texel surf report

Picking up on some speedsurfing again

2012-01-19T12:20:00.004+01:00

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

2012-01-17T18:34:00.006+01:00

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:

Long distance fun!

2011-05-17T22:10:00.001+02:00

May 14th we had sun and a very steady nice breeze, albeit straight onshore. I took my good old 100 liter freerace board and my new Sailworks NX 6,2 and took off for some long distance fun along the western Texel coast. Actually quite good training for the upcoming Defi Wind 2011 in Gruissan, France. I made my reaches about 15 km on each tack, which will be the distance we'll race in Gruissan too. I had up to 2,5 meters of swell and windchop crossing the swell making it a very bumpy ride as I was going flat out fully powered up. Open ocean racing is I think one of the best things in windsurfing. In the picture you can hardly spot me, but the picture (taken by Caren) shows the beauty of the coastline of Texel under classic Dutch skies.

The quest for a speedstrip

2011-05-17T21:54:00.000+02:00

For speed De Hors can be good with NW, but in this blog I've mentioned our quest for a good speedstrip for SW/W winds. We sometimes surf this spot near De Cocksdorp in the north and it's fun because you can make very long reaches and just have flatwater fun on freeride stuff. The scenery is unspoilt and vast. I love it. You can park your car right at the waterfront and jump on your board, so no long muddy walks etc. The windfetch is great and the winds are very laminar. But the current here is quite strong and usually it spoils the true magic carpet you need for hard core speed. But we've noticed that there is a very, very small window between tides when it can get very, very, very smooth. So hopefully one great day it will all come together here!

Arjen and Marco having fun at The Hors

2011-05-17T21:42:00.000+02:00

In the last post I wrote about a great session at The Hors. Arjen, Marco and Bart (who made all the pics) were on a mini roadtrip (and slept in 1 Van!) and visited Texel. They left after thi ssession to France to catch the swell there as the wind would ease off at Texel. I think they had a blast: Arjen's in the air and Marco's coming up from behind. I'll post some more pics later of them.

Spray time

2011-05-04T21:41:00.011+02:00

I windsurf my bottom off here on Texel, but it is rarely caught on camera. So when it does, I'm always stoked. These pictures are from the beginning of April at The Hors taken by Bart Veelenturf. Arjen, Marco and I had a great session. We were joined later by Dorian and Adriaan van Rijsselberghe and the two friends came over from Den Helder too. I'll post some great pics of the others later. I'm first going self-centered here. My theme of the day was Spray Time and making most of the mini waves we had. The wind was classic De Hors side-offshore, consistent and strong. Here goes: nrs 1 and 2,

I was on my Sailworks Hucker 5,6 2011 for the first time. I just know we're going to be best friends for a long time to come. It's fast, stable, neutral, powerfull and just sweet. It'll come with me to Defi Wind 2011 too.

OK, nrs 3 and 4: the frames with the lighthouse of Den Helder in the background are just great, aren't they?

OK, just some more.

I like this one too.

De Hors again! October 24st 2010

2010-10-24T17:21:00.006+02:00

Today René and I set out to De Hors again. Predictions were for sunshine and good constant northwesterly winds between 20 and 30 knots. And that's what we got. This time we even got the tide right. When we arrived at The Hors most of it was still under water. The small waves were already waiting for us and some seals too! The waves are not often big at The Hors: they just peel around the edge of Texel from the Northsea into the Marsdiep (the stretch of water that separates Texel from the mainland). But the waves are often long and clean and with side-off winds they are so much fun. Today Caren volunteered to make pictures after I begged her. Because the water was still high, she couldn't make it all the way to the waterfront where we were playing, but the pictures from far actually give a great impression of how special De Hors really is, and how lucky I am to have this spot in my backyard.

Thursday 21st October 2010 De Hors

2010-10-24T17:00:00.001+02:00

Today Edwin, Bob and I set out to The Hors yet again this week. René followed us later. We had a lot of wind and sunshine. The wind was west making it not the usual perfect side-off we love so much at The Hors. Above all the tide current was working against us this time, making our trip an exercise in constant upwind sailing. But still great fun.

Edwin's kit resting

Bob and blogauthor pose

Saturday October 15th 2010 Paal 28

2010-10-20T19:22:00.015+02:00

This saturday we had a bunch of guys and Julia over from the mainland. Predictions were for good winds and good swell. In the north of Texel at Paal 28 the wind was side/sideoffshore, sometimes a bit light on the inside, but still good for sails between 4,7 and 5,3. The sun was out, it was a bit cold, but the action was on! Great to see our homebreaks on Texel enjoyed by others too!

