TKO by the Berkeley weed on Day 2 of the US Windsurfing National Champs

Day 2 of the US Windsurfing Nationals saw 2 more rounds of formula course racing in the early afternoon & 3 rounds of slalom finishing at 6:30 pm in the South Basin off the Berkeley Pier.
Racers were greeted to a lighter than normal fogged in Bay Wednesday morning. PRO Darren Rogers made the call formula course racing at 1:30 when Paulo Des Reis continued his domination with 2 more bullets to add to his already perfect score. Australina native Phil McGain was noticeably in the mix today trading places with BRA999 Wilhelm Schurman for 2nd & 3rd while Xavier Ferlet put in another solid performance sealing his position in 4th. I managed 1 decent finsih sneaking into 5th by some efficient out of the harness pumping downwind as the wind dropped to 15k and the 9.5 just wasn't cutting it. Time for some grunt work.

While the wind was slower to fill in today, it was the weeds on the course that got most competitors frustrated.

Every leg of the course I looked down to see a trail of weeds behind my fins.

Race 1 started with the top guys on port tack. I got a good jump and shot the pier finding a narrow slot to sail through and searched for the breeze on the normally favored right side. Unfortunately when you sail to the corners calling the lay lines can be a real risk. I underestimated and got the short end of then stick as the leaders sailed by. 2 more legs was enough to catch up to 5th putting a few positions between my nearest competitor behind and myself.

Race 2 saw the top guys get off the line well again on port as the RC moved the pin end down 2 times.

I got hosed from the start with a big trail of weeds from the begining wondering why I couldnt point or get speed. Local knowledge paid off for Sylvester and Percey as they sailed a solid race seemingly avoiding the weeds putting them back in the hunt.

We had a 90 min break on the beach as the RC switched from course racing to a gybe downwind slalom course. Having gotten skunked so many times before with slalom at Berkeley, I made the risky call to run the slalom course in my formula board, 9.5 rig and 60 cm fin in the 18-22k breeze. While it didn't quite get the job done pretty it did put me near the top in the first 2 races. By the 3rd race, it was more if a liability as I laid down the rig at the first mark to gybe only to have 3 sailors under neath me get crushed as well as my battens in the 9.5. McGain wasn't so lucky in race 1 as he sailed the wrong course after leading.

Sometimes you need to take a risk to win, other times you need to eliminate them.

At the top of the slalom rankings after 3 races, Brazillian Wilhelm Schurman maintains a solid lead. Tomorrow's forecast looks more of the same so expect formula course racing in the early afternoon followed by either more slalom or long distance. Friday and Saturday sees the return of freestyle so racers should get a needed rest but I'm fully expecting a full series of racing to continue through the weekend.

A big thanks to the RC for setting up and tearing down 2 courses on the water today.

Steve Bodner

USA-4

Day 1 regatta report US Windsurfing national championships

Day 1 of the 2011 US Windsurfig national championships took place in the San Franciso Bay off the Berkeley marina on Tuesday, July 12 with 39 competitors from the US, Australia, Brazil, England, Finland, Latvia and New Zealand.
4 course races were run in winds from 12-28k with the foreign sailors taking the top 3 spots. Paulo Des Reis, BRA-3333 walked away from his comptition by taking the 1st four bullets of the regatta with Wilhelm Schurman, BRA-999 holding on for 2nd in all the races. Xavier Ferlet, GBR-451 holds onto to 3rd place with myself in 4th as the top American.
Race 1 was delayed until 2:30 when the wind was not quite filled in but rather dead on the left side and building to 18k near the pier. Many sailors were caught off guard including myself as we found the big holes around the course and an unstable shifting wind. The lesson is to never give up. You never know what's going to happen to the guy in front of you.
Finally by race 2 the breeze built to a solid 25k with BRA-3333 and BRA-999 taking an early lead. I followed S3 & GBR-451 around the leeward mark and was able to carry it a bit further at the pier & managed the windward beat in 1 tack while the other 2 had to double tack at the windward mark. A lot of racing has to do with finding the right agles around the course so you can set a course to the next mark most efficiently. From there I stayed ahead taking 3rd.

