In the PWA you have to choose 3 boards and 6 sails which you will use for the season. Which boards and sail sizes have you picked for this PWA season:

Alberto: for 2013 I have picked Starboard Isonic 127, 107, 87 | AC-1 9.3 8.6 7.9 7.2 6.3 5.6

Rosati: I could go easily with 5 sails as the sails have so wide range but as I will have to register 6 I’ll start from 9,3 down to 5,6. For the boards I will use the RRD X-Fire V5 122-114-90

Pascal: I will register for the 2013 season AC-1 5.6m/6.3m/7.2m/7.9m/8.6m/9.3m AC1 and 61/71/85 Tabou Manta as my boards.

Maciek: Still undecided but I think it will be Patrik Slalom 128, 115, 92 | Point-1 AC-1 9.3 (5.0), 8.6, 7.9, 7.2, 6.3, 5.6

We all know why you have P7 sails, but which characteristics do you particular like about the board series you have, and how does the AC-1 perform on this?

Alberto: I feel that my Sail/board combo this year is having a boost. The board sails a bit free than in 2012 and that gives you more speed. Combined with the drive forward pulling that Point7 has just makes it the perfect match.
Both Sails and boards are planning extremely early allowing me to get much earlier on the small kit as soon as the wind get stronger, without any fear of the holes…
Rosati: My boards this year are perfect for my body size and very easy to handle. They fly on the fin, on the edge, and need it a sail that gives maximum speed and control. I found that the AC-1 does this. Jibing is AS important as going fast, so I have given particular attention to the rotation. My boards jibe extremely tight and the sails help a lot on this. When you entering on the jibe all the power is on the front hand giving me the possibility to really crank at the jibe with all the power and deciding which way to go….and after the jibe the rotation is soft and the acceleration it is amazing.
Pascal: I love my new boards this year because they are very comfortable, stable and easy to go fast without too much effort and so easy to jibe!
They go very well with the AC1 sails that are powerful and easy. Especially the power given by the AC-1 when coming out of a jibe is a great boost with these the boards! The Tabou are new boards for me this season as I changed sponsor but I find they work really well with the Point-7. I think AC1 is compatible with hugely board, easy, powerful, fast..

Maciek: I definitely like the acceleration and jibing ability of my Patrik’s, which in the end make you go fast around the race course. The AC-1 is a good fit.

Once you have registered your gear with the PWA, only your fins stay are still optional. How big a factor does the fin play, in the overall set-up?

Alberto: The fin is actually the part of the equipment that touches the water the most and this is why having the best fin is crucial if you really want to be in the top! I test and tune my equipment and keep working on the development of the fins pushing to have always better fins!

Rosati: Fins play a big role. I would say if I have the same gear as a normal rider, and I give him my best fin and I take bad fin….He will spritz me big time!!! So the advantage in term of percentages it is very high. We all have the same equipment and more or less sails and boards are “almost all” fast. Different masts play a role of course, but never as much as the fins. Let’s say a 60% to the fin.

Pascal: the fin is actually a very important piece of equipment, because it can help improve or change the behavior of the sail/board combination. The fin is actually the only thing that we can change in the PWA.

Maciek: HUGE!! Not many factors have as much impact on your board-speed, your acceleration, your control, your comfort etc etc as your fin. Having good fins is a must on the road to performance.

Do you choose your fins also depending on the seas, whether it’s flat water, choppy or rough North-sea conditions?

Alberto: Depending on the conditions, I do actually try to have 2 sets of fins, one that performs in the flat water, being faster and normally a bit harder to ride. And a second set of fins that gives more control when the sea gets rough

Rosati: Of course!!! A fin that give you lift and power; that could be perfect in Alacati for example….. You try to use the same fin in Sylt and you’ll score the highest point on a wave heat I have a lot of fins and they all perform different in any place I go….

Pascal: For my part, when I found the fin that works with the board and sailing combination, then it works normally in all conditions! Except in the exceptional case or rather exceptional conditions!

Maciek: Yep. Usually you pre-choose a couple of your best fins in a given size before the season and take them to all the venues. You’ll probably at least have a more top-speed orientated one and a more control-orientated, easier one in every size.

How much time do you spend on finding the best fin, board and sail combination?

Alberto: In the past this was all my focus, now I try to split up my training in 2 parts; 1 with the overall settings and tuning and one with proper race training like we do in Tenerife. If you don’t have both, you can’t be at the top!

Rosati: Most of the time I only test masts and fins. I could test them for one entire day. Changing as many times as possible to understand the behaviour of one single fin with the combination of board and sail, specifically for one condition. Like this, I know when I’ll find X kind of conditions that X fin will be the right choice to use….

