The venue is well known to many racers, having hosted previous editions of the the Croatian Open Championships. This year’s event is also a stop on the 2013 European Cup Tour.

VIGANJ is a small tourist place on the peninsula of Peljesac, 6 km from Orebic and about 15 min by boat from Korcula. It is ideal place for swimming and all kind of water sports; and especially good for windsurfing -”Viganj is a good spot with 20 kn of seabreeze every day. In July, works like a watch!”

Peljesac is a great Peninsula in the south of Croatia. Nearly at the very end of this peninsula, on the see-coast of Adriatic see, is situated a village VIGANJ. Everybody who has good knowledge of the Adriatic coast can confirm that this part of Croatia belongs between the most wonderful places. Peljesac peninsula is about 80 Km long, with mostly rocky coast, romantic bays and high mountains. The highest mountain of Peljesac is Sv. Ilja with altitude 961 m. Below this mountain and on the coast is the Orebic – not very large historical town.

“If we continue from Orebic in our journey, we reach after approximately 6 Km our village VIGANJ. VIGANJ is a place with its own specific friendly atmosphere, place where the people are going back for their whole life.”

Images from Viganj 

Croatian Toursist information

More information and photos from past events 

Notice of Race

Enter online 

Chris Bond

Like many Formula sailors in this country, I downed tools over the winter and I’m now looking forward to the new season – I know this does not apply to all as some hardy/mad soles carry on through ice and snow in order to improve their skills.

The new season offers lots of promise for the Formula fleet with training events and international excursions all planned to run along side the UKWA series. Add to this the possibility of a trial event combining Formula and Slalom, then this should be a year to remember. The combination of the Slalom and Formula has caught the interest of Ant Baker whilst Ross Williams has hinted that he will appear at the odd UKWA event when it fits in with his international calendar – having such names at the events can only draw in more interest and up the level in our performance and overall competition.

In order to improve communication throughout the fleet the UK Formula Windsurfing group was formed on Facebook. Please feel free to join this group and hear about upcoming training, competition and a vast array of second hand kit on offer. In addition to this there is the UKWA website www.ukwindsurfing.com and our own UK Formula website www.formulawindsurfing.co.uk For international news use www.formulawindsurfing.org Any queries at all about Formula windsurfing whether it’s competing or recreational then do not hesitate to contact me on face book or chris360bond@yahoo.com Happy sailing.

By Chris Bond GBR 98 sponsored by Point 7, Gaastra, Z-Fins and Robin Hood Watersports

Interviewed afterwards Keith Atkinson said, “I’m very happy with the result, I felt extremely comfortable with my equipment and was mentally prepared for the event, it was very close and was down to whoever won the last race, I knew what needed to be done and I was happy that I pulled it out of the bag when I needed to. I’d like to thank my sponsors for their incredible support: North Sails, Fanatic, ION, F-hot fins, Marlow ropes, Kennett Watches, Physioactive and Wet ‘n’ Dry boardsports, Keith is looking forward to the 2013 season which starts in March.

Keith Atkinson

Chris Bond

So it was back to racing business after the summer break.  The next instalment of the Stena Line Cup was however missing a few familiar faces. Dave Coles was away competing in Garda, Jason Clarke is now living the dream as a windsurfing instructor and poor Nick Icke made the mistake of mountain biking with me over the summer break and is now nursing a break of his own – his shoulder!!  The rest of the fleet were raring to go with the welcome return of Aussie Mark and newcomer James Battye.

The only wind of the weekend came in around 2pm on Saturday and it was blowing a steady 10 – 12 knots with a pretty flat sea and the sun shining – perfect formula conditions! Most sailors were on their 11m, with myself and Tim Gibson going 12m. The extra sail size certainly paid dividends and the advantage downwind was substantial. We managed to get 5 races in (getting off the water around 7pm) and the results were as never seen before. I, yes me, as in Bond won 4 of the 5 races with Tim just behind me and taking the one race I didn’t win. So I got my very first ever event win and I’ve not stopped smiling since. I’m not too sure what the difference was but my new sails from Point 7 played a huge part. Making up the podium and winning the National 11 fleet was none other than our Bob Ingram who held 3^rd in every race and was up with the leaders on the upwind legs.