Short break back on shore and another 2 back to back races in 20-25k the dying down to a managable 18-22k for the last race.
GBR-451 stepped it up adapting the the conditions with a 9.0 & 61cm fin while the rest of the fleet was on 10.0 and under. KA7 was noticlbly abscent missing the race. I managed a close race in race 3 just finishing 1/2 board behind Xavier at the finish of the 18 min race for 3rd place.
Finally in race 4, Sylvester Got a great jump at the start as I got rolled by Xavier who spritzed off the line for a great start at the pin end.
I had to fight my way through the fleet one board at a time rolling Percey upwind and Soheil off the breeze as I was able to call the better lay line at the bottom mark just before the shirt rexh to the finish. Unfortunately just not enough time to catch Sylvester and Ferlet who rounded out the top 5.

Tomorrows forecast looks similar with slalom on the agenda in the afternoon in the breeze builts enough.
Full report at www.waterhound.com

Day 5 formula wondsurfing world championship

The last day of a 5 day world championship is always the hardest. You need to dig the deepest to find the energy, will and determination to keep it going, knowing that in just a few hours it's all going to be over. In most cases your fate has already been established, you're throw-outs taken and it's just a matter of not dropping any deeper in the fleet. For the sailors at the top with lower scores, there’s an opportunity to gain or lose significantly.

Going into the last day, both the men’s and women leaders only needed another bullet to secure their place on the podium. Antoine Albeau got it done with 3 races to space as he was 15 points ahead of his nearest competitor. Local San Francisco prodigy Marion Lepard, however kept the excitement going letting the number 2 girl, FRA 59 get the first 2 races then finally took the 3rd race of the day and securing her spot as the youngest girl to win the formula windsurfing world championship.

Up at top of the men’s fleet Arnon Dagon from Israel showed that he had what it took taking the last few bullets of the regatta and securing his spot in 2nd place.

Gabriel Brown, another young 19 year old from Brazil sailed an impressive last 2 days and managed to take the final place on the podium.

I'm consistently reminded of a Gary Bodie article in sailing worlds several years back about 'avoiding the big bummers.' This regatta that really struck home as I saw the guys at the top of the fleet sail consistently while the rest of the middle and back of the fleet sailors had scores all over the place.

With the approaching storm, I though it would be best to take the 9.5 in the 3rd race but it turned out it wasn't enough middle of the fleet sailed right over me on the down winds. On top of that my boom slipped right out of hands on the first gybe.

Ouch.

One more race to give it my all. I got off the line well on starboard tack. Steve Allen and Michael Polanoski just to my leeward certainly didn't help. I guess in this case I was the marshmallow. So be it, I charged on, holding on for the short upwind and rounding the top mark in the top 20. Downwind, I held on well going strong on my 10.7. I rounded the leeward mark on the outside of the pinwheel and tacked off early despite knowing the shore was favored. Sometimes clear air is king, so I charged the the left side of the course. The reef comes in a little closer on the low end of the course but this was the last race so I was committed and still doing relatively well. The timing couldn’t have been worse. The breaking wave over the reef had reached maximum height just as I was about to cross over it. A 6' wall of vertical water smacked me so hard I think it popped my eardrums. Somehow as I went through the face of the wave I came out if it haging on in a water start position but pretty shaken. I took me about a minute to recover as I has to really give it my all to waterstart the 10.7 as the tip submerged. Not much I could do at that point but hang on as I already reached the lay line and it was just a short reach thefinish.

Overalll, a rewarding experience to sail at another world championship. Each time I try to do just a little better than the last and despite not making my goal of the top 25, it's all good. 28th is the best I've so far and still happy to be racing windsurfers for over 20 years.

Final results, photos and live ticker from event at www.formulawimdsurfong.org

Formula world champs day 4: charging the reef

Another day of up and downs for me on the racecourse today.
Despite looking like a major front was going to park itself over Peurto Rico today, we actually got 4 races off in 14-18k. Most we're in either their 11 or 12m rigs.

