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Arthur…

Yes, it was my first trip in Chile and I really appreciated the trip, it’s one of my best trips for sure!

It was amazing to sail with two of the best riders in the world, Klaas and Victor, that permitted me to progress a lot, the condition were not so easy but when we were wave sailing it was incredible!

I’ve learnt a lot of things, there are a lot of things you need to know to be a good windsurfer.

Unfortunately, I got injured on the last day of the trip and I had to be operated on so I haven’t really been on the water since then, but I look forward to being on the water again soon.

I’m really happy to be on the Fanatic team, I feel really good with everybody like Victor, Klaas or Alessio

This year I want to progress as much as possible, have fun with my friends on the water and hope to go on the water everyday!

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Klaas…

We always go to Matanzas, one of the windiest places in the area. There are a few really good spots in a short driving distance. It’s also the closest spot to Santiago, so it’s the place where most of the locals come for sailing.

I’ve been there from middle of December and during my first two weeks i’ve had some good wind and waves. Then it calmed down for over a month and then we scored some good sailing towards tzhe end of the trip. It wasn’t the best year for wind, but we still had some good days. Also a lot of surfing. I had an annoying sinus infection that finally had to get operated in february, so i also missed a few days out of that reason.

I’m workiong on getting more and more safe in my wave moves and then there is another project coming up. I’ve been trying doubles for several years, but never really got them dialled – so that one needs some attention before the first event.

It’s great to finally see something new happening. Cape Town and Chile are both my winter training grounds, so i’m pretty happy about it. If we manage to still get Maui back on the calendar, we’re almost having a complete tour. Unfortunately all stops are port tack (except Sylt – can be both), so i don’t think the new addition will change much in the results, but at least we’ll have a chance to some great down the line sailing in Chile.

Arthur has been doing good and i think he has improved quite a lot. We’ve been jumping for a few days in Pupuya and he’s pretty fearless in trying things. Also he’s doing already very good on the SUP in the waves and you can see that it helps him to make quick steps in waveriding also on the windsurfboard.

There are a few young kids coming up like Alessio Stillrich, Bernd Roediger, Moritz Mauch, or Morgain from Maui – all have the ability to kick out some big names already. Bernd just won the AWT event on Maui against the Who is Who! Alessio made it into 13th place in both of the PWA events he did in 2012. It’s great to see these guys pushing.

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Victor…

We were based at Matanzas, it is small town at the coast around 2.30 hours from Santiago de Chile and we get the most windy days over there.

I´ve been 2 months. The first three weeks we were very unlucky with the wind but we had amazing surf with northwest swells in different surf spots. The last 3 weeks of the trip were really good, we sailed different spots as Matanzas, Pupuya or Topocalma. All three have completely different conditions and we just change the spots depending on the tides or wave size. If it´s very small we go a lot to Pupuya as it is more a jumping spot and it is the windiest. If the swell is bigger we do Topocalma or Matanzas.

I´m trying to get back on my level of 2012 as I felt sailing very good until I got injured on Sylt. Right now I feel much better and I want to gain the same level and do it even better.

I think all aditions are good for the Tour, specially the event in Chile, down the line wave riding which we did not have yet on the tour. Chile is one of the events that Iam really looking forward this year as it is new and I know how good the conditions can be.

Arthur is a great sailor for his age, he has good knowledge of the waves as he is very good Sup rider and you can see in his wave riding skills. We did a lot of jumping in Chile too and I think he is progressing a lot. I see other kids like Alessio Stillrich and Pablo Ramírez in Pozo, Bernd Roediger and Morgan Noireux on Maui, they are all riping and it is great to see young guys coming up.

Next in the Boardseeker wave technique series, we are joined by Ben Proffitt to talk through the importance of Wave Selection. Image credit PWA/JC.

Check out more from Boardseeker on wave technique here. 

Colin Leonhardt: “There are very few quality sailing spots on this planet that haven’t been explored, so with a forecast that suits this certain offshore reef in Western Australia Ben Proffitt and Peter Volwater decided to make the overnight drive to this location last weekend.  With a jet ski in tow to get us out there we hit the water late morning and spent the rest of the day enjoying some of the best waves this state offers. This is the first time this location has been photographed so here’s a selection of images from that day courtesy of Windsurfaustralia.com.”

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Peter Volwater: Continuing the challenge to find West Australia’s best surf/windsurf destinations, we ventured to a break on the south coast which we call “the left”. I had heard about this place before, about 10 years ago and in the three times I have visited it has been going off each and every time. As long as there is an easterly sea breeze on the south coast and even just a small 2 meter swell, it’s on.

Mix the roaring 40′s in the southern hemisphere and hot Australian summer weather, and you have the perfect ingredients to fire up some epic wavesailing.

When we woke up there were still a couple hours more to drive, 50kms before arrival we fueled up and took breakfast on the road; we were in a hurry as the swell would be dropping, so there was no time to waste. Driving through town straight to the jetty and the view was just amazing! We could see nice big lumps breaking on the outer reefs and the wind was already honking. We dropped the ski in the water for Col and quickly rigged up and headed out there.

“The left” was peeling and soon Ben joined me to ride one wave after the other, perfect lefts!