The rest of the fleet had close battles with places being traded during races. A special mention must go to newcomer James who showed great potential in his first event. Our next event is Bridlington and I hope to see you all there for what has proved in the past to be a great venue.

Chris Bond is sponsored by Robin Hood Watersports and Point 7 Sails.

Check out Chris’ feature: Formula Windsurfing Can Change Your Life

Ross Williams on DAY 5 at Formula Windsurfing World Championship 2012 in Liepāja, Latvia from Ansis Egle on Vimeo.

Full men’s results. 

Full women’s results.

The racing is underway today, with one more qualification race being completed before the men are split into gold and silver fleets. Follow the racing at the formula windsurfing website. 

Formula Windsurfing World Championships

Photo courtesy – Agris Kozlovskis and Ivo Blūms. Check out the full gallery at http://formulaworlds2012.lv/day-2-photo#more-679

On the next page check out an interview with Ross before the competition.

Another fantastic weekend’s Formula racing. The wind god certainly delivered in south Wales offering some seat of the pants racing conditions over the 2 days.

The location for the Stena Line Cup 3 event proved a little too far out of the way for some of the fleet so numbers weren’t high but the competition most certainly was. The off shore wind on day 1 made sail choice a little difficult so we could only go on the wind speed reading from the safety boats which informed us of a gusty 14-22 knot wind. I chose a 10m as did Dave Coles (Dolphin) with the rest of the fleet opting for smaller options…….how I wish I was one those now! By the time racing started the wind was gusting 33 knots and the waves could have made auditions for the film The Perfect Storm!! Conditions suited Mr Coles so the Dolphin dominated the days proceedings with 3 wins out of 3 with Tim Gibson taking 2^nd and myself 3^rd closely followed by Adrian Wallis and Bob Ingram. The racing was scary with most competitors taking a dunking at some point and all getting lots of unwanted airtime! I also managed to slice my foot off, well it was hanging by a thread…..alright I sliced it badly on my fin so ended up with gaffer taped foot for the rest of the weekend. As typing this write up, I am still suffering from the aches, pain and bruises of yet.

Day 2 saw slightly lighter winds – thank god!! The wind was blowing 16 knots with the odd gust of 24 just to keep us on our toes. Dolphin Dave was feeling confident in what looked like his preferred conditions. However, sadly for Dave, the rest of the fleet were not like John West – we were not Dolphin Friendly!! Dave led the first race all the way to the 2^nd windward but that’s where the eco friendliness came to an end – Tim and Chris decided not to follow the Dolphins early gybe and this proved successful with Tim crossing the line in 1^st followed by myself then the frustrated Dolphin. I could go on for 3 pages about the next race (I wont though) as yours truly was the winner followed by Tim then Dave. The lunch break followed with 2 more races to follow and everything points wise was very close. Sadly we lost Adrian at this point for medical reasons but he’ll be back for the next event. I was on a high from the last race and this looked as though it had been the catalyst for what I thought was my next win – however, to my disgust the race was abandoned due to a lull at the windward mark. I threw all of my toys out of the pram, spat my dummy out and had a tantrum before growing up and accepting the race officer’s decision. The last race of the day was incredibly close but Tim grabbed it and I managed to gybe and overtake the Dolphin right on the finish line to take 2^nd.  This meant that Tim won the event overall with Dave in 2^nd followed by myself.

UKWA Formula Mumbles Prizegiving.

The weekend was a huge success on and off the water. Since the sad exclusion of RSX from the future of the Olympics, more and more attention has been shifting to Formula. We now have 3 Techno sailors making the switch as well as Spanish amigo training to join the fleet in the near future. Anyone wishing to join us, then just make yourself known to us and we’ll welcome you on board – if you need more persuasion why not read this article: http://boards.mpora.com/features/formula-windsurfing-change-life.html

Until the next time – Agent Bond out.

Chris Bond is sponsored by Robin Hood Watersports and Point7. 

Interested in formula racing? Check out ‘Formula Windsurfing Can Change Your Life’ by Chris Bond. 

Welcome to all, the title; tales from the ever-expanding middle comes from the fact that normally these reports tend to be a little bit more race orientated, (this is however not meant to be a dig in any way to the normal report writers who do a marvelous job) and hopefully I can now get the chance to tell the story from a little bit further back down the fleet and sometimes from just over the lip of a pint glass.

