Ian Hill took the top spot on Saturday, whilst on Sunday top BSA slalom racer Ant Baker finished first. In the youth fleet Kate Strange took first place on Saturday, also beating the youth guys and many men in the main fleet! With Ben Marshall finishing in the top spot on Sunday.

We look forward to a full week of speed sailing in Weymouth and the wind fills through to deliver some top speeds!

Ant Baker

Hi Everyone!

It’s been an amazing summer so far…

Olympic Goddess

Olympic windsurfing medallist and competitor for London 2012 Bryony Shaw came to Club Vass for pre-Olympic ‘rest’ time. She generously passed on some top tips during the Speed Week clinics, then blasted everyone (including Whitey and Whippy) out of the water during our Wednesday slalom.  Best of luck Bryony from all of us at Club Vass – not that you need it!

Speed Week

Speed Week with the mighty Dave White and Club Vass All Stars Colin ‘Whippy’ Dixon, Adam Chubbuck and Jake Kibblewhite was a huge success. This year we had a mega group of over 36 ‘speeders’ including more ladies and teens than ever.  As Dave says, it’s all about feeling relaxed, comfortable and in control. It’s the sheer enjoyment of windsurfing, but the need for speed was also fulfilled! Look out for next year’s Speed Week dates – although we may have to re-think the name – so much more than speed.

Vass Mexican Wave

Club Vass were also part of the longest line of windsurfers in the world (see Boards News here). Over 230 boards took part, starting at the mountain and coming all the way down past our centre, smashing the world record. It was an awesome display – thanks to everyone who took part and donated money to the RYA cancer research appeal.

Sept Deals

There’s still time to catch the sun in Vassiliki with our great September deals -

£100 off all 2-week holidays, departing 2nd September and only £499 for all 1 week holidays departing 9th 16th, 23rd and 30th September, if booked before 31st July. All prices include flights from Gatwick, transfers, accommodation, windsurfing hire and tuition, mountain bikes, SUPs and kids’ clubs

Club Vass – Dahab

Make sure you get your full UV and wind quota for the year. Flights to Dahab are available now for your Autumn-Winter fix. It’s one of the best times to be there – perfect wind conditions and temperatures and of course the best kit and instruction at Club Dahab.

Club Dahab pioneered the way and once again we are the only British centre in Dahab. We are the only centre that includes the full  and fabulous Club Vass tuition and rental package in your holiday price. Egypt is still a good value destination – it’s cheap when you get there. But remember, flight prices do not get cheaper as you get closer to date, so book fast!

See you soon!

Tony & Roger

Bryony Shaw drops in at Club Vass

Keen to get those extra few knots on to your top speed? Or maybe you’ve never tried speedsailing and want to give it a go? Speed World Champion Dave White will be holding another of his famous speed weeks at Club Vassiliki in Greece. Joined by some of Club Vass’ top coaches and utilising some high-tech training gear, you’re sure to go faster, gybe cleaner and have a great week.

Whitey lays down the law...

“Whitey’s Speed Week

Dave White (ex World Speed champion) will be our Blaster-in-Residence for an amazing week of performance enhancement! The week will include speed seminars with the Mighty Whitey and our own pro coaches, speed trials using speed guns and Shadow Box (GPS technology used in F1) and slalom race events. Even for non speed-freaks, the Dave’s top tips will really help your all-round sailing.

W/C 8th July 2012″

Dave White will be joined by top coaches Colin 'Whippy' Dixon and others

More at www.speedsailing.com / www.quayside-windsurfers.com

Kevin Greenslade and Ant Baker

Euro Speed Tour organiser Pete Davis brings us the latest update from Weymouth Speed Week 2011…

Ant Baker at Weymouth Speed Week 2010

Ant Baker of the Baker Academy has released details of his forthcoming Ultimate Speed and GPS Clinic during Weymouth Speed Week 2011

When: October 15-21 – 2-day option also available

Where: Weymouth Sailing Academy, Weymouth Harbour

Info: Weymouth Speed Week offers the perfect training ground for all who want to get that little bit more from their kit on the water. We will cover everything from equipment tuning to full-speed laydown gybes. I will be competing as well so we can all together get the speed we need to take the title!

Ant Baker at Weymouth Speed Week 2010

All levels of planing windsurfers are welcome, so whether your a pro or just started to go fast, this is for you.

Six out of the seven days will be coached for the full clinic, I will also have a few 2-day clinic spaces as well, so contact me for more info.

