First Days in Gruissan

I am now sitting in Gruissan, it was quite a large trip to drive by myself 1400km in 14 hours. Traffic was low on saturday, this was easy. On the road I have seen it all Rain/Snow/Sun/Wind/etc. I arrived at 16:00 in Gruissan, it was blowing like 40kn, but no energy to do a session.

Sunday it was 8-10kn soo had some nice time with the Sonntag family, without windsurfing.

Today I think we will do a session in the afternoon, there is a 15-18kn onshore wind, good enough to test out the biggest gear :)

Tommorow tramontana....

Speed Classic 2010 / 8 - 14 November

European Speed Championships 
Port St Louis du Rhône, France
Official Announcement
The Speed Classic Team finally announced the dates for the european speed championships 2010, it will be at Port St Louis du Rhone from 8 - 14 Novembre. After the trendsetting speedcup France last year,  the town of Port St Louis du Rhône teams up again with the General Council 13, the PACA Regional Council and the community of Greater Western Provence to attract the best competitors in the discipline.


Speed Classic Team
Organisation : Marion Raïsi
Direction de course : Philippe Bru
Chronométrage : Fabrice David et Christophe Simian
International Speed Windsurfing Class : Markus Schwendtner 


Source: http://icks.icks.free.fr/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2918
Best gps-speedsurfing session (Antoine Albeau): http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=user&val=1606&uid=412
Location event: (google maps)
Location antoine his session (google maps)

3 Days before trip to France

Just 3 days left, I was thinking about some blogging during the event. When I got some internet and time I will try to put news on speedsurfingblog.com, I like my free days soo far... Monday a Surfsession together with friends.

Today I have been in the garage whole day, finding my gear together, sanding lots of stuff/ putting epoxy on the right places. Fitting the gear into the Seat Inca, actually a lot of things I should have done during the winter ;)

Tommorow (wednesday) I have a surfsession planned in the afternoon. In the morning I hope to finish all jobs in the garage. Also have to go the Kater surfshop to buy a shorter extender+ spare rope + spare harnasslines. Put some stickers into the sails.

Thursday, will pack all stuff that is needed beside windsurfing. Maybe another afternoon session......

Friday evening starting to drive to south France.

Last day at work

I am sitting right now at work, finished all my last things/ assigned my jobs to my colleague. My last day at work for Mos Grondmechanica/ Mos Grondwatertechniek. My work ended in a bit in a big disappointment, 10 days ago they told me I cannot work as a geohydrology advisor. I thought it might be interesting to write about my work/passion beside windsurfing.

 

How it started
One year ago I got my papers for Bachelor of Build Environment, my graduation papers were about geohydrology, under supervision of Hugo Thijssen (Head geohydrology Mos Grondmechanica BV). This is how I started to work with Mos.

 

What does working as a geohydrology advisor include? (short)
Geo (ground/soil) Hydro (water), it is about groundwater. An advisor can predict the groundwaterflow which is related to decrease/increase of the groundwaterlevel. There are many variables (type soil, aquifer, aquitard, groundwaterlevels, groundwaterflow, open water, etc.). Thanks to the multiple variables it is very hard to make a good prediction, many dewatering-advices (bemalingsadviezen) have broad conclusions. When you do know the answer, it can be worth many Euro's/Dollars. Dewatering is still many times cheaper compared to making a closed (building) excavation (with for example underwater concrete+ sheet piles).

 

Graduate Papers Subject: "Can realtime dewatering projects be used for determine the geohydrology parameters"

 

Working in geohydrology

It was great to do this research and many calculation, for me it was the first real experience in the office beside all my outdoor work/windsurfing. Because I really liked working as an advisor I started to work after I graduated for Mos Grondwatertechniek BV, after 1/2 year I would start working as a geohydology advisor. In the end there is just not enough work, soo I can't do the job I like most. The other jobs (I did the last 6 months) translate in being 40/50 hours per week available, in other words give up windsurfing.

