Julian ‘Bubble’ Chambers from GlobalShots on Vimeo.

New easy to use equipment makes learning even easier. Image courtesy of Tushingham.

But, there’s one small problem. The forecast wind has not come through. Typical. But what do you do? Sulk at home? Take out the SUP? Yes these are both options, but Boards would like to put forward the case for something we think will be even more fun, plus will help spread the windsurfing word.

Have you thought about taking a friend out on the water? Whilst we all have windsurfing friends, how about finally convincing your school, work or gym mates to step on a board? There’s a whole manner methods you can use to teach your friends and over the next couple of weeks Boards will share various ideas to inspire you and your mates.

First up, there’s a brilliant scheme run by Robin Hood Watersports that could be the answer if you personally want to head onto the water with a mate or two. 

If you are an existing customer of Robin Hood Watersports you can pop along and borrow two sets of beginner equipment, take it away, teach your friend and return it…all for FREE!

As we’ve said, there’s various ways a friend can learn to windsurf and they will probably want an official lesson at some point, but for a first taster if you are a confident windsurfer then what better way to give a mate a little taster to wet their appetite?

The idea came from the fact that the RoHo guys believe all windsurfers are truly passionate about the sport and full of enthusiasm, making us all ideally suited to getting friends and colleagues onto a board. The main problem though, is that we don’t generally have suitable equipment for teaching beginners.

So, Robin Hood Watersports decided to offer up two complete sets of beginner equipment, free of charge to any existing customer who would like to introduce a friend.

The boards are JP Funsters (sizes 160, 180 or 205) and the sails are the NeilPryde Experience; it’s quality, up to date equipment that makes the early stages of learning as quick and easy as possible, for you and your mate!

Robby Swift, teaching his wife Heidy with the NP Experience.

The equipment can be used at any venue, RoHo will help and advise you on a great local location if you’re unsure; you must collect from and return the equipment to Robin Hood Watersports. The only condition is that you must be an exhisting customer.

Contact RoHo: http://www.roho.co.uk/ 

Telephone: 01924 444888

Fax: 01924 474529

E-mail: sales@roho.co.uk

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Boards cannot think of a better way to spend a slightly calmer summer’s day than by guiding a mate through their first tentative steps on a board (and occasionally laughing at the inevitable dismounts.) If you’re not local to RoHo either make a weekend of it and try somewhere new, or why not contact your local shop and see if they maybe interested in running the same scheme?

Of course we would also recommend, once your friend has got a taste for windsurfing, that they learn all the correct techniques through an RYA course, but more details on that in the next part of this ‘Share the Love’ mini series.

NB. Boards cannot be held responsible for any family arguments, break ups, hissy fits or injuries inflicted if you decide to teach a family member or partner to windsurf.

2013 Butterfly Effect Maui from Tatiana Howard on Vimeo.

This clinic runs from Nov 10th to the15th and is part of the Four Seasons Unforgettable Event Series on Maui. This unique opportunity is for anyone who has ever wanted a safe and fun introduction to water sports while staying at a five star hotel in Hawaii.

For more details email shawnacropas@gmail.com

Or check out our last March Four Seasons Aloha Clinic event: http://www.shawnacropas.com/four-seasons-unforgettable-event-series/

For booking please check out: http://www.shawnacropas.com/alohawindsurfingclinics/fourseasons/

Colin Dixon. Image credit Global Shots.

COLIN DIXON: No, it,s only water! Watch a motor cross crash section that should give you a kick up the ass and help you man up!!!!

JO WRIGHT: I used to be very scared, then I saw a 75 year old man going for vulcans, sometimes falling but every time coming up smiling. So I had a quiet word with myself and suddenly all my excuses for not trying became irrelevant! And I guess injury can happen to anyone, anywhere – even going over on your ankle walking down the street, so there is no point worrying too much!

JOHN PALMER: Always now… I remember learning to flaka and that terrified me. But, if you just try it a few times you will realise that the pain isn’t actually that bad! A bit of peer pressure always helps too. I’ve never really got over this kind of fear; have it with push loops now after seeing Dave Williams’ smashed up nose on Facebook a few weeks ago! You just need to keep at the move and the fear will go.

