A couple of weeks ago the TV channel ‘VKS – Antena 3 Canarias’ did an interview with Alex Mussolini and used action footage by umi from Pozo and Tenerife for the feature. The slot was shown at 7.30pm on a Saturday evening – windsurfing on prime time TV!
If you can understand Spanish you will notice Alex says he won in Gran Canaria when he actually won in Sylt! I guess fame and doing TV interviews takes a bit of practice…
The February issue of Windsurfer International has an 8 page article on Jamie Hancock in it. Check out our favourite freshman here!
In whatcha ridin we’re checking out what the umi boys are riding and why. Third in this series is three times PWA wave world champion Kauli Seadi. In 2007 Kauli paved the path towards multifin boards when he first introduced his twinzers at the Cabo Verde world cup. A year later almost all riders were using twinfins and now most brands have a twinfin range in their production line up. Time for Kauli to take it one step further: from twins to quads. We asked him about his different boards and the latest developments.
You seem to bring more boards with you on tour than any other riders.
‘I am always working on my boards, looking for the ultimate shape to implement my surfing style into windsurfing. The development of boards is where my passion lies. This is where the possibilities to improve the level is so I push it hard.’
Your boards look different from the JP production boards, why is that?
‘Of course since I am developing the boards, I will try out different shapes. I try out different outlines, tail shapes, I move the fins around to see what works best. If I would just use the boards we already have we wouldn’t be able to make any progress!’
You have all sorts of boards, let start with the single fins, what can you tell about those?
‘The single fin here I made last year for the world cup in Sylt. The rocker is a bit flatter and the board is quite wide and long so it goes through the white water really well. It is really Sylt oriented: the board measures about 57,5 cm wide and has a bit of a winger, I tend to use a lot of back foot at some point and if there’s too much area in the tail it doesn’t turn so well. With the quads I have been able to open the width point of the board and with the fins near the rail you can still use the rail with the wider tails but with just one fin in the centre the board is too wide and it was not really working. In the last Sylt event I used this single fin in the expression session at the last day. Dead onshore, walls of white water, it just works better then cause it gives me more speed.’
What can you tell us about your quads?
‘The quad was something that I designed to follow the same philosophy of a twin. I wanted to improve some of the things that I missed from a single fin and combine it with the things I loved about twins. Twins are manoeuvrable boards and you can mix back foot riding with rail riding. Quads are a bit more stiff but still have the feel of using the rails like twins have, these boards are almost all the time rail oriented for a true surf feel, which really suits my style.
‘I have been experimenting with the quads for over a year now. At first we had a flat tail, but with the fish tail it seemed to work a bit better. I had a winger in the tail which enabled me to get a straighter line through the foot straps to get a bit more projection in the turns. The first quads I played around a bit and now after many prototypes I have gone back to a more traditional rounded pintail with slight wingers.’
When do you use your quads?
‘I use the quad for most conditions now, but specially for side onshore wave riding they are nice when there are good size waves. My quads are like twinzers with stabilisers in the front. It intensified the transition from a single to a twin: the single was like a fast board on which you couldn’t really use the rails. Then with the twinzer you could already use the rails much more. The quad is like two times more: you can really use the rails. You can still feel a bit like a twin, you keep the loose feeling. The quads do longer turns, they are more drivey. At the same time if you step hard you can do short turns like on twins. In the Sylt contest with pretty onshore conditions I used my 57 cm wide quad in the first single elimination, which for me is a really big board. The wind was super strong: 4.5 full power and I was still riding easy with a lot of control.’
Is there still space for twinfins in your boardbag?
‘Yes of course! When I get stronger winds I prefer the twinfins to the quads. With a quad you need to do proper turns, with twinfins you can do snappier turns on the tail. For that a twinfin works better. The twin is a bit more agile and manoeuvrable , the quad tend to draw a bit longer lines. The twin fin make you use more of the rail and they give the rider that fluid style… more lose and connected to the wave.’
What about the bottom shape of your boards?
‘All my boards have concave to double concave and a bit of V through the middle around the mast track to improve the rail to rail qualities. We keep that same bottom shape on all the boards as it works very well.’
What’s with the outline of the boards?
‘The outline of my twinfins used to be a bit longer and straighter than my quads, but I now work with the same outlines for my quads and twinfins. The biggest challenge was to find the right fin position for the quads. The setup is very important and it took me a very long time to find out the right combination.’
Quad surfboards usually have the bigger fins in front, why did you choose to have the big fins in the back?
‘Surfboards get speed from the wave, windsurfboards run on the flats as well so you need something to give you speed, otherwise you will be too slow. Since back fins give more projection and speed, I chose to have the bigger fins in the back. I tried many different ways and in the end I found out the best setup was with the back ones closer together, and the side ones closer to the rail. When the fins are too big in the front I get the feeling that I get stuck too much in the rails, you cannot go rail to rail very easily.’
The final question to clear it all up: what’s for when?
