Ezzy Sails will soon be releasing the new Lion. The Lion will be replacing the Infinity as their (free)race sail. Very little details have been released so far. The sail did appear in their happy new year video. Now they have a released a new video introducing the Lion. This is the first time we can have a good look at the sail.

Here’s what Ezzy has to say about the sail:

The Lion is fast flying over the water, and fast to get on the water–easy to rig with Ezzy cams. The Lion is also easy to waterstart and uphaul with a narrow mast sleeve that doesn’t hold excessive heavy water. With a wide wind range, you need fewer sails, meaning less time deciding what to rig. The Ezzy Lion is light, making jibes snappier and more consistent. Unparalleled Ezzy build standards guarantee the Lion is strong, using the latest high-tech fabrics (like Technora, Spectra, and Color-Fusion Tri- lite).

Without a single speck of monofilm, the Lion has the same Ezzy construction developed to survive years of use and abuse. And of course, like every Ezzy, each Lion is rigged and tuned in the factory so that it is ready for you right out of the bag. Sail longer, stronger, faster, and more competitively with the new Ezzy Lion.

I expect all details to be released soon.

Dutch sailor Paul Zeper has been hard at work developing his signature sail the Freestyle Pro. You can read about the development of this new sail in his blog (which will be feature a lot Maui from now on since he has started his internship at Maui Sails). The first images have appeared for you to enjoy!

(source: windsurfing44.com)

I’ve just read the incredible sad news that legendary shaper Harold Iggy has died. Read more about this news at Windsurfer International.

The North sails Warp F2012 is now available for windsurfers worldwide. North Sails have put all the specifications on their website for you to enjoy. Here’s the press statement from North Sails:

LAST YEAR OUR TEAM RIDERS GAVE US THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT ABOUT THE WARP: „WE CURRENTLY DON‘T KNOW WHAT TO IMPROVE FOR NEXT YEAR, AS THE SAIL FEELS OUTSTANDING AND WORKS PERFECTLY!“ A GREAT FEEDBACK FOR KAI HOPF AND HIS R&D TEAM, BUT WE COULD NOT PUSH THE LIMITS, IF WE WERE NOT ABLE TO FIND SOME DETAILS AGAIN. OUR LAST YEARS REFINEMENTS IN MIND, A MODERATE CUTAWAY.CLEW, INSTANT.ROTATION AND THE NEW MINI.PROTECTOR, PLEASE CHECK OUT WHAT WE HAVE DONE FOR NEXT SEASON.

You can have a look at the video below for the moving images.

Last year ended great. I managed to go for 60 session! Not the best year I ever had but also not bad considering the lack of decent wind we had during the beginning and middle of the year. 2012 has just begun and we’re already logging our first sessions. I haven’t had sessions in January for many years, so I’m very excited about this. Here’s my session log for today.

First two session of 2012 – Salt

I set my alarm at 6 this morning in order to be on the road in time. I had made an appointment to meet at the Zandmotor at 8. It’s a long drive and there could be problems in traffic. I had a bit of breakfast and loaded my gear in the car. One final check and I was on the road. Fortunately traffic was very good, so I reached the Zandmotor well before 8. It was still very dark and I realised I should have checked when the sun would come up. Everyone was there at 8 and we rigged our gear in the early light of dawn. I decided to go with 4.2. The wind was slightly off shore and already very strong. The waves were small due to the wind direction. I soon found that sailing would be hard due to the huge chop and ever increasing wind the further we got from the beach. I managed to sail with 4.2 for about an hour before switching to my 3.7.  I decided the wind was too strong (gusts of 50 knots) after about another hour. Not my best session by far but fun never the less. I quickly put my gear in the car and gave Jan a call to see where he would be sailing in the afternoon. We agreed to meet in Spakenburg. Time to hit the highway and head north. (Thanks to Jacco Bergsma for the pictures)

First two session of 2012 – Sweet

I met up with Jan around lunchtime and after we had lunch together we headed to the Palendijk. We were greeted by conditions we had never seen there. Incredible gusts were pounding the water leaving a trail of white water. We soon realized the wind was way too strong and water level too low to sail here. We met with photographer Olaf Robberse while trying to decide what to do. he told us there were windsurfers at the Stichtsebrug and we decided to go there and have a look. We arrived there to see one hardcore windsurfer. Eric had just started his session. We couldn’t stay behind and joined him in this hardcore session. I started with my 3.7 and switched to my 4.2 later. The wind was very strong in the gusts (I got blown of my board 3 times) but was too weak between gusts for my 3.7. We sailed for about two hours and had fun. All my gear was clean after this session, which is nice as well. Meanwhile Olaf took some pictures for which we thank him! You can visit his website at http://olafrobberse.com.

Sessionlogs

I log all my session on sessionlogs.com. It nice to know how much I’ve sailed during the year and fun to share with others. Have a look to see whether you can use their service too! You can find my sessions here.

Peter Volwater posted an interview about his move to Avanti Sails on his website. Here’s the full interview:

1) Signing with Avanti is quite a change, what made you decide on making the move?

MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGY SAILS AND MASTS IN ALL THE  SIZES ARE OBVIOUSLY WORKING INCREDIBLY WELL.

AND ALSO BECAUSE OF THE HUGE POTENTIAL OF AVANTI SAILS AS A BRAND, WITH THE PEOPLE INVOLVED WORKING CLOSELY IN A TEAM, I BELIEVE IN ITS SUCCESS.

I DIDN’T WANT TO NOT RACE THEM IN PWA.

2) How do you rate your chances to raise your game and reach the PWA podium for 2012?

