The cold weather does not deter Balz Müller from windsurfing even if it is snowing. Check out this clip from the crazy Swiss all rounder and fair play to the cameraman for braving it out in that weather!
The post SNOWSTORM: BALZ MÜLLER appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
Lightness and life are the two words we would use to sum up the M3’s character – incredibly precise and balanced in the hands, it breathes bags of energy, performance and enjoyment into the board … and your session.
Emblazoned with the simple motif ‘Slalom’, the OverDrive has the additional title of ‘M3’ after its name to signify its close ties with the brand’s thoroughbred, the Mach 3, benefiting directly from advances in their race programme development. Last tested back in 2018, the OverDrive has become taller and wider, and this year sees the addition of a small 4.6m to its ranks. High in aspect, it has one of the longest luff lengths in the test group, yet easily the shortest boom at just 202 cm, giving it a definite tall appearance. Rigged for test here on an Apex Pro 460, this 7.8 m can also be set on an RDM, using the option to change the two lower cams to the brand’s RDM version. Applying some downhaul tension, there’s a zippered pocket to provide the stretch in the luff sleeve for the bottom cam, the two upper cams fitted by feeling inside the sleeve via the neoprene-enclosed boom cutout. Setting with good depth to its profile, there’s a uniform amount of looseness along the length of the OverDrive’s leech, the sail’s chord mitigating any vertical stretch while the extended Kevlar x-ply luff sleeve is actually really soft and loose, providing what the brand refer to as ‘horizontal elasticity’. Incorporating monofilm throughout the rest of its panels, its batten pockets are oriented for improved airflow and efficiency, housing predominantly tube battens to enhance stability. And whilst the upper clew block (designed for use with an adjustable outhaul) is the recommended position for most, there is also a lower clew eyelet for lighter riders or extreme wind strengths.
The OverDrive focuses on maximum reaching speed with an increased twist and less back hand pressure. A lighter weight means improved handling characteristics.
We have mentioned many times in past Severne reviews that their mantra is for designing the lightest sails possible (referring to both physical and handling weight) … and this M3 version of the OverDrive continues in exactly the same vein. Tall and prominent, it stands bare and exposed to the wind, which coupled with its moderate to deep profile counters any negative impact the reduced boom leverage may impose. In the past, a shortened boom length tends to expose the sail’s lethargic vulnerability in gutless marginal conditions, but the M3’s tall stature and deep forward draft helps to provide enough useable feedback, even for a larger, more blunt-natured rider. This is also enhanced by the sail’s reduced luff curve and the movement in the soft luff sleeve, providing an extra bit of movement and pumping response. The high skin tension in the internal luff panel provides the elastic limit and punch, quickly settling into a comfortable, relatively upright position. Compact in nature and incredibly light and balanced in the hands, it responds well as gusts hit, instantly accelerating and making the whole ride alive and engaging. Used in variable conditions, the M3 also has an impressive natural range on one setting, powering well in light airs, yet asking little of the rider and retaining its manners as the wind increases. That is not to say that it’s not worth tinkering with the settings to optimise performance … yet the ease of rigging and set makes the OverDrive as plug and play as any three-cammed sail we can recall. Its handling and manners are also maintained in transition, the cams rotating automatically, requiring minimal pressure as the wind fills on the new tack, and certainly no intervention from the rider. A pleasure to use whatever your weight or riding style, the OverDrive speaks volumes for just how versatile a three-cammed sail can be.
THE LINE UP
The post SEVERNE OVERDRIVE M3 7.8 2020 TEST REVIEW appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
Offering balanced, easy handling and a supremely useable power delivery over an impressive tuning range, the 2XC is all about maximum enjoyment on the water with minimal hassle.
The 2XC is in the Simmer lineup for another season, providing twin-cam power for “high performance freerace” sailing. Dressed in green and yellow for 2020, it has similar dimensions to its 2019 predecessor, with a short luff and remaining comparatively long in the boom. Compatible with either RDM or SDM (and tested here on an SX10 version of the latter), it sets in a conventional manner, exhibiting a moderate luff curve and plenty of deep camber pushed low and forward in the draft, the leech falling away progressively down to batten four. The two Tekcams were straightforward to fix onto the mast, the zippered pockets providing the stretch required in the luff sleeve. And just like its predecessor, as well as all other Simmers in their range, the 2XC benefits from the brand’s ‘vertical shaping’ concept, designed to redistribute the sail’s forces through a larger area and lock the sail’s sweet spot lower in the draft. Build quality is excellent, with x-ply in the foot, clew and luff panels, x-ply used extensively in the upper batten pockets and abrasion beading along the length of the main cross-batten. There is also the brand’s trademark Kevlar stretch control system in place, with a single strand radiating from the clew to the front edge of batten three, to build in structure and ensure the sail twists correctly when under pressure.
2XC has also become a favourite sail of the team for windfoiling, with its dependable and stable power band. Able to get up and stay up on windfoil setups requires a lot of stability and not everyone wants a four cambered race sail. 2XC is the ideal solution for no compromise.
2020 2XC from Simmer Style on Vimeo.
Taken out in light marginal winds initially, the 2XC is a stunning sail for making the most of less than ideal conditions. With its deep forward profile and relatively long boom, it generates plenty of useable feedback through both hands. Passive or active, it can adapt to different riding styles – just stand there and let the sail take the lead, or actively pump and make the most of the softness, flex and movement in the sail’s leading edge. Once going the 2XC feels user-friendly and dependable, the centre of effort is super low and forward, effortlessly transferring its energy directly to the board, and almost bypassing the rider. It is an easy sail to get on with and use for long periods, requiring little input or exertion from the rider. Happy cruising on all points of sail, it covers distance with ease, pulling positively through lulls and finding another gear automatically in gusts. As the wind increases the 2XC can be re-tuned with more tension, which, combined with the use of the lower clew eyelet, helps to increase twist and lock the centre of effort in place. It’s not the loosest slipperiest contender here, but has real versatility in its application, capable of powering everything from the widest freeride platform, right through to freerace performers and even foiling boards. Indeed, in light to moderate airs the 2XC is a great engine for foiling, its forward draft location and back hand feedback making it super useful for kick-starting flight on the widest platforms. Cam rotation is clean and natural in transition, the low power position never pulling the rider to their toes or unsettling their stance.
THE LINE UP
The post SIMMER 2XC 7.8 2020 TEST REVIEW appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
Test editor Sam Ross //
Second testers Tris Best, Leo McCallin, Joe North and Chris Beng.
The first test was originally published in the November/ December 2020 followed by the catch up test in January / February 2021 issue of Windsurf Magazine.
In last year’s wave board test we spoke about the gradual blurring of the lines between compact and conventional designs. Some of the visual hallmarks between the two are a little less obvious within this year’s crop as there is a significant confluence of planshapes and rocker lines across the range of boards. All the boards still sit towards compact or conventional, but unlike modern politics, the boards are much less at the extremes. All these boards have design attributes that make them excel in certain conditions, but with the blending of the styles there is much more crossover than ever before. All the boards in the test get going well; they reach fast and hold ground upwind well too. In the past you would have expected certain fin types to have strengths that were always coupled with a negative. Wave boards that turn tightly don’t plane early, quads are slow or thrusters have lots of drive but you can’t adjust your arc easily. All these designs have not only managed to maintain the benefits of certain setups but soften or eradicate these traditionally viewed Achilles heels of boards.
Bottom design seems to be the leading evolution across most of the boards in test, with many featuring a range of hull shapes across the breadth of the board from mono concave to V. Channels are also featured in more than half the boards, allowing more variation in rocker, but also hull shape. Notably the more compact designs both see more drawn in noses, and whilst they still have long parallel sections, this change in plan shape is there to help enhance their performance in more down the line conditions, rather than just their traditional onshore playgrounds.
As always when testing wave boards, the weight of the rider plays a large factor in findings. Test team rider weights for this review varied from 72-85 kg. For our testers these boards would work equally as a ‘one-board-only choice’ or a smaller board as part of a two-board quiver.
The
On the other hand, the
These boards blend performance across conditions more than ever before. There is a board for every sailor here, no matter what the ratio of mush to massive it is that you sail. Think about what conditions you encounter most, but also those that you are looking to access to make the right choice.