 

Positive side of the story:

• Learned how to make dewatering-plans (bemalingsplan)
• Learned how to find solutions in the field (uitvoering)
• Experienced the whole regulatory process around dewatering/geohydrology in the Netherlands. Including the new "waterwet".
• Learned how to do geohydrology calculations (MicroFEM)
• Learned about working for real
• Learned all standard office things (making offers, telephone, etc..)
• Learned about risks with contracting work
• Have felt/seen all kinds of soil (being dewatered)
• Learned about soil investigation

 

Being the 3th generation in the family in geohydrology/dewatering makes it for me easier to define the truth from bullshit. There is a lot of confusion in this specialism, I hope to be experienced enough to really contribute to big projects. I regret many projects are accomplished without dewatering, even some projects are canceled because of the high costs. With a good research process I see some oppurtunities to contribute to the current market.

 

My plan for future
Now I will do next 3 weeks 100% windsurfing. After those weeks (end BK Speed) I will look for a job as geohydrology advisor. I have done almost everything in dewatering project beside writing an actual advice, so this will be my mission finding such a job.

 

OR I can find a way to earn with windsurfing at least enough to cover my costs. Yesterday I putted all my little things to do for speedsurfing on the bench, I think next week it will be hard to finish all work before my trip to South France :). I won't get bored, that is for sure.

10 days left before my holiday

From 27 march 2010 - 10 april 2010 I will be in South France/Gruissan. The first week I will do some testing with Joerg, also getting familiar with the spot. The second week I will participate with BK speed, lots of fast riders over there. I have high expectations for Jacques vd Hout, Hans Kreisel and Ben vd Steen. They have had some good training, trimmed the gear perfectly and very good sailingstyle, it will be hard to follow them. Check out this article about the JP/NP team

Hans Kreisel going fast on JP SP45+ NP RSR5.5

Anders Bringdal and Björn Dunkerbeck what will they do?? Both talented windsurfers and fast, are they fast enough. Can they compete against the JP/NP team with multiple trainingdays in South France??? Will be interesting how everything turns out in competition.

I am planning to take 3 boards:
-F2 missile XS
-CA SP44 (which I have to repair this weekend)
-Fanatic Falcon 79 (has also some little work to do on this board)

I have at this moment 2 sails:
-NP RS:Slalom MK3 5.5 + X9 400
-NP RS:Slalom MK3 6.2 + X9 430

Fins will be the question, have to test a lot of fins before the event: Sonntag SL-S, Sonntag GPS_2, Sonntag GPS_3, Caspar speed, Select Caspar Speed, Select S07.... I have some idea what should work, but lets see what happens.

For the event I count at least 12 really fast speedsurfers. I am really looking forward to the event, it will be a new experience for me. No idea what will happen.

How to post from www.gps-speedsurfing.com to www.gpsteamchallenge.com

1) Click on "overview"

2) Click on "Upload to GPSTC"

3) Click on the orange arrow

2010 Speedsurfing Started Again

What a great weekend, I did 2 (short) surfsessions to get the feeling ('windsurfing') back. It was cold both Saturday and Sunday it was a hard decision 'Put my wetsuit on or just go home'. But when the wetsuitzipper was  closed the temprature was good. Only the hands were a bit cold during windsurfing.

To make the surfsession more comfortable I chose to surf the Fanatic Falcon 91, eventhough Sunday this board was at some points a bit big. Good news the "new" Falcon 91 has much better control vs my old Falcon 91 which was broken. The 'big' board worked, I never fell into the water, my wetsuit is still dry. (2 degrees watertemperature helps a lot)

Session 13-03-2010___http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=user&val=57159&uid=870
Session 14-03-2010___http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=user&val=57218&uid=870

The first photoshoot should be within 1-2 weeks, Rolf wrote on his blog (dutch/english) about the speedsurfing shoot . This is one of the exciting projects for me. We have many idea's, should be a great experience for both of us.

