Roberts Blog

Pieter Bijl was photographed, up close, with a North Sails XOver proto. I haven't seen any pictures from that close. [Read...]

.Photo for: North Sails Proto from up close.

Best day of the week, space in the agenda, dry and wind. Sailed with JP FSW 102 and Banzai 5.3. Nice sailing. Little rain, no sun, cold. Wind through the showers somewhat variable. It was nice that there were like 10 surfers on the water. [Read...]


Prediction only became less. Upon arrival, nobody was planing. Sailed with iSonic 117 and S-Type 8.3. The 8.3 turned out to be a good choice, could almost always plane. Certainly not the wind that had been predicted, but with a lot of sun it was a wonderful November afternoon. No gloves or cap needed. Not even used my winter shoes. [Read...]


Wind direction was predicted W/NW: perfect for the Grevelingendam, sometimes this can give nice chop for jumping. Sailed with JP FSW 102 and Banzai 6.0. It was a nice day: lots of sun, constant wind: Fun! [Read...]


Prediction was 20 to 30 knots W/SW, wind was rather S/SW and 18 to 22 knots. Wind would increase, so rigged the 5.3. Sailed with: Goya One Pro 95 and Banzai 5.3. The 5.3 was a bit small for the conditions. Wind was disappointing, more was predicted. No sun or rain, but not really cold either. [Read...]


Forecast: rain, normally enough reason not to go to Zeeland. But I hadn't sailed for long. There were an absurt amount of surfers, especially for late October. There was almost no parking space left. Sailed: iSonic 117 with S-Type 7.3 and SL-X 43cm. It was raining almost all the time, wind gusty. Certainly not a good day, but nice to have sailed again. [Read...]


Around noon the rain would stop and the wind would turn to WNW. Sailed the Goya 95 with Banzai 5.3 It was dry, sometimes sun, right wind direction, wind not gusty. I sailed until I was getting tired and the wind started to decrease. It was delicious. [Read...]


Monday evening: Very quiet, only a handful of people on the water. Wind was disappointing: sailed the Banzai 6.0, with FSW 102 en Goya One 95. For freeride, the FSW 102 is clearly more fun. Few steep waves, only mostly swell. A bit of jumping, but mostly nice long runs. Nice sailing. [Read...]


No time to drive to the beach. Sailed with iSonic 117 with S-Type 7.3 and SL-X 41cm. Wind was N/NW, so heading out was going down the waves, on the way back full against the chop. Tough conditions for the knees. Sailed until I could hardly plane anymore. Were a few nice hours. Half the runs it was though sailing. [Read...]


After the rain, wind would turn and pick up. WNW 20 knots was predicted. Perfect for the Grevelingendam. Started with iSonic 101 with E-Type 6.6 and SL-X 36cm, in the beginning that was good, later wind decreased. Switched to the iSonic 117 with S-type 7.3 and SL-X 43cm, unfortunately, it was short-lived. Always rigged just too small, always expected that the wind would come. The wind did not come so always sailed just too small. [Read...]


I had expected to go to the Grevelingendam, ended up driving to the sea. Sailed entire afternoon with the Banzai 5.3. Almost all the time with the Goya One Pro 95. Tried the JP FSW 84 Pro again. I understand again why I have been a fan of the JP Freestylewave for so long. The Goya is clearly better at wave riding, and still fun for bump-n-jump, but the Goya is just bigger and jumps a little less easily. It was nice, in the beginning unfortunately still rain. But at the end clear blue sky. Few really good waves, but still quite a bit of jumping and also occasional waveriding. [Read...]


After a nice Friday afternoon/evening wind was predicted for the entire Saturday. In the morning some showers, so after that it should be very good. Sailed with the Goya One Pro 95, Banzai 4.7 with 19/11 thruster set. In the beginning the wind was still fairly gusty, started with minimum trim, ended with over max trim. Waves were a bit variable, depending on the wind strength and direction: sometimes nice waves for waveriding. Sailed all day with the same set. Stopped because there was a heavy shower coming. I should have changed to the 4.2, at the end the 3.7 would have been better. [Read...]

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Forecast: all day 20 to 22 knots of wind, turning SSW to WZW. Started with the Goya One Pro 95 and Banzai 4.7, ended with the TriWave 89 and Banzai 4.2. Best waveriding so far: back-side to front-side ending wit a perfect lip hit. It was great, especially after 16:30 when the sky turned blue, the wind direction perfect, finally again. I should have switched to the 4.2 much earlier. That was much better and less tiring. That perfect front-side hit, I'll have a smile on that for a very long time to go. Sunday hopefully again z'n day. [Read...]

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finally: SSW to SW 20 to 32 knots predicted: looking forward to it. Sailed with Fanatic Tri-Wave 89 with Banzai 4.2 and MFC 19/10cm fins. Wind started south. With the tide came in, the waves become more fun, waveriding, more jumping. I made a couple of front-side attempts. It was a lovely day. The wind was gusty, waves often not great, but finally the right direction. The Tri-Wave certainly did not disappoint with the 4.2. Next time more head-to-head testing with the JP FSW 84 to compare them. [Read...]


Almost a repeat of last week, just a little less wind. Wind seemed a bit minimal for the 6.0, sailed with the JP FSW 102 with Banzai 6.0 and MFC 29cm. Water was not flat, a bit low, but tricky chop. Occasionally I could find a steep wave and I was able to jump, not much for waveriding Together with Ron and Stefan did some duck-gybe practice. Set was often a bit small, even with minimal trim. Very little floating. Nice sailing, unfortunately few nice waves to play with. Unfortunately, no sun. [Read...]


NNE 19 to 21 kts wind predicted, perfect for Brouwersdam south. First time with the Goya One 3 Pro 95 at sea. Sailed with my Banzai 5.3 and MFC 21/12cm fins. Wind was super constant. A lot of nice waves to jump and some for wave riding. Fins might have been a little large. Jumping took some getting used to: shorter board. Waveriding was great: board turns tight without spintouts, especially for a board this size. Sailed until I was completely empty. Unfortunately little to no sun, but otherwise a perfect afternoon, enjoyed! Hopefully I will be able to sail the Goya One 3 Pro 95 at sea again soon. Next time hopefully with SW wind. [Read...]

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Wind WNW, and not so strong: best spot: Blokkenpier, from there along the beach to the kite spot. Sailed the iSonic 117 with S-Type 7.3 and SL-X 43cm. After every gybe, it was bobbing. Waiting for a gust and then a couple of pumps to get planing. Hopefully helped by a wave. Once planing I could usually plane the whole length of the beach. Very long runs. It was tiring sailing, the chop/waves and also a lot of pumping to get planing. Temperature was quite good but unfortunately no sun at all. Wind was not as strong as predicted, but still a nice session. [Read...]


Wind predicted from the south, sunny and warm. Sailed the big kit: iSonic 117 with S-Type 8.3 and SL-P 48cm. With southerly winds, you need to get upwind to have more space and a bit more free wind. Once past the surf centre, long stretches, could be sailed along the sandbank and the island. Sailed most of the time with Jeroen. In the harder gusts I really had to give more outhaul and the 48cm was really too big. But most of the time the fin made it very easy to get planing. Wind was gusty and was gone too soon, but the temperature was lovely, winter wetsuit was too hot. Nice day. [Read...]

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