Costs: £175 for the 6 days / £80 for 2 days

Availability: 10 Spaces available – 8 left

Min Ability: Waterstart and stay upwind

More Information and bookings: info@baker-academy.com

Check out the new and improved Baker Academy website at www.baker-academy.com

Ant Baker at Weymouth Speed Week 2010

Kevin Greenslade at WSW 2010

Registration is open for Weymouth Speed Week 2011. This year the title sponsor is Simmer Style who will be providing the majority of the prizes and underwriting the $1000 prize for anyone who breaks the harbour record set in 2008 by Anders Bringdal at 38.4 knots over the historic 500 metre course. The legendary Farrel O’Shea the importer of Simmer sails and Mistral boards into the UK said “Of course we are delighted to be associated with WSW this year, speedsailing has been a passion of mine for many years and the bonus is our boards and sails do well here too.”

There will be of course the usual categories with lots of great prizes from our sponsors to be won including the much sought after Novice windsurfing prize of a holiday, provided this year by Baker Academy and Nielsen holidays. This includes a week in Dahab with expert coaching. The youth section that can only compete on the weekend is again supported by Tushingham with a sail as a top prize. With a big amateur fleet competing, they don’t go unrewarded either with a sail and board sponsorship from Simmer / Mistral up for grabs. Of course Simmer / Mistral, Tushingham / Starboard and Fanatic/ North will be there all week with demo kit available.

The week will also be the 4^th round of the ISWC European Speed Championship tour as well as the UKWA British Spartan Speed Championships. So a lot to see and do with some big prizes and titles on the line. Opening Saturday night party is organised and provided by OTC and promises to be a great event with a band laid on. So what IS stopping you from getting down to Portland Harbour 15^th to the 21^st of October?

Weymouth Speed Week would like to thank the sponsors, without whose help the event would not go ahead. Simmer Style, Mistral, Tushingham, Starboard, Baker Academy, Pura Vida, Spartan, OTC, GPS Speed.com and co.uk, AYRS, WPNSA, Weymouth Watersports, Weymouth and Portland Council, Natural Design, BOARDS and Windsurf magazines.

More at www.speedsailing.com

Martyn Ogier

Weymouth International Speed Week 2010 – A very strange event!

Weymouth is one of my favourite speed events, the facilities are fantastic, great restaurants, guest houses and a direct ferry from Guernsey.

2009 was the first time I competed at Weymouth and with a fourth place finish I was really looking forward to 2010.

The weather forecast leading up to the event was about as bad as it could be, NO WIND! As the week edged closer the forecast started to look better with a slight possibility of some light winds during the week.

There are a number of different competitions running at the same time during Weymouth and they all have slightly different rules regarding results (some of these changed as the contest went along). I’ll try and explain the differences below.

Weymouth Speed week

Daily speeds are taken regardless of wind strength and direction with the fastest Windsurfer, Boat and Kite surfer prices daily.

The winner of the event is the vessel with the fastest run of the week.

You also have a veterans prize for over 45’s counting their best single run over the week, winning boat, windsurfer, kite, woman’s windsurfer, professional fleet, gold fleet, amateur, novice and youth.

Alongside this there is the UKWA men’s and woman’s champion which is based on the average of your two fastest speeds (having your best average was only decided during the contest) and the British Kite surfing champion.

Also there are the World speed tour ranking points based on the average of your two fastest runs per leg sailed. In Weymouth each leg has to have 25% of the fleet sail faster than 28 knots on an open ocean course and 30 knots on an offshore coastal course, normally in a World Tour Event it would be if 5 sailors reached these speeds the day would count. The time of each leg is at the discretion of the organisers but at every World tour event apart from Weymouth these would mean 1.5hr legs with and hour in between meaning you could have 1 day where you have 3 legs, this evens up the contest making it a fairer indication of who is the fastest sailor. In Weymouth they have two different legs per day whatever the wind strength but it is only classed as one. (I don’t know why either)

I know what you are thinking why not have all the competitions the same.

Are you keeping up?!

Saturday 16^th October was registration day and with a light North East wind some competitor’s ventures out onto the water with huge sails. The wind was blowing 10 – 12 knots which wasn’t enough for a World Tour event.

Sunday 17^th October saw even lighter NE winds of 8 – 10 knots.

Monday 18^th October and the wind was starting to build. With 14 – 16 knots NW winds most of the sailors ventured out onto the Harbour course. We almost had a counting day; my fastest run was 27.99 knots which placed me 4^th.

Tuesday 19^th October and again we have 14 – 16 knots NW wind on the course. The morning leg from 10.30 – 12.30 sees speeds of over 28 knots. The afternoon leg sees the wind increase slightly and the speeds are increasing. The course is set 1 km up wind of the rigging area and at 4.30pm as per the morning briefing most of the sailors sail back thinking their day is done, including me. Once on shore the event organiser announces that the leg has been extended by 30 minutes.

This shouldn’t have happened, if the course gets extended then a flagged signal has to be placed on the course. It wasn’t. It also meant that some sailors had their best runs during this period. The day was also counted as one leg however it could have had two counting legs, this meant that some competitors sailed for the last hour only and had a great result.

