With a string of awards already tucked away for their innovative ‘traceablility maps’, Rapanui are continuing to produce fresh designs with minimum impact to the environment. The traceability maps allow you to see where every material used in a particular product has come from, where it is turned into clothing and how it finally reaches the shop shelf. From ‘Seed to Shop’ as they call it.

The Rapanui supply chain, on view for everyone

For 2012, the brand has pushed forward with some new innovations, including a new type of eco Fabric derived from Eucalyptus which has been billed “the most eco-friendly man-made fibre in the world.” As well as using friendly fibres, Rapanui are pressing on with their Eco-Labelling Initiative. Designed to allow people to shop responsibly with minimum fuss, the initiative would label clothes from A-G, allowing you to trace the origins of every product and decide if you want to support the producers.

The Ecolabelling initiative in affect

For further details, head to the Rapanui website HERE. Check out some of the 2012 summer collection in all it’s glory below…

With the first event of the 2012 World Tour starting in a week, the PWA regret to announce some changes to the schedule.

After several years with no Caribbean tour stop, 2011 saw the World Tour return to Bonaire and Aruba, bringing the freestyle and slalom fleets with them. Both events were blessed with great wind and some fantastic competition was held. Unfortunately, financial restrictions mean that the freestyle event on Bonaire has been cancelled for this year.

Taty Frans flying high during last year's Bonaire event

“Despite the best efforts of all involved, a substantial cut in available government funding for the event has meant that the organisers have had to cancel their plans for 2012 and will now look ahead to bringing the event back for 2013.”

The Aruba event has also faced financial difficulties, with the slalom discipline being axed. The PWA are working hard to ensure the Freestyle event goes ahead.

Bjorn Dunkerbeck crosses the line mid-air in Costa Brava

Costa Brava in Spain delivered some ferocious winds for the slalom fleet last year, and this year it will remain as a men only event. The organisers are pushing to bring the ladies fleet back but they will have to wait until next year at least…

You can view the full calendar of events on the PWA website HERE.

Winds of 40 knots howled through Cadiz on Friday, forcing the race committee to postpone the competition for a day. After waiting for the conditions to drop all day, the scheduled rest day on Saturday saw one race completed in both the male and female fleets.

Nick Dempsey flat out in Spain

In the Ladies’ fleet, Bryony Shaw is in 7th place. Not dropping out of the top 10 in any of the races so far and regulary in the top 5, Bryony can hopefully climb into the top 5 overall. Lee Korzits from Israel is dominating the women’s fleet, posting a bullet or second place in every race so far! Also representing the UK is young Izzy Hamilton. With a fantastic 4th place in Race 1, Izzy has fallen back slightly in the super windy conditions. She will be sure to climb back up the rankings as the racing continues. Currently in a great 22nd, Izzy is also 3rd in the U21 category.

Izzy Hamilton

Nick Dempsey is leading the way for the Brits and currently sits in fourth place overall. With two bullets and two seconds, Nick is performing well in the stronger winds and is sure to give the remaining races everything he’s got. Tied on points is Greek sailor Byron Kokkalanis – he and Dempesy have had some battles on the water and it’s not over yet!

In 25th place is fellow Brit Elliot Carney. Opening the proceedings with an awesome 3rd place, followed by an 8th and a 7th, Carney has also slipped slightly in the recent stronger winds but will be hungry to power back through the rankings.

Full tilt at Cadiz

Check out a video of the action from Day 4 below and be sue to follow the action on the official RS:X website HERE. Today’s racing is scheduled to kick off just before midday and the wind is already blowing, good luck to all the competitors.

As the 2012 Fuerteventura Wave Classic enters it’s final days, the crew at KSB have uploaded their latest video from the event site.

Martin Keruzoré, Pierre Bouras and Greg Scherpe have captured some great action from El Cotillo on Fuerteventura. Check out the competitors getting some sick rides in on the beach break, as well as some nice aerials and great crashes. The UK’s very own Will Ward and Andrew Fawcett are taking part in the event – a special mention for Will’s savage aerial crash at 2:54!

Today, the riders and event crew took part in a beach clean at Majanicho beach. Find out more about the beach clean project and follow the final day of the event on the official Facebook page HERE.