Max Rowe at West Witterring

MAX ROWE: I almost feel a bit ashamed of myself sometimes, I teach people how to Vulcan on land in the morning then they go straight out and try it that afternoon; I remember being very nervous about trying it and always found a good reason not to! I’m having a similar battle at the moment learning the wave moves and the best ways I’ve found of getting over it are to build up confidence first or to just get the first big crash out the way early on then you go for it a lot more.

DANIELLE LUCAS: I am definitely not very confident when it comes to learning some moves.  I’m not consciously worrying about injury but I guess that must be it, as well as smashing my kit up! To get over it you just have to do it, having friends or rivals about definitly helps, that’s how I learnt to vulcan…I had someone working for me who was not as good as me but started learning the vulcan and he was getting close very quickly, that really pushed me to go for it forgetting the fear!

PHIL RICHARDS: I have had problems with minor injuries in the past but it’s important to stay positive at this time and let your body heal. My biggest bit of advice would be to avoid injury by remaining fit and flexible. Do stretches. Also, look after your feet.

ADAM SIMS: Nope, more just afraid of the time off the water! The injury list is starting to build for me but it doesn’t set me back mentally, I just visualise what I need to do a lot and then go out and do it. One time I had a couple beers then went for a pushie session, that softened the over-rotated back slaps…

ANDY CHAMBERS: No not really, except possibly in very shallow water.  If you start thinking “that looks like it’s gonna hurt’ then it probably will as you have it in the back of your mind the whole time and will reduce the chances of you learning it. Don’t think it in the first place! Put it out of your mind if you can.  And if you can’t then wait until you are perfectly comfortable with the conditions, gear etc before attempting a new move.

JAMIE DRUMMOND: Yes! I’ve blown both my knees out (either ACL/MCL/Meniscus or all of them) in the last couple of years. The first time was just messing up a tack in shallow water (radical) and the second was doing a one-handed Ponch, which is sort of my trademark move that I can pull out anywhere! I’ve been lucky so far in that I’ve not injured myself when learning any of the new power moves, even though that’s where you might expect it to all go wrong. So, don’t think about it when trying new moves as you really need to be focused, but funnily enough get more worried trying some of the more basic moves.

Bar injuries? Sharks. Terrifying beasts.

Jamie Drummond

COLIN DIXON: Hard! You just need to try stuff with more power; a lot of people sail under powered so if you’re under powered you won’t go as high or as fast,

ADAM SIMS: They are all hard, the ducking is the hardest part but once you get past that then sometimes the move can be really effortless but still difficult. Maybe the culo and burner are not so hard if you are fully powered up. Any combo which requires power and sliding is normally very, very hard though and really requires a good balance between kit set-up and technique.

JOHN PALMER: Easy! haha, nah they are pretty tough! Coolest move I’ve seen recently is Dieter’s air kabikuchi. I’m pretty sure i’ll never be able to do them!

MAX ROWE: Anything that’s classed as “new” will always be hard because it makes you think it must be because it’s “new”. In reality some of these power moves such as the switch stance kono are becoming a lot more common place because they aren’t that hard, now people are learning them as their first switch move. Best advice would be to have a go and find out as what’s hard for someone else might be really simple for you or vise versa unfortunately!!

PHIL RICHARDS: Not as hard as they look,  they just require more commitment and for you to sail more powered up.

Bubble in Vass. Image credit Global Shots.

ANDY CHAMBERS: With the development of of the new gear (sails especially), the new power moves have got much easier than when we first started seeing them a few years ago.  The hardest part has always been getting the sail duck right, once you are a comfortable ducking the sail then the rest of the move doesn’t take too long to learn.

JAMIE DRUMMOND: The new power moves that are coming out are pretty tricky. Most of them involve a lot of setup before you’re even ready to take off – so getting solid at going switch and ducking the sail is an absolute essential. Practice really does make perfect in this case and repetition will help you get the feel for ducking the sail.

Combo moves are also getting much more technical, so just the SETUP of a move can involve doing a perfect, full-speed Spock, Forward or Flaka – a challenge enough on it’s own before adding a Culo, Flaka or Shaka onto the end!