We ventured further out to sea, to the next patch of reef where there was a ledge with super hollow waves breaking. When Ben cut back on one he was still very deep and didn’t quite make it around the section and I saw him wipe out right in front of me, which worried me for a bit but when he came up and nothing was broken and he smiled we were just laughing! It was real funny to see as he didn’t get hurt. I did warn him before that this wasn’t really a wave just a dry reef with water sucking off it, a real shallow ledge!

Whilst it was hard to ride this one we went back to “the left” and caught many more waves and good jumping, I saw Ben bust some big airs and even Justyna came sailing out through the reef.

I told her the wave was going to be waist to shoulder high but the swell had amazed me, it was actually quite a lot bigger than expected! Also, it normally looks a lot smaller from the shore until you actually get out there. One thing we never discussed though was that this place is renowned for the big white sharks and at the local pub there are photos of a six meter one that they had caught in the past and had brought in. That’s not something you want to have on your mind when swimming out there!

We saw out on the rocks a massive sea lion resting and apparently it had a calf too. Also, a stingray whilst snorkelling and a brown snake on the road on the way back to Perth.

After taking the photos our happy snapper Col went out there for some waves of his own and enjoyed some of the best WA waves today. It was a fun and adventurous trip getting familiar with the wildlife out here and epic epic waves. And there is many more just waiting to be explored with that much coastline, will it ever get crowded?

Taking into account the abundant sea life, it being a very unpopulated area with only few surfers who even know of these waves, the long paddle out and not ever seeing any windsurfers here, many waves will probably stay unridden…..meanwhile we’ll keep searching for different waves!

It was shortly after this trip the Ben Proffitt injured his shoulder, Boardseeker wishes Ben a speedy recovery and will have more from him very soon. 

Feature Photo – Si Crowther

If you liked that clip then you also have to check out this (back) cracking shot spotted on Ben Proffitt’s facebook page.

The Luderitz canal has recently produced some of the best speedsailing conditions to date, allowing an incredible amount of national and of course world speed records to be broken. Boardseeker now catches up with two of the British canal stars, women’s world record holder Zara Davis and top UK speedsailor Farrel O’Shea.

Zara Davis, with Antoine Albeau

Farrel O’Shea

Name: Zara Davis

Sail Number: K47

Top Speed: 45.83 knots.

Name: Farrel O’Shea

Sail Number: K81

Top Speed: 48.84 knots.

Do you hold a record? 

Zara: Yes, I am now the fastest female windsurfer of all time. I also hold the outright women’s Nautical mile record.

Farrel: Yes, 4 cream crackers in a minute!! (Ed – Farrel also holds the British speed sailing record.)

What equipment were you using most frequently on the canal? 

Zara: All of my fastest times were set on my Mistral Speed 41 and my Simmer 5.5 SCR.

Farrel: Mistral 41, Simmer SCR 5.5.

Zara Davis

How did the competition this year compare to previous years? 

Zara: I went there in 2010 when they they had dug out part of the shoreline and it was very poor due to the wind shadow of the sand removed. It was mainly built for kiters who were not bothered by this. This year they have made it much better, 350 metres in from the shoreline, but it is much more daunting as you are enclosed and in some areas it is very narrow. The biggest concern was the finish area, where virtually all the crashes and injuries occurred. You only have 80 metres to stop and it comes up really quickly!

Farrel: I’ve been to Luderitz twice before, this canal is both quicker and much safer than the last reincarnation.

How much faster do you think you can go?

Zara: I believe I could have gone over 47 knots this year. Unfortunately the best day was the day I set my record of 45.83 but I had a freak accident just after I set it, I cut my leg badly on the side of my board and had to go to hospital for stitches. Everyone went faster in that time I was off the water. If I come back next year my target will be 50 knots for sure.

Farrel: 4 cream crackers in 50 seconds ?!

Farrel O’Shea

Zara Davis

What advice would you give to someone thinking of entering Luderitz next year?

Zara: It is the best place in the world for you to achieve your best official speed without a doubt, but the run is daunting for sure. Plus it’s a lot of money with flights, accommodation and entry fee, and as we found out you really have to commit to the full month to guarantee to get the best conditions or be lucky with the time you book.

Farrel:  I suspect there will be limited space next year, however it’s a fairly easy run….as long as nothing goes wrong.

What level of windsurfer do they need to be? 

Zara: Experienced speed or top level slalom sailors only! You must be comfortable with sailing up to 145 degrees off the wind and be in tune with your kit in 40 plus knots.

Farrel: The sailable area is much smaller than it appears, you must have 110% confidence in your kit, if you’ve ever had the odd spin out then this is not the place for you!

Farrel O’Shea, at the start of the canal.

What speeds should potential competitors be recording already? 

Zara: That is difficult to say as my previous 500m speed was only 37.24 knots and I have gone seven knots faster. GPS 10 seconds is easy compared to achieving fast 500 metre speeds. For men I think they need to have been clocking 500m close to 40 knots.

Farrel: I don’t think it’s a case of previous speeds, it’s more a case of complete confidence  in your kit and yourself. At the end of the day everyone has their own personal record and that’s the only record that you should chase. In reality, even on the gust from above most mortals will never compete speed wise with the top guns!

Top three technique tips for speed sailing:

Zara: In this location asymmetric small fins are essential, get really comfortable with your equipment over long distances and most importantly keep in in the middle!

Farrel: Get the best kit you can afford, make sure the fin holds and hook in and HANG ON!!!

Want to know more about the sails Farell and Zara used to break their records? Head to the Simmer website here.  Image credits Eric Bellande.