Bas Molenkamp was stylish (pic by Julia Meijer)

Martin ten Hoeve was radical (pic by Julia Meijer)

Torben Tijms' timing is spot on (pics by blogauthor)

Two riders who were rippin's as well (still unknown to blogauthor,....I'm sorry...)

Hard Work June 17th 2010

2010-06-17T23:06:00.010+02:00

I wanted to visit the IFCA Slalom Grand Prix by water, so I set out at Paal 9 for the journey upwind. The wind was north/northeast. The IFCA Grand Prix is held at Paal 17, so the maths should say: 8 kilometers upwind. But Texel being Texel, Paal 9 is actually not Paal 9 but Paal 8, so it's 9 kilometers. And the current was head on. I made my upwind legs fairly a long way into the open sea, so for safety I had put on my lifevest and took a flare, some rope and a drink with me (and told the guys at Paal 9 to start the SAR if I did'nt get back by 18.00 hours). I was on my 2009 Falcon 140 with MFC RC 48 cm and choose to rig relatively small with Blade 7,5. It was great sailing that far on the open sea with a good steady breeze of 20-23 knots, blue skies and sunshine. Much to my surprise I was caught on camera coming ashore at Paal 17. You can see it was hard work. Once landed on the beach, I caught up with some competitors, made some smalltalk, drank their water and then raced downwind back to Paal 9. That went a lot quicker.....Tomorrow I'm going to the Kiss Sonic Boom concert in Gelredome and hope to be back on Texel early Saturday to hit the water again.

IFCA Texel Slalom Grand Prix June 15th 2010

2010-06-15T21:53:00.000+02:00

Today the IFCA Grand Prix kicked off at Paal 17, De Koog Texel. Actually I was a bit puzzled. At Paal 9 in Den Hoorn in the morning we had a solid 17- 22 knots breeze from the north, making it sideshore. In the afternoon when we hit the water again at Paal 9, the wind had even increased some. When René and I visited the Grand Prix in between our own sessions, the conditions at Paal 17 were at best marginal, with sideonshore wind with big lulls in the surf and about 14 knots on the outside. Too bad. A couple of PWA contenders made the trip from the PWA slalom in Catalunya to Texel in a great overnight hurry to get registered just in time. Hope all of the contenders get some good wind. Today there was some racing going on with the bigger gear, but there was no real speaker or actual information given to the spectators on heats etc., so it was a bit hard to follow the action on the beach. Room for improvement there.

Jordy Vonk heading out

Event site

Some slalom action

Voltmeter back on Dutch waters

Like to see other brands than the usual suspects, Jules Denel on XO-sails

Youth surfcamp June 12th 2010

2010-06-15T21:20:00.000+02:00

As part of a Texel schoolprogram to promote more outdoor sporting activities, the younger kids (9 - 11 years) could sign in for a mini surfcamp. The waves on this day were not Hawaiian league, but there still was a lot of fun on the water. Our daughter Hanna later complained about sore muscles, muscles she didn't knew she had. Class of 2010 with some serious instruction by Tim of Ozlines:

Hanna under attack by white water

Two great days

2010-06-03T23:03:00.006+02:00

June 2nd and 3rd brought blue skies, sunshine, fair temperatures and a very steady breeze. The forecasts were in the 10 knots range, but quite often at Paal 9 Texel when the sun heats up the inland large dunes and sandplates, a local venturi effect occurs between the warm land and still cold seawater, especially with north / northeastern winds. So we had steady winds in the 15 - 18 knots range, no waves, but still great fun on slalom gear. The pics are taken by Caren standing on the wave-breaker at Paal 9, which a low tide falls dry, so you can walk into the sea, like this:

Standing on the pier facing land (now they're all green and alive, in winter it's bare rocks and asphalt):

And now facing towards the sea: inviting!

Some sailing was done too: windsurfer, sailboat and kiter all in one frame (you have to click on the photo to get a good look):

Blogauthor alone at sea

I like the way my Loft Blade twists.....

