Nowadays consumers tend to have an innate sense that if something is complicated or difficult, it must be better than something that is simple.

Take food, for instance. Sat at a table waiting for your jus-drizzled ensemble of painstakingly designed food to arrive, you might believe that you’re at the absolute pinnacle of gastronomic delight. But really, can you honestly say that it gave more satisfaction than the fried egg sandwich they serve at the local cafe after a cold day’s windsurfing? Possibly not.

Empirically, simplicity is often the key to happiness. Keep things simple and they generally work well. Complicate them and even with the best intention and design in the world, more often than not they end up a disappointment. So what’s that got to do with freeride sails? Well, many people make the step to cambered sails because they want a new challenge. They want to go faster and be able to hold on to a bigger sail in stronger winds. Whilst rotational sails have many strengths and virtues over cambers, there’s no doubting that cambered sails offer a sense of glide, stability and speed that rotationals simply can’t match.

Once you’ve resolved to make the step to a cambered sail, you need to decide how far to go. Looking through most brands’ ranges, you’re likely to see a thoroughbred, wide luff-tubed race sail, which will have around five cams. One step down from this and most will offer some kind of ‘detuned’ version of this sail – still sporting that wide luff tube, but trimmed down on the camber inducers to around three. And then at the bottom rung of cambered ranges, most brands offer a narrower luff-tubed ‘entry-level’ cambered sail, most of which are twin-cam.

Whilst it’s easy to be seduced by the full-on race designs’ promise of ultimate top speed, stability and kudos, there are some serious warnings that need to be considered…

Read the full test on our sister site, Boardseeker.com

Like it or not, the pace of the world we live in just keeps getting faster and faster. Our weekends pass away far too quickly, we spend our working week relentlessly tapping away at keyboards, connected to faster, more powerful computers; we drive faster cars and we eat too much fast food. While we might reminisce longingly about the times when the pace of life was much slower, there is simply no getting away from the fact that mankind is obsessed with speed.

In December 1889 a Frenchman with a rather long name risked life and limb to set one of the first official land speed records. He achieved an incredible speed of 39.24mph. Just over 120 years later the speed record now sits at over 400mph. Even cyclists in the Tour de France are at times exceeding 50mph!

Only 10 years ago, sailing fast on a windsurfer meant sacrificing control, comfort and cash to fork out on the latest and greatest race machines of the time. That was all well and good, but despite being fast they weren’t much fun to sail and required a fair bit of ability to get any level of performance from them, let alone stay dry around a corner.

But now things have improved somewhat. Now we have a breed of board called the ‘freerace’. Not only are they fast but they’re also comfortable and, dare I say, relatively ‘easy’ to sail. Just as Lance Armstrong might have had a wry smile on his face as he pedalled past our French friend and his 40mph record breaking car, we can now cruise in comfort at speeds that not long ago wouldn’t have been possible even on the most dedicated of race boards.

If you don’t sail in waves then the chances are you have an interest in speed and don’t want to be overtaken. Freeride boards (as we tested last year) are great for learning to gybe and mixing manoeuvrability with straight-line performance, but if you want real pace you need to look elsewhere.

If your body is clad in 100kg of muscle and you have your heart set on seeing Antoine Albeau wallow in your wake on the PWA slalom course, then you should probably look straight at the race lines that most brands offer. But if you’re of more average stature and hope to have some cartilage left in your knees in a few years’ time, then freerace boards are where the action is. These are designed to blend slalom board rivalling speed with a hefty dose of comfort and ease of use thrown into the mix.

We decided it was time to check out what was on offer in the freerace market, so took nine of the top offerings and sent our Clones camel-backing into the Egyptian desert to check them out…

Read the full test on our sister site, Boardseeker.com

We frequently hear comments about why we shouldn’t bother testing these boards: they’re too small for most people; most windsurfers aren’t good enough to sail them; the shops don’t sell enough of them, etc, etc… We hear these comments, and do you know what? Quite frankly we don’t give a damn, because despite the perfectly practical and sensible statements above, these are the boards that define and showcase windsurfing to most people. These are the Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Astons of our sport, and the boards for which common sense is allowed to be thrown out of the window.

