (badly) to contain my excitement at sailing a new spot and finally about to score one of Ireland’s best right handers and starboard tack down the line that looks distinctly Maui’esque except for the crowds. Much as I absolutely love the valley isle of Maui and consider it a must visit for any windsurfer, for the next hour I catch more waves than I know I would in a month at Ho’okipa. That’s the upside of my ‘no fly’ spring break; the downside is Ho’okipa happens pretty much every day, my dream set up in Ireland has about the same frequency as Led Zeppelin reunions.

While I’m lapping up the luck of a wavesailing lottery winner, Katie is in the van snapping my exploits with as much enthusiasm as someone watching their best friend having the time of their life while they have their worst. Indigestion from the petrol station sandwich, car-sickness from my choice of radio station and driving, pregnancy induced nausea or the perfect storm of all three. Life as a sick windsurfing partner of a windsurfer scoring it while you can’t is about as fun as breakdancing on sea urchins. A fellow windsurfer, artist and South African ex pat Graham Reid (www.grahamreiddesign.com), turns up to take over camera duty before he launches while Katie looks up on the internet ways to tell your partner to not say how good it was when they come in. Naturally I come in to tell Katie how good it was but she seems more interested in using her surgical skills to duct tape my mouth shout. I may have had some of the rides of my life but we both know an even better one isn’t far away. Years ago I couldn’t even buy a banana out here, now I’m feasting post session in the gourmet café we’d passed by earlier, the changed times are welcome. For just as long as I’d dreamt of having a baby, I’ve dreamt of scoring this reef, thankfully today those two dreams didn’t coincide! One dream ride had just ended and an even longer one was about to begin. Port or starboard, dad or mum, being a windsurfer is in part about embracing and fulfilling dreams and the experiences you gain help you embrace new stages in your life and most importantly, to never be afraid of a change of tack.

“  There’s spray flying high on every mile of the coast and each break downwind looks more epic than the next ”

The post IRELAND – CHANGING TACK appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Check out Jem Hall coaching in Tobago as he enjoys the prefect conditions for his students to improve with flat water, sun and constant winds – looks like fun ! – for more info on any of Jem’s clinics, check out – www.jemhall.com or for bookings head to www.sportif.travel

The post JEM HALL TOBAGO appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Check out this cool video from Benoit Devinat two month trip  in Cape Town 2017.

Via DEVINAT benoit

The post DEVINAT BENOIT – CAPE TOWN 2017 appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Talisurfi Slalom EMV phase took place on Lake Harku 11th-12th February 2017

Via Teamvosa

The post TALISURFI EMV SLAALOM 2017 appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

The

JP-Australia Team on Maui for the annual JP photo shoot. The blend of the JP Freestyle Wave and Super Sport boards continues to convince: Maxime van Gent NB-20, Sebastian Kornum DEN-24 and Nico Prien GER-7 have a lot of fun sailing these small to medium sized freermove boards in order to show their wide range of use.

Via jpaustraliacom

The post JP 2017 ALLRIDE PRESENTATION appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.

Words  Finn Mullen  // 

Photo Katie McAnena

Editorial originally published within the October ’16 edition.