The post 85 LITRE WAVE BOARD TEST 2021 appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
German Rider and film maker, Nico Prien has not only moved to Starboard as a rider but the bigger picture is that he will will also be taking on the role of assistant brand manager in the windsurfing department! Sounds like he will be spending a lot of his time living in Bangkok, and continue to work on his Youtube Channel with his main base still at home in Germany. Check out the video for all the details!
“We are excited to announce the latest transfer to our Dream Team: Nico Prien joins the Starboard Team from 2021 onwards. Most of you will probably have come across his Youtube Channel or know him from following the World Tour. But that’s not all, Nico is not only joining our riders Dream Team but will also take on a role as an assistant manager in our windsurfing department. Nico’s passion for windsurfing and marketing leave no room for doubt that he will be a great addition to our Team. We look forwards to this new partnership and promise that you all have lots to look forwards to as well”
“I’m ecstatic to not only ride Starboards from 2021 on but also work on supporting the brand in the management aspect. Starboard being the only windsurfing company that genuinely and actively considers the environment in all their actions, is the perfect match for me. I’m thrilled to work closely with Svein Rasmussen and Tiesda You who both have shaped the windsurfing world in the last decades.
Realistically this will probably mean that I’ll take part in competitions less compared to the previous years. Of course, I will still want to be the fittest and best version of myself and do well in certain competitions; being able to compete on Starboard’s iSonics and foil boards will help tremendously with that. On the other hand, a lot of interesting new things will come my way with this move that I’m more than excited to document and share on YouTube.”
The post NICO PRIEN: STARBOARD MOVE appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
It lives up to its Stubby lineage with lots of play through the back foot in the turns to help vary the radius to make up for sloppy conditions or poor rider timing. However it continues to excel beyond the slop and into better conditions. Once in more side-shore conditions, the rails bite well in the bottom turn and you can adjust your turning arc without the fear of the board skipping out on you.
This board is just as much fun on the way out as you have a real connected snowboard type feel, where your environment becomes a stunt park opening up in front of you and makes you confident to go for moves.
Those looking for a more planted feel, or full control in the most extreme conditions, may prefer the Grip, but the Mamba offers great performance in almost every environment, allowing for a fun, fast and exciting ride.
The post FANATIC MAMBA TE 84 2021 TEST REVIEW appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
Thomas Traversa has just started his own YouTube channel where he is launching a new series called “Guided tour” which will share stories about his trips and special sessions. As you might guess with Thomas Traversa, we will most likely be seeing a lot of epic breaks, big waves and storm chasing involved. His first video documents a trip to Reunion Island last year where he spent a week shooting the new Gaastra and Tabou 2021 equipment in epic conditions!
“For this first episode, I take you to Reunion Island and the spot of Pointe au Sel”
The post GUIDED TOUR: REUNION WITH THOMAS TRAVERSA appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
VERDICT: If you have had a break away from quads, worried that they are too niche or sluggish, this board should make you reconsider. Its planted feel gives you huge amounts of confidence in everything you do, and offers plenty of potential for both jumping and riding. This board really excels on the wave, but the conditions don’t have to be stellar to achieve excellent performance. From cross-on to cross-off, this board should give you everything you need in a wave board.
In terms of construction Goya have elected for a fused cell expanded polystyrene in their board construction with extra reinforcement around the deck, rails and the body of the board. This is their full S-glass and carbon layup, the brand claiming it will make it a third stronger, stiffer and lighter than conventional boards.
The Custom Quad comes in a huge range of sizes from 60 litres, all the way through to 114 litres. The board is finished with MFC straps, as well as MFC fins, with twin centre US boxes and Mini Tuttle boxes for the sides.
Goya Windsurfing 2020 Boards – Custom 3 & Custom 4 from Forward Maui LLC on Vimeo.
On the wave the board turns even the choppiest face into a smooth palette to carve on. The board has a huge amount of grip and drive through the turn and is so surefooted that it encourages you to hit sections tighter and later than you normally would. You can easily redirect through the bottom turn with no risk of overloading or tripping a rail. Through the top turn it reconnects smoothly, even when you push the fins out and continues to maintain speed.
It feels all of its quoted 89 litre size, but at no point does the board feel too big underfoot, or out of control. It offers huge amounts of control, but at the same time stays exciting to sail across all conditions.
VITAL STATS:
Volume (Quoted): 89 litres.
Length: 225.8 cm.
Width: 58.4 cm.
1ft off (Tail Width): 37.5 cm.
Bottom Shape: Vee with double concave in the nose, becoming straight double by the front straps and transitioning to mono concave in the tail.
Weight (‘Naked’): 6.5 kg.
Fins: MFC QS_300 RTM (2 x US + 2 x MT)
Sail Range (Quoted): 3.7-5.7
Sizes Available: 60, 68, 74, 79, 84, 89, 94, 104, 114.
PRICE: £2099.00
The post GOYA CUSTOM 4 PRO 89 2021 TEST REVIEW appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
The new bottom shape is focussed around quick planing and increased top-end speed. From this adaptation in bottom shape, the outline of the board has also changed, with more fullness in the nose and parallel lines throughout, the outline finishing off into a swallow tail.
The Pyramid is an uncluttered piece of design with some pretty specific targets. Whilst much of the bottom design is there to make the board as fast as possible, Quatro have also tried to make this board with as much grip and drive as they can.
The Pyramid comes in Pro Carbon S-glass construction, which not only features rail and deck reinforcement, but on the bottom features what Quatro call, “FBS™ Full Bottom Sandwich in double thickness for ultimate strength.”
The board is finished with MFC footstraps and a MFC thruster setup of RTM US box 18 cm and Mini Tuttle 10 cm sides.
Off the plane the Pyramid has plenty of float and tracks well, its extra length giving good glide if needed and is helpful for float and ride. Once powered up though it accelerates early and easily onto the plane with a small amount of rider encouragement.
When you first turn this board you need to keep your wits about you! Not only will it turn tightly, but fast too, and don’t be surprised if you are round your first gybe before you’ve really thought about what’s going on.
This turning ability and drive is great on the wave face, as the board has an extra gear halfway through the turn that will reward you the more you commit. The better the conditions, the better the performance, as you get great feedback through the board, really feeling the contours of the wave as you turn.
Whilst the Pyramid will offer great turning in most conditions with enough speed and early planing ability for jumping on the way out. This board really deserves to be unleashed in cross to cross-off conditions to unravel its top potential.
VITAL STATS:
Volume (Quoted): 87 litres.
Length: 228.5 cm
Width: 58 cm
1ft off (Tail Width): 35.5 cm
Bottom Shape: Mono-concave with an increasing wash of double concave, becoming straight double concave in front of the fins, to vee behind the fins.
Weight (‘Naked’): 6.1 kg
Fins: MFC TF_18 RTM (US) + 2x MFC TF_10 (MT)
Sail Range (Quoted): 3.7-5.5
Sizes Available: 72, 77, 82, 87, 92.
PRICE: £2099.00
The post BOARD: QUATRO PYRAMID PRO 87 2021 TEST REVIEW appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
The bottom shape is so innovative that it has a new name. RRD call it a Mono-Tri-V, which is essentially a long channel down the middle of the board with a mono concave. This is designed to increase lift and therefore early planing, but the vee at the back of the board focuses on responsiveness.
The Wave Cult comes in 4 sizes, from the smallest 74 litre, to the 94 litre for heavier riders. The Wave Cult can be used with both tri-fin and quad setup for full tuning potential.
The first thing to strike you about the Wave Cult is its striking look. There is a lot of design in this board, with a drawn in nose you might see on a more traditional board, but a compact shape that includes wingers and a swallow tail, and that’s before you turn the board over and see the hull shape. All this makes you think that it’s going to be a technical board to sail, however it’s far from it. Despite being one of the smaller boards on test, it felt buoyant and corky underfoot, with much of the volume packed under the rider’s feet. In thruster mode this board can feel as much like a high wind bump and jump board as a wave board, depending on how you choose to use it.
