Equipe III development
August 11, 2008
LBWS have just had word from Nik Baker, Mistral’s Product Manager, on the progress of the two new longboards set to feature in Mistral’s 2009 range. Nik took the helm of Mistral’s product direction in 2007 and has been working with shaper Mark Nelson to inject new energy into the board line up. Nik informs us that both the Ventura and the Equipe III have been high on Mistral’s priority list for some time. The Ventura testing phase is complete and is being built at the Cobra factory right now and the new Equipe III is still in its development stage.
“With the Equipe III, we want to produce the best board possible and are under intensive testing with our proto type board against the competition currently out there. We have been testing it against the
Mistral back in the longboard game
August 4, 2008
Mistral have finally joined the longboard revival by releasing 2 new longboards, the Ventura and the Equipe III, which will stand alongside the aging One Design (IMCO) in their quiver.
The Ventura looks like an all round freeride longboard that could be an alternative to the Exocet Kona as a rec. board. The Mistral website suggests the Ventura to be good for cruising, beginners and even advanced sailors using large freeride sails. The board specs out with 255 litres volume, 343 cm in length and 72 cm wide. [Read more]
Phantom Hits Aussie Shores
July 9, 2008
While it is the middle of our winter, the first batch of the long awaited Starboard Phantom 380 raceboard has arrived in Australia. An eager bunch of Australian raceboarders joined the NSW distributor, Sam Parker from Wind Surf n Snow, for a small Phantom arrival celebration at his shop. The lucky three who had their name down for the first boards enjoyed a beer in the festive atmosphere as foot straps and centreboards were installed and the new board was inspected and discussed.
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.