“On land we are constrained mostly by roads. At sea there is no road map – you are free to choose your own path.” Father Conor McDonough.
Discussing windsurfing with a learned man of the cloth will always provide an interesting viewpoint. Windsurfing, like any sail craft as Conor astutely pointed out, leaves us free to decide our own course and this issue we look at fresh ways of exploring our sport. Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of windsurfing is that our frontiers are able to be self-determined. At every level we can find a challenge to excite and inspire and even better – “age is no limit” and the title of an excellent video by Peter Hart on our website (windsurf.co.uk/peter-hart-age-no-limit). Peter eulogises, “There are no limits to the age you can windsurf. There’s a club called Sea Vets and they have a super vet category for racers over the age of 80. Because it’s a skill based sport..once you have these core skills you learn better and better ways to use your body and put yourself in more efficient positions so you’re not stressing yourself and that’s the same for young people and old. And just by doing the sport you create a natural strength and the right sort of strength. So honestly, age is no limit.
…The most appealing part of the sport..maybe it’s the diversity …when I was racing it was all about achieving the next level, riding the biggest wave, going out in the strongest winds and you can’t keep doing that forever because your body just falls apart. Now it’s changing the experience.”
One of the easiest ways to ‘change the experience’ is taking a trip and this month PWA pros Phil Soltysiak and Max Matissek hit the highways of North West America for an epic road trip on the iconic Highway 1. Renting a camper van, they explore and windsurf the Pacific Coast north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge finding an area with few frontiers. Phil exclaims, “We could probably come back to the same area of the coast every year, and windsurf new beaches, rivers or lakes for the next decade.”
For a windsurf trip with a difference and a much lower carbon footprint, check out Florian Jung’s “Tour de France” as he explores Brittany by bike, towing his kit by pedal power and telling us that his unconventional mode of transport for a windsurf trip was inspired by “What’s essential instead of looking for the most comfortable option. I care about the experience of travelling and the challenges I have to overcome during the trip. It’s about discovering new horizons, to be in nature and to really take a break from all the things that don’t add any value to our life. It’s not about rushing from A to B in a certain time or about travelling gigantic distances. We just wanted to go with the flow and adapt to nature in the best possible way. If there is wind and waves, we stay in the water, if not, we hop on our bikes.” At the other end of the scale to the cycle lanes of Brittany we look at windsurfing’s high speed frontier in “Formula 1” as the top four finishers at this year’s Fuerteventura PWA talk us through their boards and sails which are designed with only one criteria in mind, the slalom podium.
Windsurfing Jaws for the first time is the new frontier we report on in “Lucky sixes” as six lucky sailors score a rare uncrowded session at one of the world’s most famous waves. In terms of frontiers they don’t come much greater. Graham Ezzy writes, “This is the scale of Jaws. Everything is bigger and more powerful – the consequences more dire, more real. Riding a Jaws wave is to be part of something so much more powerful than yourself, you become insignificant.” From the world’s greatest waves to the world’s greatest stage, we pay tribute this month to the most decorated male Olympic windsurfer on the planet, our very own Nick Dempsey, with an exclusive interview by his UK windsurfing peers. Nick absolutely transfixed us with his extraordinary performance in Rio and, as Andy Chambers pointed out, Nick has “and will continue to inspire so many new kids to take up windsurfing and that really is an awesome achievement.” Fittingly, Nick now sees his own kids as his windsurfing priority – “For me windsurfing is now something very different. Before it was about performance, a job, and a lifetime of commitment to achieving one thing. Now it’s about time with my boys, putting them in a wetsuit and setting them loose.”
Harty was right, windsurfing’s beauty is its diversity. In that challenging post games period for any Olympian, Nick is better equipped than most having a sport where he, like us all, is free to plot any course and find new frontiers.

Photo – Finn Mullen finds a new frontier on Ireland’s west coast; pic by Katie McAnena

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With only three boards and six sails allowed in PWA slalom competition per sailor per year, the top riders have to choose their quivers at the beginning of the season and stick to their selection whatever the conditions. This year’s battle of the elite seems tougher than ever as every pro has raised their game, but even when the going gets tough, the main players still manage to get going when it counts! Before the event John Carter selected four title contenders to scrutinise and in fact nailed the men’s top four in Fuerteventura after eleven tense and gruelling rounds of racing. Join JC in the PWA pits for our exclusive look at what kit the top racers use in the Formula 1 of windsurfing.

Words  & Photos

  JOHN CARTER

Originally published within the October ’16 edition.