Mini roadtrip to Texel

2010-05-31T17:52:00.005+02:00

A group of "mainland" windsurfers were planning a short trip and the forecasts led them not to Wissant (France), but to Texel.....So Pablo, Aad, Bart, Dennis (came in by ferry) and Nelis (came in on a windsurfer with camelpack from the mainland) got two fairly good days in. Sunday the wind was very constant, but nearly onshore, making it quite choppy with messy waves. At the end of my session on Sunday I managed to take some pics of Dennis. René of Strandpaviljoen Paal 9 offered them the Royal Seaside Suite at the beachfront for the night. Monday started with rain, but soon the sun was back and the wind had turned sideshore to the north, with good seize waves, but with the wind being a bit light on the inside it was challenging to get through the surf. One mast ceased to be. I had a blast with my SUP having heaps of fun just slogging out and catching some good waves coming in. Pablo certainly is top-contender for a cool set of wheels (and it fits 5 complete windsurfing sets).

Pablo's ride:

Dennis' ride:

Looking back on good things and things to come.....

2010-02-15T16:47:00.003+01:00

We're having quite of a winter here in Holland. This time in 2008 we were up and running at the great Drivenbywind Speedevent in Southend, UK, organized and hosted by the speeding legend Dave White. It actually seems (too) long ago.....The follow-up of my speedseason of 2008 was flucked by injury and in 2009 I just didn't get enough time spent speeding. So in 2010 I'll try to revive myself. During Drivenbywind (my first ever competition) I entered the 40+ knots club and as a rookie came in 4th at the January 31st 2008 Drivenbywind.com speedevent just after such big guns as Martin van Meurs, Dave White and Dirk Doppenberg. So great things to look back upon in the speeding department and hopefully also great things ahead. Together with mates Mike and René we've been searching for some new speedspots on Texel and just maybe, just maybe, we've hit gold. First of all I'll post some nostalgia (blogauthor and Dave White on the banks of The Ray, January Southend 2008.). And then I'll post the picture of our possible pot of gold here on Texel. It's in the top right-hand corner, somewhat northeast of Texel. The speedstrip is offshore and lies almost in the same direction as the famed "The Brace", also in Holland. The windfetch is I think even better, the mudbank is somewhat higher with a bigger drop, and you can actually get their windsurfing. We've been out there on freeride gear at the end of 2009, but I think we need lower tides to get really smooth water just of the bank. So you're all invited in this quest!

Somewhere out there there's a great speedstrip.....

The bravest one

2009-12-19T13:24:00.001+01:00

Bart-Jan and his family enjoyed a vacation on Texel, but the weather for windsurfing wasn't that good. Winter has set in early, but Bart-Jan just had to get on the water.....So with a Mistral Pacifico SUP on Wednesday December 16th he hit the water at Paal 9, with 6 degrees water and 2-3 degrees air temp. That's bravery right there!

Two days later we had the first serious snow of this year which made up for some nice shots. Nice of course, but whish it could be spring soon.......

Coverage in the Dutch Surf Magazine November 2009 issue

2009-11-25T16:14:00.003+01:00

The Dutch Surf Magazine (issue November 2009) published a great picture of the blog author in mid-air over Texel. The picture was taken on October 16th at Paal 9, Texel, by Paul Koster. The wind was north and was ranging between 6 and a solid 8 bft.

That weekend a whole bunch of windsurfers visited Texel on their yearly "Texel Roadtrip". It was great fun and we had good winds and some heavy surf. That day I was on the Sailworks Hucker 4,8 for the first time. I'm always in search of new and special gear and I'd gotten intrigued by the concept of the Hucker. A modern twisting sail, but with far less leech tension than usual nowadays, resulting in a full profile thoughout the sail to the top, really making it into a powerhouse sail with a slightly higher centre of gravity. For bigger and taller guys like me it's great to have that higher and more powerful leverage on the sail. Most guys were on 3.7's, I was on the Hucker 4,8 and it was sweet. Very stable, fast, heaps of power, and very confident and stable when jumping. It even got me around some very tight corners on the waves, but needed some musclepower to do so, so it's no on-off wavesail. I think it's very fast too, I'll put it on my speedboard and see what's there in GPS-speed department.

Jelle Posthumus visiting Texel

2009-11-20T17:27:00.000+01:00

Blog reader Jelle Posthumus sent some great pics of his visit to Texel this month. Nice to receive them! Thanx. The spot on the picture is Dijkmanshuizen on the Waddenzee side of Texel. You can rig at the waterfront on the gras and the spot is in fact a little inlet or bay, which at low tide gets very smooth, so great for freestyle. The spot works with winds from northeast, east, southeast, south and southwest.

