Raceboarding & light wind technique
May 10, 2008
While the Northern Hemisphere gears up for their racing season, winter is upon us down here in Australia. After a long season of racing, it’s a time to finally get those board and sail repairs done, and abit of fine tuning. The winter traditionally on the East Coast of Australia (NSW) is alot of the time blowing a 30 knot freezing southerly but mostly it puts on a sun filled, light 2-8 knots. So if you wish to brush up on your light wind technique & tactics it’s a good time.
The photos of AUS 053, Russell Jones from Illawarra Yacht Club in Australia, were sent to LBWS as an example of light breeze upwind technique. They were shot in a race with 3-7 knots of wind. There is no doubt about it Russell is a great sailor and with good technique that nearly all raceboarders can learn a thing or to from.
European Youth and Masters Raceboard Championships
April 1, 2008
Not that I was there but I thought that it was worth noting that the European Youth and Masters Raceboard Championships are over for another year. They were held between the 20th to 24th March in Civitavecchia, which is a busy commercial port near Rome. Thanks should go to the International Raceboard Class website for this report.
[Read more]
Kona One - Thoughts and Views
March 30, 2008
Arguably the Exocet produced ‘Kona One’ started the longboard revival which has seen a number of other manufactures follow. The Kona has quickly gained popularity and momentum as an all weather cruising board and as a One Design Class in its own right. LBWS thought that it was timely to investigate the board and take a quick look at a few opinions from various users of the board. Please feel free to add your experiences in the comments below.
Review by an anonymous LBWS member
“For those who want an all-wind recreational board”.
Some think this board should have been named the
F2 Race 380 Review
March 19, 2008
In the last few years the windsurfing industry seems to have come back to the joy of longboard windsurfing. There is a whole crop of new longboards including two new Raceboards. The Exocet Warp X and the soon to be available Starboard Phantom 380.
The decision to design and market these boards seems to come from a clear recognition that while the experiment with hybrid boards was interesting, and perhaps essential for the industry, that they are not all that they were made out to be.
F2 Race 380, Exocet Warp-X 380 behind
Light Wind Delight
February 5, 2008
One of the great things about longboard windsurfing that seems so bloody obvious but still often debated is the ability for it to produce great sailing in fresh breezes all the way through to light winds. I continually read and hear from some parts of the windsurfing community that there is no point even rigging up if the wind is light and you cannot get the board on the plane. In a recent forum post on this topic I recall reading “The bottom line is light wind windsurfing is incredibly boring”. While I am the first to admit that there is nothing quite like going quick on my raceboard I also like a bit of tactical light wind racing.
Crowded start
Starboard Phantom 380 update
December 18, 2007
After all the initial excitement it has been a while since we heard anything from the Starboard crew about the proposed Phantom 380 Raceboard. With the prototype of the board having such a successfull outing at the Raceboard world championships earlier in 2007 everyone in Australia was hoping that the board would be ready for our season 07/08. Several people placed orders but were later told by the supplier that the board would be delayed a while as some design refinements were made. [Read more]
Loft Sails ‘Blade CR 9.5′ Review
December 17, 2007
Most of us are interested in new gear that may be suitable for longboards, especially when this gear is hard to find. When I heard that Loft sails were producing a Raceboard sail in their 2008 line up I was keen to see what it was like.
However, I need to go back a few months to when this story started…
Blade CR 9.5
Australian Raceboard Championships
December 15, 2007
The startline
The recent Australian Raceboard National Championships 07/08, at Sanctuary Point NSW, delivered two spectacular days of sailing with a mix of light and high winds that tested the endurance and skill of the fleet. As event organiser it was pleasing to see a fleet of approximately 40 sailors battling it out. As a sailor in the fleet it was awesome fun to sail on this great patch of water amongst this skilled fleet.