Windsurf - Issue 385 - May 2019

En este asunto

Other Voices: Red Bull Storm Chase; Gollito Estredo, Francesco Cappuzzo and Miriam Rasmussen profiles; Défi Japan report; 2019 6.5 Entry-level Freeride sail test; Seavets; Peter Hart on timing; Jem Hall’s gybe exit tips; Exploring Israel’s Windsurfing; Gunsails Bow Concept lowdown.

Other Voices

It’s a paradox of the vast array of communication tools of our modern age that still some of the most interesting voices are those least heard.

4 mins

The Magheroarty Mission

After a three year wait, the Red Bull Storm Chase finally found the weather system they were looking for, storm ‘Gareth’, to green light the event and in keeping with the Storm Chase’s history, produce one of the most spectacular wavesailing contests ever! Rain, hail, snow, an 8 metre swell and force ten plus winds tested the riders to their absolute limits at Magheroarty, county Donegal, NW Ireland; John Carter caught up with the competitors and contest organiser Jobst von Paepcke to find out how it all went down.

10+ mins

Defi Wind Japan

Miyako island in Okinawa Prefecture played host to the inaugural Defi Wind Japan last month and interestingly the City of Miyakojima, which includes not only Miyako Island, but also five other populated islands, is twinned with the island of Maui! Japanese windsurfing culture is one of the most interesting in the world and combining it with the DéfiWind concept was always going to be an interesting mix; we talk to some of the athletes and organisers to get a flavour of the event.

10+ mins

Freestyle King

Born in 1989 in Porlamar, the largest city on Isla Margarita, Venezuela, “Gollito“ Jose Estredo grew up in the windsurfing playground of El Yaque, home to fellow PWA freestyle champion, Ricardo Campello. At the tender age of 13 he entered his first professional competition and won his first PWA freestyle world title in 2006, his ninth world title in 2018 and the smart money is on number 10 for 2019! In the ever-changing world of freestyle, one thing remains constant, Gollito winning! So what is the secret of his success, we ask his peers and the man himself.

10+ mins

Exploring Israel's Windsurfing

Boasting 275 km of coastline with access to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, Israel enjoys solid wind statistics all year round and offers everything from flat water to waves. It has a buoyant windsurfing community, but outside of the country relatively little is known about it as a windsurfing destination; Eric de Cruz made a trip there with PWA slalom sailor Benjamin ‘Babou’ Augé and Esteban de Cruz to find out more.

9 mins

Francesco Cappuzzo

Italian windsurfer Francesco Cappuzzo has a few strings to his boom. He competes on both the PWA freestyle and wave tours, no surprises there, plenty of sailors dabble in both, but how many do you also know compete on the Professional Kitesurfing GKA tour?

7 mins

Miriam Asmussen

Norwegian racer Miriam Rasmussen was a late starter to windsurfing, but that hasn’t held her back. From competing around the world to setting national speed records, Miriam has forged her own path in the sport from a challenging beginning. Learn more about Miriam’s inspiring path as she tells us in her own words, “The story so far, …or how I stopped worrying and learned to love windsurfing!”

9 mins

Youthspiration

2016 and 2017 UK Youth Wavesailing Champion, Ruaraidh Somerville, is an up-and-coming young gun with ambitions to be a pro windsurfer. Based in Glasgow, his water time is limited but he has an interesting take on how to stay motivated. Read on as Ruaraidh gives us an insight into the world of an aspiring fifteen year old wavesailor.

6 mins

Under Starter's Orders

This is the first occasion we’ve had an entry-level freeride sail category in our test schedule, which left our test team asking the most basic question, “What is required of an ideal first-time freeride engine?” And if the parameters are agreed and set, which of them should be prioritised? Ease of rigging and ease of use? Cost and affordability, or durability and range? Over to the team to expand.

10+ mins

Seavets

Seavets is a UK based senior and veteran windsurfers association, vice-chairman Ruth Tracey tells us more about their merry clan.

3 mins

All In Good Time

Harty this month suggests that improvement may lie focussing not so much on ‘how’, but ‘how long.’ It’s all about time and timing

10+ mins

Move On Up - Gybe Exits

This month we look at the gybe exit. It requires us to be very efficient and consistent in handling the rig in a clew first position, and also challenges our early planing skills. The best news is you can really nail many of the clew first skills at slower speeds in light winds on bigger boards. And we can improve our speed out of the gybe by working on our early planing skills. If we have a strong and ‘active’ getting planing position then the nirvana of a planing gybe exit is so much closer! We can be working on this even before we learn to gybe, so we have our gybe endings already nailed before we attempt to carve!

7 mins

Gunsails Bow Concept

One look at the Gunsails BOW sail tells you it’s different, very different! It has a specially developed mast to go with its radical head design and in contrast to established modern designs, doesn’t have a loose leech. To get the lowdown on the BOW and find out more about its design, we caught up with designer Pieter Bijl.

5 mins

Invasive Species Week 2019

The RYA tell us about the ‘Check Clean Dry’ initiative to help stop the spread of invasive species and diseases.

3 mins

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