The Conditions

Now in it’s fourth year, the Fuerteventura Wave Classic is renowned for delivering a huge range of conditions that can often err on the side of ‘extreme’. Last year, unfortunately, saw no final result or winning team. Pumping swell and howling winds are what everyone is hoping for and the WindGuru predicitions are for just that! WindGuru are supporting the FWC as an official partner and have set up a special forecast for the event which you can see HERE. The swell forecast isn’t huge, but the wind looks set to show up and deliver – so fingers crossed we will see some competition.

The special event forecast on WindGuru

The Riders

16 riders, 4 teams of 4 – simple! Representing the UK are Andrew Fawcett and expat Will Ward. Flying the flag for Fuerte-based board company Witchcraft, both sailors are very familiar with the breaks on Fuerte and will be a great addition to whatever team they end up in. The big names to keep an eye out for are recent Gaastra/Tabou signing Dario Ojeda, multiple ladies world champion Iballa Moreno as well as the Denel brothers and big wave charger Tom Hartmann.

The 16th place was empty until last week when Dutch sailor Amanda Beenen was selected to fill the final spot on the ladies team. Fresh from a winter of training in South Africa, Amanda is ready to charge.

Here is a round up of all the action at the 2011 event to get you ready for this year’s edition…

Best of luck to all of the riders and be sure to follow the event at their official website (fuertewaveclassic.com) and on Facebook.

Big Salty provide some of the best forecasting available for the UK and International waterman (and lady!) For 2012, they have would like to know what YOU think of the website and any suggestions you may have. Read on to find out more.

A whole load of toys just waiting for James Cox to use!

“Calling all existing bigsalty.co.uk or bigsalty.com weather users. Big Salty Weather is running a survey whereby anyone who fills it out before the end of February can have the chance of winning a prestigiuous Big Salty hoody. The Big Salty development plans mean that they have got a lot to squeeze in to 2012 so all entries will help make a difference. You can do that HERE”

Catch your slice of the action HERE for UK forecasts, or for global forecasts HERE.

Former World Freestyle Champion Marcilio ‘Brawzinho’ Browne has released this video of him sailing on Maui. After a recent change to Goya boards and sails, it seems to be business as usual for Brawzinho as he tears apart wave after wave. Expect to see his usual radical mix of Goitas, Wave 360s and insane Air Takas along with his powerful riding style – awesome action.
Marcilio also recently relaunched his website – to keep up to date with everything Browne, head over to marciliobrowne.com.

Whilst on the website you may come across this clip. It’s from a little while back but shows why Brawzinho is one of the best waveriders in the world with a sick Double Air Taka ‘attempt’. Landed off the back still counts surely?

After the huge success of last year’s event, the National Windsurfing Festival team aren’t resting on their laurels but are instead coming up with great ideas to make the 2012 event even bigger and better than before. “Surely not?” you may cry, “Last year can’t be topped!” But believe us, it looks like this year will truly be an event to remember.

Brawzinho and Ant Baker at NWF '11

A Recap

For those of you who weren’t lucky enough to attend last time – a quick recap.

Hosted at Hayling Island, the 2011 event saw:

• Free coaching from the biggest gurus out there – Peter Hart, Jem Hall, Jim Collis, Ant Baker, Simon Bornhoft and the FLOW girls.
• Windsurf and SUP racing for all levels – including night racing!
• Demo kit from all the top brands
• Freestyle competition from the UKWA
• Taster sessions to get beginners into windsurfing
• Night tow-in session featuring World Champion Marcilio Browne
• Chats from some of the top Pros
• Epic parties!

Over 400 competitors took part last year

The 2012 event is being held in the same great location on Hayling Island and is being sponsored by Havant Borough Council. From the 7th-9th September, windsurfers from all over the country (and the world) will assemble at the Inn on The Beach for what promises to be aother fantastic event. This year will see the inclusion of SUP and Kayak racing to the windsurf competition.

As ever, there are two great nights of parties and evening entertainment planned, all of the gurus are returning to offer free coaching to everyone and in addition there will be a ‘Trade Show’ day on the Friday. This will allow the public to test out the latest gear from all of the top brands.