It gets going easily with progressive acceleration and good speed. The five slot boxes in the board offer plenty of tuning options. In thruster mode, packing the fins tightly together gave the best turning performance, whilst running the rear fin slightly further back enhanced the more ‘blasty’ feel of the board. Even moving the mast foot back helped you make the most of the boards outline, meaning you could tune the board for the conditions, but also for your favoured type or style of sailing.
You can turn the Cult incredibly tightly in thruster mode; small amounts of pressure on the back foot make a big difference to turn radius. However the Cult excelled most on the wave when switching to quad setup we found. The Cult has great drive through the turns and this was especially highlighted in quad mode. This setup allowed you to sail much more on the front foot and gave you the ability to turn incredibly tightly, but still with continued drive in the bottom turn. And even in quad mode it still remained fast and spritely to plane and sail round the break.
The post RRD WAVE CULT LTD 82 2021 TEST REVIEW appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
The Needles, off the west tip of the Isle of Wight, are renowned for the treacherous waters that surround them. Complex tidal patterns combined with strong winds and underwater rock shelves combine to make some gnarly, choppy conditions that are punishing for any sort of watercraft. With lockdown behind them and yearning for an adventure, Tom Court, Ross Williams and Tom Buggy organized a mad mission out to these colossal rocks on a kite, wing foil and a windsurfer to celebrate the summer solstice! John Carter was on hand in the safety boat with his brand new flagship Canon 1DX M3 camera to capture the images, while Tom Buggy, a well-known Extreme Sailing Series sailor, was thrown into the deep end on Ross’s slalom kit and tells his story of the mission.
BACKGROUND
Tom Buggy – “I have been living in Cowes on the Isle of Wight for the last 19 years, but grew up sailing and windsurfing at Stokes Bay and Hill Head with an active bunch of young windsurfers. It was a great time to be a keen youth sailor with time on your hands. We travelled a lot to places like Maui and Western Australia and all competed on the UKWA and spent every other spare bit of time windsurfing locally on the south coast.
For the last eight years I have worked with a busy sailing world series in large performance multihulls as a sailor, and also in technical support and logistics. The series later moved onto foiling multihulls, which got me more into foil racing and the technology and maintenance needed. From about 2014 I have been kite foiling, and then sailing caught up. We then realised the excellent conditions we have on the island for surf and downwind foiling. I have been lucky enough to integrate all of this into my work. I am now part of the shore, delivery and technical support crew on the grand prix maxi race yacht circuit. The boat is based in Palma Majorca, so most of my work is now overseas. I also work with the GC32 foiling multihull series for one of the teams.
THE PLAN
We have an active chat group with a bunch of keen foilers, who surf, tow and downwind on the Isle of Wight where we regularly get together and tow foil, surf, or dock start in any bit of water we can utilize. I suggested at the start of June we should do something fun for the summer solstice, as it was due to fall over a weekend. Maybe there would be waves and we could do tow-ins, but as it got closer to the date that idea started to fade and it started to look windy instead, so we decided something wind sport orientated might be a better option given the conditions.
Part of the group is resident pro kiter Tom Court and pro windsurfer Ross Williams, both amazing wind sport riders, who also have lots of equipment, so we would be sorted kit wise with kites, windsurfers and wing surfers! Living on an island, most of us are proficient in several watersports, so we had a lot of bases covered and the more surf orientated riders were happy to volunteer to do safety cover in a Zap Cat and R.I.B. Druids have Stonehenge for solstice carry-ons, but on the Isle of Wight we have the incredible Needles landmark to the far west of the island. So with three different watersports (kite, windsurf and wing) set for a solstice raid on the Needles, the plan was set with the riders, and a R.I.B. and a Zap Cat for the essential safety cover!
GEAR
I arrived at the beach around 7 p.m. with an 86-litre tri-fin wave board, kites, surfboards, and a foil board, but with no idea what to ride. It was around 18-22 knots with a strong flooding tide. There was a fair bit of head scratching until Ross decided to take his new GA wing foil setup, Tom Court was foil kiting to stem the tide and then planning to change later on to a twin tip kiteboard, leaving a brand new 2020 GA Vapor slalom sail and Tabou Manta slalom board from Ross’s van for me to pilot! The plan was that I would ride the slalom gear upwind and swap over at the Needles with Ross so he could windsurf and I could have a session on the wing! I was super stoked to jump on some amazing new slalom kit safe in the knowledge I could beat the strong flooding tide and also fully send it home. It has been a good few years since I’ve hung onto a large cammed race sail for dear life, this was going to be a challenge, but after lockdown I was totally up for it!
Being fashionably late, Ross had already made up his mind he was winging up and piled the new slalom gear by his van. I think to save a box-fresh race sail and board being totally destroyed, he was very keen to assist me setting up! I was allowed to adjust the footstraps and that was about it!
UPWIND MISSION
First thing you notice in the Solent, especially the Western approaches, is the raw power of the ebbing or flooding current. It’s immense. One thing I have learned from years racing yachts here is you always try to avoid any long legs that involve a full–frontal attack on the current. Even on a fast planing craft, it’s pretty futile and requires fast tacking inshore and local knowledge of back eddies and coves for tidal relief.
Once in Alum Bay you can fetch towards the cliffs and get mega lifting breezes and big current relief. That said I was toasted by the time I got to the stunning outcrops of the Needles fairway. The Solent is always changing. Knowledge of this water and its idiosyncrasies is key. The waters are always moving and rarely still. A mere one hour’s difference can mean an amazing session like the Gorge, or a trip down the coast and off to the English Channel!
THE NEEDLES
It felt like I had already had my arms lengthened by 1 metre before I even made it to the Needles and I was taken by surprise how the water jacked up on the tidal race that stems west from the famous lighthouse. It went from choppy to 2 metre vertical head on chop on both tacks combined with a noticeable strong undertow. The amazing Needles form the western tip of a band of chalk that traverses the centre of the Isle of Wight, stretching right over to Culver Cliff on the eastern tip of the island. This chalk ridge continues west under the sea to Dorset and is believed to have been connected at one time to the ‘Old Harry’ rocks, located off Poole, about 20 miles away. As if these incredible rocks are not dramatic enough on their own, the 80 metre tall red and white lighthouse stands boldly at the end of the outermost chalk stack, to warn ships of the perils of this dangerous stretch of water!
You would not want to swim, or even be on a small boat there long, even with tide and wind moving the same way. To the east it was strangely calmer with a slow rolling ground swell. After the sail up with the strong flooding tide I had got used to the head-on chop, but after the relief of Alum Bay I wasn’t aware of how gnarly the sea state would turn at the end of the Needles lighthouse. You would get picked up on a vertical 2 metre wedge of chop and driven full speed into another coming 180 degrees the other direction. As you can imagine, being fully lit on some slalom kit with only marginal control, this sea state was not ideal! Even though the wind was generally good, the current, the undertows, back eddies and overfalls made this stretch of water scary, and a place I was not keen to fall off in. Once you got around it and footed off to the east and towards Freshwater Bay, the sea instantly became more manageable with a rolling ground swell. I wasn’t too keen on turning around and heading back into that maelstrom. Ross is heavily involved with GA Sails R&D, so I imagine he was keen to see how the new kit felt, but given the fact I have only wing foiled once and that it was pretty gnarly conditions, we decided against a mid-channel kit swap, well that and he’d forgotten his leash!
THE GEAR
The GA 7.1 Vapor felt amazing, (given my limited big sail knowledge), and although fully lit was surprisingly easy on the back hand and soaked up the pressure with massive forward drive. The fun really started on the way home when I turned it downwind, I felt like a warp speed captain!
It was a slog to get there, but once under the lighthouse the huge natural beauty and geography of the white cliffs takes over! It is quite an intimidating place, but also incredibly beautiful. Half my mind was on enjoying my sail and the other half was on pure survival.
THE SOLSTICE
Sailing under such an iconic landmark and with the wild elements is always a special experience, but the fact it was the longest day of the year and the sun came out after the rain around 8 p.m. made it even more special. After coming ashore, we were having celebration beers on the beach just after 9 p.m. and with another hour of light left. I could have gone out for another hour’s session if I wasn’t completely toasted after hanging on at 30+ knots downwind all the way home.