“There is no magical set up here in Fuerteventura! In windy conditions the technical skill and level of the rider makes the biggest difference, it is much more important than in light winds. That is why I, Ross, Pierre and Matteo have done well. Cederic Bordes and several of the French guys sail strong when it’s very windy because they sail in those conditions at home. A lot of riders train too much in the light winds. We mostly compete in light winds but for me this is the real racing I enjoy. In light winds if you don’t have the best equipment it will be very tough to win. In the high winds I rode the 98 RRD and the Neil Pryde 5.6. Arnon helps test the boards, he is trying to make them easy to gybe and also to go fast on the reaches. In Fuerteventura the first reach is always quite long and it is important to be first at the mark. You need a lot of control and you need the board to fly over the chop. The hard part is the balance between speed and the gybe. The tail and the shape of the rails are vital. If the rails are too square then it will be more difficult to gybe. Rounder rails are easier. I can use this board with a 5.6 but can also use it with a 7.8, which it is more comfortable with.  This year with the sails we have switched to skinny masts, which makes the sail a little bit softer. It is easier to ride. I don’t use very long harness lines in the high winds. I saw some people with very long lines but I don’t like them long, I have been using 28-30cm lines. If you get used to the long lines I think they can work. I have adjustable lines so I can trim the gear while I am sailing, I just want to be comfortable, and I don’t care how long the lines are! At this event I used a waist harness. Normally in the contest I use a seat harness but now I am trying the waist harness to see how it goes. I use a normal 32 fin like everyone else. You can’t go smaller because the boards are pretty big for high winds and if you have smaller you will lose some grip and crash! The colour of the sails is very nice! When the weather is grey, the fluorescent colours really show up! I work a lot with Arnon, Enrico, Malte and Sebastian on all the Neil Pryde sails and we do our absolute best on the development. This work pays off. The light wind side of the sport is the most competitive. Everybody is working hard on the bigger sails so it is difficult to gain any advantages. In the heavy winds our 6.4 and 5.6 are machines and I think they are extremely fast sails. The key for winning races is to be comfortable. I did not have time to try my 5.6 and 6.4 prior to the racing in Fuerteventura. I arrived a few days before and I was lucky and managed to use them both for a testing session. The sails turned out to be great, I am super happy with them!”

“ You can be the fastest guy on the water but without the control you won’t win any races ” MATTEO IACHINO

MATTEO IACHINO
“I use the 134, the 107 and the 90 litre Starboard Isonics as my PWA quiver. They are 85, 71 and 63 wide. The whole range is very easy to use, especially on the reaches, which makes the boards feel extremely comfortable and stable on the water. That is very important, especially when you are sailing your heat, you can focus on the racing and not controlling your gear. That is what I look for, a set up that is as easy as possible so I can concentrate on the likes of Antoine and Pierre rather than worrying about keeping my board in the water and losing positions in the process. In light winds, strong winds, whatever you are sailing, you need to have an easy comfortable set up. I think Starboard is the easiest board to ride on the market. The scoop rocker line, the bottom shape and the tail, all are designed together to be extremely fast but at the same time user friendly. The tail on the Starboard is quite narrow. The straight rails are great for full speed on the reaches but not so easy when you gybe. So we make the tail thinner for the gybing. The whole trick of a perfect slalom board is finding the right balance between these two factors. You want an easy board on the reach, so you can play against the other guys and a small tail for controlled gybes. To find the right balance is not easy. We have done hours of testing on different prototypes to find this balance at Starboard. I use Carpenter and Z Fins, the size all depends on the wind and the state of the water, if it is choppy or gusty. You need to test every possible combination during the winter to build up your knowledge in all different conditions.  I have six sails registered, the 5.6, 6.2, 7.1, 7.8, 8.6 and 9.2. So basically I have two light wind sails, two strong wind sails and two medium wind sails. I need to test these sails on every board. Usually the 9.2 and 8.6 on the 134 and 7.8 and 7.1 on the 107 and the 5.6 and 6.2 on the 90. You can also use the 7.1 on the small board and the 8.6 on the medium board; you have to test all the combinations. I think the Point 7 sails are the fastest on the market. I have never had so much speed as with the combination of Starboard and Point 7. We are constantly working on that balance between speed and control. You can be the fastest guy on the water but without the control you won’t win any races. When it was blowing 40 knots in Fuerteventura I was riding my 5.6 and 90 litre Isonic. I used a 32 cm fin. I wanted to use a 31 but in the choppy conditions it was dangerous! With the 32 fin I was a little bit slower on the reach but at least I had more fin in the water at the gybe. It is weird that 1cm can make so much difference but I could feel it. For my harness lines, with light winds I use 26-28, with medium wind I use 30-32 and in the strong wind I use 36 cm lines. I am using a waist harness so I can be in as much control as possible. When you are further away from your harness in these high winds it allows your body to move more. The key to winning races is not about having the fastest equipment in a straight line. During the first round of racing I felt I had an amazing set up. I felt I was fastest on the reach but I missed the control in the gybing. I felt I needed to change because I was first at the mark but losing places in the gybe. You need to focus on everything and in those high winds it can be just about making it round the course without crashing! It is all a balance between control and speed! We need and always strive to find the correct balance!”