Robby Swift. Image credit John Carter/Reb Bull Content Pool

Where were you when you found out the chase was on?

I was in San Francisco airport on my way back from Maui to Chile.

Did you immediately think it would actually happen this time, or were you still relaxed?

I had my doubts as so many had been cancelled before but I know we need to finish three missions before June so we would have to go sooner or later. It was a very good call in the end!

Robby Swift. Image credit John Carter/Reb Bull Content Pool

How was your journey over?

Awful! Santiago, Panama, Houston, San Francisco, Maui for eight hours, Denver, Frankfurt, Dublin.

What were conditions like when you first got there? 

Ridiculous. I didn’t think we would be able to sail at all. I could hardly walk down the beach.

Have you sailed Brandon much before? How did these conditions compare?

Yes many times for BWA (back in the day) and then the PWA events that happened there. It was actually pretty fun sailing in one heat, when it was only about 50knots. The heats where it was 60-70 knots were ridiculous. It was scary! I love Brandon Bay, there are so many options to sail there in all different wind directions.

What equipment were you using? 

I used a 75L single thruster and my 3.4 Combat. I also borrowed a 2.5 custom sail cut down from an old 3.2 Combat from Rob Jones for one heat. I could hardly even sail on that!

Robby Swift. Image credit John Carter/Reb Bull Content Pool

Please try and describe how insane it was to be sailing in 70 knots?

It was 50-70knots! It’s hard to describe how hard it was. I couldn’t walk down the beach with my gear. Rob had to help me every time. I didn’t think I would even be able to waterstart. It wasn’t that hard to waterstart in the end but sailing along, I felt like the sail would rip from my hands at any time. I was afraid to do even the smallest jump as I thought the wind would just whip the gear out of my hands. Sometimes you would be sailing along, completely out of control, and you would see a gust up ahead with water flying everywhere and just think: how am I going to survive that?

What was the best thing you pulled off do you think? and how did the judges score it?

I somehow managed to pull off the best push loop forward of my life. It was insane. I had a slight lull on that run out. It was probably only about 50 knots, and I had just landed a huge backloop. I had told everyone that I wanted to do a push forward and they all laughed at me, so when I saw that ramp I said to myself: you had better do it now! I launched into the air, much higher than usual with the insane wind, and did the push loop. I got scared after that and almost didn’t sheet in for the forward, but then I said just go for it, and threw all caution to the wind, so to speak. Anything could have happened. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if a gust would have hit me at that moment. I spun round surprisingly in control and spotted my landing from way up on the air. I knew it would be hard to hold on so I slipped my front thumb around from on top of the boom to underneath so I had the boom in a death grip. I almost over rotated but somehow had the presence of mind to sheet out completely to stop the rotation and just landed completely flat. It buckled my knees and snapped the board. It was probably the hardest landing of my life but it felt very good!

The judges all gave it an instant 10. They said there was no deliberation. It was the highest scoring move of the event so I was happy I got up the guts to do it!

THAT push loop forward – at 30secs!

How will you approach things differently for the next storm?

I am definitely taking a 3.0! Robert Stroj, the NeilPryde designer is making me one as we speak.

Who’s your bet on for the overall winner of the chase?

I still fancy my own chances. You have to don’t you, if you want to win! I beat everyone in the Ireland chase on jumping by quite a long way. I hardly did any wave rides though as I missed almost all of my second heat with the broken board, and the first and last heats I did were so windy that I simply couldn’t bottom turn.

Brawzinho would be another favorite, and Victor. If the wind is a little more manageable, I think those two have a lot more to offer than we saw in the first chase!

Wishing Robby and the other guys lots of luck for the next storm, whenever it may be. You can follow all the action here on Boards of course. 

Next up is the freestyler, also making waves on the BWA tour, Andy ‘Bubble’ Chambers.

Aerial! Image credit Line Wittrup.

Where are you? 

Cape Town, South Africa.

What conditions have you had recently?  

The first month we had awesome waves and good wind but sometimes a bit lighter.  This month it has been super mental windy and not much swell so mainly jumping and freestyle.  I’ve done a couple of trips both for freestyle and waves. Luckily over here the furthest you have to drive is about two hours and even that feels like a long way!  Most places are with 10 minutes!