This is a collection of the most high performance production waveboards on the planet. You might not all have the ability to sail them yet, but we bet you’re still interested…

Full group test available on our sister site, Boardseeker.com

Power Wave sails used to be regarded as the ‘heavy weights’ wave sail, but more and more so, they are becoming more than just a tractor for heavyweights, they also make a pretty good onshore wave sail for most weights of rider…

Read the full test on our sister site, Boardseeker.com

“Hello Mr shop owner, I would like to buy a 2011 wave board”, says the customer. “No problem, which would you like sir?” replies the shop owner.  “Well, I sail mostly in cross-on UK conditions, but sometimes go to Ireland, the Canaries or South Africa on holiday and get down-the-line riding.  Which would you recommend?”  The shop owner replies, ”Well, I stock 4 of the major brands and each brand is offering 12 wave boards this year, so there are 48 to choose from…and by the way, most of those are available in two construction options…which would you like sir?”

It’s really not hard for us to understand the difficulty that the market faces at the moment when it comes to choosing a wave board and I can assure you that choosing a set of equally matched wave boards for this test was no less difficult. I mean, where do you start?  You know the size you want right?  Well actually you don’t, because some select off width, whilst others off volume, neither of which are perfect and it’s certainly not unusual for an 85 litre board of one brand to be equivalent to an 80 litre of another.  What’s more, a multi-fin allows us to use a bigger board than a single fin, so many brands are recommending that we use approx 5 litres bigger if choosing a multi-fin…

But size isn’t just the problem anymore.  It’s the number of fins that will really get you doing your homework!  Elsewhere in this issue, we have written a piece to help guide you through this decision, so to save me covering the same ground twice, please have a read of that if you are in the market for a new wave board this year.

However, in a few words, here is a very general guide to how we see it at the moment; Single fins remain the most exciting feel in a straight line, but are limited mostly by their turning ability in cross-on conditions and with bigger board sizes.  Twin fins are evolving towards better straight line performance but still generally require a lighter footed technique to single fins. They are however fantastic for all abilities of wave riding, particularly in cross-on conditions. Thruster fins are a slightly more manoeuvrable version of a single fin, seeming to require a slightly more back footed turning technique to get the most out of and are decent in a straight line, albeit not quite as good as a pure single fin. Quad fins, combine the tight turning potential of a twin, with the grip and smoothness of a single, particularly in bigger, steeper waves.  They go upwind extremely well, but tend to make the board feel quite planted in the water in a straight line, so not the most exciting.  They are also not as loose and playful as a Twin in cross-on conditions.

It’s easy to blame the brands and accuse them of producing too many boards and too much choice and that’s what most people are doing at the moment. But really when you think about it, what would you do in their position?  The evolution of these new fin concepts has given performance gains in so many different areas that really can’t be ignored if the brand and the sport are to move forward. Unfortunately however, so far, there is not one obvious solution that simply eclipses everything else and makes the decision easy.  In fact what we have now are 4 different concepts that all work very well, but in quite different ways.  So, if you really think you have problems choosing how many fins your wave board needs this year, rest assured that the brands are also having similar headaches!  And it’s not because they don’t know which is best, but purely because none of the concepts are ‘the best’ and instead, all have their own unique strengths and weakness.  Convertible boards may be the all-encompassing answer to this in the long term, but at present, it remains to be seen whether a board can actually be designed to work with such a wide variety of fin options.

At this point in time, I think its fair to say that the brands are getting a fair bit of flack.  Most buyers crave for the brands to re-introduce simplicity and make one range that would be accepted as a compromise, but making choosing a wave board a much easier and less risky prospect.

That sounds very sensible, but before we all get together and send a signed petition to the brands, perhaps we should take a minute to reconsider.  Rather than criticised, perhaps, the brands should be commended for offering us the choice and options to be able to purchase the very best wave board for any given condition.  After all, the brands work extremely hard to design, develop and produce these boards, in a very tough industry, where it would actually be easier for them to fob us off with just one range or style of wave board.  The truth is, choice is generally a very good thing and perhaps shouldn’t be criticised so harshly in this instance.  Sure, we all want simplicity and so too do the brands, but allow me to let you into a little secret…if you really want simplicity, its already there within the brands ranges, you just have to know where to look.

This test (and our next 75 litre test) focuses on that very style of board – the all-rounder, the board that does it all, regardless of how many fins it has.  This 85 litre test is pitched more towards boards targeting the less advanced rider and the more mediocre conditions, whilst our upcoming 75 litre test pitches towards all-round boards for the more advanced rider.

We are fully aware that most buyers only want one or perhaps two sizes of wave board to cover everything from high wind bump and jump, right through to down the line wave riding.  Hopefully these next two wave board tests will help you to find that perfect board.  And just remember, that the choice out there now is far better than it has ever been.