So here goes, Friday began with, little, if not no prospect of any wind materialising at all. Considering the latest forecast dribbled out by my bookmarks menu on the Mac, which meant that the numerous phone conversations earlier in the week arranging a Friday pre event training session for the formula fleet was rapidly being replaced by the prospect of a cold beer and a sunset on the beach (my kind of training session any day).

The pre bank holiday weekend drive down went pretty smoothly with just a little bit of M25 mayhem, But I still managed to arrive in good time to claim a pretty peachy spot on the beach front within crawling distance of the club house and the race office, “sweet”, also parked with us were

• Tim (I’ll only give up when I’m dead) Gibson,
• Dave (the Dolphin) Coles,
• Chris (A.K.A the Bondage) Bond,
• James Briggs (A.K.A Briggsy)
• Jason  (A.K.A Does this look like the face of concern,,,,,,,,,,I didn’t think so) Clarke.
• Keith Atkinson

Herne Bay

So let’s paint a picture the sea is as flat as glass, the suns out in all of its Sunday best the company is fine the Cool boxes is full and the food is beginning to appear on the tables along with the first signs of BBQ building. All was looking fine…until, the wind arrived.

In the space of 20 minutes Herne Bay went from being a relax chilled out evening on the sun drenched beach to, seven frantic formula sailor all trying to rig two to three sails on a relatively small beach with limited area, the Residents of Herne bay must of wondered if this was some sort or budget opening ceremony that the UKWA puts on to entertain the locals pre event what with all the commotions unfolding before there eyes.

First on the water was the Bondage followed by just about everyone else in a matter of minutes some of us had opted for12m’s, that was a big mistake as wind carried on building, Jason (GBR 1515) and me soon found ourselves back on the beach collecting the 10m’s, this proved to be a pretty mighty move on both of our behalf’s as it turned out, because even though we only got to tune one sail in the Friday Practice Session. As it turned out it would be the only sail we would end up needing for the entire weekend.

Herne Bay

Saturday Morning arrived all to soon, and so had the wind, it was now blowing a steady 15 knots and forecast to build throughout the day. The thin wedge at the top end of the fleet were already busying themselves with the Three R’s, Rolling, Rigging, and Registering. I however along with a number of other riders who had only decided to Rig one (Very well tuned I’d like to add) 10m sail were chilling with Owen Gibson a young sailor who had come down to the event to try some Formula Experience kit that had been leant to the formula fleet by a few Riders that could not make the weekend, Graham Baster, just to name one.

Registration over, the first race began at around 11.30ish, (not one hundred percent sure because I was underwater when the race started thanks to Tim who had obviously singled me out as a threat, and had taken me out with a skillful gybe amidships leaving me with a face full of clue,) After recovering from the depths I set about analyzing the field ahead, From what I could tell there were a hell of a lot of windsurfs out there and that could only mean one thing,,,I was defiantly not winning. So after a number of pretty funky moments and a lot of fear I found myself after a couple of laps fighting hard with the likes of Adrian Wallis (GBR328) and Jason Clarke (GBR1515).

Up front Tim (GBR40) was riding Dolphin (GBR69) pretty hard in first and second with the Bondage (GBR98) tying up Briggsy (GBR91) and Keith (GBR 56) to hold down a solid 3^rd. As for me, what was looking like a sound recovery to 7^th only got better when on the last down wind leg Jason Clarke (riding the Black Exorcet Beast death machine) got chucked out the front door, in a spectacular fashion, handing me sixth place, sweet.

Herne Bay

The rest of Saturday’s racing carried on with lots of different moments for everyone involved, we had awesome wins, mental crashes and some brilliantly tight racing, leaving everyone more than ready to hit the showers.

Later that night, thanks to: the North Sea Cup Organizers, the UKWA and last but not least the wonderful Herne Bay sailing Club, we all had a great meal laid on for us before hitting the Bar for a few drinks and then Bed (at one, O clockish ish).

Sunday dawned, and it was harsh cold raining and rough. Still, the hardcore had already woken rolled and rigged. The not so hard, core on the other hand, cruised around laughing and joking at the expense of the organized hardcore few lol…..

