Today was the last day this week with wind (at least according to the predictions). I made an effort and managed to go windsurfing after work at Pampus Haven. It had been raining all morning, but the afternoon was bright and sunny. There didn’t seem to be a lot of wind when I arrived (which was disappointing since the tree outside my window had been leaning to one side all day long). Two guys went out with 5.7 and 6.0 so I decided to take my Sumo 105 and Ezzy WP2 6.0. That worked for about 15 minutes. Then the wind came back so strong that I decided to switch to my Starboard Quad 81 and Ezzy WP 5.2. The wind was very strong (overpowered at times) with sunshine and clean ramps outside the harbor. I had a blast. I did notice my body was still a bit soar from the day before, but I was giving it my best none the less. I’m so happy I managed to go. Let’s hope the wind will return in a few days. I have some great memories in the mean time.

Today my Starboard Quad 81 really excelled at Wijk aan Zee. The wind was almost onshore and quite strong. I decided to rigg my Ezzy WP2 5.2 as I wanted to be sure I would have enough power to get to the outside. The waves were quite chaotic, big and all over the place. Not something that fills your heart with joy when you’re standing on the beach. Does it matter? No! You still go out. Wind and waves, what more do you need? This is why I bought my Quad. I just had to get on my board and I started planning immediately. The board has so much upwind power that I could just fly over and between the waves. I was on the outside before you could say ‘watch out for that wave’. It was hard to ride the waves going back in, but jumping was no problem. 2.5 to 3 meter ramps could be found everywhere. I had a great time. My gear performed great and I really enjoyed myself. I didn’t get caught by the waves and didn’t have to swim after my gear. Quite an achievement on a day like this.

In the afternoon I felt the wind started to move a bit more to W, WNW which made the wind straight onshore. I decided to pack my gear and go for a session at Pampus Haven.

Second session of the day

I decided to go to Pampus Haven after my earlier session at Wijk aan Zee. I knew Rob would be there and I was sure there would be more people I know. I didn’t expect there to be so many. Besides about 10 to 15 windsurfers (that’s more then at Wijk) there were also a large number of kiters. Normally I don’t mind (NB: keep in mind that kite surfing is illegal here) but today they really annoyed me. There were a couple of kiters I had never seen before and they were kiting like they were the only ones on the water. Landing all over the place and generally disrespecting other people on the water. Not a great example and most people were p****d off at them.

I took out my Ezzy WP2 5.2 (it had to be cleaned anyway after Wijk) and my Sumo 105. The wind was a bit unstable so I thought it might be better to take some more volume. It was an excellent choice and I had a relaxed session compared to Wijk. At around 5 a rain storm hit Pampus. The sky went completely black and you couldn’t see anything through the rain. This lasted for over 15 minutes. When the rain had gone the wind had changed to NNW. This means onshore at Pampus and you can sail through the entire harbor. Rob and I decided to give it one last go. We were blasting through the harbor for another half hour with some extremely strong gusts. After that the wind dropped again and we decided to go home. What a great day!

The Real Trip

The Mission is only one week ago and it’s time for the next big event The Real Trip. The event will be on September 25th and 26th at Makkum. Check the poster and previous link for more information.

Here’s something I didn’t want to keep from you. Tabou has been working hard on their new boards. Some have already reached the stores and I’m sure we’ll soon see the first reviews for the 2011 Tabou boards. I haven’t received all the specs yet, so I can’t add them to the website yet, but I did receive the board images. The range is pretty much clear from looking at them. Here’s what tabou has in store for 2011:

• 3S standard and LTD. This is more or less the bump ‘n jump board in the collection. Sizes are 76, 86, 96, 106, and 116.
• Coolrider. The beginners board. Available in blue and white in sizes 200, 180 and 160.
• Da Curce. The new radical wave board replacing the Da Curve. Available in two versions. The normal version is a single fin board and the Team Edition is a quad fin board. Could be one to look out for. I know I do! Available in 67, 74, 79, 85 and 91.
• Guru. A new board in the range. Looks like an intermediate/freeride board. Available in 125, 135, 145 and 155
• Manta. Pure high performance slalom and freerace boards. Available in three versions.  Normal, FR (Freerace) and TPE (Team Performance Edition?). This board has it all, whether you want to be the fastest on the water or just working hard to beat your personal best. Available in 49, 54, 59, 65, 69, 75, 79 and 85.
• Pocket. A classic has returned for yet another year. This wave board will be available in 69, 75, 80, 85, 93 (volumes are the same as last year)
• Rocket. A great freeride/freerace board that has been receiving many positive test results. Available in two versions, normal and LTD. Sizes are 95, 105, 115, 125, 135 and 145.
• Twister. Tabou’s freestyle board. Available as 80, 90, 100 and 107.