Backie at Sunset, image credit Line Wittrup.

Who have you been sailing with?  

Been sailing with the Euro boys and girls! The Dutch Amanda Beenan, Austrians Max Matissek and Manu Grafenauer and Danish Kenneth Danielsen, also Sam Neal and a couple of other UK guys in the beginning and then the main English contingent of Muzza, Max Rowe and Jem Hall turned up at the start of January.  I’m sharing a car with Max which is pretty easy as he’s getting into his wavesailing a bit more now as well.  Muzza is in our house as well which is always entertaining!! Speaking of entertaining, I never realised that Jem Hall was such a disco diva!!

Goiter. Image credit Line Wittrup.

What equipment have you been using most of the time? 

I’ve been using my 2013 JP Quads with the K4 Fins set up.  Depending on if it’s float and ride on bigger days I have been using the more grippy flexies and then on the smaller wndier days I have been using the looser stubbies. Also the new asymetric side fins have been working pretty well.

For sails I have been using the 2013 Neil Pryde Combats in the waves and the Wizard for freestyle.  It’s been so nice having the different sets of sails with me.

Kono at the lake, image credit Lizzie Smith.

What’s in store for you next, how long out you out in SA and where will you be off to next? 

I am staying here until the 12th of Feb and then heading off to Dahab to do some photo and video shooting for JP.  Then also Maui for the main JP and NeilPryde product photo and video shoot.  Events start soon after that in the UK and PWA Tour. Looks like it’s gonna be a busy (and sunny) few months haha!!

Follow more about Bubble on Boards here. 

All the tests for the 2013 Freewave edition are now online on Boards, you can check out the introduction and all of the individual tests by clicking on the images below.

Introduction.

Quatro Freestyle Wave.

RRD Freestyle Wave.

Fanatic FreeWave.

Goya One.

Witchcraft Chakra.

JP Australia Freestyle Wave

Tabou 3Style.

Starboard Kode.

JP Freestyle Wave

JP Freestyle Wave

The JP is the shortest board in this test and also one of the smallest at 92 litres. It is the second narrowest (max width) but the tail width is proportionally a little wider, sitting it somewhere in the middle of the group. Weight is very good at 6.63kg’s making it the third lightest in this test. In Pro edition construction it comes standard as a tri-fin, sporting a comparatively large 25cm centre fin and two 10cm thrusters.

On the water it definitely feels one of the smallest boards in this group, particularly as the nose is quite short on it. However despite its smaller size, it is one of the quickest onto the plane.  It releases exceptionally well and once planing accelerates very rapidly with a noticeable ‘locked down’ and fast feel to it.

Underfoot it has a fantastically compact, exciting and remarkably controlled feel to it.  It feels controlled because the nose stays locked down and those 3 fins help to keep the board well planted in the chop and gusts.  It’s worth noting however that the shorter, lower nose does make it a little more technical to sail.

For riding, you have to use a bit of pressure to get it to turn but rewarded with a very tight turn and loads of grip.

JP Freestyle Wave, kicking up some spray.

Top speed is very good – one of the fastest in the group and we only used it as a tri-fin.  As a single, it may be even quicker.  For jumping it’s fantastic.  It planes easily off the beach, accelerates well, hits a high top speed and then in the air feels very light and compact underfoot, thanks to its shorter length.  It is definitely a favourite of the Clones when it came to jumping.

On the wave is where this board really excels however.  To be honest, it’s probably the best riding freewave board we have ever sailed.  The shorter nose does make it a little more technical, particularly in chop, but the turning potential is incredible for a board of this size and orientation. You have to push a little harder than on some to initiate the turn but once done, you are rewarded with an extremely secure and tight bottom turn and arguably the only board in this group that allows you to easily adjust the arc of the turn once committed. The top turn is also probably the tightest and most radical of this group helped in part by the shorter board length and tri-fin set-up.   The JP really is bordering on proper wave board territory in terms of riding performance.

Always gives a feeling that it wants to do things. Fast, compact, exciting, great for jumping and manoeuvrable.