‘For side-onshore wave riding conditions I use quads now. They really draw lines and you have good control. With twins you lose a bit of control, but in onshore conditions with smaller waves, when you want to be turning a bit more I think a twinfin is better. Single fins I only use when it is really onshore and the riding is mostly backside.
‘I think for someone who has always just used single fins it is better to first learn how to sail a twinzer waveboard. Learn to use the rails, to lean the body more forward and then move to a quad. With the quad I make most of my turns with the rails, that’s how you manoeuvre. This is also why it is good to have the small fins close to the rails, as they provide just the amount of grip you need.’
© all photos taken by Divulgacao Destino Azul, John Carter/PWA, Mitchyll Ferris. umi 2010
UK wave sailor and umi editor Jamie Hancock is currently in Cape Town training for the coming PWA and UK wave tours. He proves that with the right attitude Cape Town offers sailing conditions pretty much every day, even when the wind is off… you just have to put in the miles!
It’s a really strange season out here with lots of low pressures and unusual wind patterns. I’ve been staying with Benny van der Steen this year which is pretty much little and large – his high wind board is 93 litres and I think my biggest sail (4.4m) is his smallest! With the dodgy wind patterns there is usually one spot that works at a time instead of when the usual trade winds blow which seems to spread all the windsurfers about a bit across the beaches. Nevertheless we’ve been getting as much time in the water as possible. So far it has been pretty sick, but not without its disasters and putting in the miles!
About a week ago the forecast looked reasonably good for Elands and as nothing was happening in Cape Town we decided to drive out there. On the way we tried to find Swartriet to get some pics for the trip but got lost on some very ‘local’ lady’s farm. After finally making it to Elands we ended up still waiting for the wind to kick in with only two hours of light left in the day – so we made the call to head back to Paternoster which had reports of a little wind. Fortunately we managed to make it out before dark and catch a few logo high waves which ‘just’ about made the 500 km worthwhile.
The next day was down to Cape Point with northwest winds (starboard tack) from a passing low pressure storm. It was somewhere I have always wanted to sail in a north westerly wind but I never really made it past Witsands or Scarborough. There were reports from the new RRD head honcho Mr John Skye that it had been good there so we decided to join him and Flo Jung at the Cape peninsula. This was probably one of the best days since I have been here so far: cross off, clean waves and not mega busy.
After a few days with light wind evening sessions at Sunset Beach, we decided to gamble on sailing a bit further down the coast in front of the shipwreck to get away from the standard crowds and take some photos. It ended up being much better than we expected: the swell picked up and with just me, Skyeboy, Ross Williams, Flo Jung, Peter Volwater and Mart we could pretty much get any wave we wanted. It was also a pretty cool view whilst out sailing with the shipwreck and table mountain in the background. Definitely another one to chalk up on the board as a classic day sailing with chums. The forecast is looking pretty good too, a much more normal looking one – joy.
© all photos by Femke Hoogland – Tot en met ontwerpen
Here’s a cool shot of Jonas Ceballos enjoying some rare sideshore action at Pozo and showing off the umi logo perfectly! Cheers man, you’re a legend. It will be interesting to see who signs him up this year – Jonas has been really consistent over the past years and with the tour being totally port tack this year he has to be a strong contender for the final podium…
Thanks to Dani at Cutre for the shot.
I am sure we have all seen or read about Dany Bruch’s epic big wave sessions along the north Tenerife coastline. I have been dying to get over there to check and film the action for myself and luckily enough this winter things came together. As usual it was a crazy little trip organised at the last possible moment after a couple of forecasts turned bad, but we managed to get two days of filming in excellent conditions. Filming big waves is really tough as they break so far out and often the rider will be on a wave behind another wave covering the view; it can really make you feel like you are in the wrong place at the wrong time! When you do get the action though, it is something else. One thing I will always remember about this session – and I am not one for having much sympathy with pro windsurfers (let’s face it they have a pretty good job), is the launch from the rocks. Definitely the worst I have ever seen. Kudos boys!
What?
Dany: ‘It was the end of November after a few fresh first winter swells. I was sailing with Alex Mussolini and another mate from Tenerife, just some friends in sick conditions, having a lot of fun racing down some good walls.’
Where?
Dany: ‘It all happened in the North of Tenerife, one hour driving away from El Cabezo on a very well known surfing spot. We can’t tell the name, as locals are pretty ‘bad boys’ and would not allow windsurfing crowds starting to appear in the future. We’ll keep it as our home secret playground.’
Conditions?
Dany: ‘The conditions were pretty strong wind for a light forecast really. On the first day we had 20 to 25 knots starboard tack sailing. The wind was side to side-off shore and we had logo to mast and a bit high waves. The second day was less strong with a bit more swell on the sets. I would say mast to mast and a half… maybe sometimes a bit more?! We had amazing fun out there, just the three of us loving life. The second day I went alone, but I ended up sharing waves with some other friends that were doing tow-in surfing… pretty nuts what these guys do during the winter here on the north shore. Sometimes the goods are not so far away from home, you just need to open your eyes to see them!’
© Photos by CMD – umi 2010