This should make for another great board range for 2011. I created a little slideshow for you with all the boards Enjoy!

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Second day in a row with strong winds at Pampus Haven. Conditions were about the same as yesterday. Strong wind (up to 35 knots), lots of sunshine and quite warm. The wind seemed a little less when I arrived, so I opted to use my Ezzy WP2 5.2 and Starboard Quad 81. I soon realized that 5.2 was just too much and changed to 4.7. Another great day of blasting around in the bowl near the harbor. The chop/swell/waves were much cleaner today, making jumping a lot easier and even allowed for some actual waveriding. Not bad for a lake.

I tried to take some pictures, but it’s always hard to see how windy it really is on an image. I hope it does show just how nice the conditions really were.

I hope this gives you an impression of the conditions (did I mention it was sunny?).

Waveriding Pampus Haven style by Thierry.

These are NOT small rocks! Wave breaking hard and spray going everywhere.

Fortunately I have at least one day to rest. Let’s wit and see what the rest of the week will bring us.

It’s shaping up to be a great week. Today we had a lot of wind. I normally don’t go sailing on Monday since that is my busiest day at work. I just couldn’t resist todays conditions however and left work early to go to Pampus Haven. There was a lot of wind when I arrived. The rain was disappearing and the temperature was very nice. Even Rob showed up (together with several others) to go sailing. I decided to take my Ezzy WP2 4.7 and Starboard Quad 81. Excellent choice. Everyone else was on that size or smaller (Rob was on a 3.5). The wind was so strong in the beginning. I looked at the stats and we got hit by 40+ knots gusts. The wind got a bit less after a while but still plenty to work with. Excellent bump ‘n jump conditions. Just a great day and worth the maximum five stars. Even got a bit of a tan.

I’ll try to go again tomorrow but I am really looking forward to this Friday. Looks like there will be a lot of wind and big waves at Wijk aan Zee. Can’t wait! Looking forward to next week there will still be a lot of wind. Sometimes life is good.

I went to visit the Mission yesterday. I’ve been there the past years for both days. This year I didn’t have that much time so I decided to go on the first day and check out the event. This is the last year the event will be held (unfortunately) and organizer Herman van der Berg had again but a lot of work and effort into the event. Herman runs project44 which is the importer of brands like Fanatic, F2, Choco fins, Maui sails and Ion. This brands are well represented during the event. I took some shots I wanted to share with you (it was cloudy when I took the shots, the sun started shining soon after). This will give you an impression of the event.

There was plenty of gear which could be tested by the visitors. Most was 2010 but Herman worked hard to get some 2011 gear in as well. Let’s start with the Fanatic boards (click to see a bigger picture).

The 2011 look great with their new prints. Very colorful. You can see two brand new Maui Sails in the background. There were a lot more Maui Sails ready for testing.

They even brought two TR6xt race sails. A 6.0 and a 8.4. What a beautiful sail.

With sails like that you also needs boards that go fast. Herman managed (don’t ask me how) to get some of the new 2011 F2 Race/Slalom boards.

I haven’t sailed them yet but the new Silberpfeil and Missile look really good. Maybe I’ll trade my old SX’s for them (let’s try them first )

In case someone got bored with windsurfing, you could also try the Fantic SUPs and surfboards.

Next to all this gear you could also run into several local and international windsurfers who came just for this event. How about:

I don’t know how many times world champion in freestyle Gollito Estredo (being interviewed by Mart, editor of The Motion windsurf magazine). You have to see this guy in action to believe it. Make sure you bring your camcorder since you’ll need to replay it afterwards.

The lovely Nayra Alonso was at the Mission for the first time.

Another lovely lady; Laure Treboux who had been there for several days already running a girls camp.

Top Dutch windsurfer Peter Volwater.

I took a lot of other pictures, many of the windsurfers on the water (like the one below). You can find low res versions of them on Photobucket. Contact me if you like to receive a high res copy.