REMI VILA
“The request from the PWA riders for the 2016 range was to improve light wind performance. This means boards with early planing, sharp acceleration and fast gybe exits, as this is where many places are lost in a race. The rails became a lot sharper at 45 to 50cm to help planing and acceleration and we also increased the volume for the same reason. For gybe ability the deck shape became a bit rounder to have more grip in the gybe area. The resultant changes made the board much more aggressive on planing, acceleration and gybe exit. This applied not only for the light wind boards but also the medium and high wind boards. When Matteo joined, he wanted to make sure he liked the new boards and that they went with his Point 7 sails before he signed his contract. He was extremely happy with the combination and he signed. Next year with him onboard we will make more changes to the boards, but that is a whole different story. In 2017 we have improved our smaller shapes with a new outline and vee configuration to make them easier to gybe and more comfy in the straight line. They are automatically much faster. For the big boards our new shapes have been inspired by our Formula boards to make them plane very early and smooth to gybe even in strong winds.”

“ You have to fit your style of sailing to whatever board you ride ” ROSS WILLIAMS

ROSS WILLIAMS
“It felt pretty sweet winning a final on my 6.4 and my 98 litre, 61 wide small board in Fuerteventura. It’s not just the board or the sail that make your ride comfortable. It’s the board, the sail, the fin, the mast, the boom height, the harness line length, the harness, the sailor and his style, everything goes together to make a racing machine. On my Manta I have my footstraps all the way back: that feels great to me. I just try and find out the settings that suit the way I ride. You have to fit your style of sailing to whatever board you ride. You can do that with the fin size and where you put the mast foot and footstraps. I have my harness lines as short as possible without being overpowered but long enough to handle the big gusts. In the final they were around 32 cm, just enough so I could feel a bit of tension in my back. I used a waist harness and under the board a 32 fin. There are no secrets with my fins, anybody can go out and buy the same fin. The sail was a stock Gaastra that was sent to me from the warehouse. Ben Van Der Steen is in charge of the sail development. We are always looking for a sail that is faster, easier, with a better low end and that has more control in the high wind. We are looking for something with a decent range and that is comfortable to use; you don’t want to be pulled out of the water when you are sailing in a final or a semi-final. I think our gear is pretty fast and comfortable, it is not a magic recipe. I knew already in April that I would be riding that gear. I tested the different board and sail sizes with different fins, masts and all the variables and once I was happy with my results I knew I just had to go out and race. I knew I was as fast and comfortable as I could be on that gear so after that it’s just about going to races and it’s more about the sailor and how the dice rolls for you. Gaastra, Tabou are smaller than the other brands. We try to do things as efficiently as possible. Cederic Bordes has a very important input, he tries all the boards and lives close to Fabien our shaper. We know where we are against the other guys and we know what we want from our gear. Solid R and D pays off. We did not have many races so far this season so we have not had that much chance to show how amazing the gear is! I was in Maui at the beginning of the season using the GPS a lot to help me test. I would sail with anyone that wanted to sail with me. Whoever was there at the time, whatever the wind was, we would test. All the top guys test pretty comprehensively at the start of the season. It’s all about putting in the time! The first time I tried the Mantra this year I knew it was more my style. Last year’s board was a bit of a handful. No matter what I did I kept feeling my front foot was going to come out. It was not gybing so well either. This new board is just a machine to gybe. Cederic has done an awesome job there!”