Tow-in freestyle

With plenty of master-blasters, clinics, kit, parties, competitions and pro chats on offer, this is certainly an event you don’t want to miss out on! To keep up to date with the latest news from the NWF, head to their website or check them out on Facebook.

For 2012 Maui Sails have added a special tail piece to their 170-230 boom range amongst several other tweaks and improvements.

“This wider tail will retrofit perfectly on the wave boom arms and is also offered as a complete product in our new 170-230 Slalom boom.

The 170-230 Slalom Boom with new tail piece

All MauiSail carbon booms have several developed upgrades that are meant to improve durability. The two-pin clips for length adjustment have gone through many changes to solve an issue with corrosion that required chrome plating each pin to isolate the metal from the plastic. We redesigned the grip covering to have fewer pieces and altered the location of the joins between them. A slightly firmer durometer of the foam was chosen, and new glue was sourced. We expect these changes to further add to the value and performance of our already renowned line of carbon booms.”

Taty cruising...

Technical features:

• High Stiffness to Weight with double tapered tubes. Race booms are 40mm at the front and back, with 35mm diameter backends, and are the stiffest in the industry.
• Monocoque Construction in Pre-Preg Carbon for maximum stiffness and durability.
• Efficient energy Transfer with MauiSails designed Front End configured for Formula Race Boom performance and available on all MauiSails booms.
• Boom adjustment clip bodies modified for greater durability and strength.
• Included Adjustable Outhaul kits and Wide Tail backend with Race booms.
• Molded Precision produces perfect tolerance between the Boom Body and Rear End for smooth and easy adjustment.
• New High Performance grip surface is durable and easy on the hands.

With over 250 boards and 250 sails on offer from some of the top brands, Club Vass have got something for everyone who heads out to Greece this summer. With sails from Severne, Gaastra and Neil Pryde and boards from JP, Fanatic, Tabou and Starboard, they surely have every base covered. The boards range from the beginner-friendly Fanatic Viper and JP Funster through the freeride favourites; the Tabou Rocket and Starboard Futura up to freestyle machines like the Tabou Twister and Starboard Flare.

The Gaastra Pure and Tabou 3S - available at Club Vass this summer

As well as heaps of shiny new kit, Club Vass also have some amazing deals on the go including the ‘Hook a brother up’ campaign. As an incentive to bring more people into the sport, you and a (beginner) friend can earn £100 off your holiday on selected weeks in June. Find out more at the CV website.

For the past 30 years Boards Magazine has conducted product tests within most of the monthly printed magazines.  For 2012 the format of Boards Magazine will change and so too will the way that tests are delivered.

The quality and volume of tests provided over the year will remain unchanged, but the delivery will be focused online (although some will still feature within our Bi-Annual publications).  The tests will become more interactive, will be free of charge to read, more accessible (everything will be archived) and more up to date.

Testing will continue in 2012 with Adrian Jones remaining the test editor and as always, he will be assisted by his Clone test team.

For the time being, we have uploaded a selection of the main tests that were covered over the past 18 months in Boards Magazine printed and linked through to our sister site Boardseeker, where the full test can be read.  In the future, all new tests will be available right here on the Boards website in a new and improved online format.

We will continue to deliver regular group tests, but will also be increasing the number of ‘first impressions’ and ‘new concept’ reviews that we do.  This style of review will allow you to get more up-to-date reviews on the very latest kit to hit the market as well as more niche and specialist products.

As always, we will continue with the same methodical, unbiased and honest approach to testing that both Boardseeker and Boards Mag have become renowned for.

As we highlighted in last month’s ‘power wave’ test, most brands now offer three distinct models of wave sail: power wave, all-round wave, and 4-batten. There’s little doubt that at present, allround wave sails remain the most popular choice, and that’s the focus of this test group. We asked each brand to supply us with 4.2 and 4.7 versions of their all-round wave sail together with the recommended mast, which allowed us to test the sails through a larger wind range than if we had only one size. It also allows us to check for any inconsistencies within the range. So let’s kick off the discussion by asking the brands the obvious question..