THREE SPORTS
I think the fact we were on three different sets of wind sports equipment really made the session. The three of us are able to do all three sports to a point, but have a weakness in at least one.
I’ve windsurfed for almost 30 years and kited for 15 years, but only wing surfed once, so the thought of dealing with that out there was less than appealing. It was super cool having Tom boost massive airs right in front of the lighthouse while Ross effortlessly glided down never–ending swells along the cliff walls. All the while I mowed the lawn at Mach 3, albeit with amazing scenery.
ALUM BAY
After the intense session off the Needles, the trip back down was a much-needed relief. The sun was out, the breeze was pumping along the huge vertical white cliffs and the sea far more manageable.
The only problem was I was about 90% cooked by then. Alum Bay is right before the Needles and provided a bit more shelter from the chop and crazy tides of the Solent. It is also famous for the variety of coloured sands in the cliffs formed by three minerals – quartz, felspar and mica, which in their pure state are white, but are coloured by their contamination by other minerals.
AFTERMATH
With family it’s hard to justify more than an hour here or there on the water, so to suddenly jump on a powerful race setup, concentrate on the conditions and sail for over 2 hours fully maxed was full on. I felt a bit stiff before bed, but the next day was next level. I could feel the old windsurfing muscles in there somewhere, but they were drowned out by the creaking foundations.
After lockdown it was a good way to dust off the cobwebs after all that time locked inside. We were lucky on the island, with extremely low Covid-19 numbers and a run of amazing weather, life was good, if not a little strange.
It also helped that over the eight weeks of lockdown there was only maybe 1-2 windy days missed. That said running and cycling is no substitute for actually doing your sport, so there where a few areas that I noticed due to such a long hiatus off the water.
Being out in the wild sea off our island gives you the ultimate feeling of freedom and appreciation for natural beauty and the power of the sea. It felt good to be alive, lucky to have this where we live and lucky to share it with talented friends, and all on a day when the sun shines the longest!”
The post ISLE OF WIGHT: NEEDLES MISSION! appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
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Cover: Robby Naish at La Perouse, Maui. Photo: Fish Bowl Diaries
BIG JUICY READS
ROBBY NAISH
Continuing our ‘Mark of a champion’ series, we question the king of windsurfing, Robby Naish, finding out what makes him so successful.
THE HISTORY OF RRD
From humble beginnings to a major watersports company, John Carter learns about the history and rise of RRD from its founder Roberto Ricci.
CHASING EPSILON
From Cornwall to the south coast of England, Brittany and Ireland, we get a flavour of the windsurfing that went down from the remnants of hurricane Epsilon.
DRAFT MATTERS
Duotone explain why they view draft position as a very important buying factor when deciding on your new wave sail, if not the most important one.
INCREDIBLE ISLAY
Twenty-year-old Islay Watson from Aviemore, Scotland, has made a very successful debut in the iQFoil class, she tells us more about her winning ways.
GEAR SHED
2021 5.0 ALL-ROUND WAVE SAIL TEST
The test team get their hands on some of the latest 5.0 wave sail designs and evaluate them in UK wind and surf! The lineup is:
Duotone Super Hero 5.0,
Ezzy Wave 5.0,
GA Manic 5.0,
Goya Guru 5.0,
Loftsails Wavescape 5.0,
Naish Force 4 5.0,
Point-7 SPY 5.0,
RRD Compact Vogue 5.0,
Severne Blade 5.0.
CATCH-UP 2021 85-LITRE WAVE BOARD TESTS
Our test team check out some wave boards that arrived just after last month’s test, namely the Naish Assault 85, Severne Pyro 87 and Starboard UltraKode 82.
TEKKERS
PETER HART MASTERCLASS – RISKING IT FOR THE BISCUIT
In sport, evidence suggests that the more you speculate, the more you accumulate… within reason. Harty examines the notion of risk and how to embrace it.
BOARDSHORTS
LATEST & GREATEST
Pages dedicated to new stuff and nothing but new stuff for all your new stuff needs.
SITTIN’ ON THE DUNNY
EDITORIAL – #400
Celebrating our 400th edition, the editor muses on the joys of printed matter.
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The post #400 JANUARY FEBRUARY 2021 appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
Summer 2020 turned out to be an awesome season for Club Vass despite all the unprecedented challenges. Club Vass is already getting set for summer 2021 and are hoping things will be back to a more normal way of life by then!
“We can’t wait for summer and we’re looking forward to a bumper one. Following last year’s awesome season, we’re fully confident we’ll be able to overcome any challenges that 2021 may throw at us and ensure your Club Vass holiday goes more than smoothly.
We’re freshening up in anticipation… The hotel is undergoing a thorough refurbishment with a new WiFi system, covering every room and all public spaces to keep you well connected throughout your stay. We’ll have a fabulous fresh look with new paintwork and doors throughout and our new bedding in all rooms will mean you’re fully refreshed for great days on the water. Talking of which, the brand new 2021 kit is on its way to Vass, with a full range of foil kit from Slingshot for wind and wing foiling as well as windsurf kit from Goya, Fanatic, Severne, RRD, JP & Duotone.
Bookings are flooding in, so get in touch soon to guarantee your favourite place in the sun. Roll on summer!”
0844 4630191
Outside UK +44 844 4630191
The post CLUB VASS: FRESH FOR 2021! appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
Being the best I can be is something really important to me. I think this personality trait is the same for most champions in every single sport, but also in life in general. For myself I think it’s a family story, for example it was not easy to play board games when I was young, because we all wanted to be the best and win. We were always very competitive.
To be a champion you work! All the great champions worked and trained as much as humanly possible to try and be the best in all the different areas of their sports. For sure hard work is not enough on its own, you also need some natural skills, but to be a champion or one of the best, you have to work hard and there is no escaping that. I would say it is sometimes difficult to deal with this because it’s also important to work smartly! Sometimes I am scared because I am not training while my rivals are, but it’s also important sometimes to take advantage of resting or taking a family break. All aspects of life are important to be the best!
There are for sure plenty of moments that changed my life and made me who I am. When I started windsurfing when I was around seven years old, during the summer I was sailing as much as I could. The trainer of the sailing club where I was windsurfing had to take me out of the water for lunch every day; back then I could have sailed seven hours in a row! A few years back I was leading the Turkish PWA event before the last day. It was a crazy experience! I lost 4 or 5 places in the final race and I was pretty devastated. On the other hand, in my head I knew that I had the ability to be at the top and that one day I would come back stronger and I would be able to win!
I think one of the best decisions I have made was to have a family, helping me keep a normal life alongside my sporting career. My family give me great support and this is important. There have not been many bad decisions over the last few years. I have had a happy life, nice results and now a world title. All the small defeats have managed to change me and help me work harder and learn from them.
To achieve your goal and move forward you need a balanced life, where you are happy in all the different segments of your life. I think I have it! To be the best you need so many things to come together at the same time. And to be able to achieve all of them you need balance! It’s not the easiest, but it’s really important, you need to know yourself that you are content!
I am chasing victory and being the best at what I do! Second best is not the goal. I want to win races and for this I know I need to work. Training is really important, but I think I am just in love with what I do, and to be able to push hard you need to find pleasure in what you do. At the moment I am also travelling a lot and I am not often home with my family and my son. That’s difficult, but it also helps me work as hard as possible while I am away!
It’s not easy to deal with stress and pressure when racing or at events. Dealing with this comes with time, with the experiences you get event after event and season after season. I work with some people on this subject to find the best solution for me to deal with the mental side. To climb the last stairs, the mental aspect of winning is super important. It’s all about balance; you need stress, but the good sort of stress! It’s easy when you are fully under pressure, you need to focus on your racing, not the other things and be efficient. I just have one word in my mind in the heat of the moment – enjoy!
I love to be the fastest and pass the finishing line in the lead. I also really enjoy clean, fair racing, when you are fighting hard, and you are trying to pass the other top riders. I also love tough conditions.
I have focus, I am obstinate and passionate! I love life!
I don’t really spend time with Antoine or Matteo for example. Not that I have a problem with them; for me it’s normal to stay away from the competition. It is sometimes good to train though a bit with them away from the contests to push yourself and be in real racing conditions, so you are ready for actual events.