CEDERIC BORDES
“At Tabou we try and keep a similar shape to our boards most years. We only change when we find an improvement or a better shape. This year we made the boards a little bit more compact. There is a little bit less vee to make it easier to ride and sit on the water. It is still the same size board, which is big for these conditions. In the racing here the reaches have been very downwind so we go with the wind. You need to plane through the chop with the least amount of resistance possible. It is not the most powerful board but it is a big easy comfortable board and works well in these tough conditions. There are several keys to a great board and that is one of them. The sails are also fast and easy. Sometime they miss a bit of power but when it is 40 knots you don’t need it. I am really happy with the gear. All the boards have cut outs, it is always a balance. You want to release the tail so you have more top speed but if you release it too much you fly on the gusts. Also on the gybe you will have less stability. It is always a balance where you want to put the limit. All brands have cut outs some are bigger than others and I think we are in the middle.”

PIERRE MORTEFON
“In Fuerteventura I was mostly using my 6.3 and sometimes my 5.0 on the 99 Falcon. I did a few heats with the 7m, still on the 99. The most difficult part of this event was dealing with the chop. It made it very tough and technical sailing. Sometimes I could use a bigger sail but most of the time I used a smaller sail to make it easier on the gybe and to avoid crashing. Since a long time we have had amazing speed with the 99 but now it gybes extremely well also. When I go into the mark I can steer where I want with confidence. The board is also a machine in a straight line, it’s not too sticky in the water. In Fuerteventura it was super challenging conditions but I could really control my board. This is super important. I have a powerful sail. It can be hard on my legs when the gusts hit me but out of the gybe my gears flies straight! The power can be a bit much in such strong winds but I could control it and at the last gybe I could attack with my speed out of the mark. The wind in Fuerteventura was very strong and gusty and controlling any equipment was difficult so obviously the balance between control and speed is vital. My board is probably a bit more biased towards speed but that is the way I like it. I live in Marseille France which also has a lot of strong winds so I am used to sailing in these conditions. It’s a bit flatter at home. Fuerteventura has some of the most challenging slalom conditions you can race in. I am using the Z fin and the Choco fins between 32 and 34 depending on how choppy it is. As I am using a 99l board I cannot go too small. So for sails 5m to 7m I use 32 to 34 fins. A 99 is still a relatively big board in high winds so you need at least 32 cm of fin. The board is ideal for 6.3m and 7m but I feel I could be on a smaller board on a 5m. The small equipment we are riding is amazing, a few years ago you would never have expected to be able to sail in those conditions on a 100l board. Now these boards handle the conditions remarkably well. I use quite long lines for high winds anything between 32 and 35cm. You need long lines for more control and leverage. The ideal situation with your equipment is when you can trust the board and sail to do their job and just focus on the racing. Then you can focus on what you have to do, where are you? Where are your opponents? Where is the wind? Where is the mark and how you approach the start! So as long as my equipment is prepared and I know all of my settings and combinations then I can just stay focussed on the racing. For sure in lighter winds the 9m and 138 combo is also amazing but most of my equipmenwt is really good. The 6.3 is fast, the 5 is easy and the 7.7 is very fast and the acceleration is amazing. Most of the races we use the 9 and now 6.3 and we have not raced on many of the sizes in the middle. For sure our 9 is one of the best sails on the market. Two years ago we changed a few things and now it has become our magic sail. A lot of the other brands are racing on 9.6 or 9.5 when I am using the 9m in a race, so I have a smaller sail with the same power but it is less of a handful to race with. I am using less mast, less boom and it is easier to control! The sail is super light and it works well!”

“ As long as my equipment is prepared then I can just stay focussed on racing ” PIERRE MORTEFON

CRAIG GERTENBACH
“In 2016 we were looking for the right balance of outline, rocker and tail release to give each size the trim needed to help the racer stay focussed on the race and not to worry about the boards flying away. The 90 and 99 were made for stronger winds like Fuerteventura and for maximum control and gybing performance around the course. The 112 and 121 Medium boards work best on sail sizes from 7-8.4, which give our riders enough lift to fly effortlessly over chop. The 129 and 138 were designed to plane as fast as possible and get you up to speed holding on to a 9m sail. Each have their own special shape features designed for the wind range they are used in. Next year’s Falcon range will be all about speed, control and range of use. The new shapes are 89/114/136 while the 99/121 and 129 remain unchanged. R&D took place at Lake Garda, Maui, south of France, Tenerife and South Africa. On the 89 we made the main goal to improve control through a new tail outline and bottom shape and tested it in winds of over 50 knots. Our most important board, with the biggest range is the 114, for riders using 8.4 all the way down to 7.0 on this shape; here we added a cm of centre and tail width to improve the light wind range, whilst other features in cut-outs and bottom shape have greatly improved control in strong winds. The unbeatable 138 has been updated after two years of R&D, with a new 136, which is shorter with a fuller nose outline. Planing in light winds has greatly improved whilst rocker and outline have been adapted to add the all-important control for the widest range possible. With 4 out of 6 wins on the 2015 PWA tour and currently leading the 2016 slalom rankings, we are confident that the 2017 range will continue to lead the way in slalom competitions worldwide!”