JP Freestyle Wave

JP Freestyle Wave, tri-fin set up

For freestyle it was also pretty decent thanks to the low nose, compact proportions and shorter fin configuration.  Foot comfort was generally good with the straps fitting extremely snugly on your foot giving good contact and control, plus some nicely padded deck pads.

Really impressive on a wave.  Could give some wave boards a run for their money.

JP Freestyle Wave

TARGET BUYER

The JP was arguably the most radical board in this group.  In a straight line, it planes early, is fast, exciting and has good top end control.  In the air it was compact, light and really great for jumping.  And on the wave it had the most potent performance of this group.  Less able riders may find the short and low nose, makes it a bit more technical to ride, but intermediate to advanced riders will love it.

Check out the rest of the Freewave testing series:

Freewave test 2013

Whether you are a wave sailor, high wind freerider or a freestyler, freewaves used to be the ‘standard’ board of choice between 85 and 100 litres.  However the advent of multi-fins, allowed wave boards to get bigger, drawing away many of the wave aficionados, whilst dedicated freestyle boards got smaller and more dedicated, leaving freewaves largely the domain of high wind freeride sailors.

Having spent a few weeks testing these most recent 95 litre Freewave versions, we are left with a feeling that the majority of buyers may be missing a trick by overlooking freewave models.  Here’s why!

The Fanatic Freewave in action

One of the clones taking the Goya for a spin.

WHAT ARE THEY GOOD AT?

We have all heard the expression ‘jack of all trades and master of none’.  But what you must bear in mind is that when the wind is lighter and you are on say a 120 litre board, the conditions are generally flat, so it’s worth having a dedicated board for these conditions.  Conversely, when it’s windy, say 80 litre weather, usually the sea state is rough and it’s worth having a dedicated wave board for these conditions.  However the interesting thing with 85-100 litre weather is that the sea state can be anything from completely flat, through extremely chop right up to full down the line riding conditions.  And that’s why we need a ‘jack of all’ trades in our quiver.

Most of our Clones haven’t ridden freewaves for a few years, having been drawn away by the larger dedicated wave boards, but they were all very much in agreement that these boards, without a doubt, offer the most fun possible in the conditions we normally encounter in 85-100 litre weather.

In Tenerife, these boards plane and accelerate much quicker than a wave board, so we were getting much better jumps in the waves straight off the beach than we could get on the dedicated wave boards.

Once past the first peaking waves, the boards became great high wind blasters and we all had a huge amount of fun drag racing each other all the way out to the rolling swell out the back where the boards were able to oblige with big jumps, carving moves on the swell faces and aerial freestyle moves in the flats between the waves.  Then on the way back in, we were able to mix proper front-side riding with more freestyle. What other board in windsurfing can offer so much versatility?!  I can quite confidently say none!

Witchcraft tri-fin

The RRD single fin

SINGLE FIN OR MULTI?

When we first received these boards and saw the Fanatic, JP and Witchcraft offered tri-fin set-ups, we have to admit to being a bit sceptical.  After all, freewaves are supposed to plane easily, be fast and exciting to sail, do we really need the extra drag of two extra fins?

Well, we were certainly wrong!  Having spent a fair amount of time on these boards in a wide range of conditions, I can confidently say that tri-fins have really revolutionised the way these freewaves perform. On a wave, the tri-fins were in a different league for turning when it came to tightness and ease of turning. The fact Victor Fernandez used the Fanatic tri-fin to score some of the highest wave scores of the day in PWA Klitmoller this year is testament to how well these boards now turn.  In a straight line, they do have a more planted feel, but they still have an exciting ‘off the fin’ feel to them and at the top end have a lot more control with the extra fins keeping them from flying out of the water.

We are struggling to see any real consequential draw back of the tri-fin configuration.  Sure, they may be a tiny bit slower to get planing and at top speed, but the shapes of the boards within this group seemed to more than make up for this.  And of course if you aren’t convinced, you can always use the tri-fins as a single anyway!  We quite expect to see a lot more brands jumping on the tri-fin freewave bandwagon next year…and rightly so!