I am a Dad, so now it’s super easy for me to escape windsurfing life! It brings me quickly back to reality when I am at home dealing with my son!
I like to keep my diet natural! I eat a strong salty breakfast with eggs and then sometimes a quick PowerBar after training. I eat a big lunch again after sailing or a training session. I try to eat enough to be able to stay active until dinner. I am not really into powder or any artificial supplements.
There is a saying that the formula for winning is 33% talent, 33% work and 33% luck. But luck is more the opportunity that you are able to create from the other 66%!
Depending on the time of the year, the busiest weeks can have eight hours gym, twenty hours sailing and three hours recovery. But we also have to deal with lots of other things like preparing equipment or organizing travel!
When you decide to do something, do it completely!
The post MARK OF A CHAMPION: PIERRE MORTEFON appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
Fast, early planing and easy to sail, the Naish Assault offers a user-friendly versatile bump and jump board that is still plenty of fun on the wave. Its fast smooth ride means that it offers plenty of performance across all water states.
The new look Assault line returns for 2021 as Naish’s wave board line specifically designed as an easy to use versatile platform. Unlike any of the other boards on test, the Assault is designed and supplied as a single fin. However, it comes with the option to set the board up as a thruster as well. Naish emphasise its ease of use, but also its versatility, not only in waves, but also on flat water.
As you might expect from a board designed as a single fin, its main design focus is speed, with a relatively flat rocker line and a continuous vee bottom shape throughout the board. At 219 and 58 cm wide, the board is neither the shortest nor widest on test, but certainly fits into the compact outline shape that you’d expect from many of the crossover wave boards. The visibly square nose and tail are joined by a very parallel outline, more than highlighting its place as a compact wave board.
Naish’s S-glass construction means that the 85 Assault weighs in as the lightest board on test at just shy of 6 kg (naked). The board is finished with grooved and embossed deck pads, Naish ergonomic straps and supplied with a 23 cm MFC AR US box single fin, with additional blanking plates for the thruster slot boxes. Naish are also offering a series of custom Assaults with more multi-fin options.
When you step on the Assault its compact outline and overall plan shape make it feel larger than its quoted 85 litres. As expected, it planes early and is fast, with the feel of a high wind blaster. The board’s vee and construction mean that whilst having a fast ride, it’s also very controllable and ‘soft’ across rough water states and will give plenty of options for those looking for a fast bump and jump board, with plenty of spark to make it engaging enough, even on high wind flatter days.
The single fin helps the board rocket upwind and gives plenty of lateral stability for any level of wave sailor looking for something that is easy to get on with, with minimal tuning. Turning on the wave the single fin gives the board plenty of grip and speed, giving you the ability to fully commit to turns without any worries of skipping out or bogging a rail. In the top turn, if you hit the right section it’s possible to get the board to snap back round, but if you do want to get a more rail to rail feeling you will need to set the board up in thruster mode. In thruster mode the turns tighten up and there is still plenty of drive and speed, but it doesn’t necessarily allow you to adjust your arc through the turn, rather make better use of the board’s vee as you transition from bottom to top turn.
PRICE: £2099
The post NAISH ASSAULT 85L 2021 TEST REVIEW appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
The Professional Windsurfers Association is pleased to announce that the PWA World Tour will become the latest sporting arena to introduce equal amounts for prize winners in the men’s and women’s fleets at its events. Building on the achievements of events like the Gran Canaria PWA World Cup, which has provided fully equal prize money for both divisions since 2018, all events will now enjoy a prize money structure that equally respects the outstanding pool of talent and professionalism that exists in the women’s divisions, alongside the men’s divisions.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has been a difficult time for everyone, including the PWA, with almost all events being forced to cancel in 2020, it has provided an unusual opportunity for review, analysis and change. Earlier in the year, the PWA announced that the points allocation of the annual constructors ranking would be upgraded to grant equal points to female riders, offering greater value to manufacturers for supporting women on their team. Now the final steps have been taken to bring prize money amounts in line too.
The new structure will mean that all competitors at events who earn prize money will receive the same amount for their finishing position, regardless of gender. This has been achieved by reducing the depth of places to which the men’s division are awarded prizes and reallocating those funds to the women’s division. Although fewer of the men’s division will receive prize money, those that do will not receive any significant reduction to the amounts currently awarded.
In the Men’s division, prizes will be awarded to the top 16, reduced from top 20 (or 24 depending on discipline). In the Women’s division, prizes will be awarded to the top 8 for fleets of 12 or over, and top 6 for fleets of 8 – 12 competitors. In each case the amounts awarded for each position will be the same for men and women. The differences of the depth of the fleet to which each division receives prize money is proportionate to overall fleet sizes.
These changes will usher in a new era of equality in windsurfing and, combined with other adjustments to equipment rules, will help to further boost the already growing participation in the women’s divisions.
I think that for the next generation its huge that they can step into competing in the PWA and know that they are equal, because we put the same effort into the sport, we do the same amount of hours, travel the same, take the same risks, so in the end I think it’s very important that we made this step. I’m really looking forward to how this is going to help get more women into the sport”
We’ve been doing it in Gran Canaria now for the last 3 years, and I am happy to see that the whole tour now will have something equal too.”
The post PWA ANNOUNCES EQUAL PRIZE STRUCTURE FOR MEN AND WOMEN appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
The Da Curve 88 has three fin boxes and comes supplied with the Tabou Zinger 18 cm centre fin, as well as two new Carver 11 cm side fins. There are also 6 holes on the front strap inserts to allow maximum tuning between what Tabou describes as ‘Classic’ and ‘New School Stances’.
In the turn and on the wave is where this board’s best attributes come alive. You can easily transition from rail to rail and are pulled well onto the front foot while riding. The board carries enough speed to continue to drive in softer waves, but excels when more powered and you can fully commit the rail into the turn. It carries great speed through turns and the narrow tail shape allows for squeezing a tighter radius quite easily.
Whilst this board still offers plenty of performance in a full range of conditions, sailors that are looking for something that gives them the ability to do full power turns and flowing wave rides will be most satisfied, as this is where the Da Curve is at its best
PRICE: £2099.00
The post TABOU DA CURVE 88 2021 TEST REVIEW appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
William Novak brings us some epic windsurfing footage from all around New Zealand filmed during the past year!
“In December 2010 I bought my first windsurf board. 10 years later after spending a lot on gear, Physio and sunblock it is still one of the most rewarding sports out there. This video was filmed over the past year in Wellington and Taranaki. During spring 2020 we were blessed with session after session of strong winds and good waves. Rounding out the year last week with one of the best Lyall Bay session I have ever had”
The post A DECADE OF WINDSURFING: WILLIAM NOVAK appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
We are looking for someone who can run the safety and manage the 2XS Team as well as dealing with the daily tuition, hire and sales at 2XS, West Wittering.
We are a windsurfing, kitesurfing, wing foiling and SUP Club; we teach windsurfing, kitesurfing, wing foiling, SUP and surfing – all the equipment is the latest 2021 gear from the leading brands.
You need to be qualified and have all your coaching tickets in date, a technical depth of knowledge and we are looking for someone who will stay with us for a period of years.
Salary and contract negotiable depending on experience. Starting last week of February 2021.
We have a vacancy for a kitesurfing instructor to start March and work through till the end of October 2021. You will be required to: teach kitesurfing, help with the day to day running of the 2XS Club and School (which includes sales and hiring of gear), work 5 days a week (to include weekends). Daily rate available.
*If you are qualified to teach SUP and/or Surf this would be a benefit.
We have a vacancy for a windsurfing instructor to start March and work through till the end of October 2021. You will be required to: teach windsurfing, help with the day to day running of the 2XS Club and School (which includes sales and hiring of gear), work 5 days a week (to include weekends). Daily rate available.
*If you are qualified to teach SUP and/or Surf this would be a benefit.
*If you are qualified to teach SUP and/or Surf this would be a benefit
At 2XS we specialise in progressive coaching models; windsurfing tuition from aged 5+; kitesurfing, surfing, SUP, windsurfing & wing foiling and Instructor Training.