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THE WHEEL. Let’s be honest, to some extent we are all in search of satisfaction, a certain security and status. We want to spend our limited time on this planet in the most efficient way, develop our skills and follow  our passions in order to be happy. In contrast to that, we live in a society that constantly tells us to have certain things to be someone. Thus, we are running around trying to tick all the boxes to get what is needed. It is like a wheel that doesn’t seem to stop spinning.

Words  Florian Jung  // 

Photos  Pierre Bouras

PERFECT BREAK
If we manage to take a break, we have plenty of options for our holidays. In terms of windsurfing we can check the latest wind statistics, book the best rated hotels and have access to a lot of other parameters that help us to make the right decisions for a perfect “time off”.  After countless trips all around the globe, my priorities are slowly shifting. Don’t get me wrong, I am still in search of wind and waves but I try to focus on what’s essential instead of looking for the most comfortable option. I care about the experience of travelling and the challenges I have to overcome during the trip. It’s about discovering new horizons, to be in nature and to really take a break from all the things that don’t add any value to our life. With that in mind I meet up with Jules Denel and photographer Pierre Bouras ready for a new adventure. In a small village called Crozon in Brittany we started our surf trip on bikes. Equipped with a small bag of gear attached to our bike trailers, we set out to discover this part of the French coast from a different angle. It’s not about rushing from A to B in a certain time or about travelling gigantic distances. We just wanted to go with the flow and adapt to nature in the best possible way. If there is wind and waves, we stay in the water, if not, we hop on our bikes and travel to the next location, where we can set up our tents on the beach.

WINDEPENDENCE
We are independent, just the wind and waves tell us where to go.  Travelling by bike is different and bares a lot of surprises. It doesn’t cost anything apart from your own power. You get to the most exposed places and travel at a speed where you still see the flowers along the road.

Here are a few notes out of our diary:

Day 1: Let’s start an adventure.
In most parts of France there is a lack of petrol because of a national strike. In some areas the gas stations are closed down completely. Fortunately I have three brand new bikes, trailers and windsurf kit in the back of my car. With the last drops of gas I arrive in Brittany. Typically for this region it is pouring rain but really windy as well. We decide to jump in the water and start our trip with a windsurf session in La Palue. Jules and I are the only guys on the water and take one powerful Atlantic wave after the other. Surrounded by black rocky cliffs and dark clouds, the scenery looks like the end of the world in a black and white movie. With the last fading light, we set up our camp at the beach and decide to hit the road early in the morning.

Day 2: Chain gang.
With the first light we swing ourselves on the bikes.

Our equipment consists of…
1 x windsurf board (90l), a 5.3 and 4.5 sail, a boom, mast and surf sup board;
1 x bike with GPS;
2 x action cameras;
2 x tents with 3 sleeping bags;
1 x food bag with cooking equipment;
1 x photo equipment with a drone;
3 x bike backpacks with 2.5 litre water tanks.
In total every trailer has a weight of 45 kg, which results in us crawling uphill and almost taking off while going downhill. It is good training just before the start of the competition season. After a few hours up and down we are completely exhausted. We find a good spot for our tents on a cliff and decide to call it a day. After a big bowl of pasta we fall asleep like babies.