The Clones have been hard at work...image credit Si Crowther

THE TEST

The test was conducted in Tenerife thanks to the Official Test Centre, who were able to cope admirably with all the diva requirements of our test Clones and their huge array of equipment.  Tenerife has to be the ideal testing location for freewaves with everything condition you could ever want to put the boards through right off the main beach – cross-on jumping, chop, flat water and side shore waves up at the harbour wall – its all there!

We would like to thank North Sails for supporting the test with sails, so that head to head comparisons between boards could be made without worrying if the sails were making the difference.  We had a selection of identical Volt and Hero sails between 5.0m and 5.7m to test these boards on.

Simmer supplied the booms for this test.  Their Blackline carbon wave boom has built a solid reputation for being one of the best on the market and delivered faultless performance throughout our testing.

The full comparative test with scores and graphs will be released on Boardseeker at the end of this week.  In the meantime, enjoy the individual write-ups right here on Boards.co.uk!

The standard within the Freestyle group has been extremely high throughout the Season and Oscar Carmichael, just 16 years of age, in winning the last event at Weymouth pushed seasoned Pro Andy Bubble Chambers in the Pro Fleet very hard narrowly missing the title in his first season.

Andy Bubble Chambers - sponsored by JP/NeilPryde.

With 9 competitors in the Pro Fleet Andy Bubble Chambers claimed first place, Oscar Carmichael finished in second place and third place went to Rick Cleworth.

Oscar Carmichael - sponsored by Fanatic, Ion, North Sails and K4 Fins

Nic Hibdige powered to first place in the Under 20s, Alex Mitchell came 2nd and Charlie Jones 3rd.

Nic Hibdige - sponsored by Mystic, Simmer and Starboard

Jamie Howard blitzed the U17 fleet taking 1st place with  Josh Sparks 2nd and Jed Davis followed 3rd.

Jamie Howard - sponsored by RRD, Surfladle and Fuss3Solutions

In the U15s Category competition was fierce, but Ike Bradley Baker sealed his victory at Weymouth taking 1st place with Harry Davis 2nd and Lucas Meldrum 3rd.

Ike Bradley-Baker - sponsored by North Sails and Fanatic

In the Amateurs Category Kieran Roan came 1st, Ollie Acton 2nd and Fraser Green and Jack Sawbridge equal 3rd.

Kieran Roan

Danielle Lucas won first place in the Ladies Group with Emily Hall and Lara Johnson coming an equal 2nd.

Danielle Lucas

Trevor Funnell, Freestyle Director said:

“It’s been a great season, with good numbers attending the events.  The level of competition has been very high and it’s been fantastic to see such huge progress made by many of the participants.  2013 looks set to be a fantastic Season with the schedule to be announced shortly.”

Picture credits: images courtesy of Trevor Hibdige.

Firstly, on top of the massive reductions on their wide selection of JP windsurf boards, when you order a board online we’ll also send you a free GoPro 960 worth £170. Also, the shipping of your board to anywhere in the UK (excluding Islands and Highlands) is only £1.99.

Bubble with his GoPro

They also have even more reductions on windsurfing equipment with up to 23% off booms, up to 35% off harnesses, up to 40% off masts, up to 45% off sails.

On the wetsuit front, FC Watersports are offering up to 40% off winter wetsuits, as well as having the new 2012 O’Neill and Animal summer wetsuits on sale online.

They now have the GoPro 2 back in stock… buy now before they sell out again!

Also, RED Paddle Co Inflatable SUPs are now in stock.  They have a demo Inflatable SUP for customers to take out and try at The Watersports Academy, 19 Banks Rd, Poole, BH13 7PS.  Also for demo here are RTM single and double sit-on-top kayaks.

New summer clothing is now in stock and FC Watersports have up to 60% off winter stock, so it’s an amazing time to grab a last bargain before it’s all sold out.

And finally, worldwide shipping on clothing and wetsuits is only £1.99, a great price for those out of the EU.

Head to FC Watersports for all the details. 

Check out JP Australia/Neil Pryde team rider Andy ‘Bubble’ Chambers getting in some solid freestyle training in Dahab, Egypt. Some cool Go-Pro angles and power freestyle from Bubble as he prepares for the first PWA freestyle event of the year at Podersdorf in Austria.