Fuerteventura Summer 2006

From 20th juli till 3rd august I was at Fuerteventura again. I stayed at Peter's again (www.naturalsurfcamp.com) and competed in the ISA Speed competition at Sotavento. Also did some wavesailing in the North.

Speed
I competed in the ISA Speed event at Sotavento. It was a super experience to compete against the best of the world even though I don't even come close with my top speed...
All riders could stall their equipment in a large tent on the beach that was said to be protected 24-7. I shared the little pits section with Christiaan Piepers and Steve Allen. The speed competition was held about one and a half kilometer downwind from the tent, so it was allways a guess what sail and board to take... I was usually OK with 6.2 RS5 on my custom Mistral and 30cm Tectonics fin. Especially in heat number 3 where I became 7th with a good run of 32.75 knots (60.65km/h)! So I started in heat 3 Gold Fleet the next day, but unfortunately the wind shifted to sideshore and it appeared to be impossible to do good speed on the course with my 6.2 and Mistral. I might have been faster with 7.2 RS4 and F2 SX91 but that is speculating...
In the end I got to a 58th position on the ISA Fuerte ranking! I'm very proud about that!
Christiaan Piepers and Alexander Verhage ended a bit better and Ben van der Steen, Peter Volwater and Dennis Littel were very fast.
At the same time the PWA Slalom and PWA Freestyle were held at Sotavento, so there was allways FUERTE-ACTION!

Wave
I only took the Fanatic Freewave 96 and the Neil Pryde Search 5.8 to Fuerte North as I know it's always lightwind sailing there.
I tried to sail at a spot right of Cotillo, but wind was too light to get out safe when hitting a lip. Also the waves broke very hollow indicating very shallow water... also masses of local surfers and bodyboarders there.
I had one epic waveriding session at a local spot with excellent lefthander waves up to 3m. Some rides were up to 8 bottom-turns. Pure adrenaline!
Also tried some surfing at Glass Beach, but it was too crowded to get a wave and surfing suffers from localism there even early in the morning... Surfing looks very good at few other local spots too with beautifull lefthand waves!

From 20th juli till 3rd august I was at Fuerteventura again. I stayed at Peter's again (www.naturalsurfcamp.com) and competed in the ISA Speed competition at Sotavento. Also did some wavesailing in the North.

Speed I competed in the ISA Speed event at Sotavento. It was a super experience to compete against the best of the world even though I don't even come close with my top speed... All riders could stall their equipment in a large tent on the beach that was said to be protected 24-7. I shared the little pits section with Christiaan Piepers and Steve Allen. The speed competition was held about one and a half kilometer downwind from the tent, so it was allways a guess what sail and board to take... I was usually OK with 6.2 RS5 on my custom Mistral and 30cm Tectonics fin. Especially in heat number 3 where I became 7th with a good run of 32.75 knots (60.65km/h)! So I started in heat 3 Gold Fleet the next day, but unfortunately the wind shifted to sideshore and it appeared to be impossible to do good speed on the course with my 6.2 and Mistral. I might have been faster with 7.2 RS4 and F2 SX91 but that is speculating... In the end I got to a 58th position on the ISA Fuerte ranking! I'm very proud about that! Christiaan Piepers and Alexander Verhage ended a bit better and Ben van der Steen, Peter Volwater and Dennis Littel were very fast. At the same time the PWA Slalom and PWA Freestyle were held at Sotavento, so there was allways FUERTE-ACTION!
Wave I only took the Fanatic Freewave 96 and the Neil Pryde Search 5.8 to Fuerte North as I know it's always lightwind sailing there. I tried to sail at a spot right of Cotillo, but wind was too light to get out safe when hitting a lip. Also the waves broke very hollow indicating very shallow water... also masses of local surfers and bodyboarders there. I had one epic waveriding session at a local spot with excellent lefthander waves up to 3m. Some rides were up to 8 bottom-turns. Pure adrenaline! Also tried some surfing at Glass Beach, but it was too crowded to get a wave and surfing suffers from localism there even early in the morning... Surfing looks very good at few other local spots too with beautifull lefthand waves!