Pascal: : is enormously time consuming because today there are many brand fins and for my part I want to try as much as possible to be sure to have the best combination .. it is also difficult to find a fin works in all conditions and it requires a lot of testing, I really never stop testing fins and every chance I get I try new ones! Its difficult to say how much time I spend on this but it’s lot.

Maciek: All year long! The quest never stops and there’s always something to test. Not mentioning that as your kit is changing a bit during every session. The sail is stretching, the mast is getting a bit slower in reaction, the board is getting softer etc etc. PWA saw many many guys realizing in August that their number one mast from April is slower than his number two three and four! That’s why if you think you’ve finished testing, RE-TEST.

Which brand or brands of fins do you use and is it all carbon or also G10?

Alberto: I always use ZFINS, which are only made in Carbon. Carbon is having a much better performance in the bigger sizes, and in smaller sizes allows you to still have an advantage being able to play with the flex of the fin. G10 doesn’t allow you this flexibility.

Rosati: For medium light wind I only use carbon fin. Mostly Carpenter, Zed, Boss, Kashy. Then for medium to high wind, let’s say from 7.2 down I may use some Tectonics as well. Especially on 5.6 I use a fin when the conditions are rough that has 17 years!!!! And still works good, by now is the one which I made my best result on PWA in a round of slalom, 4th in a final in Costa Brava.

Pascal: Most my fins are Carbon, as they work the best for me

Maciek: I use a bit of everything and definitely try as many brands and models as possible before the season. If you open my quiver you’ll find everything from full-carbon Carpenters, Z’s, Aquarius, Bosses, and Hurricanes to G10 Tectonics, C3’s, MB’s, Maui Ultra and more.

I guess many normal windsurfers don’t want to spend as much money as you do, on tuning their gear. But are there some tricks or and easy options which you can give, which you believe gives and easy performance boost and more speed to the board?

Alberto: For sure, try to learn as much about your kit as possible. Even the smaller changes in trim can make a difference, and being precise is the key for actual good performance. Make everything count!!

Rosati: Imagine that there are people that they think that the more time you spend in the water going up and down and the more you’ll go faster…. wrong! Just try to put another fin or insert another random mast and yours performances will improve, or may go backward, depends on what are you trying….. Not only pro can feel the difference, actually it is the opposite!!!

Pascal: At the moment I have not found a cheaper solution.. But if anyone find solution I am interested! Maybe this kind of questionnaire that P7 is doing now, can help other riders easier select what gear to choose to go fast and find a good combination sail, board + fin

Maciek: Play with it! Try as many different set-ups as you can think of, even the most ridicule! If you don’t have a testing partner to line up with, you can see a bit yourself, how the board is riding, how much control you have or how comfortable you are feeling. Fins and masts wise, if you can’t afford to buy, try to borrow and test as many different fins and masts you might possibly find – you never know what’s going work and a lot of the times the specs given by the brands on those masts are far from correct. On top of that a company X 490 will probably be different to the same company X 490 just with a different serial number, so if your mate has one, convince him to switch one day – same story with the fins! Watch out, the boom changes your speed to! And don’t just copy others too much – you have your own unique style and you need to find your unique setup that goes fast.

Argh! That was a lot of information, but there is definitely some material to be taken into consideration. A lot of varied opinion and thoughts on the matter of setting up your equipment, so should you have any questions to the article or any of the riders, please place these on our Facebook page where we have also posted the link to this article.

 Check out the full Point7 range and more from the team here. 

Lampie’s Blues – Martin Ten Hoeve H999 from BJ Productions on Vimeo.

“Actually” with Adam Lewis from BJ Productions on Vimeo.

Adam Lewis enjoying the condition for the BWA in Ireland last year.

LEADING ferry company Stena Line has announced a super spring sale, giving customers the opportunity to save up to 20 per cent off, with its lowest fares now available every day of the week.

This fantastic offer is available for travel up until Sunday 30 June from Holyhead to Dublin, Fishguard to Rosslare and on the Holyhead – Dun Laoghaire seasonal service from March 22^nd.

Spend St Patrick’s Day on the Emerald Isle, discover the delights of Dublin, go west to Galway, visit family and friends, or take a rural retreat in the lush countryside of Kilkenny or Kildare.

Stena Line’s Diane Poole OBE, Head of PR and Communications said: “With Easter just around the corner, plus school holidays and half term breaks, we’re offering customers the chance to enjoy a short break without breaking the bank. With this great sale, our lowest fare of £79 is now available every day of the week allowing people to save up to 20% on travel when they book by February 28.

BWA on mass to Ireland with Stena Line!

“There are lots of ferry good reasons to travel with Stena Line this spring including no baggage charges or restrictions on what you can bring with you and no lengthy airport queues. What’s more, the holiday fun starts as soon as you step onboard with our free movies, games and Wi-Fi, as well as Curious George themed play areas for the little ones and a great choice of restaurants and bars for the adults,” Diane continued.