First Race of the day started (I missed this because unfortunately I wasn’t rigged :-/ oops) and the fun resumed with Jay the Race officer opting for a windward leeward course which consisted of one upwind mark and a gate downwind near the committee boat which had a number 3 displayed on it telling us there would be 3 laps.

Owen Gibson Braving some of the gnarliest shore dump I’ve seen in a while and managing to coupe with it fine, was nailing the course which was pretty cool for a first timer because even after 7 years of Formula I still sometimes get it wrong (figure that one out with a windward, leeward!).

Herne Bay

Everyone else seemed to be taking a bit of a beating with the conditions at high tied getting fairly mighty with some mixed results for riders, the finish line ending up set to far downwind after you came through the last Gate meaning places got lost right on the line depending on who gybed for the finish or not,” Chris”.

All of this finish line excitement However did not effect me because cunningly Tim had managed to hide up my Ratchet, meaning I was unable to bolt my fin into my board,,,,, (Wow Tim is beginning to make Michael Schumacher look like an amateur when it comes to skullduggery,, lmfao).

As the days racing progressed the formula fleet slowly increased in size as Bob (the Boss) Ingram (GBR 164) joined us from the beach along with Martin Allman (GBR206) and I finally managed to get afloat after Tim finally stopped Hostage-rising my Ratchet at Lunch time, (Again I’d just like to add that the reason I missed the first two races on the Sunday had nothing to do with the fact that the shore dump was massive and scary, but because my ratchet set had been Hostage-rised Lolz).

Once the racing got underway, after Lunch, the competition was hot with everyone jostling for position. Pretty much everyone had their own private little battles-taking place. Adrian Wallis (GBR328) had a blinder ripping into third just behind Tim (GBR40) and the Dolphin (GBR69). This moment of brilliance by Adrian was unfortunately short lived when his boom snapped, putting him out for the next couple of races. Other people on a flyer, notably ringing the hell out of their kit, was Jason Clarke (GBR1515) who was somehow pointing like a beast and flying off the wind like he had managed to find a sixth gear. After chatting with Jason about this he revealed that he was using a NEW experiment F-HOT Formula fin. These fins are under development but once the trials are completed later this year they will be released, along with a brand new F-HOT Slalom Fin range,,, one launch to keep a close eye on I think.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon of racing, different fortunes fell upon different riders with some suffering from OCS and other finding themselves (like Brigsy (GBR91)) in their own little puddle of pain with clumps of sea weed rapped around his fin, at one point whilst traveling past him I did briefly wonder why he was sailing his Board backwards but just put it down to a Guernsey Pro Rider thing.

One moment, which seems to really stick out over the weekend was a moment on the downwind in pretty maxed out conditions on 10’s involving me, Jason and up until now unmentioned Benoit Chauvin (FRA179) Who had been solidly finishing in the top 3 for most of the weekend.

What happened was this; Jason and me were fully loaded down the back straight heading for the downwind Gate with nothing more than two meters separating us, whilst launching off the backs of waves when suddenly from straight between the pair of us Traveling at least 8 knots quicker was Benoit absolutely on the ragged edge rinsing it like a poor guy chasing a cheese burger, however again this moment of brilliance was also short lived when it ended in the most awesome over the handle bars a little while later, still on reflection this balls to the walls approach by Bonoit had paid Dividend over the weekend with the fact that even if he fell off, he would soon fly past you again either way.

Finally, racing finished on the Sunday with 9 races having been completed. Dolphin, Tim, and Brigsy (having cleared every piece of seaweed on the course) divided up the top places with the Bondage (GBR98) holding down forth positions like his life depended on it. Meanwhile the rest of the fleet shared out the rest of the positions.

One person that does deserve a mention is Zak Page who after beating me to the line in one race managed to cut his fingers quite badly at the beach carrying his board and take a short trip to A&E for some stitches. “Get well soon Dude, I need to make amends”.

Later that night just about the entire Formula Fleet went for curry and beers,,, the food was great and the company was awesome. The night ended up with a few more beers back at the Herne Bay sailing Club where RSX, Raceboard, Race Crew and Formula Riders finished up the night playing guitars and singing with the staff at the club until the last few made it back to their beds at about 3ish.

