saterday 30 november 2024

Storm Bert predicted: 30 to 48 knots, SSW, but dry and very warm for time of year. The wind was quite disappointing. Sailed the Banzai 4.7 on the Grip 9.3 with MFC 21/11cm thruster fins. Low tide and south wind, so a long walk to have free wind. Further out, the wind only got stronger and it was hands full. Unfortunately, the wind dropped quickly after the first half hour. At the end I could only plane towards the beach, by using the waves to get into plane. Going out it was no longer possible to plane. With 16 degrees it was nice and warm, a little bit of sun. Because of that the water felt very fresh. [Read...]

monday 18 november 2024

Sunny weather, beter wind. Lots of friends. Sailed the Banzai 6.0 on the F-Cross 113. Lots of long runs across the lake. Set was nicely fast. Sailed with sunglasses for the first time. Top session, lovely sunny, good wind. Yes chilly, it's November! Maybe the One 95 with 5.3 would have been nice too, but now I could try to keep up with friends. [Read...]

sunday 17 november 2024

Wind predicted for hot weekend, Saturday SW and Sunday NW. I was hoping for 6m weather, unfortunately the wind was disappointing, lots of 8+ sails on the water. For the first time in over 2 years I used the S-Type 8.3. On the iSonic 117 with Busca 46cm, of course. Wind minimal, sail on minimum trim, not fast but almost always planing. Cold feet, no more weather for summer shoes. Not warm, wind unfortunately minimal. Nice to do some planing, but definitely had better days. Nice to see that I can plane quite early with only a 75cm wide board. [Read...]

tuesday 12 november 2024

After two weeks of windless and gray weather, finally the weather changed, finally sailing. Sailed with the Banzai 5.3 on the One 95 with MFC 22.5/11cm thrusters Waves were nothing special, but sometimes a nice front-side hit. Wonderful to have sailed again. Waves weren't great. Sunshine was lovely. It was busy for a Monday in November, Belgians had a day off. [Read...]

saterday 05 october 2024

Forecast looked like very strong winds, really a storm. The morning itself the wind was a lot less. Sailed with the Banzai 4.7 on the Slate 96, later on the One 95. Demolished 2DaKine Core Contour footstraps. Except for a few small showers, it was completely dry. Especially the first hour was great, wind was the best and the waves too: top afternoon. [Read...]

sunday 29 september 2024

Day after the storm: decreasing wind, until about 2 to 3 o'clock there was good wind predicted. First checked the Grevelingendam, but there the wind was too north and not strong enough. Sailed with the Banzai 6.0 on the F-Cross 113 with MFC 32cm Wind sometimes completely gone, but for the rest a really nice freeride session. More sun then expected. [Read...]

friday 13 september 2024

Finally good WSW wind predicted: another evening sessions. Sailed with the Banzai 4.7 on the Wave Slate 96 with MFC 16/11 quad. Wind was very gusty, very often very strong, sometimes almost completely gone. It was tough, sometimes very hard gusts 30+ knots, other times standing still. Water from almost flat to more than 1.5 meters of waves. But despite the circumstances, nice sailing and had fun. [Read...]

friday 13 september 2024

Forecast was very good for a nice evening session at Brouwersdam south. Too bad the direction was NW and it was high-tide: the infamous shore-break. Sailed the Banzai 5.3 on the Goya One 95 with MFC 21/11cm Often beautiful and high waves. Wave riding with left foot front, little experience and front-side I can't go in that direction. Short session, still a bit tired from yesterday morning good wind again. Nice to ride wave left foot in front, I definitely need to practice more often. Waves were really nice and high at times. [Read...]

monday 09 september 2024

Wind was predicted to be south, not my favorite direction, Sailed wit the S-Type 7.3 on the iSonic 111 with SL-X 43cm. Wind was gusty, but weather was still nice and warm. Was nice to surf after a long time. [Read...]