I CERTAINLY EXPECT TO RAISE MY PERFORMANCE, TO REACH THE PODIUM WILL REQUIRE RACING EXTREMELY  WELL, BUT MORE POSSIBLE THEN EVER BEFORE.

3) With which characteristics of the new Machine M-1 are you most impressed?

WHERE SHALL I START? THE ACCELERATION IS INSANE AND THE WIND RANGE IS MUCH BIGGER WHICH IS REALLY IMPORTANT AS THE WIND HAS THE TENDENCY TO CHANGE QUITE A BIT AND TYPICALLY RIGHT BEFORE OR IN THE HEAT!  GREAT LOW END AND GREAT HI END. NOT TO FORGET STABILITY OF THE PROFILE AND PHYSICAL AND APPARENT WEIGHT OF THE RIGS, THEY ARE VERY EASY TO SAIL AND INCREDIBLE LIGHT IN THE HANDS.

4) Do you think training and testing with Finian on an everyday basis will propel both of you to reach new heights together?

FINIAN AND I HAVE BEEN TRAINING TOGETHER FOR A LONG TIME, SO FINALLY WE ARE ACTUALLY JOINING FORCES. WE ARE BOTH GOING TO BENEFIT BEING TEAM MATES, I WANT TO SEE HIM WIN EVEN THOUGH I LIKE TO WIN MYSELF TOO. WE ARE STARTING ON A SOLID BASE SO NOW WE CAN TUNE THE RIGS FURTHER, SO YES  I AM POSITIVE ABOUT THAT.

5) How do you rate Dan Kaseler as a designer? Do you think he has what it takes to take you to the top?

DAN IS NO DOUBT ONE OF THE MOST TALENTED DESIGNERS IN THE INDUSTRY, HE HAS ALREADY EARNED BIG RESPECT WORKING FOR BIG COMPANIES LIKE NAISH AND GAASTRA AND RECENTLY TOOK OVER QUANTUM SAILS WHICH IS A HUGE BRAND IN THE SAILING WORLD. ESPECIALLY DUE TO THE YACHTING SPEED WORLD RECORD THAT WAS BROKEN ON HIS DESIGNS TWICE BY FINIAN BUT NOT ONLY IN RACING, ALSO IN FREESTYLE THE TOP 3 IN PWA AT ONE STAGE WHERE USING HIS DESIGNS.

HE IS YOUNG, MOTIVATED AND REALLY INTO SAILING AND WHEN AVANTI IS COMING OUT WITH THE MACHINE M-1 IN ONLY THE FIRST YEAR, IMAGINE THE YEARS TO COME.

6) What are your goals for 2012?

WIN RACES AND TRAIN HARD TO BE MAXIMUM PREPARED.

7) Finally, what makes Peter Volwater work so hard as you have the reputation on the world tour as the ‘Energizer Bunny”?

I GUESS I JUST HAVE FUN DOING WHAT I’M DOING, WINDSURFING REMAINS NOT ONLY MY JOB BUT ALSO MY HOBBY AND IT KEEPS ME EXCITED.

Peter is proudly sponsored by Avanti, Fanatic and ProLimit

The year is of to a good start with the launch of the website of Avanti Sails. There have been rumors flying around the internet about this new brand and now they have released their website with all details regarding their products and plans. Here’s what they have to say about this new brand:

Avanti was born out of a core collaboration between Dan Kaseler and Finian Maynard. With 40-years of combined experience, Kaseler and Maynard bring an outstanding skill set and lasting passion to the windsurfing market. Between 2003 and 2005 Maynard made sailing history by breaking three WSSRC speed sailing world records using Kaseler’s sail designs. Smashing the outright speedsailing records, while bringing the title back to windsurfing after an eleven year absence, is still considered a major milestone in the sport of windsurfing. These historic successes resulted in a longtime friendship between Maynard and Kaseler, and serve ultimately as the foundation for the Avanti ethos.

Avanti was not created by these two alone. Countless forward-thinking persons got caught up in the excitement and promise of the Avanti movement. Many great engineers, technicians, and supporters were irresistibly intrigued by the question of what could be created if one dared off the beaten path. Each helped grow Avanti, pushing our technologies into the realm of tomorrow. Debuting with the lightest, most sophisticated sails and masts on the market, and structured around an innovative modern distribution system, Avanti can already be considered a leader in windsurfing racing technologies.

Avanti currently has one sail line for 2012 called the Machine M-1. A racing sail that is designed to be on the cutting edge of windsurfing technology. Current specification are:

General Manager Finian Maynard will be joined by PWA veteran Peter Volwater on the world tour. They should make an excellent team and we wish them all the best.

Read to buy a Avanti Machine M-1? You can starting February 15th from the Avanti online shop. These sails will not be available in the shops.

Another year has come and gone. I wish you all the best for 2012. May it bring all that you have wished for and more!

Windsurfing session at Zandmotor.

26.11.2011 – I did not know we had waves like this in the Netherlands. We’ve been hearing a lot about the Zandmotor (a project to rebuild the Dutch shoreline) but this was the first time I got to see it myself. The Zandmotor aligns the waves like no other place I’ve ever been to. The waves are big and clean and break in one direction around the …

Windsurfing session at Wijk aan Zee.

25.11.2011 – The weather is a very unpredictable thing. We haven’t been able to sail for the past weeks and temperatures were already dropping. Now we get treated to at least a week of great wind and double diget temperatures. It’s clearly not winter yet!

I had the day off and knew the wind would be good in the morning. I dropped the kids of …