The big change at the top of the leader board saw Gabriel Brown jump from 6th to 2nd with a solid show of 1,3,2,3. Antoine is still dominated with a 15 point lead and 2 bullets and a 2nd & (10th) to show for today. There was plenty of action on the course with the Dutchies continuing their unfortunate streak of bad luck. After Caspers unfortunate injury on day 2, Dennis Littel got clobbered at the windward mark today as Arnon ran right over him as Dennis tried to make a quick tack at the top mark.
Sean Obrien was the other unlucky one who got taken out at the start of race 3 in a rather large collision just after the start.
Here's a view from the boat end of the start of race 11


I had my moments today but the rest of my scores seem to have balanced me out and have kept me firmly planted in 28th for the last 2 days.
Race 3 today saw a rather big mid line sag in the starboard tackers so I jumped out in front of the fleet and charged off to the port lay line blasting right over the reefs And rounded the top mark in the top 10. Talk about an adrenaline rush. I managed to hold on loosing Jesper on the downwind and a few mlre boards at the leeward rounding as I rounded behind a big pack.
Back upwind I charged to the left side again after getting knocked at the shore.
The rest of the was breathing down my neck the whole downwind and I managed a clean rounding just behind Victor Melo from Brazil. 2 guys got inside my lane but I timed my last 2 tacks perfectly cutting them off at the last rounding and finishing 15th.

Here's the video from the finish of the 2nd race of the day with the last tack at the pin end of the line towards the finish
My other races were a bit off as I couldnt quite find my groove around the course, nor did i have the confidence to charge the reef again full speed on a borrowed board. I stuck with using the replacement starboard hwr as my repair on my ML10 didn't pan out as I thought.
(I'll leave that to the expert when I get home.) I sailed the 10.7 in all races with the 70 kashy and Z fin in the first race. It's not often you get the chamce to change boards in the middle of a regatta but after my board got a hole in ,one of the organizers lent me his spare board. Very cool!
In the girls fleet local SF junior Marion Lepaed is holding onto the slimest of leads with a 3 point lead over her nearest competitor from France. Huge props to her at her first formula world champs. I think she'll have what it takes for her big event of the season in 2 weeks at the techno 293 world champs.
I cant say enough about the hospitality of the event with shade, food and water every day.
There's a big scaffolding with an announcer on the boardwalk in front of the beach and loud music pumping all day. Several of the event sponsors have set up booths on the boardwalk with samples of all their products for the public and competitors.
One more day of racing left and if I remember how Bruno runs things, it's going to be all the racing we can fit in before the last possible starting time.
Results, photos and full ticker of the event at www.formulawindsurfing.org

Big changes for the formula windsurfing class

We just finished the annual general meeting for the formula windsurfing class. Some difficult decisions were made in favor if cutting cost for the amateur and traveling sailor. The decision to limit the class to 2 fins and 2 sails was debated and finally voted on with 9-8 vote in favor of the reduced equipment. The thinking behind the proposal was the sailors still might buy and race 3 sails but only be able to register 2 fins and 2 sails at any regatta. This will hopefully reduce the barrier to entry for new sailors intimidated by the cost if putting together a full formula quiver. It also allows sailors traveling to regattas by airlines to fit within the current airline excess baggage limitations (or at least closer to it.) Consequently it will force the sail and fin manufacturers to make their products more efficient. On the flip side, it makes the choice much harder and might favor the heavy weight sailor with the 12.0. Looking into the future, wind maximums might be the next necessary step. Im not sure it will stop the people who have the $ from buying 3 sails, but now you'll have to register 2 sails per regatta. In places like SF, this might cause some interesting debated given the current mindset but in all honestly I've been doing well with a 9.5 and 10.7 quiver for the past 2 years. On the flip side, lightweight sailors in europe might need a 12.0 and a 10.0 to cover the range while heavier sailors might choose a 12 and 11.0. The biggest burden will be put on the the manufactures how to best develop this into their new lines which are already into r&d and ready to be put into production. Maybe they can have a later release date or maybe the solution will become from the sailors with 2 sets of battens (one for heavy air and one for light air) to fit within the rules. whatever the case, it's going to take a new midset to solve the problem. Before we could have 3 sails to fit within the wind range of 6-30k. Now we must fit 2 sails to cover the same range. Traveling to events will be easier with 2 rigs. Sean O'Brien and Sergio from Argentina even the sailed the with 1 sail in their quiver.

I was pretty torn on how to vote as the US had 2 votes but I voted in favor of trying to reduce the cost given the global economic crisis we are in now. I've always been in favor of an open development class but I think thus will force the sailors and manufactures to be more efficient. It also will allow new sailors to come into the class easier.
We also voted on class dues for sailors and manufactures to promote the class and sailors. How this is achieved is yet to be determined but the idea is that a sailor doing 1or 2 events on the tour would nor have to pay as much as a professional doing all the events. A sub committee will be formed with details to follow.