For further information or to book, call Stena Line on 08447 70 70 70 click on www.stenaline.co.uk/sale or visit your local travel agent.

*Terms and conditions apply. Available on selected sailings when booked a minimum of 7 days in advance of travel. Credit card, non web booking fees apply.

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

Bart David

In the 90′s, there was a young wave sailor from Belgium who drove down to the Canaries, and never drove back. He took part at some of the PWA events, and he was one of the most radical on tour, who was scoring big air radical jumps! By pushing the limits of the gear, he ended up destroying his knees, feet and ankles to go bigger then the others due to some hard landings.

Nevertheless all the injuries he did not give up the idea to slow done…..going over any limits, til he was forced to slow down. The doctors, but also his legs, told him that the straps were to forget as every time he would get locked in, something would get immediately injured. At first thought you would thing that windsurfing would be to be abandoned…. but not for Bart David!

Can a windsurfer give up his lifestyle and passion? NO!, but not easy with Bart’s problem! So what did he do? He just took off his straps from his boards and kept ripping!

Back loops and great wave sailing are his daily bread in Cabezo. Sailing everyday with all the local top riders, fighting for his space on the lip of the wave. From the beach no one will believe he has no straps on his boards!

Check out the sequence…and follow Bart David’s daily photos on FB pages where they show the Cabezo Action!

Go Bart! Check out the full gallery from Point7 here. 

Click here to head to the Point7 store. 

Point7, some gift ideas.

Also, check out some Point7 video action from El Medano.

Adam Lewis, fin choice is a confusing matter!

“With all of these Muti-fin boards available on the market it can be tricky to know how to set your fin position or fin size, both of which can have a big influence on your boards performance. With the introduction of Power and tuttle box, most people don’t need to change the fin position until their first wave board. It is then very easy just to whack the fin in the middle and not really tune the position to suit you.

Changing the fin position can really change how the board feels and turns. It is however very easy to tune the fin position or positions keeping to this simple rule. If you move the fin or fins forward it will loosen the board up. What this does is, make it easier to turn or break the fin/s loose. However loosening the board like this can also mean the board with be more prone to spin out as the fin/s become further under you back foot it means less force it needed to break the fin/s loose. Moving the fin/s back gives better up-wind performance, more control and speed.  The board however can become harder to turn.

Fin back : These however are basic rules and the only way to tell what’s best for you, is to try. You can also use these rules to get the most out of your board in different conditions. For example I move my fin fairly far forward for snap and slide in onshore conditions.

Fin forward : I move the slightly further back in offshore conditions where you use more speed and the control is nice in longer drawn out turns.”

Check out more top tips and further information about Point7 on their website here. 

4.5… dégrés from panel benjamin on Vimeo.

Roho January Sale!

15% off Point7 orders

20% off limited Goya boards and sails

Incredible deals of second hand equipment

Options to hire a whole range of gear

Plus much more!

Check out all the windsurfing offers currently running here. 

Andrea Cucchi

Andrea Cucchi ‘Personally I love formula windsurfing. Formula was big at the time I was at the top of the worlds rankings. Still now even if I’m not sailing everyday on the Formula board, it’s just amazing how everything comes back in few minutes. Feeling the same motivation and challenge as those times, where all the pros were on Formula Boards battling each meter upwind. The feeling of how the board planes over the water is great. This feeling will keep this discipline alive! Could be that the come back is around the corner. In some countries it never died, but in others it had slowed down due to the slalom hype. We believe in it, we love it and we will push for it full time. ‘

Before starting the development of the Formula sails, we felt we needed some targets for 2013.

After having won the Master World Championship in Denmark in 2011, 2012 was a bit slower in results for the Formula international scene. Our riders had clashes with other events, there was more focus on slalom events and so on. We still won some national titles, as the Italian Championship title of Malte Reuscher, but now it was time to get back on it again at full focus.

So we sat down with our Black Team riders to make a plan for the development schedule of our Formula sails. We knew that having Alberto Menegatti and Maciek Rutkowski in the team, guys who were born with the Formula boards could have brought us great results at the next international world events, so… there was nothing to wait for but to start focusing getting them the best.

We took out all the protos we had done starting from those where Andrea had won the world title in Denmark, all the different curves masts we had asked from our supplier, spent few days in the loft looking at all the combination, working on the batten gradings and took each corner of the sail under examination. We started doing the first testing already in the middle of the summer on a slow motion pace, and by September once the slalom sails were approved from the team and could be registered for the PWA deadline, we emptied the vans from the small gear and made space for the 1m boards.

Sailing out from Lake Garda with Alberto and Andrea, the testing was a dream. Took little time to get all the tuning and setting to test, both with the same feedback on all the combination they tested.

Read more here. 

Solution Wave Coaching

Post any of your questions about the camp in the comments below….