The equipment used for lessons is new 2021 gear, and we use this from beginner level upwards. The brands we use for teaching/demo and hire are: Ezzy sails, Ezzy carbon RDM masts, Chinook booms and extensions, Goya, Quatro, Duotone, Fanatic, RRD Windsurfing boards; for kiting we use North Kiteboarding, Ozone and RRD kites and boards; Wing Foiling equipment from Duotone, Fanatic, Slingshot, Ride Engine, Axis Foils, Ozone and North. Our SUP’s are from Fanatic.
We have the above positions available and are recruiting NOW so please give us a call if you want to ask any questions. There will be an opportunity to add qualifications over the season and in-house training. If you have additional qualifications in SUP and/or Surf it will be a great advantage.
The post 2XS ARE HIRING AT WEST WITTERING! appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
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I arrived in Silvaplana in the middle of the night after a sketchy, four-hour drive through the mountains from Zurich. The sat-nav said 2.5 hours, but anyone who knows my driving will be aware 4 hours wasn’t too bad. Peeling back the curtains on the first morning at the lake, I was stunned how beautiful this infamous windsurfing Mecca was. The lake was pure glass with an eerie steam rising from the water, while reflections from the giant mountains on either side topped off the picture postcard setting. By mid-morning, the whitecaps of the ‘Maloja’ wind were creeping up the lake and that was pretty much the pattern for the rest of the week, tranquil mornings and hectic windy afternoons.
Amidst a year ravaged by Covid-19, somehow event organizer Christian Mueller had managed to pull of an international windsurfing competition, which must have been incredibly difficult logistically. And this was no ordinary event! Alongside his normal action-packed itinerary of the Engadinwind marathon and tow-in freestyle windsurfing events, we had the 2020 Formula Foil world championships, plus first ever major iQFoil event, the European championships, where PWA and Olympic stars would meet for their first real showdown.
I was in Switzerland for six days at the event and loved being up in the mountains photographing in such an awesome location. As well as all the crazy foil racing, we had Balz Müller doing his usual insane stuff on all craft (freestyle, foil wing and kite), spectacular tow-in freestyle action and the beer didn’t taste too bad either.
After a very strange year, it felt reassuring to catch up with so many familiar faces from across all walks of windsurfing and know most people are healthy and still following their passion. The action, all came to an exciting crescendo with the 2020 iQ Foil European Championship finals, which were not without drama, but I will leave it to the others to explain about that.
I predict, the next twenty years will be the real birth of windsurfing, the decades of development when we literally take off. If you’ve not been on a race foil yet, get on one a.s.a.p., then you’ll catch my drift. In my experienced view, we had a long era of dragging along the surface; we are currently having a short blip where foils are a medley of surf, wing, wind and kite blurred into one, mostly very different to windsurfing as we knew it, but out of this explosion there are windsurf race foils zooming ahead with our future. Extremely high speed, zero drag, sophisticated suspension flying machines, with all the action and thrills of windsurfing multiplied. We ride race foils just like we windsurfed, just in 3D instead of 1D – upwind, across the wind, downwind, up, down, point anywhere and get there amazingly fast.
The Formula Foil world championships and iQFoil Europeans, brought together the world’s best windsurf racers from the Professional World Tour and the Olympic athletes. This was the first time they were face to face for World and European titles and the showdown was immense and intense!
This was my first world championship race in twenty-five years…I remember arriving at the windward mark to a procession of foils racing in front of me like a futuristic war machine invading the first reach, and in their wake were chunks of polystyrene where boards had been run over. French accents argued with Slavic and bodies lay on rigs and boards with arms waving in disbelief, and the procession continued pouring past at frightening speed, with only the most dangerous fractional gaps to penetrate and invade into. It was absolutely nuts! And with no time for an elderly set of lungs to recover from this charge at 1800 metres high, I was doing 25 knots with the red army, knowing full well any wipeout from me or my fellow crazy soldiers could cause utter carnage. And the procession never thinned out or gave time to breathe until the race was over.
Neck and neck, positions changing all the time, a slow tack would cost me 20 places, two slow tacks 40. But a wind shift or gust in my favour could gain 30 places, there was so much movement, and the closing speeds of riders in opposite directions was like 50 knots, which on an enclosed lake was not for the faint-hearted! Whenever you step on a foil you must adjust your mind to hyper alert. When 150 riders all get on their foils at the same time, hyper alert mode has to be ‘red-lining’!
Sport has a habit of being most attractive when underdogs succeed and giants fall. The emotions of unknowing keep us intrigued. The newly formed iQFoil class has adjusted sail racing regatta rules, which are basically a week-long slog, in favour of today’s more popular sports, where through elimination one winner finally prevails. Wave sailing, surfing, sprinting, motor racing, tennis, Champions League – you name it, modern sports rise through a foreplay of eliminations to a climatic final, and this is how the iQFoil European championships was decided with a script not even Hollywood could have written – heartache and a collapsing of lungs and nations.
Basically the week-long competition is a test of three different disciplines – slalom, course racing and long distance, purely to establish the top 12 all-rounders who do battle on the last day. The good thing about this is the attraction to the media and spectators, and the intensity of high-pressure competition. The bad thing is, in watersports we rely on the weather…
For most of the week the European championships were dominated by three or four outstanding riders; behind them were some incredible all-rounders who had managed to break into the top twelve, and when the wind was somewhat lighter for the finals two problems arose. Firstly, the lighter winds did not favour the current leaders who’d dominated in the strong winds previously. Secondly, the race officers were faced with the unfortunate experience of having to make decisions based on new guidelines in this inaugural and untested event.
Remarkably the dominant riders from the stronger winds – Nico Goyard, Sebastian Koerdel and Matteo Iachino were still surprisingly fast in the lighter conditions. Matteo sadly had his first poor start of the event in the finals, and combined with a dropping wind and a course race instead of slalom, felt excruciatingly robbed of a European title. But a predictive and worthy top four emerged for the finals – Nico Goyard, utterly dominant in the world foil champs; Sebastian Koerdel, winning many races; young French racer Tom Arnoux from Marseille and Kiran Badloe, current RS:X world champion (the current Olympic class), who was full of strategy, confidence, skill and fitness. So, in a traditional regatta by now, Nico would be European champion, and it was no surprise he and Sebastian were leading the finals all the way to the last gybe mark, only 200 metres from the finish. So why did they not become European champions? Is it fair that a team or player who excels in all the qualifying, fails in the finals? Sport is governed by rules and within those boundaries results are unpredictable, that’s largely the attraction.
Sebastian gybed first on the best racing line. Nico gybed second on a traditional attacking line to overtake upwind. Kiran gybed third on a very competitive line, further downwind and knowing that underpowered on a foil a tighter reach to the finish is a faster one. And right there the sport played out in front of wide eyes and dropping jaws. A Dutch Olympic athlete made a powerful tactical decision and used incredible fitness to pump over the finishing line destroying the hard work of French, German, and Italian athletes. Kiran was as surprised as the crowds watching. History was written and like all relevant history, not without controversy.
There are powerful arguments for and against the new format. I favour the change, popular or not, change always develops improvements. Windsurfing has stepped up. Welcome to the new era!
As a group of six lads in a van heading out to Silvaplana we were incredibly lucky to make it out of the UK just before the Government issued an essential travel only notice into France and a two week quarantine if you did travel. There would have been more Brits out there competing, but most car insurance companies wouldn’t insure you as soon as there was restricted travel into Europe, which was a real bummer.
I was heading out with the lads mainly to test the water with this new form of foil racing as my main goal right now is the Olympic Games and training for Tokyo 2021 on the RS:X. Little did I know what I was in for when arriving in Switzerland.
We arrived two days before the Formula Foil Worlds and after 16 hours driving, only stopping for fuel, we all just flopped out of the van and went windsurfing straight away; the froth was real and couldn’t help but just get out on the water!
Silvaplana is an insane place and the buzz from other riders and the event itself was immense. Lining up for race one was surreal, everyone on their new race foil gear and all the big names present, rocking up for their chance to be foiling world champ. Some of the best freestylers, PWA superstars and old Olympic legends all on the line together was so, so ‘LIT’, it felt like the windsurfing community had finally connected back together and it was the start of something really special.