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

Most brands now offer three styles of wave sail. Although each loft has slight variations on the theme, nowadays they tend to be pitched along the lines of ‘power wave’, ‘all-round’ and ‘4-batten’.

The term ‘power wave’ has been around for years, and to most people it tends to imply ‘a sail for heavier riders’. Examples of this style of sail would include the Gaastra Poison, NeilPryde Atlas and North Duke. ‘All-round’ sails are 5-batten models designed for use in all conditions, and include sails such as the Gaastra Manic, NeilPryde Combat and North Ice. The 4-batten sails are generally focused towards frontside riding, such as the Naish Boxer, Simmer Black Tip and NeilPryde Fly.

So, based on this thinking, you may as well stop reading if you weigh less than 85kg, as these power wave sails are not for you. But is this really the case? Are they really just for heavier riders? Let’s see what some of the brands have to say…

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

Without a doubt the most important development in the recent history of waveboard design has been the introduction of multi-fins. Whether it be twin, tri, thruster or quad, multi-fin setups have opened many new doors – and as Quatro shaper Keith Teboul rightly states later on in this test, they are definitely here to stay!

Initially, multi-fin waveboards were only to be found gracing the calloused soles of pro-riders – most famously those of Kauli Seadi, who used his multi-fin to crank turns seemingly beyond the laws of physics in Cabo Verde on route to a wave world title. But it wasn’t long before the more mainstream benefits of multi-fin boards became apparent.

First off, it was better waveriding performance in less than ideal conditions. To make the most of small, onshore conditions, a rider needs to hold speed through a tight turn without much help from the wave’s power. Multi-fin boards not only made the bottom turn easier to initiate and potentially tighter, but most importantly they offered a level of control and performance off the top that no singlefin had ever been able to match. Suddenly small mushy waves became a lot of fun! Multi-fin boards allowed more speed to be maintained through the turn and had a fantastic ability to carve or slide through the top turn.

The next big benefit was wind range. Initially multi-fins were knocked for getting planing slower than an equivalent single-fin. But then people realised that, because multi-fins were so much looser than single-fins, you could actually ride a bigger board. Not only that, but at the top end of the wind spectrum, multi-fin boards offered more control. They kept the board manoeuvrable underfoot even when the sail was overpowered, and at the same time, more settled in a straight line with their planted ride. Compensating for slower planing by opting for a bigger board and offering more control at the top end ultimately translated to a waveboard with more wind range – and that’s a very big benefit.

But multi-fins are not just the domain of advanced riders. Now that you’re able to ride a bigger size board that turns more easily and has better wind range, you’re looking at a list of benefits that appeal just as much to the novice wavesailor. It’s no surprise therefore that nearly every waveboard being developed today is a multi-fin.

And that leads me nicely on to size. With people now able to use bigger waveboards, the next – and to an extent still unanswered – question is how big can you actually go?

With almost every brand now producing a dedicated waveboard in the 90-95L size, we asked them if this is really the upper limit or whether we’re likely to see even bigger boards in the future…

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

Click here to see more on the PWA site

Words from the PWA…

‘We are finally able to release the provisional calendar for the 2012 PWA World Tour. The release of this calendar was delayed by some last minute scheduling issues relating to some of the major events which had to be resolved before we could release the calendar with any accuracy.

One of the events in question was the Vietnam Grand Slam that had been scheduled for the 9th – 17th March. However, due to delays in the confirmation of funding for the event, it has now been postponed until the end of the season.

The Cape Verde event is not currently listed on the calendar. We are still in discussion with the government in Cape Verde and there are still possibilities for the event to happen but we do not have concrete enough information to publish details at this time. We expect more information to be available in the next week, but if the event goes ahead it is likely that it will be at comparatively short notice, before the middle of March.

You can find the provisional calendar at the following link http://files.pwaworldtour.com/2012_Provisional_Calendar_09.01.12_Prize.pdf

For events with 2 disciplines, some will have split dates. Although these are not 100% fixed yet the following dates are intended for the individual disciplines.

Aruba Freestyle: 26th – 30th May
Aruba Slalom: 29th May – 2nd June

Fuerteventura Slalom: 20th – 25th July
Fuerteventura Freestyle: 25th – 30th July’