Picking up on some speedsurfing again

December 2011 and January 2012 have been quite warm (relatively) and windy so far. Last year during the winter we had some cold spells with snow and ice. January 2012 has showed some great speedsailing across Europe (West Kirby, UK and Vollerwiek, Germany) with some big GPS-speeds. It's triggered me to get back on the speedboard again. January 3rd 2012 I gave my new Starboard Speed 2012 49 cm it's shakedown at Strand Horst. During winter Strand Horst is a safer place for speed than offshore speeding at sea back home on Texel,  because the water is not deep at Strand Horst and there are more people around on the water. This session I worked on trim and fin setting and used the 2009 Sailworks Hucker 4,8 for the first time on a speedboard just to see how that works. Well, just fine! Not only does the Hucker offer big airtime in the waves , but it's a great stable platform for going fast on flatwater. On Texel in the meantime I've trimmed out the combo Starboard Speed 49 and NX Sailworks 5,4 and I'm waiting for the next big day in Europe....The pictures are taken by Jeffrey Leeflang on January 3rd on Strand Horst.

      

Blogging again (with some delay)...De Hors, October 2011

Beautiful scenery on The Razende Bol:

This year again in October 2011 a group of mainland windsurfing friends visited our beautiful island for their yearly "Texel Road Trip". It's becoming a great tradition and also this year the three days were filled with wind, sun, great laughs and overall just a great time. Texel offered three days with steady winds, at times big surf, big swells, off-shore flat water blasting and jump and bump conditions. This year I guided the group on a windsurfing safari over the Northsea from Texel to "De Razende Bol": a large sandplate in the Northsea about 5 km's from Paal 9. We formed couples of two windsurfers for safety and to look out after each other: in big swell it is easy to lose sight of each other and of land all together. Once on De Razende Bol is was magic: pure, sunny, seals watching and a stunning scenery! I think all the guys were somewhat in awe to set foot on this beautiful piece of land in the middle of nowhere after a sometimes demanding crossing over the Northsea. After the stop, we crossed back to Texel and spent the afternoon on the southern tip of Texel (De Hors) with nice side-off winds. The last guys standing were picked up in a Land Rover and brought back to Paal 9. Too bad Taucha and Niels were injured and Niels even broke his ankel.....Hope to see you all next year in good health!

Posing on De Razende Bol:

Back to Texel: De Hors

First Youtube film of the Texel Roadtrip 2011:   

The guys picked up from De Hors in the back of the Laro....back to Paal 9....

The second Youtube film: