wednesday 15 march 2023
I arrived to find some windsurfers struggling in the 40-45kn SW winds. I stubbornly chose to rig my 4.2m sail, though it was too big for the conditions even with max trim. The gusts were nearly unmanageable. After switching to my 3.7 sailing was good and I was able to handle the gusts. Managed to land some backside hits. I enjoyed discovering the potential of the Thruster 81 combo. Next time I'll be sure to bring my old AHD too, for some back-to-back comparison! [Read...]
tuesday 14 march 2023
Finally suitable conditions, after a long cold period. With temperatures up to 11 degrees and a SW wind, I was able to test the F-Cross 113 with Banzai 6.0 and the FX Freecarve 31cm fin. I was able to get planing with a bit of effort. The fin felt a bit too small for the amount of wind, making upwind sailing hard even with minimumd trim. Towards the end the wind improved, planing got a lot easier, but it unfortunately did not last long. The board showed promise, but I'll definitely have to try it out with a bigger fin and better wind conditions. [Read...]
tuesday 21 february 2023
2nd day sailing on St Martin. The wind seems a little stronger.
Same set packed to start with: Ezzy Cheetah 6.0 on Fanatic Blast 130 with Finnish 46cm.
Direct planing from the beach, wind just as good as yesterday when I stopped. I just didn't pay attention and was almost immediately on the reef, so immediately downwind to stay in the bay.
Wind was clearly stronger. Unfortunately, there was a lot more weed, really 2 or 3x as much. So I had to stop a lot more to get weed off the fin. Really about 3 to 4 times per run.
Again was delicious, set worked well, a weedfin would have been nice. [Read...]
monday 13 february 2023
During a week visiting a friend on St Maarten, chance to go windsurfing. Unfortunately there was only a limited number of boards and sails available, I sailed with an Ezzy Cheetah 6.0 on a Fanatic Blast 130. The wind was a a bit light for 6.0. But I still managed to plane nicely with minimal wind. Occasionally a little weed. It was a real pleasure to sail in the warm, crystal clear water, even with the lesser equipment. Occasionally I even saw flying fish. [Read...]
monday 30 january 2023
Wind forecast was perfect, 25 to 30 knots, WNW. Sailed with the Banzai 4.7 and One 95 with MFC 21/10 fins. Beautiful waves for waveriding and jumping.
First hour sailed with the zipper of my suit open: stupid.
Wonderful session: enjoy, what fun the Grevelingendam can be. [Read...]
monday 23 january 2023
Do you have a router and are you looking for a way to use it with a guide rail? In this blog post you can read how I use my unbranded (KBM) router with my DeWalt (DWS5021-XJ) guide rail. For this I bought a Makita guide rail adapter (194579-2). I modded this to make it fit on the DeWalt guide rail. [Read...]
sunday 15 january 2023
I had a great start to the season today. It was dry with solid SW winds, forecasted to be between 35-48 knots. Most surfers were sailing with 3.2-3.5 sails, I used the 4.2 and the Goya Thruster 81. The waves were beautiful, with some long lines for a couple of backside hits. Jumping conditions weren't the best, but still some nice jumps. Wind picked up later on which made it necessary to trim the sail in further, but the Banzai 4.2 had a great range. I sailed until I was completely exhausted - the perfect start to the season! [Read...]
friday 30 december 2022
In recent months, if SW winds were predicted, it always changed to south or even SSE. Fortunately not today.
Sailed with the Banzai 5.3 with Wave Slate 96 and 20/12cm MFC fins
Not cold at all, sailed in a dry period, between large showers.
Wind turned a bit, but was not too gusty.
Was a nice year ending. [Read...]
friday 30 december 2022
Wind dead south, almost ZZO. So the water was very, very flat.
Sailed the Banzai 5.3 with the Wave Slate 96 and 21/11cm fins.
5.3 was the largest size I had with me. With minimal trim in the 5.3 I could always plane, but 6.0 would have been better.