I rigged my NP RS:Slalom MK3 on the new X9 430 (2010) mast this weekend. There were a few complications, my 48cm extender really doesn't fit with 2cm extension... Also the bendcurve is

Interview - Rene Mienis

When did you start speedsurfing and what was the reason the start?

It is a long time ago I started windsurfing (1979). My first board was a Mistral competition PE (25kg), from the first moment it was speed what attracted me most in windsurfing. That was the moment speedsurfing started for me.

It didn't took long before I entered triangle competitions, lateron with a roundbottom. This was in Anna Paulowna and with WSV Lutje on the Amstelmeer.  I was even the club champion, really a great time. 

After the windsurfharnass+funboard came on the market, I bought a Concrete Wave next to my roundbottom. This new board was much faster and could have more wind. This was the moment I said my roundbottom goodby. I did do some longdistance events 4x Andijk- Den Oever and 2x Den Helder- De Cocksdorp with a raceboard with daggerboard

Sadly windsurfing got less populair after some time, you could buy a decent slalomboard anymore. According to Gerrit Kater there was no market anymore for those slalomboards. Speed was still my thing, I used slalom and freerideboards: Mistral Screamer, Edge, AHD 272, 260 and Naish titan.

Tell me about your best speedsurfing day ever, what was it like?

The real speedsurfing started during my first Ultimate Speed Meeting in 2006, I did 75km/h with the Fanatic Falcon 91 + North Warp. WOOWW that acceleration I will never forget, result 9th place overall.

The best speedsurfing day in 2009 was also on Strand Horst, in a supergust I got a 78.5km/h on the GPS, it felt like a low 70, really easy. This year I am aiming for 80kmh/ topspeed, 74km/h AVG and also Mile/Alpha and hour should be improved. Enough windsurfing ambitions for an almost 50 yr old.

What would you like to see from the R&D department of windsurfing, or does all gear suit your needs?

I would like to see more durable sails, real racing sails are not good anymore after 2 years good use, this is a general trend among all brands. This could be done better.

I really hope fanatic finally puts a new speedboard on the market, I think they should have enough know-how to replace the current falcon speed model and make the new one quicker on all aspects.

 In 2010 you joined the Wad1team, I will try to do 50/50 (distance/speed), what is your idea?

In 2010 I became a member and we will do our best to compete on worldwide level against other GPSTC teams. I think about 40%/60% distance/speed for the tean. We have a stong team with enough diversity to compete on all 6 points.

What is your favorite gear at this moment? 

My favorite gear is the Fanatic Falcon Speed+ Neilpryde RS racing evo1 6.2+ Caspar Speed 25cm, next to this fast gear I think the new Fanatic Falcon 86+6.2 will do the job. 

New slalom/ -speedboard added to my boards

Two boards added in 2010, the F2 missile XS (2007) and Fanatic Falcon 262 (1998).  This does influence the AVG age of my boards a bit:

Fanatic Falcon 91_____2006____4 yrs old
Fanatic Falcon 79_____2008____2 yrs old
Fanatic Falcon speed__2006____4 yrs old
Fanatic Falcon 262____1998____12 yrs old
F2 missile XS________2007____3 yrs old
CA SP44___________2007____3 yrs old

This means the AVG age of my boards is now 5 yrs old, hehe, oldtimer style ;). I can't wait to test my newest vs oldest board against each other! I bet the difference is small.

It looks like the older boards have better quality, out of all my boards the falcon 79 is the only one repaired... This bad quality should be solved by the  producers!!!

Follow on Twitter

For speedsurfingblog I have been using twitter for while. It is ideal, because thanks to feedburner.google.com automatically all new articles get posted on twitter.com.

This is the direct link to my twitter page: http://twitter.com/erikloots

When you also have a twitter account AND like the speedsurfingblog content I would suggest to follow.