View the full group test on our sister site Boardseeker.com

The Overall Champions

Just 16 days ago, Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED) was ranked 10th in the world in Men’s RS:X windsurfing.

By late Sunday afternoon (18 December), he was the new world champion, having wrestled the crown from defending champion, Poland’s Piotr Myszka, by winning the gold medal at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships.

“It means satisfaction for the last three years,” van Rjisselberghe said when he returned to Bathers Bay beach from the Centre Course.

But it was by no means an easy race for any of the Men’s RS:X medal winners.

Myszka stayed close to his rival for the entire race, hoping van Rijsselberghe would falter.

“I was with Dorian all the time but he was a little bit faster on the first upwind so I lost him there,” Myszka said.

“I was waiting for some mistake, but he made none.

“He’s a world champion, he knows what to do and he protected himself really well. I couldn’t do anything.”

Just one point separated the two sailors before they set sail Sunday, guaranteeing fierce competition.

Van Rijsselberghe said he was greatly impressed by Myszka’s performances during this week’s races: “He’s a great racer. It’s just unbelievable, you didn’t really see him at the beginning of the week and then all of a sudden he comes out [on Saturday] on top. He’s an amazing sailor and windsurfer. I have a lot of respect for the guy.”

Myszka even risked injury to claim a medal: “I was pumping so hard that my hand opened on the boom and I fell down to the water! So I ended up racing with one hand. It was a dangerous moment.”

But while the battle for gold prevailed, so too did the fight for the bronze, with Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL) losing his third overall place to Israel’s Nimrod Mashich.

Mashich and Miarczynski were extremely close on the downwind leg before the slalom finish. Both sailors ended with 52 points overall, but on a count-back Mashich took the bronze.

“Miarczynski is a really experienced sailor. I don’t know how many medals this guy has won in his life so it was very hard racing him today,” Mashich said.

Mashich, the world number two, said he was “really, really happy” to be taking a medal home.

“I really wanted to win but they [van Rijsselberghe and Myszka] are really incredible sailors so I did the maximum I could do and that’s it,” Mashich said.

Sunday’s final race saw three outsiders take the first three places – Byron Kokkalanis (GRE), Julien Bontemps (FRA) and Ivan Pastor (ESP) – but they were not contenders for a medal.

Oscar has just moved from RRD to Fanatic/North/Ion. You can check out more on his blog oscarcarmichael.blogspot.com. For now, sit back, relax and enjoy this BlackLab production of the 2011 UK Junior Freestyle Champion.

BOARDS 279 – November 2011

Contents 279 – NOVEMBER 2011. Covershot: 2011 PWA World Wave Champion, Philip Koster, by Jerome Houyvet.

features

SOUTH PACIFIC – PLAN B

The inimitable Scott McKercher finds himself stranded in wavesailing paradise – without his wavesailing kit. At times such as these, a windsurfer needs a plan B…

TESTED – 4.7m ALL-ROUND WAVE SAILS

Following last month’s 5.3 power wave sail test, the Clones put the latest 5-batten all-rounders through a punishing routine to find out what improvements have been made since last year…

PWA KLITMØLLER

Ed Sinclair reports from Denmark, which delivered an action packed event in the most ferocious conditions seen on the PWA Wave Tour in 2011 – and a new World Champion…

SCOTTISH WINDSURFING FESTIVAL

Dave White brings us news that Windfest fever continues to spread throughout the country, with the latest outbreak reaching as far north as Scotland…

A DAY IN THE LIFE – MARCILIO BROWNE

Ever wondered what it must be like to throw off the shackles of the 9 to 5, to spend every day on the water, to live the life – to maybe even make a living out of windsurfing? Read on and weep…

SWA – TEN YEARS AFTER

The Student Windsurfing Association set out just a little over 10 years ago on a mission to promote student windsurfing in the UK. To date they look to have made a superb job of it, but how did it all start?

MARVELLOUS MARSA

Whether you seek flat water, tranquil, crystal-clear lagoons or an outer reef to play on, Marsa Alam has it all. Jem Hall shares his clients’ and his own insights into Marsa’s marvels…

TIREE WAVE CLASSIC 25

“Each of the 25 Wave Classics have been very different, but collectively they all come under one simple adjective: LEGENDARY!” George Shillito reports from the UK’s longest running and most prestigious wavesailing competition…

regulars

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PICTURE DESK

NEWS

FULLER’S WAY

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POND LIFE

READERS’ PIX

NEXT ISSUE

Sarah-Quita in action at home on Aruba, by JC / PWA

In under a week ISAF and Rolex will welcome sailors and guests to the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2011 in Puerto Rico. 