Hurry up and slow down

Today had its series of ups and downs.
1st race saw a big rain squall move through and kill the wind leaving me in the cheap seats with my 9.5 as the wind died down to 12k.
The 2nd race I recovered well getting my best finish of 20th with my 10.9. I started well in the mid line sag just ahead of the pack getting a jump on the fleet.
I sailed right out to the layline and rounded in the pack but still feeling a bit slow downwind as I'm probably giving up some in the double chicken strap but the 10.7 was pulling well so I went with it. 3 windward /leeward laps later I had some good legs keeping my position with Micah and Schurman in the top 20. The biggest gains came from rounding the leeward mark by hurrying up and slowing down. By getting a good rounding and getting a lane to windward, I was able to climb and gain significantly.
Video from the pin end boat at the finish:

Race 3 had an hour break giving us a time to recover but it was all to much as I went from good to bad. I made the worst mistake I have ever made trying to cross a starboard tacker and failing miserably. I put a huge hole in mine and his board. I immediately retired from the race and tried to find POL 10 a board to use for the next race. I've never felt so bad racing boards knowing I was at fault but in the end that's all part if racing. We all make mistakes but it how you recover that determines the winners. I made a decent effort to race the last race on a borrowed board but the my performance just wasn't there.

Video from 3rd race start:

Video from the 4th race finish:

After racing I had a major repair to do and ended the night exhausted after adding filler and epoxy to the big gaping home in the side of my board.

Tomorrows another day so I'll give it my all and go for it all trying to break into the top 25 for the regatta.

Formula worlds day 1 report

Day 1 at the formula world champs was brutal with 18-20k on the course gusting up to the mid 20s. 3 races were run all 3 lap windward leeward finishing with a short reach around the pin end to the finish set to leeward if the starting boat. The fleet is 50 strong. The course is set up between shore and a reef a 1/2 mile out with some mini reefs in between for good nature.
The starts were insanely port tack favored so the fleet was charging in each direction. Carnage followed with some pretty close calls on the line. I narrowly avoided disaster as a port tacked POL-10 plowed into me on race 2 on the starting line putting a hole in my board but I was able to hustle back just enough so that redress wouldn't matter.
I'm sitting in 26th but it feels like I should be doing better as the fleet is one of the toughest I've ever sailed in with almost all the top pros here and just 1/3 amateurs. I'd reckon it's the closest thing to an Olympic regatta that I will ever sail in.
Everyone is making some mistakes even the guys at top so its going to be who sails the most constant that wins. So far that's Antoine, Jesper and Polanoski at the top after day 1.
You gotta love POL-10 on starboard in the video below- about 45 sec. in as he knocks in 3 port tackers with his boom and yells- "Dont fuck with my starts!"
This is from the same guy who got out of my protest and a rule 69 hearing .
Classic!

Ron Kern ran into the reef and basically broke his board in 1/2 hinging just in front of the fin box. Casper got sliced with a fin and consequently got taken hospital for stitches. Nicholas from
France for t-boned by victor from Brazil rendering his board useless for the rest if the regatta. That's why you bring a spare !

The course is set up so that there's a reef and a shore limiting both sides of the course forcing most sailors tacking and gybing up the middle of the course and a more crowded race course.

To say people are running into each other would bean understatement.

To top it off, the shore is the favored side on the windward beat as you can get the geographical shift off the land after the first tack. Consequently, port tack has been favored on the starting line causing even more chaos!

I sailed the 9.5 all races with a 70 cm fin adding more downhaul than I've had before. Good upwind but a bit off the pace downwind. Maybe less tomorrow. Most others were on 10 or 10.7.
The key it seemed was to sail in clear air with the narrow course. I tacked early a few times just before the reef or shore and came back across with a good lane and gained.
Tomorrows forecast looks to be windier so hopefully a chance to move up.
More later.
Hitting the sack after a long day.
4 more days to go!
Steve
USA-4

Results and photos at www.formulawindsurfing.org

Formula windsurfing world champs pre regatta update

A quick update from Puerto Rico where the Formula World Championships start next week.

The venue is awesome. Crystal clear warm bath water and a constant 12-20k breeze and so far some rain squalls almost every afternoon.

A lot of the top pros have been training here for some time and many amateurs like myself have been showing up steadily all this week. It looks like at least 50 sailors for the event with Marion and myself from the SF Bay and a 1/2 dozen US sailors from Florida. A great turn out for the first formula world champs held in north America since the inaugural worlds in 2003.

