What a day to remember. Here is a short clip of what the Rhosneigr boys got up to.

UKWA End of Season Awards

		Boardseeker Features Editor, Clyde Waite, gets the award for Most Improved Windsurfer of the Year, which for a 30 year old gives us all hope.

Terry Luxton not only walked away as Freewave Series Champion, but won the most prestigious Tit of the Year award for jumping head first into a six inch rock pool and getting air lifted off Tiree with a
damaged neck!

For pictures of a more revealing nature, taken at the UKWA prize giving,

The UKWA Ball chimp fest

SAS 2005: The Campaigns

We look back on a year of campaigning with SAS.

More

Neil Pryde RS:X .v. Mistral IMCO: The story behind the Cadiz Worlds

What everyone really wants to know is which sailors are going to benefit from the new Olympic board; the meaty, big fin formula guys or the mean, lean, pumping machines that are IMCO sailors. British sailor, Hugh Sims Williams was at Cadiz so we drilled him for some answers.



Firstly, how many of the top IMCO/Formula sailors have changed over to the RS:X?

Pretty much all of the top IMCO sailors have switched over to RS:X. Perhaps some of the IMCO sailors will quit if they find they are not all that good at it but in general the IMCO sailors’ funding from their respective national bodies has been continued for now so they might as well give it a go.

There weren’t that many guys from the formula circuit there and certainly not any of the ‘names’. Only 3 of them qualified for the Gold fleet, partly due to the light wind where the first 6 races were held in 4-14knots, with only two races planning the whole way around the course.

In the Silver fleet there were about 15 formula sailors but no superstars, except maybe POL13 (Kuba Guzdek) who finished 15th at the Formula Europeans. Kuba had an awful regatta but did show some true potential in the odd race.

So it sounds like the IMCO guys are on top?

Hard to say. The sailors that did well from the formula fleet had spent sufficient time on the RS:X so that they were competitive. Since the event was held soon after the release of the board, the amount of quality hours sailing the kit may have had a bigger impact at this event than natural talent.

However the IMCO sailors did show solid potential in their ability to sail well in all conditions, but the formula sailors were more dominant in the breeze like Jesper Vesterstrom (DEN111) and Julian Quentel (FRA-421). The best guys were IMCO sailors that had spent the last few months learning to race formula type boards, like Nick Dempsey (GBR-21), Joeri Van Dijk (NED-77) & Nicolas Huguet (FRA-8).



What are the big differences between racing an RS:X and racing an IMCO in non-planing winds?

It is far more tactical as the RS:X is so much slower. An increase in wind doesn’t increase board speed much as the board is reluctant to rail, so changes in wind angles are the most important factor.

Instead of the constant pumping you had to do with IMCO, short burst pumping is far more effective as continuous small pumps have no effect.

And planing winds….

Because there is no daggerboard, wind strength is more important than wind shifts therefore tactics are to head for the gusts rather than play the shifts. Get powered up off that fin and you can point much higher. It is also more exciting if not more testing on the reaches.

What do you think is the optimum body weight for men & women?

Men: 75-78kg Women: 60-62kg

At what wind strength do things get scary?

For both men and women the maximum I would say is about 25knots but this is seriously affected by the sea state. A rough sea or steep chop can make 18knots very difficult. Again this will change as sailors get better at sailing the kit.

How is the equipment holding up, ie.breakages?

Sails are brilliantly made, boards are durable, a few broken booms and masts but no real problems with leaving kit rigged in the sun. So an improvement here over formula. However all the extensions have broken but I believe these have been replaced now by a stronger version.

Why did the sailors who won, win?!

They all put together a very consistent series. The top three rarely finished outside of the top 10 despite extremely shifty winds and a huge range of wind speeds. Simply put - good racers.

1st Nicolas Huguet,
2nd Joeri Van Dijk,
3rd Nicolas Le Gal

1st Faustine Merret,
2nd Blanca Manchon,
3rd Bryony Shaw

Rate Nick Dempsey's performance

Nick finished 5th. He was just as good in light winds as in planning winds. He put together a very good series which enabled him to finish in the top 5 despite several incidents; an OCS, a broken extension after the starting sequence and hitting a fish on the top reach in one of the races!

Rate your performance

I finished 26th. When the wind was 10-15knots, I managed to stay in the top 10, in the stronger winds I was in the top 20. The breeze was not a problem more the sea state. I got catapulted, popped a rib and ripped my sail. I finished that race in 38th and then had my extension break in the next one. This coupled with an OCS earlier in the week screwed my overall position. I am happy with how I coped but I have a huge amount to focus and work on over the winter.