A perfect end to a perfect day.

Through the night the wind blew its socks off meaning that the following days racing had to be cancelled for safety reasons. This meant the event was over and time to go home. A sweet weekend was had by all. Herne Bay sailing club has to be by far one of the friendliest we’ve visited in recent years and as for the Formula Racing, well what can I say apart from YOLO Formula Rocks!

Overall results

1) Dave Coles

2) Tim Gibson

3) James Briggs

For more information on racing in the UK head to the UKWA website – www.ukwindsurfing.com

11 x British Windsurfing Champion Keith Atkinson storms the start of the windsurfing season with a convincing win in Pwhelli, Wales on 5th-7th May.

Keith Atkinson. Image courtesy Richard Taylor.

Saturday: With shifting wind conditions on day one, just one race was completed in the afternoon and a first place for Keith with a healthy lead. A second race was attempted however the wind disappeared to nothing and so racing was abandoned for the day.

Sunday: The second day brought no wind, just glorious sunshine. So ample time to prepare kit by maintenance and a bit of tuning for Mondays Racing.

Monday: The last day brought windier conditions, steep choppy waters, rain, 15-26 knots and a sizeable shore break to deal with. Two further races were completed and a further two wins for me before the racing was finished for the weekend.

A great victory for Keith, next UK Championship event: Herne Bay 2nd -3rd June.

Keep updated on Keith’s progress via Facebook and his official website: www.keithatkinson.com

All the information on the UKWA and results can we found at www.ukwindsurfing.com

Starboard Formula 167 Wide

With the ISAF issuing its list of approved boards for the 2012/2013 Formula Windsurfing seasons, one board stands out with a remarkable design. The “Starboard Formula 167 Wide” features a 90cm wide tail, making it the widest Formula racer ever in the world of course racing. A closer inspection of that tail also reveals ergonomic heel recessions for comfortable downwind runs and multi-layered, oversized cutaways helping up- and downwind characteristics. Starboard tells us this board is mainly designed to make the best of out light-wind conditions or for medium to heavyweight riders. But they also offer an alternative for high-wind course racing, which is the more standard Formula 167. Best suited to medium and light weight riders, this board features the same heel recessions of its cousin, but the oversized cutaways are slightly adapted to accommodate its different tail width: a still very respectable 84cm.

Remi Vila, head of racing R&D:

“Because the ISAF only registers new Formula boards every two years, these Formula boards will be the ones to beat for the next two years. Directly influenced by our racing program and refined by some of the best Formula racers in the game, the new Starboard Formula boards have a whole range of innovations.”

More at www.star-board.com

World Formula Champs action

Six race wins, four seconds and two thirds netted Antoine Albeau a 22 point lead at the end of the 2011 Puerto Rico Formula Windsurfing Championships and he retains the title of men’s Formula Windsurfing Champion.

Final Results

Arnon Dagan, taking 3 bullets from 4 starts on the last day finally showed us the dominating speed he had whilst we were testing the week before the event. Arnon dragged back 2nd overall after today (his best result in a FW World Championships) knocking out the super consistent Gabriel Browne, who had a couple of 4th’s and a 7th on the final day to keep on the podium in 3rd overall.

Men's winners

Women’s Fleet

Marion Lepert, USA-143, was first lady in 9 of the races and took top spot ahead of Morane Demont, FRA-59, pushing her hard with six race wins – so just three points in it. Ana Sofia Cardoso from Brazil took third place.

Women's winners

The organisers have done a great job here in Puerto Rico, definitely put on a great event and the conditions during the week were very conducive of great racing. Particular thanks to the locals who took that extra step to help out a lot of us sailors with all sorts of non-racing related requests we had too!

And to round off proceedings, a fabulous prizegiving ceremony in Old San Juan.

Go to www.formulawindsurfing.org for results, reports, photo galleries and much more – or the official event website at www.puertoricoformulawindsurfing.com

A big thank you to the main sponsors of the event – Municipio de San Juan, Ruerto Rico Tourism, Department of Recreation and Sports, and Corona . . .

Event sponsors

. . . and thanks to some other sponsors – Ciclon Energy Drinks, JC Modeling, Hosteria del Mar, Kitesurf PR, Sambazon, Liquid Surf & Sail, and the WindsurfingTour.