Sarah Hebert joins Sonntag-Fins

Sarah Hebert is now teamrider for Sonntag Fins, I am really happy she joined our team. With her PWA experience (3th PWA slalom 2010) we will get good information how the designs work out in real strong slalom competition. Check her website for more information: www.sarah-hebert.com

[photo's] North Shox.XTR

The first photo's with this innovative technology. I believe it will work great, maybe it would be hard to get the right stiffness, so I hope North found the right stiffness. In the end the total efficiency could benefit! I hope to get a chance to test it for myself and speedsurfingblog, it is serious for me, today I tryed the new X9 masts + NP MXT 48cm extender doesn't fit in the X9 430 with 2cm extension (needed with RS:Slalom MK3 6.2).

Now I could buy a shorter Neilpryde MXT extender, but I decided to wait after I tested the North Shox.XTR. I will buy the North extender (replace the NP) when it has better overall performance. The MXT is a great tool to extend the mast, the best I have tested so far...

For me and my sailingstyle I need to keep everything more stable. Training my muscles would work to keep everything still, but I prefer technology! There is one doubt, the height, it seems at least 3cm higher than the MXT (the Neilpryde MXT extender is quite high compared to Chinook or the older North extenders). I hope to test it soon ;)

 

(photo's roadmaster www.surf-forum.com)

Interview - Patrick van Hoof

Are you happy with the 2009 speedsurfing results?
For me 2009 was a special year, for the second time I became Belgium speedchampion and 3th overall in the Belgium speedweek. The most special victory came at the end of the year, winning Weymouth 2009, the best result of my career. It was amazing to win from bigshots like Dan Ellis, Anders Bringdal. And in 2009 I was for the 12th time fastest Belg on the water.

What about Sonntag-Fins, I know you had a few to try, tell me what was your first impression?
In October I had a chance to test the Sonntag fins, the testresults were really good and contact with the Sonntag development team is close. After Sonntag asked me to join the team I had little doubt, because of many good years with Select. Thanks to the amazing performance and fast development I chose to join the team.

I saw you on the Carbon Art Speed 53, is this a good speedboard for lightwind?
Let one thing be clear, I bought to Carbon Art Speed 53 because F2 doesn't produce such a big speedboard. In Karpathos I experienced a bigger speedboard would be helpful and the CA SP53 has great speedpotential, but I still choose the F2 boards over CA.

When did you start speedsurfing and what was the reason?
In 1995 I started speedsurfing. I think speed has always been my thing, a long time ago I achieved a 4th place in speed waterskiing, at some moments you had to fly against 100km/h over choppy waters. I like the cocktail water+speed, soo speedsurifng was a logical step. Only the last few years it is possible for me to join international speedevents.

Are there any speedsurfing spots in Belgium itself? It looks like South-Netherlands or the South-France is the place were many Belgiums windsurf.
One of my biggest frustrations is there are no speedspots in Belgium!?! But the Netherlands are not to far, with enough speedspots to choose from. Also France has a few great speedspots, but that's about 1000 km from Belgium...

What are your plans for the next 2010 season?
At this moment I don't have anything planned. Like every year ISWC is late with the eventcalendar. Only the Belgium and Swedisch speedevents are planned. When there is a possibility I would like to go to Karpathos and Namibië.

Any tips for BK Speed new participants like me?
I don't have any tips, the Belgium speedevent is easy accessible to beginning speedsurfers. The location Gruissan is chosen because it is really safe. Many top speedsurfers started at this place, this is very important for me, to organize an event to let people experience a new sport.
When speedsurfers are searching for the best and fastest speedspots they should join the international ISWC speedevents. Still the Belgium Speedweek proves the "easy accessible"-concept works great. Also this 2010 season it didn't take long to have 70 participants and a waitinglist, with some big names like Bjorn, Andrers and Ben.

I would like to organize a speedtour through Europe, I believe there is a public! No pricemoney, keep the costs as low as possible and ACTION ==> 500m long. That is why I like to join the FSM in October again. Speed is the best part of windsurfing for me, I also like to do some formula and slalom. GPS is also nice to do, but the 500m course between 2 points is most challenging for me personally.