Archive for April 1st, 2008

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New Speed Record

April 1, 2008

March 6th: Antoine Albeau (FRA, Starboard) and Patrik Diethelm (ITA, F2, North) have broken the existing speed sailing records today in Saintes Maries de la Mer, France.

After months of waiting for the big mistral winds, the speed canal at the shores of the mediterrean sea came to life again. Strong mistral winds with 45-50 knots hit the speed strip in a perfect angle, and although the conditions were quite gusty several riders set personal best speeds.

The first runs of the “big three” Antoine Albeau, Patrik Diethelm and defending world record holder Finian Maynard (BVI, F2) showed, that this day would have the potential to become historic.

At 9:30 hours Patrik Diethelm was the first one making waves, setting a new world production speed record with his F2 Missile XS at 46.51 knots, subject to WSSRC ratification. Around noon, 12:29 hours exactly, Frenchman Antoine Albeau hit a big gust and flew down the 1km man made canal. The scoreboard stopped at 49 knots, after extensive video checking with the observer from the World Speed Sailing Record Council, the speed was verified at 49.09 knots, 0.4 knots faster than the old record of Finian Maynard. The riders then pushed for the elusive 50 knots mark, the magical barrier in speedsailing around the world, but til the end of the day no one was able to increase the previous performances.

Links:
www.antoinealbeau.com - Antoine Albeau
www.patrikdiethelm.com - Patrik Diethelm
www.speedworldcup.com - Official Site
www.windsurfjournal.com - videos

Posted in speed | No Comments »

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Speed SA Style

April 1, 2008

We have excellent venues for GPS speed events, with sailors recording speeds up to 42 knots. The possible purchase of buoys (mentioned earlier)  is for the slalom and marathon racing, not just GPS speed, especially as GPS speed doesn’t actually need buoys.

Speed equipment: Any GPS can be used but it must be capable of showing speed in knots. The highest screen readout wins the day. No downloads required.

The Navi GT-11 is the best GPS unit to use at the moment as it has Doppler capabilities (around $150). Our events to date have been serious and competitive on the water, but decided on screen readout to allow for a variety of units to be used. This does not exclude anyone and maximizes entrant numbers. There’s stacks of forums that cover GPS use – seabreeze.com for example.

Due to the good participation levels, Chris Dimond will be running a Winter Series this year. For further information, make sure you are on his e-mail list

Links:
The idiots guide to using a GPS (@seabreeze)

Posted in marathon, slalom, speed | No Comments »

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Wanted: One Design boards

April 1, 2008

The Westlakes one design group are seeking spares for their aging “Windsurfer One Designs”.  Centreboards, sails, masts or the complete kit are sought.

Westlakes Club Plans:
Marcus Saunders is in the process of assembling a small fleet of Windsurfer ODs as a basis for training new sailors and getting them involved in the sport.  The plan being to buy one of two second hand and then on-sell them at cost as he trains someone up.  So that represents an affordable way for people to get into the sport.  Once they begin to enjoy it and can save up and afford it, we are hoping Kona OD will be the where people head.  And its certainly looking like a good path.  Obviously we’d accommodate both Wallys and Konas for the club and continue this general pattern as our approach.

So, if you have anything useful in the shed, please contact Marcus or Darrell Staight.
In NSW, Chris Thompson seeks similar support from the locals

Posted in WindsurferOD | No Comments »

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Seabreeze - State Forums

April 1, 2008

Seabreeze has offered individual state forums (via AWA).

SeaBreezeThe AWA President stated that a centralized hub for discussion of state windsurfing, that is professionally run (ie no additional work for web masters) is a positive. Seabreeze has agreed to co-brand the forums with the AWA and each state logos. Unless anyone strongly disagrees with running with this opportunity then I suggest we embrace it. I think we can also use it to better advertise state and nationals calendars in a format that better suits us also?

What are your thoughts?

[22/04/2008] State forums currently exist for NSW, WA, Qld, Victoria & SA. The co-branding of these forums with the AWA & State logos is still in the pipeline - JR

Posted in discussion | No Comments »

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Looking for committee members

April 1, 2008

Things are starting to gather steam. GPS Speed events with slalom & marathons are being run successfully, and a dedicated team are starting to revive one-design sailing at the grass roots level.

We are looking for members to form an interim committee of management to deal with issues from time to time. There seems to be a reluctance from some to have a formal committee because of the “time involved”. Other than a physical gathering for an Annual General Meeting, meetings could be conducted via teleconference, etc.

Members so far expressing interest are: Chris Dimond, Darrell Staight & Richard Upton

Current matters for discussion include:

  • Purchase of buoys for GPS speed group
  • Should we use the seabreeze forums as the official site for SA windsurfing communications (a query from the AWA)

Leave a comment if you are interested in joining the interim committee (ie. until the next AGM).

Posted in committee | No Comments »