The breeze is side shore and there is a breaking reef 1/4 mile offshore so it should make for some interesting racing putting a premium on tacks and gybes just like the Friday nite series. Outside the reef there is big swell but I'm not sure we will be racing out there as there's only a few places to cross through the reef with out going over the handle bars.

It's definitely shallower than a 70cm fin! Ive lined up the last few days with some fast sailors but anything can happen on race day. I'm ready for anything with a 9.5, 10.7 and 12.0 in my quiver.

The organizers have been super helpful arranging to pick up all the sailors and their gear from the airport.

Sunday we have a practice race. Monday is registration & measurement and racing starts on Tuesday and configures through saturday. I'll update my blog and tweet @usa4.

More updates can be found at www.formulawindsurfing.org

Steve

USA-4

San Francisco Bay Challenge

While the Ronstan SF Challenge is always billed as the SF's Classic baby brother, this year it lived up to beyond anyone's expectations and was one of the windiest long distance races ever run on the SF Bay. With gusts hitting 37-39k on the way back from Berkeley, it was not only a survival outing but a winner takes all drag race between the kiters and the formula boards.
For the first time, outside the Ronstan bridge to bridge race, the kite and formula windsurfers lined up against each other for the ultimate bragging rights on the Bay and it came down to just 14 seconds. One mistake at the end of the race was all it took for kiter, Adam Koch to edge out Xavier Ferlet on his formula board for the top spot. Analyzing the results, neither the kites nor boards dominated like one would thing but the standings showed a well matched battle between the 2 crafts with the boards taking 6 of the top 10 spots and the kites taking the victory but placing another 3 kiters in the top 10.

Thanks to Chris Ray for the photos

This years race was not for the faint of heart. The Bay was full of white caps as far as they eye could see by the 1:10 start. We started off with a quick windward leg with the fist mark set even with the presidio shoal buoy. I got a clean start at the boat on starboard knowing it would just be a quick beat before needing to flop over to avoid over standing the top mark. I arrived with Seth just in front of me and Adam on his kite just behind me. We turned the corner and were off blazing downwind through some of the ugliest, gnarliest voodoo chop the Bay could serve up. I realized it was going to be a tough race when I was spending most of the time in my leeward strap just to cope. Below Alcatrez and somewhere above the Berkeley pier I blew my gybe and Percey, Eric and Xavier went blazing past. The front of my board completely pearled into the set in front of me despite gybing like a total sissy. I guess it serves me right. 5 min later another rouge set knocked me right off the back of the board but luckily I was able to water start out of it and only let Ben get by. As we made our way down to the bottom of the Berkeley pier the kites had a good lead but I could see Seth holding on to the top formula position. Suddenly he stopped and was just drifting downwind completely out of the race. It was only later that I found out our best potential for the win had broken his boom and was forced to retire. Time to step it up as this race was only 1/3 over despite already taking a huge mental and physical load on my body.

As I rounded the leeward mark, there were 3 boards and a few kites in front of me as we began our port tack beat up towards Angel island. I decided for some separation and tacked back crossing the pier and going as far as the leeward edge of TI. I managed to find some flatter water but as soon as I broke the point of TI the port tack beatings began again. It was almost straight into the square chop. I was getting worked but needed to settle things down for the long beat ahead.
I just couldn't find a comfortable position as I borrowed a harness from Seth just before the race after realizing my harness bar was going to break. Harnesses are such a personal thing. Ask any of the top racers and they all have a different harness and swear by its ability. I was just trying to cope but realized my form was just not cutting it. With these long distance races, its essential you can find a comfortable position to take the rapture the SF Bay serves up.
I scanned the horizon only to see a white frothy mess the whole way up. I had doubts at even being able to sail back upwind as I was getting stalled out trying to depower and pinch the board up into the wind for control. The wind was gusting well into the mid 30's and the chop was just brutal. I found a nice little eddy around the southern edge of Angel island that scooted me up and worked the shore the rest of the beat up. I knew there was a strong flood on the city front so I wanted to avoid that area at all cost. The gust were strong there and I could see the guys in the lead really having trouble. Unfortunately I took it a bit too far and overs tood the finish. Trying to sail a formula board on a beam reach with a 67cm fin in 30k+ is probably the most uncomfortable position yu can put yourself in. No amount of sheeting out works. To top it off their was a second kiteboarding event that just started. 70+ kiters were on their way downwind directly through our finish line. These guys were not to most accomplished kiters by any means but just looking to have a good downwind run before their charter bus would take them back home from Berkeley. I guess it just adds to the accomplishment of finishing but I was cursing some of those kiters out trying to duck between their lines, boards and flogging kites in the water.
At the end, I managed a respectable 6th place overall with a final time of 1 hour, 23 min and 15 sec but was well off the pace finishing 4 min behind the top finisher. All and all I was happy to survive this race knowing it took most of the fleet well beyond the normal 1':20 min to finish. The last finisher clocked in a 3 hours and 34 min- a unbelievable time to have spent battling the Bay. Final results here