The ceremony will be held in the historic Cuartel de Ballaja, a former military barracks in the mid-19th century, and an impressive backdrop to a night that welcomes some of the best sailing talent the world has seen.

 This year there are four female and five male nominees who have been shortlisted for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year award based on their achievements during the qualifying period of 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011.

The 2011 nominees are:

Female

Dee Caffari (GBR) – Record Breaking Round The World Yachtswoman

Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU) – Double Professional Windsurfing Association World Champion

Alexandra Rickham (GBR) – ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion and IFDS World Champion

Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) – ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion

Male

Ben Ainslie (GBR) – Match Racing World Champion & ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion

Lorenzo Bressani (ITA) – Melges 24 and 32 World Champion

Rob Douglas (USA) – Outright World Speed Record Holder

Iker Martinez & Xabier Fernandez (ESP) – IMOCA60 and 49er Success

Nathan Outteridge (AUS) – International Moth World Champion and 49er Champion

Click here to find out more about the nominated sailors and their achievements.

The winners will be selected by the ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs), the national governing bodies for sailing around the world, who have been invited to vote for the one male and one female nominee who they believe most deserves the Award.

HM King Constantine, ISAF President of Honour, will announce the winners who will be presented with the prestigious ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year trophy and a distinctive Rolex timepiece.

Note: El Cuartel de Ballaja was built in 1864 and initially used to house Spanish troops and, in 1898 it became the quarters for American soldiers following the Spanish-American War. During World War II the building was used as a military hospital and has recently been renovated by its owners, the Puerto Rican government.

Visit the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards microsite at www.sailing.org/worldsailor

Sarah-Quita Offringa

More from B-72 at www.stevenvanbroeckhoven.com

2011 Tiree Wave Classic Champ, Ben Proffitt

Here’s Jim Brooks-Dowsett‘s final report from the 25th Tiree Wave Classic…

Pros

The scene was set in the pros with Ben Proffitt (Simmer) and Phil Horrocks (JP) tying for 1st after 2 rounds. But it was John Skye (RRD) who threw an industrial size spanner in everyones works. John has missed both Wales and Ireland rounds but returned to his favourite UK event to upset the scoreboard. Proffitt took the single elimination and with a bad ankle was last seen praying for no wind. In the double, Skyboy came from 5th place to storm the ladder to knock Ben to 2nd place. So the scene was set for a boom-biting final as all fleeats arrived at the Maze for the final day of comptition. And the final day of the Tiree Classic 2011 will go down in history as Horrocks fought back from 6th place to take a well deserved 3rd place.

Previous Tiree Classic winners, Jamie Hancock and Timo Mullen (Starboard, Black Project Fins) stood out from the crowd in freesailing but failed to deliver enough when during their heats. Once again Andy ‘Bubble’ Chambers (Neil Pryde, JP) put in focused perfomances and the king of freestyle getting quite a name as Mr consistant in the waves finishing an impressive 5th.

Wildcard Andy King was the one to watch. Mr unassuming quietly stayed in the background for most of the competition and anyone who didnt pay attention got a nasty surprise as the silent assassin swiflty and clinically disposed of each oncomer to take a 2nd place after the first elimination and a credible 4th in the final triple.

Another favourite Adam Lewis had a shocking start. The young gun who can threaten the top eight in the world at any PWA event on port tack but the cruel starboard tack conditions left Adam struggleing with a 12th and 13th place in the first eliminations. With port tack on final day Adam pulled himself up to 7th place.

The Ams

Scott McDowell has won previous amateur fleet and under BWA rules should have been pushed up to Pros fleet but with a full pro fleet the Scot was pushed back to Ams under a sub rule. No matter, Aleksy ‘Lecky’ Gayda did not allow the previous champ to distract him from taking a very convincing win in all eliminations. PWA Head Judge, Duncan Coombes has already remarked that he expects to see Lecky making a big impression on the world tour in the not too distant future.

The other rising star of the amateur fleet is Lewis Merrony who has continued to stun everyone throughout the championships with amazing wave riding and confident jumps. The quietly spoken star experienced a flurry of ‘competition rage’ as he unleashed his anger at BWA Chaiman and Tour Manager, Nigel Treacy. Onlookers prepared for a full scale blood match but were dissapointed when both were last seen heading off the beach hugging.