Le Canal is open for business!!

Finian, Bjorn, Antoine, Dave White & Allison Shreeve have until Dec 20th to break the 50knot speed barrier! You can keep track of their progress at www.mastersofspeed.com

In the meantime, here’s a taster of the recording breaking 04/05 season.

[207K Video Stream - Audio ON]

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Oisin Van Gelderen: Irish Wave Sailing Champ 2005


Oisin getting a mammoth aerial!!

What a final round to the IWA Wave Champs held at Belmullet in County Mayo. Gale force winds & mast high waves hit Elly Beach to produce classic conditions which drew 42 competitors across a Gold, Fun & Ladies fleet. Oisin had a shock on the first day of competition when he was beaten by Nicholas Leloul. He had to fight through the reportage to meet Finn Mullen in the semis which would ultimately decide the overall Champ for 2005. Finn got one decent ride then got stuck in the rip and struggled in the easing wind. Oisin went for a rig change halfway through and carried on riding to win the heat. That was that for the overall but Gwilym Williams did his best to take the Belmullet crown from Oisin with some slick ponches. However, he couldn’t beat Oisin’s riding style.

In the ladies, Noelle Doran showed her strengths in the tricky conditions, despite being only 50 kilos. 

OVERALL RESULTS FOR 2005:

1.  Oisin van Gelderen (JP/Neil Pryde/RedBull/Surfdock.ie/
UltrasportEU/StenaLine/
AnnesleyWilliams)
2.  Finn Mullen (Severne/O'Neill)
2.  Gwilym Williams (Naish/Reef/O'Neill/Burren Energy/Bolle)
4.  Jeff Cochrane (AHD/Neil Pryde/Surfdock.ie/O'Neill/Bolle)

LADIES:

1.  Noelle Doran (JP/Neil Pryde)
2.  Anna Ryan
3.  Maureen Johnston
4.  Katie McAnenna

FUN:

1.  Mark Killeen
2.  Brian Mannon
3.  George Allen
4.  Cathal Usher

The event was hosted by the U.I.S.C.E Adventure Centre & sponsored by Surfdock.ie & Neil Pryde.


PHOTOS: JP Simpson

Read what thirty-something men get up to on a windless Sunday afternoon…

Result?

The winds were really light, about 4-5 knots, but we could just about get going on 5m rigs. However a trip to Argos and £25.00 later and we had some collapsible cones to set up a downwind slalom type course and a jump ramp to make the day that bit more exciting, adopting elements of Super-X perhaps? 

It wasn't long before we were going over the ramp with reasonable success. Lining up the approach was critical, a bit like the indoor’s jump ramp must have been I thought to myself, and subsequently put a wheel over one edge. Ouch! But one of our gang was clearing the ramp comfortably, and then switched his focus to nailing vulcans, switch stance vulcans and then one-handed switch stance vulcans.

(Having the footstraps fitted means you can only face one way, and because of this switch stance manoeuvres were more out of necessity than out of being flash.)

Was this session as good as being on the water?

The guys had underestimated the workout value from dirt windsurfing after 2-3 hours of pretty much non-stop action. I can honestly say that I've never seen so many smiling windsurfer faces at a beach when there hadn't been enough wind even for formula windsurfing. It was also very relevant to windsurfing itself. Proof will be in the pudding though, let’s see if I can make any moves on the water that I've managed on the beach.

Does it hurt when you fall off?

I had a few instances where terra ferma and my butt formed close relationships, but the sand didn't inflict any damage. Feet getting stuck in the straps is a consideration, however I resolved this by wearing skate trainers loose enough that under severe load my feet would leave the trainers and my ankles would not suffer. Nobody in the group received any injuries; however there was aches and pains from the workout the following day.

How easy is it to go and do?

Well it is possible to dirt windsurf anywhere there is an open space and clean winds. The equipment costs are pretty minimal too; many people have older 5.0m wave sails and the Blue Earth mountain boards we were using cost just over £100. Hopefully this accessibility will encourage landlocked ‘board riders’ to try to harness the power of a sail to propel themselves along, ultimately giving them some core skills and confidence to try out windsurfing for real, on the water.


Rob Cattee dirtying his way around Camber Sands

Go to Blue Earth website to buy your moutain board

Go to www.surfkraft.com for all things Krafty.

PHOTOS Jenny Wilson.