Support your local board builder

I got the beach late last week only to have Mike Z hand me my future board.
Mind you I hadn't ordered it yet but I made him promise he'd build me one as a prerequisite for giving it back.
It was seriously the most impressed Ive been with a piece of windsurfing equipment in the 20+ years Ive been involved in the sport. I hesitated on even writing this piece because like a good thing, there's only so much that can go around.

Getting my local board builder to build me a new windsurfing board has been like pulling teeth the last few year. He's been endlessly creating prototypes that eventually led to the world speed record being broken by Rob Douglas on a Mikes Lab kite board. Then, all of a sudden, since the kite racers discovered his talents, hes been building and involved in the rapid paced evolution of the kite race boards. The boards have gone from twin tip, to surfboards to something now that more resembles a mini formula board with 3-4 50cm carbon fins. And like the windsurfing fleet, his boards are always found at the top of the fleet. Heineken has been shutting the door on the rest of the kite fleet this year at the local Thursday night race series at the St. Francis Y.C.
His latest creation- a thin shell of carbon and foam seems to weigh 1/2 as much as its competitors. But that's not so unusual with kite boarding these days as things are changing so fast. Racers show up with a new set of canted fins that makes last weeks podium finish obsolete.
Watching kite racing grow is similar to what happened to windsurfing in its peak of the late 80's and early 90's.
I was hoping or maybe dreaming he'd be able to incorporate some of the same ideas back to a windsurfing board.
What he did was nothing short of brilliant.
This sensation was more like flying than windsurfing.
The board glided effortlessly over the water with control and speed.

If you've ridden a Mike's Lab board, you'll know its the equivalent of sitting on the couch with the remote in hand. Pure comfort. His boards are built for the San Francisco Bay where the voodoo chop, ferry wakes and container ships can just about eat any normal windsurfer. One doesn't have too look far to see what I mean with nearly 100% of the local windsurfing racing fleet riding some version of his board. The boards are built to last with solid construction that's hard to find anywhere else.

As I took off from crissy field in 15-20k, it felt like there wasn't even a board beneath my feet. The north warp 7.0 rig and 39 cm fin were attached effortlessly. I looked down to see a board beneath me but I'm really not sure it was even there. At 12 lbs it felt like there was absolutely nothing there as the board flew over the chop with out even the smallest disturbance.
The board was built with his new "kite" construction using a lighter weight foam.
The result is a board that rides and feels way lighter than its competition.
Who would have ever thought Id be thanking kite boarding but that's how development works- full circle.

This could really change windsurfing again in a really good way.

We haven't seen a huge evolution of windsurfing equipment like this since the development of the carbon fin 10 years ago. Its the equivalent of riding a G1o blade vs a full custom carbon race fin.

There's no going back now!

Once I found the right weight placement, (more forward than I thought) it gybed very beautifully. The board tracked effortlessly across the swell.
The tail feels small but it reality it was 20.5" measured one foot off the trailing edge.
The board itself is somewhat odd looking with a wide nose, thin rails and recessed deck but hey. I'm not complaining -what ever works!

Here's the full specs from Mike:
226 x 73 x 52
estimated volume 110-115l.
12lbs before straps.

Strength- same as normal!

Like all MLab boards, you can order any size you want and now with the the new lightweight construction! This particular board was for Sergio in Miami- a smaller lightweight guy interested in getting his slalom kit going at the same time as his formula kit. Now that's a big order!
After only 15 min on the board, Id go as far to say that Mike Z has uped the game for all windsurfing manufactures. Ive already put my order in for a new formula and slalom board.
The wait is going to kill me.