De Punt

There was enough wind to go sailing but it was a bit crowded with over 300 competitors. I went with a couple of people I knew to de Punt, a spot a few minutes away. There we had plenty of space and had fun with our slalom gear. At times the wind was quite strong. I sailed my Gaastra Vapor 7.6 and F2 SX 68. I had to put a lot of downhaul on the sail to keep control, but because the water was quite flat I could keep sailing that size. The wind dropped a little later on so I decided to go back home after a few hours of sailing. Nice spot, although you have to wear shoes to protect you feed. The sun was again shining and it was warm so another session in my shorty.

Number 50

By the way: this was session number 50 this year. I wont be able to sail as many times as last year (89) but I’m going to try and get close

Forecast

This past week has been great with several sailing opportunities. Next week looks good as well especially since we might get our first storm this Friday or Saturday. I can only hope the conditions will stay like this. I’ll be at Wijk aan Zee if they do.

I went to Pampus Haven after work. I had been looking at the wind all day and the wind was at its strongest in the afternoon. When I arrived it was sunny, very warm and windy. I rigged my Gaastra Vapor 7.6 and F2 SX 80. I didn’t have to think twice about my shorty. It was so warm that nothing more was needed. I went out and thought I made the right choice. There was no one out except for some sail-boats. After about half an hour the wind started dropping however and it became increasingly harder to get going. At around 5pm I decided to call it a day and go home. Did enjoy the weather though. It was so warm!

I’ll probably be sailing again tomorrow. I’ll be going to The Mission, a big event in Zeeland. Maybe I’ll see you there.

More sails have been announced by Neil Pryde for the 2011 season. They are the:

• Combat – Onshore Wave
• Fly2 – Sideshore Wave
• Firefly – Freestyle
• Fusion – Freestyle/Wave

You can find them with specs and high quality images on the website.

Easy Pampus

I went for a quick after work session at Pampus Haven yesterday. There was a lot of rain all day. When I arrived there was still plenty of rain. Rob was already out and I was surprised to see Renee who was preparing his gear. It must have been 9 months since his last session with us. Good to see him back. I started with my Sumo 105 and Ezzy WP2 6.0. The wind was strong (even though it was a bit gusty) and Had a good time. After a while the rain stopped and the wind got a little stronger. I decided to take a gamble and switched to my Ezyy WP2 5.2 and Starboard Quad 81. That turned out to be a mistake. I managed to get planing a few times before the wind dropped and I was left swinging in the harbour. The wind dropped so much that even my previous gear wouldn’t have worked. I decided to pack up and go home. Nice session though.

Point-7 Worldcup summary

The Point-7 Black Team who’s just returned from the PWA world cup in Turkey are blogging with an excellent story and video footage. Includes an exclusive video of the all new AX-K. Check their blog here

North Sails released their first 2011 sails; Duke, Ice and Ego.The sails have been further developed based on their successful predecessors. It’s clear to see that RDM masts are here to stay according to North Sails. All sails are developed for RDM masts. The Duke and Ice can also be sailed using a SDM mast, but the Ego can only be sailed using a RDM mast.
The sails look really nice. If you’re into lots of colour then you can try the MAD versions (see image on the right). Check them out on the website (I don’t have images for the Ice HD yet. I’ll add them asap).

I’ll be sailing the rest of the day. More tomorrow.

Yesterday was the first of a few nice days I hope I will have this week. Predictions said there would be a strong N to NE wind. I was thinking about going to IJmuiden but decided to cancel that plan since the wind stayed NE for a very long time and I expected IJmuiden to be either extremely flat or extremely choppy. I understand from the posts on various forums that the second was the case. I opted to stay close to home and sail Pampus Haven. My friend Ron called me while I was driving there that he had gotten the green light to go windsurfing as well and we quickly decided that we would both sail at PH. I have to say that we made the right decision. I went out on my Ezzy WP2 5.2 and Starboard Quad 81 (I did one test run on my Angulo to be sure). The wind was strong, especially on the outside. There were about 15 to 20 windsurfers on the water. The chop/waves didn’t build very well, but we still managed to find some really nice ramps and got plenty of airtime. The temperature was nice and there was no rain. A very nice day.

The day did have one downside. I went sailing on my bare feet and step into some sharp. I now have a number of cuts in both my feet. Deep ones too! It won’t stop me from sailing the next few days, but I have to make sure I disinfect my feet regularly. Back to shoes next time.