2011 has also seen a very welcome return by Boardseeker cameraman extraordinare, Alfie Hart who threw off some of the some of the sickest tweaked donkey kicks of the competition but was only able to take a fourth in a highly competitive fleet.

The Ladies

Debbie Kennedy delivered a perfect perfomance in Tiree scoring 5 first places. Kariina Perhonen and new girl on the block, Sophia Gilje battled it out with 2nd place switching between the two every day . But in the end it was Sophia’s smoother wave riding that put her ahead. Whilst Eilidh Sutherland came 4th every time her performance was also noted with the judges remarking how much she improved through the comp and have earmarked her as one to watch in future.

The Masters

In recent years the masters has become one of the most competitive fleets in the Championships and this year was no exception. Big Davey Edmiston arrived on the island with 2 previous Tiree wins under his belt and desperate to win his third. But it was popular man Mark Lloyd that took the overall win after battling through a single and then defending his position well in the double elimination. With only 1 event to go and 2 first places, Mark is already rubbing his hands on the Championship trophy. Big Jumpers, Keith Shorrock and Boards mag editor Dave White always threatened to upset the leader but the lighter winds rarely provided enough power fort them to shine leaving Keith to take 3rd with the mighty Whitey in fourth.

Thanks…

A massive thanks to the beach team in 2011 especially Judges Duncan Coombs, Lukasj Zajdi and Ian ‘Bolbo Baggins’ Ross. Heat Manager Jackie Lloyd and roadies Jon Greatrex and Nick Miles. Photographers Dave White and John Carter But our biggest thanks being to Wild Diamond’s owner Willie Maclean and young Stewart Cowling for taking care of all of us. WIllie’s magic trailer and 4×4 ensured the event and competitors stayed warm and happy. There were many more to mention and thanks you all.

The Magical Island of Tiree has once again played host to the most exciting round of the British Wave Tour this year, not only were the surroundings spectacular and the conditions delivered daily, but most importantly we received the warmest welcome and support from the local community that helps to make it a week not to be missed.

This year’s Tiree Wave Classic was funded by EventScotland and Argyll & Bute council with great support from all our sponsors that can be seen at www.tireewaveclassic.co.uk

We are very much looking forward to the final round Cornwall at the end of the month so please stay posted for more information and very much hope to see more of you there!

Check out:

www.britishwavesailingassociation.com

www.cornwallwaveclassic.co.uk

And please join our Cornwall Wave Classic facebook group for daily updates and live news feeds!

From all the team at the BWA and Pura Vida

_MG_1657 _MG_1676 _MG_3634 _MG_3648 _MG_3687 _MG_3707 _MG_6882 _MG_6916 _MG_7945 _MG_7970 _O4D5561 _O4D5569 _O4D5624 _O4D5629 _O4D5902 _O4D5918 _O4D5970 _O4D5977 _O4D6056 _O4D6938 _O4D7272 _O4D7633 _O4D7912 _O4D8213 _O4D8299

2011 UK Formula Champion Tim Gibson, by Alastair Campbell, UKWA

North Sails rider Tim Gibson has claimed the UK Formula Windsurfing title after another closely fought season. The National Cup Series began with a clean win over last year’s champion, Dave Coles, at the 2012 Olympic venue in Portland Harbour. Another couple of events, Minnis Bay in 30-knot winds and not so windy Swansea Bay, saw Tim’s lead over Dave consolidated. A trip up t’North to Bridlington followed for event 4 and saw Dave Coles claw back a point.

Venue 5 brought unusually changeable conditions at Christchurch. The wind on day 1 varied from 12 to 26 knots as the squalls came and went, leaving racers with difficult choices to make over sail size. Tim opted to rig big which led to a tactical retirement from race 2 in order to change down in time for race 3. This would have worked a treat, except that most of the fleet had to bin race 3 after sailing the wrong course! The losers on this occasion included Tim but not Dave! This left Tim with a lot of ground to make up and with only 2 more races over the weekend, the opportunity to recover the situation didn’t present itself. Tim’s seemingly safe 3-point lead in the series was cut down to 1 point, leaving everything to play for with 1 event to go.

The forecast for the finale, back at Portland, looked to be barely racing conditions. This was the chance that light wind specialist Dave Coles was waiting for. However, the North gods were watching and the wind struggled to hit 7 knots all weekend, so no racing! Tim breathed a sigh of relief … UK Formula Champ at last.

For full results, event reports, free advice, and kit for sale, visit www.ukwindsurfing.com