Day 3: Everything hurts.
It seems that windsurfers don’t really use the same muscles as bikers. Otherwise I can’t explain why everything hurts. We have a sore bum from sitting in the saddle and our legs feel like pudding. In addition to that, after a few kilometres we hear a cracking noise coming from the joint of Jules’s trailer coupling. Because of the weight of his boards or his radical racing style, the connection ripped apart and we are unable to put the trailer back on his bike. In good old “MacGyver” fashion, we just built a new joint consisting of a lot of duct tape. For the rest of the day we creep at a snail’s pace along the winding coastal road. After 50 kms our chicken legs are done and we camp in the garden of a friendly landlord that refilled our water supplies. We are a bit picky with our selection of night-time locations, so a sea view and the ocean within 30 seconds walking distance is always part of the program.

Day 4: Everything works.
We kind of got used to the pain and feel like proper bikers by now. At sunrise we are back on the road, to be exact on a little trail in a forest. Pierre, our photographer and navigator came up with the idea to take a few short cuts, in order to be in time at a spot called Audierne that shows a solid wave forecast for the afternoon. Unfortunately we didn’t know that these trails aren’t made for our bike trailers. After we got stuck between two trees for the third time it’s time to switch to reverse gear and go back to the main roads. At the end of the day we still made it in time for a sunset session on our SUP boards, riding really glassy waves. What a reward! For dinner this beautiful day ends with sausages over the fire on the beach.

Day 5-7: Happy wave hunting.
The night is fairly short. The sound of thundering waves just a few metres next to our tents make it impossible to fall asleep. When I open my tent zipper in the morning, a panorama of white lines stretched to the horizon appeared in front of my eyes. It is time for a morning shower! We rig our sails within seconds and jump in the boiling sea. The wind is blowing quite offshore, which makes it really tricky to catch the sets. It seems that the waves here have a turbo enforcement built in. The wipeouts feel like a natural shower with extra spins, eliminating the last bits of dirt behind our ears. Unfortunately the wind drops after a short period of time and we switch from sail to paddle. For lunch we are invited to a local shaper named Robin. He tells us about plenty of other spots further down the coast. Like gypsies on the run, we pack our bags and head down south in search of more waves. Because of changing tides and different swell directions we have to keep moving in a small area of about 5 km within the next two days. We stay around a small village called Plovan, where we find a really good right-hander that works just before high tide. We draw line after line in these perfect walls of water, creating our own ‘art’. Life is good and we are grateful for these special moments in the sea.

Day 8: Windsurfing in La Torche.
We start another active day with 30 km of cycling to the famous world cup location of La Torche. With a bit of luck we are able to get enough wind for a two-hour light wind session in the big bay.
The wind in this area is hard to predict and can change every moment. You really have to be ready for all the little gifts of nature. It’s something different to sail this spot without any pressure of squeezing all the action into a 15-minute heat. It is better to see Jules screaming on the water, while slicing a lip apart, than sailing against him as an opponent. It is all about sharing good vibes and pushing each other on the water.

Day 9: Tour de France with headwinds.
We are cruising in the direction of Concarnau. The waves have disappeared and we are heading further south. With a good amount of headwind, the long straight main road never seems to end. We try to slipstream, which doesn’t really work because of the length of our trailers. It’s getting boring and we start playing games, where the loser has to refill our empty food supplies for a proper dinner. Pierre is the unlucky loser and has to ride an additional 1.5 hours to find a supermarket that is open on a Sunday evening.

Day 10: The final lap.
The ocean looks like a mirror. Without waves or headwinds, we are on a mission to get to Quiberon. Pierre, our local boy, knows every little shortcut in this area like the back of his hand. We are speeding down the coast along cliffs and white sandy beaches. Jules and myself are using this opportunity for a timed run, where we compare our heartbeat and distance on our fitness watches as a final training test before start of the season. The days on the bikes have slowly made a positive effect on our endurance.

END OF THE LINE
Unfortunately, time is our biggest enemy and has finally run out for this trip. We have obligations for our sponsors coming up and our ways are going in different directions from here. Our days in nature were more than just another travel experience and I am looking forward to discovering other places and countries with this way of travelling. Everything you really need is there. It is simple but good. Moreover it is environmentally friendly and available for everybody that has a bike and the guts to try something new. What kind of stories will you tell your grandchildren one day while sitting in your rocking chair?

Our journey was proudly supported by the following partners:
www.garmin.com (Navigation)
www.canyon.com (Bikes)
www.hinterher.com (Surf trailer)
www.dakine.com (Accessories/clothing)

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