Wednesday and Thursday saw the wind back off to 8 – 10 knots.

Friday looked promising to start but in the end speeds weren’t fast enough to have counting legs for the World Tour.

Overall I place third in the Professional Windsurfer fleet. A podium finish with prize I was informed on Thursday however by the time Friday prize giving came about the Professional Windsurfer fleet had been added to by a Professional Kite surfer which pushed me down to 4^th.

I was using my Hot Sails Maui 8.8m sail with Sarboard Isonic 122 and 40cm Black Project fin. A great combination for the day. I could of change my boards down a size later in the completion however with such gusty winds I didn’t want to miss any good conditions that came through. Sailing out on an open ocean course makes changing equipment difficult.

That’s the bad news, the good news is that with another solid result added to the German Speed Championships from last month my world ranking has jumped up to 14th. 2010 World Tour is based on your best three events this means that at the moment 9 sailors in front of me are counting the last event in 2009 as one of their counting 3. Next stop is Port St Louis in the Camargue region of France. This is the biggest event of the year carrying the most points.

Is it going to be my year? I don’t know but I am in the right position to have a go.

Windsurfing Speed World Cup Ranking 2010

Pos Name Nation Total Best 3 out of 5 Results

1 Anders Bjorkqvist SWE 336,64 168,00 91,89 76,74 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/- EC 09 Swe 10 Gbr 10

2 Steven Flanagan IRL 272,27 193,20 79,07 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/- EC 09 Gbr 10

3 BALDINI Andrea ITA 261,56 210,00 51,56 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/-, Challenger Sails EC 09 Bel 10

4 KREISEL Hans NED 211,16 159,60 51,56 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/- EC 09 Bel 10

5 HAACKE Bjoern GER 206,11 84,78 69,77 51,56 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/- Ger 10 Gbr 10 Bel 10

6 MALLON Torsten GER 205,96 86,96 67,44 51,56 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/- Ger 10 Gbr 10 Bel 10

7 FUCHS Manfred GER 204,09 80,43 72,09 51,56 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/-, KA Sails Ger 10 Gbr 10 Bel 10

8 DUNKERBECK Bjorn SUI 201,60 201,60 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/-, Starboard, Severne EC 09

9 BORNEMANN Christian GER 185,96 134,40 51,56 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/-, Carbon Art EC 09 Bel 10

10 Dirk Jan Knol NED 184,80 184,80 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/-, Loft Sails EC 09

11 GEESINK Anton NED 177,56 126,00 51,56 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/-, Loft Sails EC 09 Bel 10

12 Pearse Geaney IRL 176,40 176,40 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/- EC 09

13 BORGELIND Daniel SWE 165,18 83,78 81,40 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/- Swe 10 Gbr 10

14 OGIER Martyn GBR 159,81 83,72 76,09 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/-, Starboard Gbr 10 Ger 10

15 Monty Spindler USA 151,20 151,20 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/-, Loft Sails EC 09

16 NAUMANN Michael GER 149,39 97,83 51,56 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/-, Loft Sails Ger 10 Bel 10

17 VAN HOOF Patrick BEL 149,24 97,67 51,56 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/- Gbr 10 Bel 10

18 DAVIS Peter GBR 146,29 92,40 51,56 2,33 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/- EC 09 Bel 10 Gbr 10

19 MERLE Manfred GER 145,04 93,48 51,56 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

-/- Ger 10 Bel 10

20 HOEFER Armin GER 142,87 91,30 51,56 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00

Photo: Dave White

BOARDS and Mpora have teamed up with gps-speedsurfing.com to bring you the BOARDS British Speed Ladder 2011, which will start at the end of Weymouth Speed Week on 22 October and runs until the end of Weymouth Speed Week 2011.

There will be loads of great prizes to be won, based on a lottery draw at the end of the year. Effectively every speed session posted will give you one chance of winning, so the more sessions you post the better your chances of bagging a prize. Plus of course you get to see how fast you are compared to everyone else in the country.

From 22 October just select ‘BOARDS British Speed Ladder 2011’ from the drop-down box when registering your tracks online at gps-speedsurfing.com

Dan in action, by Tim Daish

After eight days of racing, new Tushingham/Starboard Team rider Dan Skudder competed as part of the Army Team with fellow rider Allan Cross in the Inter Service Speed Week as part of Weymouth Speed Week.

Armed with the latest Tushingham X15 sails and Starboard iSonics, after a long hard battle throughout the week, the team was successful in securing a win with the rest of the Army team against the Royal Navy and thus crowned Inter Service Speed Champions 2010.