Dorian's 2nd session of the day

2009-11-14T15:54:00.001+01:00

This morning it was rainy and gray, in the afternoon the clouds cleared, the sun came through, the wind increased even more and the second session of the day was at Paal 17. Olympic RSX surfer Dorian van Rijsselberghe again having fun on his 77 liter twinfin and 4,2 Fly. Dorian picked up waving seriously I think in the spring of last year, when his sponsors decided at last he should get some fun gear for waving. Considering the fact that he spends nearly all of his time on the water on the RSX olympic board, it's actually quite amazing the level that he has reached in waves in such a short time. I even guess he's already a serious match for the top wave guys in Holland. His bottom turns are fast and fluid (shoud feel a bit different than his RSX) and when cutting back, he nearly never misses the critical section of the wave. He's up for the 2012 Olympics and should he go PWA Pro afterwards, he'll stir up things there for sure.

Paal 9 today

2009-11-14T12:44:00.000+01:00

Dutch RSX olympic racer Dorian van Rijsselberghe got a good session in at his homespot Texel in between international RSX regatta's. In the morning the weather was gnarly with little light, so my pics are a bit dark.

in the pit......

Promising forecast!

2009-11-13T19:30:00.000+01:00

The forecast for the upcoming 5 to 6 days looks very good with a very strong (at times gale force) southwesterly flow bringing also high temperatures for this time of year. Forecasts for tomorrow even show a peak of some 40 knots hitting Texel. Busy getting all the gear ready: speed & wave stuff. If the wind swings more to the southwest speeding at The Brace is the number one choice. If the winds kicks in more from the south we'll go for some wave sessions. Hope to get some pics in.

Speedspots on Texel

2009-11-07T15:37:00.000+01:00

Speedsurfing has catched on big time in Holland (and worldwide) due to the great appeal and succes of the GPS-speedsurfing format. This worldwide community exists of over 3300 members from 47 countries. It’s actually a Dutch idea. Over 2000 members are posting their GPS speeds on a regular base and 3000 boards, 4500 sails and 5100 fins have been listed op GPS-speedsurfing.com. The site was founded in 2004. In that year 800 sessions were posted on GPS-speedsurfing.com. In 2008 this number has grown substantially to12.941 sessions.

In Holland top speedstrips like The Brace work with southwesterly winds, which are pretty predominant in Holland. On Texel our speedspot De Hors only works with offshore northwesterly winds (and northeasterly winds). Being an open water venue, wind and tides should fall right into sync to get the magic carpet going ......

(illustration made bij Jeroen de Wever)

The first real outing to check out the speedpontential of De Hors was in the fall of 2007 when I invited Martin van Meurs to come over. The wind wasn't that strong and we could only play around with a 6,6 sail and 100 liter board. Later that fall Dirk Doppenberg joined us with better winds and Martin just missed the alltime GPS 500 meter record on Dutch waters.........Northwesterly winds can be very very strong in Holland so the potential is there and it's just a matter of time when De Hors gets propelled into the top op the GPS-speedsurfing rankings. Hope it will be me to do so. I don't have good pictures yet recent speedsurfing at The Hors, only of the lowind session in 2007 with Martin and myself. The ship on the horizon seems to to be stuck on the beach, but it actual shows the great wind fetch from the northwest over De Hors to the speedstrip. De Hors is essentialy a large sandplate attached to the southtip of Texel.

De Hors also works with northeasterly winds. These winds often bring beautiful weather, but they seldom get stronger than 30 knots (rider below: Wouter Verhulst).

It can get very windy on De Hors....

The stars and their own hero(es)

2009-11-07T13:49:00.000+01:00

Even the biggest stars of our sport, like Robby, Björn, Dave and Keith, have their own hero. But who? Finally we know.....

This is Texel

2009-11-05T21:38:00.000+01:00

latitude: 52.220818 longitude: 6.891140

Inhabitants:

15.000 (sheep)

14.500 (people)

Almost one each.

What else? For starters we've got our own beer brewery. And the biggest whisk(e)y bar in the world. And it's windy. The records show that Texel is the most sunny place in Holland and we've got a lot of great spots for freeriding, wave, speed and freestyle.

Landmarks that make windsurfers happy

2009-11-05T20:54:00.000+01:00

We've got a lot of these landmarks here on Texel and it's not bad to have the wind around if you're a windsurfer.....

Bart rotating at Paal 9, Den Hoorn (pic Paul Koster)

some guys chasing each other around, Paal 17 De Koog