sunday 07 july 2024

Today Breda Live festival, but the bands before 18:00 were less interesting and the forecast with 30 to 35 knots was too tempting. Unfortunately I had forgot my smaller wave boards. Sailed with the Banzai 3.7 with Fanatic Grip 93, first with 18/10cm thrusters, later with 14.5/10cm quad set-up. Extreme strong wind! First impression of the Fanatic Grip 93 in these conditions is not bad. Thruster seems to give more controle than as a quad. Almost everyone found it impossible to sail or complained much harder than I did: it was really windy: 50+ kts gusts. [Read...]

sunday 07 july 2024

Forecast looked good for days, good wind in the afternoon and evening. Started with the Banzai 6.0 on the F-Cross 113 with Supercross 34cm. In the beginning: minimal, later too big and fast for the waves. Switched to the Banzai 5.3 on the One 95 with 21/11 thrusters. Jumping over both sides possible. Back-side wave riding fun. Sometimes even multiple hits on one wave. One of the best sessions of the year: lovely sunshine, lovely constant wind. [Read...]

tuesday 25 june 2024

Wind was predicted SW and would turn to south around 1 or 2 o'clock. So you want to sail before 1. Doubted between te 4.2 and 4.7. Sailed the Banzai 4.2 on the Grip 93 with MFC 20/10 thrusters. I couldn't plane all the time, wind sometimes really dropped. Wind was very gusty and turned a bit, but the weather was very nice. It was very busy with a lot of surfing buddies on the water! [Read...]

monday 03 june 2024

For weeks there was little wind and a lot of rain and unfortunately I couldn't get away from work at the moments when there was wind. Today finally good wind. Sailed the Banzai 5.3 on the Goya One 95 with 21/10 MFC Thrusters Some steep waves for jumping, and others for an occasional back-side hit. It was a tick overcloud, but the wind was very constant. It was super busy and that made the water even more choppy. Sailed through until I was completely empty: nice. [Read...]

saterday 20 april 2024

Good WNW predicted, some showers in the morning, later less rain. Sailed the Banzai 4.2 on the Grip 93 with MFC 20/10cm thrusters. Nice afternoon: Wind was stronger than expected. It was only 9 degrees and with so much wind: quite chilly. I didn't wear mittens, and sometimes that was only just possible. [Read...]

thursday 11 april 2024

Strong winds forecast all day, up to 40 knots. In the evening it would start to decrease. Was able to leave work a few hours earlier. I was at the dam just before 4. Sailed the Banzai 3.7 on the Grip 93 with quad fins. 4.2 would have been better. Luckily not much rain, but a bit chilly, compared to last weekend. Was a fun session. [Read...]

sunday 07 april 2024

Forecast for 25 degrees this weekend, 15 degrees on Friday and up to 40 knots turning from S to SW wind. Sailed the Banazi 4.7. First on the Wave Slate 96, later on the Grip 93. Lovely afternoon, clear blue almost all afternoon and not cold. I'm getting more and more friends with the Grip, I'll put Dakine Core Contours on it. I find the original foot straps much too soft. [Read...]

sunday 24 march 2024

The forecast was wind and rain again, in the morning the rain didn't seem to fall in Zeeland. Wind direction W to WNW, so perfect for the Grevelingendam. Started with the Banzai 5.3 on the One 95. Later took the Banzai 4.7 on the Grip 93. It was cold, really cold. In the beginning even with mittens on cold fingers. The wind was a lot better than yesterday and it was a lot busier on the water. [Read...]

sunday 24 march 2024

Good wind has been predicted for the weekend for days. Wind forecast remained, but the temperature was a lot lower. Used a lot of equipment: Banzai 6.0, 5.3 and 4.7. In the beginning very gusty, then 1.5 an hour of good sailing. Menno and Jurjen have also done a lot of re-rigging. It wasn't very cold, we sailed almost all the time without mittens. After stopping, the hail came and the temperature dropped quickly. Even with the neoprene jacket on, I had cold hands: brr. [Read...]