Not cold, no rain while sailing. Unfortunately, the direction was very SO. [Read...]
friday 18 november 2022
30 to 40 knots SW wind forecasted, turning from South to SW and decreasing after 14:00. Unfortunately also a lot of rain.
Upon arrival, most surfers appeared to sail with 4.2 to 4.5. Looking at the predictions, I expected 3.7s.
Sailed with the Banzai 4.2 on the Slate 96 and MFC 20/12cm fins.
Quite nice sailing, despite the gusty wind and all that rain. Sailed with cap and gloves, but not really cold yet.
The Wave Slate 96 certainly didn't feel too big, although I never really had much power. [Read...]
wednesday 16 november 2022
Wind forecast, unfortunately south east. But dry, and agenda was free. Let's go surfing.
Sailed with the Banzai 6.0 and JP FSW 102. Tested my new Select Freecarve 31 against the MFC Freewave 32cm.
It was gusty, that was to be expected. With 12 degrees it was not that warm anymore, unfortunately the sun disappeared after an hour.
Set worked well for today. Nice sailing. [Read...]
thursday 03 november 2022
Light wind afternoon at sea. Perfect to test both stubby waveboards.
Sailed with the Banzai 4.7.
Started with the Fanatic Stubby 99, then sailed for a while with the JP Wave Slate 96 then the Stubby again.
Good day to test both stubbies. Unfortunately, the wind direction was not good and there were few waves to really test the wave riding well. First impression of both boards is good. Haven't figured out yet which one stays.
Nice sun, wonderful weather, and that on November 1st. [Read...]
friday 21 october 2022
From about 11 to 12 good east wind forecasted, in combination with sun.
Sailed with the S-Type SL 8.3 and iSonic 117.
The weather was lovely, nice sun. Wind was a bit gusty. But for east wind with nowadays the windmills it was not at all disappointing: enjoyed. [Read...]
sunday 16 october 2022
Prediction: around 3 o'clock the wind would become perfect
Sailed with Goya Banzai 6.0 and JP FSW 102. Floating, a lot of floating. Until 17:00 the wind turned direction and switched on. It was a long wait for the real wind. But that 1.5 hours wind and sun made up for a lot. [Read...]
sunday 09 october 2022
Slightly less wind day yesterday and also from the wrong direction: W/NW, so small chance of good races. Biggest set: S-Type 8.3 and isonic 117.
4 races. Too little wind for my equipment, but still not a really bad result.
It was wonderfully sunny and warm. For so little wind I did not too bad. [Read...]
sunday 09 october 2022
The afternoon before Dam-X: slalom start training. Starting line, and 2 buoys: improve start timing, round the first mark, back to the start for another round. Wind minimal, sailed with S-Type SL, iSonic 117 and Busca 46cm.
Starts started to improve again.
Wind minimal, not cold at all. [Read...]
monday 03 october 2022
WNW wind, 20 to 25 knots predicted. Perfect for the Grevelingendam. Sailed with the E-Type 6.6 and iSonic 101.
First time since more then a year that I had sailed with this set, took some time find the right trim.
Unfortunately, the wind that had been predicted did not come. But it was good to sail the slalom board again, and try to sail as fast as possible. Definitely a good training for Dam-X next week. [Read...]
monday 03 october 2022
Increasing wind forecast all day, finally SW again. Aimed to be in Zeeland at the end of the afternoon, when the wind would exceed 20 knots.
Sailed with the Banzai 6.0 and JP FSW 102. Wind seemed a bit minimal for a 6.0, but with increasing wind that should only take some time before the sail should be big enough. Unfortunately, the wind direction stayed/was too south. It was still quite warm, sumer wetsuit. But wind was a bit disappointing. prediction was much better. [Read...]
monday 19 september 2022
Since the wind was already slightly too west for Brouwersdam Zuid all weekend, I went to the Grevelingendam to end the weekend. Sailed the Banzai 6.0 and JP FSW 102.
Regular rain, changing wind. But overall delicious sailing. [Read...]