The racing was the most overwhelming, craziest and dangerously radical I have ever witnessed. I don’t think there will ever be an event more mind-blowing, I honestly couldn’t sleep at night. The racing was just so tight my mind was on overdrive. There was so many people on such a small course and everyone was out of their depth at some point. You’d be going across the top reach and just see a block of foam floating past and then it’d register that it was the nose of someone’s brand new 2020 £3k board from a crash, usually involving fellow Brit Andy Brown ha-ha!
The Formula Foil world champs was followed by the iQFoil Europeans. Luckily for me, we had two days of bad wind and two days of rest to get over the emotional and physical stress of being so out of my depth ha-ha! The realisation my skill level was average, but the speed and consequence for a slight mistake was so big really wore me out and talking to the other Brits we had all felt the strain. When someone asked you if you enjoyed the racing you weren’t sure what to say initially, you were just so jacked from fearing for your life. It was only after you calmed down a bit you realised it was the sickest thing you’d ever done.
When the big boys and their big sails all moved onto the iQFoil kit for the Euros we were all racing at such a high level. At this point I felt like my racing was coming together and was challenging the ground of the fleet on both slalom and course racing. The Brits as a group were on the money for pace, but there were some lads who were clearly faster and I didn’t make it to the top 12 for the finals. But to watch those boys with so much pressure on each medal race was insane, there were a lot of toys being thrown out of the pram by some big names but to watch it was probably the best thing I’ve seen in windsurf racing in a long time.
I’m so ready to race the foil and iQFoil in the future, after the Olympics on the RS:X!
Although the new format was quite a big change from the days of RS:X racing, I think the changes will be a positive step forward for the class. It presents a more varied and exciting show for the media and an audience, while also trying to make sure the best all-round sailors win. There is also the bonus of being able to compete in the biggest wind range possible.
I went into the event with limited expectations. Obviously, this is a very new class and this was the first time I had raced it internationally, so I was really going in blind. Finishing 2nd was definitely a nice surprise!
On the final day I think nerves were even higher than usual due to the “winner takes all” nature of the final series. I think it was more pressure than people were comfortable with or used to, so opinion was definitely mixed on whether it was the right format to go for. I’m not completely sold on it myself.
It felt slightly surreal competing during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was quite different to a normal event with the added difficulties of trying to navigate an event site with hundreds of other competitors and crew in a socially distant manner while keeping focussed on the racing. Despite the difficulties it was amazing that the organisers managed to make this even happen in such difficult times and I think all things considered it was a success.
I have not changed my weight since moving from the RS:X, so I am still mid 70 kilogrammes. In the open fleet there was certainly a large advantage to the iQFoil kit over the Open fleet’s equipment on the reach. However, you had to fight their high upwind and low downwind angles, which given it was the majority of the course was certainly a challenge!
At the iQFoil Europeans I certainly found an edge on the broad reaches, I believe this to be down to sending it 1% closer to the edge than the majority… this did have its caveats however… falling in during a few of the downwind legs… sending it slightly too hard for my current ability. It did make for a good highlight reel however!
It was exciting to be lining up with the PWA racers on equal equipment. I think if it’s windy the PWA guys will have the upper hand on speed. If it’s lighter wind foiling then perhaps some Olympic style pumping will be prevalent. The world champions will be the sailors who can do all of it to a high level and then hold it together in the knockout finals. I think Gonzalo, Severne, Starboard and everyone from the iQFoil class deserve a special thanks for inventing this epic racing experience and managing to make it happen during adverse times. It was great to be able to have an event and test things out early on in the cycle.
I think the ‘knockout finals day’ format has two sides: on one hand it is exciting for the spectators, on the other it is brutal for the sailors at the front. I’ve raced in RS:X on both ends of a knockout, I once went in on 2nd place with a big lead and got knocked out straight away to 10th and felt robbed. On the other hand, I have been in 11th and felt pumped with the opportunity ahead. I think the iQFoil class is an exciting time in windsurfing and I’m looking forward to the racing and being a part of it.
(Editor’s note – Sam finished 13th in the iQFoil Europeans, agonisingly just outside the top twelve qualification for the finals day.)
It was incredible racing, unlike anything I’ve done before with super high adrenaline rushes whilst having to make split second tactical decisions around the race course. I am very happy to win the iQFoil Euro youths and I am excited to see what the class brings in the future.
JAMES HATCHER GBR-102 SECOND MENS OPEN SILVER FLEET
FINN HAWKINS GBR-19 SECOND iQFoil YOUTH
MAX BEAMAN GBR-262 SECOND GOLD YOUTH OPEN
JAMES FALEY GBR-426 THIRD GOLD YOUTH OPEN
GUY CRIBB GBR-9 FIRST GRAND MASTER
ALYSIA GIBSON GBR-400 SECOND iQFoil WOMEN
IZZY ADCOCK GBR-988 SECOND YOUTH OPEN
ISLAY WATSON GBR-529 SECOND WOMEN
FINN HAWKINS GBR-19 FIRST MEN’S YOUTH
It was such an exciting finals day! My heart rate was up the whole day because of the pressure. The format was great from a media point of view and an exciting way to show that windsurfing is a cool TV sport. We knew from the sailing instructions that this was the format and it would boil down to the last 12 on the final day, so I think I was prepared for this kind of all out racing to decide the winner. My quarters didn’t go too well, I fell in the first gybe, and had to come back from last, but I ended up making it all the way to the finals. The final race was intense! The first one was cancelled and we had to redo it over in a slalom style rather than upwind race. I missed the start by two seconds and had to settle for third place almost around the whole race. Just before the last reach I realized that the wind was dropping and we were closing in on Sebastian Koerdel. I made a solid last gybe, while Nico Goyard and Sebastian were trying to pass each other there and both had sketchy gybes. Because of this, and the wind getting lighter, I saw my opportunity if I worked my ass off. I put all the power down that I had left after doing three other races that day and slowly passed ‘Basti’ on the home straight. He was throwing down all he had as well. It was only 20 metres before the finish that I realized I had passed him and that I had just won the first iQFoil Europeans! What a finish!
They took away all our points on the last day, which created some drama. It all boiled down to the last race for the medals. It created tension. If you made one mistake you were out. The wind didn’t come through and we had light conditions. We eventually switched to slalom when the wind dropped, we had to make a show and that is what we did. I was leading the final race until the last mark. Kiran came from the back and pumped past me and took the victory. I was happy to be competitive and at least know my level is up there.
Matteo had a situation where he could not get going at the start when we were at the last eight, although he was one of the fastest sailors all week. He was pretty upset that the change of the conditions cost him a top three finish. He was screaming around a bit and hit the road before the prize-giving. That is what creates the drama in the end. I could feel the excitement as we were racing. There was a lot of pressure and the fairness was in question. But we must make a show and sell the sport and from that point of view it was awesome.
With the current Covid-19 situation, having an international event has been great for windsurfing. It was a great moment for the sport. The gear was awesome, the board, the sail and the foil were all really nice to use. It all performed well upwind and downwind and for reaching. I would say it is something you can actually buy if you want to learn to foil. I think it is an evolution of windsurfing and something incredible that is happening to our sport. The class has the potential to unify the world of windsurfing. The potential is amazing, we will still do the PWA, but this class is something new and an exciting platform where we can race together.
On the negative side, was the organization on the water from my point of view. I still regret how angry I was at the time. I feel I made more damage to myself than anyone else. A sportsman at my level should not be that angry. After I put absolutely everything into the racing and was competitive throughout, I felt I was hard done by on the last day by big mistakes! I felt bitter. I think they felt the pressure to get a result with this medal race. Then they started making mistakes as the wind was dropping. They were making decisions at the last moment, saying one thing and then doing the opposite ten minutes later. I don’t think there was anybody in the race crew that was able to deal with the pressure. It was the first event of this new class and I felt they needed to be on it. I trained for it and bought all the gear. I did my part. I felt because the race crew could not deal with the pressure, that messed up everything I had achieved all week. That was what made me bitter! I am already over it. It was a mistake for me to insult people on the beach and on the internet. I went too far! I put a lot of effort into that racing and felt like I was robbed. I hope the organization will get better and we will all learn from that day. I think the class is cool, we just need to fix those mistakes!