DAY BY DAY RACE ROUND-UP

“This could be the closest fought world championships since the start of FW. Previous champions are determined to regain the crown from Antoine and all but one of the top 10 ranked sailors are here so the pressure is on! ”

Race 1 kicked off on the scheduled start of 2pm, the wind was around 22-25 knots with a viscous chop/swell running through the course over the various reefs. It picked up to around 27 knots for the second race dropping off a TINY bit for race three but still up to 25 knots in the gusts. The start line was port biased resulting in sickening crashes at each start – good for the spectators, if not for the competitors! After three races on day one, Antoine Albeau topped the leaderboard with two bullets and a third, Jesper Vesterstrom was second and Arnon Dagan, who took the second race, was third. However, it was anybody’s competition at this stage and once discards came into play the scoreboard could look very different – Paolo dos Reis came second in two of the races but was currently carrying a 12th for the first race.

Day two – at the 11.30am start time it was obvious it was going to be another windy day with more port starters, more crashes, a shortened course compared to yesterday with a starboard rounding top mark. During race 2 half way through the first lap a big dark rain cloud that had been looming over the course finally unleashed and pelted everyone with stinging rain, killing the visibility on the course and the wind dropped down to around 12-14 knots. By the afternoon’s third race the sun was back out and the wind was back up, everyone had figured out the reefs and the best way around the course so the racing was starting to get pretty tough. Big Brasilian Paulo Dos Reis took his first race win. And so the day ended with Antoine firmly established at the top after 7 races with Paolo dos Reis in second and Arnon Dagan in third.

No racing on day three because of the poor weather conditions. First start was delayed until 1.30 by which time there was a little wind building but also ominous storm clouds on the horizon fronted by a big squall. Time out for the competitors and an interesting AGM that evening.

Four races on day four and Antoine Albeau ended firmly in place at the top with a 16 point lead over his nearest rival, young Brazilian Gabriel Browne, who shot up into second place nudging Paolo dos Reis and Arnon Dagan into third and fourth respectively. Whilst the early forecast wasn’t particularly good, the 11.30am start brought lighter winds around 12-16 knots, and bright sun. A very good day for some – Young Gabriel Brown took the first bullet, Micah Buzianis took the bullet in race 9 – as the wind gradually built to around 18 knots creating a real spectacle from the beach with fast tactical racing, wipeouts and crashes…

…not such a good day for others – On the down side, Dennis Little had to be taken to hospital for a knee injury – on the lighter side: “I don’t really want to blame Arnon for taking the last of the milk this morning so I had to eat toast instead of the awesome Honey Oat Crunch cereal we bought, but something REALLY cursed me today; I safely managed to get all my 3 discards in one day. Blarrrghhhhh!!!” Sean O’Brien

4 races scheduled for the Final Day in winds around 10-12 knots for the first race but building up to 18 knots by the end of the day. Taking 3 bullets from 4 starts today Arnon Dagan finally showed us the dominating speed he had whilst we were testing the week before the event. Arnon dragged back 2nd overall after today (his best result in a FW World Championships) and knocking out the super consistent Gabriel Browne, who had a couple of 4th’s and a 7th today to keep on the podium in 3rd overall. Gonzalo, Steve and Jesper also had a solid day today, making up 5th, 6th and 7th overall with big man Paulo Dos Reis finishing ahead of them in 4th.

UK Formula flying

A new website about Formula Windsurfing in the UK, and for formula windsurfers in the UK, is now online. The site is the result of a collaboration between Keith Atkinson and Ceri Williams, both longterm supporters of the class and its racing format.

Ceri Williams, who is chairman of the International Formula Windsurfing Class, commented: “there has been a need, for some time now, for a dedicated website to promote formula racing, and formula racers, here in the UK. We hope this is the beginning of a reversal of fortunes for the class here in the UK; wherever there is a dedicated national body the sport of formula racing is steadily growing - for example in Australia, Northern Europe and USA.”

Keith added:” we need the input from the UK’s formula riders - our initiative was to set up a site for riders, by riders. If you have any stories, pictures, event reports, videos or anything else related to Formula Windsurfing in the UK, please send us the details through the website.”

www.formulawindsurfing.co.uk