With barely a pause for breath, it was straight into the Inter Service Individual and Team Formula Championships, part of the UKWA National Team Championships also held in Portland Harbour.

On the Saturday, in challenging formula conditions of 25+ knots they utilised their X-15 Formula Sails and Starboard Formula boards to great overall effect with their fellow army sailors. With light winds on the Sunday and after 7 races, it was indeed another win for the Army team, also crowned as the National Team winners.

20-year-old Dan showed the fleet a clean pair of heels, putting his past RS-X training to good use by leading the way and was eventually crowned as the Inter Service Formula Champion 2010.

Dan’s new sponsor, Paul Simmons from Tushingham comments:

“With such a strong racing community in the armed forces, it is most pleasing to see a fresh face storming ahead of the fleet, especially as he’s using our latest race gear! Impressively, all through Weymouth Speed Week Dan demonstrated real dedication, seeming to clock in more runs than anyone else. With new slalom gear on the way, Dan will be looking to make a big impression on the BSA Slalom Series in 2011.”

More at tushingham.com

On the cover: Connor Baxter by Jerome Houyvet

features

LIFE, THE HARD WAY

Nayra Alonso gets up close and personal with Pozo legend and rising PWA wavesailing talent, Dario Ojeda…

MULTIPLE CHOICE

Adrian Jones demystifies the multifin market and looks towards the future. Are convertibles such as Starboard’s IQ range of twins and quads the way forward?

TESTED – 85L WAVEBOARDS

In the first of a double-pronged assault on a market saturated with a bewildering array of options, the Clones assess the virtues of nine distinctly different flavours of 85L waveboards for your riding and jumping pleasure…

THEATRE OF DREAMS

This month Dave White moves his Home Ground series 7,240 miles away to pay homage to windsurfing’s spiritual heartland…

GETTING SOME IN!

As seasonal swells start to slap our shores, Carl Tomlinson shares some views on getting the best out of UK conditions while maintaining harmony in other crucial areas of life….

PWA FUERTEVENTURA GRAND SLAM

Paul Griffiths reports from Sotavento’s golden sands as the globe’s Slalom and Freestyle glitterati gather to decide their 2010 title fates…

PWA ALAÇATI, TURKEY

Our inside line to windsurfing’s premier Slalom series reports on what’s become a four-horse race this year – the only problem being that three of them have already fallen…

DAKINE WEYMOUTH SPEED WEEK

The annual pilgrimage for speed freaks is almost upon us. Pete Davis gives us the lowdown and brings us news of the BOARDS British Speed Ladder 2011…

UKWA WINDSURFER OF THE YEAR 2010

Yes, in true reality TV style, you the windsurfing public get to decide who will receive this prestigious accolade. Pete Davis presents the nominees…

NATIONAL WINDSURFING FESTIVAL

You were there, we were there – even Boujmaa Guillol was there, and he lives in Morocco. It’s now a ‘must do’ event on every windsurfer’s calendar, but the big question on everybody’s lips was: “Can it possibly get any bigger and better?” The answer is yes, it can. And it did…

CLUBBING IT

The RYA’s Chief Windsurfing Instructor, Amanda Van Santen, talks with two impassioned individuals about their careers in coaching and their roles within the club scene…

CALIFORNIA TRIPPIN’ AND PISTOL RIVER BASHIN’

Tanya Saleh and crew hit the road for a Kerouacian romp along California’s crenellated coastline, taking in the Pistol River wave event and checking out the windsurfing spot action between San Diego and Crescent City on route…

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OVER & OUT

Joerg Sonntag and Zara

Sonntag is a new fin manufacturer on the windsurfing market. Speedsailors Pete and Zara Davis met the owner and chief designer Joerg Sonntag and his wife Alexandra at a recent Belgian Speed week in Gruissan and were very impressed by their level of professionalism and understanding of fin technology. Zara was particularly interested in the ability Joerg has to customise the Sonntag fin flex and twist to accommodate the individual rider. This is unique in the fin world, as usually fins are developed by heavy powerful male team riders and not for lighter weight riders.

Basically, give Sonntag your height, weight and the boards you use and he recommends a size stiffness flex % etc of the fin – FANTASTIC! Also of great interest is the GPS 2 fin specifically designed for speedsailing. This fin has a very narrow width and negative center profile which should reduce drag at higher speeds. Zara says: “I can’t wait to try it at West Kirby.”

Sonntag's SL-S

A few words from Joerg Sonntag: “We focus on high performance / competition fins in custom technology. We try to stay at size where we still can produce products adopted to specific customer needs. We use highest quality materials available on the market to create fins that work for you”

There are 3 fin ranges currently SL-S, SL-P and the GPS 2 with more coming in August.

If you want to know more please email Joerg directly on Sonntag-fins@freenet.de or visit the website at www.sonntag-fins.com