The future of racing is up to the racers to discuss, but at least we have good feedback on the work of Gonzalo Costa Hoevel and the race committee. There is now a new and exciting option available for those who enjoy racing one design. The bigger picture is to build an attractive foil junior class, that is what makes me excited about the future.
Since we were allowed to return to the water mid-May in France, I spent a lot of time training. In May and June I sailed mostly in Brest with my sponsor’s equipment: the F1X L board from Elix Funboard, the 9.0 Skyblade sail from Loftsails, and the ‘Windfoil Race’ foil from Lokéfoil. In the beginning of July, I received the iQfoil equipment, and started sailing with it. With the iQFoil French fleet we did some training camps in Quiberon and Marseille in July and August. I completed my preparation with some physical training in the Alps, before doing my final equipment settings on lake Silvaplana.
The last day of the European iQFoil championships was exciting; there was a lot to play for with the scores reset to zero for the final races. I wasn’t bothered by the pressure and even felt pretty confident after dominating the ten days of racing we had before. But I was also tired after two events in a row and I knew any mistake could cost me the title. There was a stressful moment in the first semi-final, all the girls in front fell in the water with a gust coming in the opposite direction of the wind and we saw the girls at the back able to keep foiling to the next mark. I gave it my all to get back in the top of the fleet at the last mark but in the end the race was cancelled.
As it was the end of the afternoon, the wind started to turn light and patchy and we switched to slalom courses. It was tough to keep foiling all race long and to anticipate the holes in the wind. The second semi-final and the final were really intense with the light wind. I was leading but I knew I could drop off the foil at any time. It was a big relief when I achieved the last gybe of the final still on the foil!
It felt amazing to win the Formula Foil world championships too! It was my first international foil event. My goal was to win the world title, but dominating the event was a surprise. It was vindication for quitting my job a few months ago to dedicate myself fully to training. It was also a victory full of hopes regarding my ambition to chase a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic games. This world title is also a good way to thank my sponsors. My equipment felt comfortable and high performance at the same time; I had some really nice times sailing with it. My Loftsails Skyblade 9.0 felt very stable in the gusty wind of Lake Silvaplana. At the same time, the rig felt soft and easy for pumping to get foiling. I was using the ‘Windfoil Race’ foil from Lokéfoil with the L front wing and I had some amazing gliding feelings; it felt powerful, fast and safe. I never catapulted at this event, even though we had pretty strong winds and I was taking risks and pushing a lot!
In the iQFoil European championships, we experimented with a mixed format of racing – some slalom in the lighter winds and some upwind/downwind in the stronger ones. I don’t have so much experience in slalom, but I really liked it. It was short, intense, and full of adrenaline! I have sailed a lot on the RS:X before, so I am much more used to the upwind/downwind racing. It was nice to adapt the upwind racing tactics to foiling races where we have more speed. I would love to work on the development of equipment with my sponsors. Wind foiling is new and there are many ideas to explore and things to improve. But it also felt nice to race in one design iQFoil because it means that a difference of speed is due to technique or kit tuning instead of equipment.
People asked why I was so dominant, I don’t have a secret recipe, it was really all about training, training, and training again. Foiling is new and there are many things to work on to improve.
Lake Silvaplana is an amazing spot! Firstly, wind foiling on flat water is really nice, and the lake is really beautiful. Personally, I love spending time out in nature, and it felt great to sail on those stunning waters, surrounded by 3000 metre high mountains. I just wonder how the local windsurfers sail outside of the summer months as it was already freezing in the last days of August!
It was also nice to have an event where the spectators can follow the racing from close up. Usually we either sail far from the shore, or close in with some fluky wind. We did have some gusty wind, but overall it was pretty consistent for the two championships. Silvaplana is a very nice place for wind foiling events!
Sailing in freshwater makes it more comfortable for the sailors, with less preparation time every day, so it was nice to be on the lake. The iQFoil equipment is really good. The foil is efficient and safe, the rig is stiff but stable, and the deck of the board is really well designed. I was not sure if we could foil early enough with the 8.0m², but the cold wind of the mountains helped a little and there was not that much difference to the men on their 9.0 sails.
I took some rest after the end of the championships and I am now back to training. I will compete in a French national regatta at the beginning of October in La Rochelle, and then go to Lake Garda for the iQFoil world championships. I will also race the French wind foil championship at the end of October in l’Almanarre. So I plan to spend a lot of time on the water over the next months.
I will also take some time to search for some sponsors that are willing to support me for the next four years. I want to put my all into preparation for the 2024 Olympic Games.
I am back at my home spot in Hyeres enjoying my house with my ‘bro’ Thomas. I have been living in Hyeres for the past five years and Thomas just joined me a few months ago here, which is one of the best spots in Europe to train at!
At the time the competition took place, we did not have any issue travelling with Covid-19 and we were super lucky that the event occurred! I know that for the Spanish guys it was a two-day rush 10 days before the competition as Switzerland decided to quarantine people coming from Spain. Luckily for us, France was not (yet) in that situation.
I grew up in New Caledonia before moving to France. Earlier in the year, prior to the borders being closed, I flew back and spent three months there, just as Europe went into lockdown. We had only four weeks of containment there and we were able to keep on training which was great!
Then I came back to France and had a few training camps with the French federation before the worlds and that was perfect to get back to competition training and switch to racing mode.
I only received my new board a few weeks before coming to Silvaplana and didn’t have so much time to train on it as I was sailing on iQFoil to be ready for the Europeans. Anyway, as I designed it, I already mostly knew what to expect from it and I was super happy to have been able to design such a board and to get what I was looking for!
First of all, this spot is absolutely beautiful! It is one of those places you never get bored of. Being so high in the mountains with glaciers around and over 3000 metre summits! It was kind of unbelievable. Sometimes, while sailing, you lift your eyes up and see this landscape and it’s just like ‘wow’! I don’t know many places where you get this kind of feeling while sailing!
About the wind, it’s a special place as well as it is quite a narrow lake and you get to sail to the edges of it to reach to the upwind mark, but you can’t really get to the lay lines in 1 tack like in the open ocean. The strategy is different and even if it’s a valley, the wind is not always perfectly in line with it and so from one day to the next, the conditions were changing. Silvaplana is a place I really love and the local people are very welcoming, one more reason why Silvaplana is such a nice place.
My brother Thomas and myself came to Silvaplana about a week before the Formula worlds and had time to train and I saw that I was clearly really quick on the water. Therefore, when the competition began, I was already quite confident about the fact I could win the world title. And after the first day I understood that no one could really be a threat to me, especially in the windy conditions we were about to get! So basically, I had some decent starts in almost all the races and did not make many tactical mistakes. Then, as I had the best speed of the fleet, I just had not to fall!
And about my speed, there was different factors explaining it. I think the Phantom gear is really a step above the other equipment and moreover, I know it perfectly and I know how to push on my foil to make it glide. Of course, there might be other brands making a foil or a sail or a board that are similar in performance to the Phantom equivalent, but to date, none have the complete combo of foil, plus board, plus sail, all being super fast together. It will come though I’m sure, no doubt about it!
What I really love about foil racing is not the racing in itself (even though it’s super fun), but it’s more about the preparation and the development of the gear. Working to design the best gear is really something super satisfying and that’s clearly what I love about our sport! It is not only a physical sport, or just a technical sport, it needs so many skills and that makes it super complete and interesting!
Now, it’s time to focus on the iQFoil worlds taking place from the 19th to 24th October in Lake Garda. That will be the first of its kind and it’s really important for me to involved in the future Olympic windsurf discipline. As most of the other competitions are cancelled because of Covid-19, we can really focus on that event!
The post 2020 ENGADINWIND: SILVAPLANA SHOWDOWN appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
Jimmy Diaz, PWA President
Sarah-Quita Offringa – 2019 Wave World Champion, Multiple Freestyle and Slalom World Champion
Iballa Moreno – Multiple Wave World Champion
Delphine Cousin-Questel – 2019 Foil World Champion, Multiple Slalom World Champion
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