Everything about windsurfing!
This year Alice Arutkin (Starboard, North Sails) and Philip Koster (Starboard, Neilpryde) are rewarded with the PWA Rookie of the year 2008 title. Every year this title is awarded for the most outstanding rookie windsurfer in the season. For example, Peter Volwater has won the title in his first year on the tour. Now he is still a very consistent competitor on the PWA world tour. Source: PWA Rookie of the year 2008
This Coca Cola windsurfer is the longest windsurfer that is ever build. Off course it’s build by a dutch guy 
. Really cool to see how other windsurfers are jumping over the board while the are windsurfing. It would be a pain in the ass to transport this thing though.
Windinfo.eu is organising a livechat session with Germanspeaking top freestyle windsurfers Andre Paskowski, Fabian Weber and Michael Roßmaier. These gentlemen will start chatting at 8 PM. One note, they will probably chat in German.
Matt Pritchard presents in this video the new Tabou board range for 2009. I am really interested in the Tabou Manta. I read some testimonials and reviews which were very postive about these boards. The Mantas seem to be very quick, also in choppie conditions. The striping is also none standard. I hope I can test one of those Manta’s.
Source: pritchardwindsurfing.com
Lately there were some nice conditions to go windsurfing, except for the cold! For me it’s to cold now to go out on the water. Luckily we still have the Internet to kill some time . Check out these two videos.
JP Australia has footage from Robby Swift. He made a windsurfing trip to Chile and made this video.
Another fun movie is from Dieter (B-35). This young belgium talented windsurfer is really working hard on his skills. Check out his freestyle action over here (via dailybits.be).
On the Neilpryde website you can find fresh information about their ultimate racing machines. The RS Racing EVOII and the RS Slalom MKIII are updated with a some new features which makes them even better then last year. (According all the marketing info ).
In the speedsailing world they are also dedicated to break records. A few days ago another attempt ended in a big crash. The Vestas Sailrocket went ballistic when hitting the 52 knots!! Here you can watch footage of the crash.
These words are from te Vestas Sailrocket team after the crash
In the end it was no doubt a combination of effects brought on by the newfound speed and high apparent wind speeds that come with it.
The speedwindsurfers have to watch out because the speedkiters and speedsailors are very fast at the moment. Until the next attempt!
Source: sailrocket.com
I ran in to some old footage from Bjorn Dunkerbeck in action while I was looking for news about the man.Bjorn Dunkerbeck is about to switch from North Sails to Severne Sails. It was cool to see a pro windsurfer like Dunkerbeck on my homespot Strand Horst, the Netherlands. Check out the footage over here.
Again, very interesting news around North Sails and pro windsurfer Bjorn Dunkerbeck. He will leave North Sails for Severne Sails! Actually, it is not a big surprise since Starboard en Severne Sails are working close together.
This switch is in my opinion a remarkable choice. Before he was windsurfing with Neilpryde and North Sails. Both these brands are the biggest in the industry and thus have a lot of resources and knowledge in-house. I don’t expect Severne Sails to be on the same level as those two brands. Maybe it is a bit prejudice… for example, there are hardly any locals windsurfing with Severne Sails at my spot.
On the other hand, it’s great for Severne Sails. Bjorn is a personal brand like no other windsurfer and that will certainly have a positive influence on the sales. I also hope he will perform very well with these sails and can show everybody there are more sail brands than the few dominating the market.
Dunkerbeck switched from T1 Boards to Starboard earlier this year. We will see how he will perform with his new windsurfing equipment the upcoming season.
Source: Severne Sails
Update: Continent Seven has posted the first pictures from Dunkerbeck in action with his new Severne Sails.
Another remarkable sponsor switch in the windsurfing world. World champion Antoine albeau will leave his Isonic Starboards and switches them for the Slalom boards from JP Australia. Rumors about Antoine switching were everywhere, especially after dunkerbeck switched to Starboard. Antoine Albeau signed a three years contract with his new sponsor. A quote from himself:
This was a rather big decision for me. I am glad that I went for it and I am very happy that I will be part of JP next year. I really look forward to work with Werner Gnigler and the whole JP team. I will be very involved in the development of the performance oriented boards within the JP line and I can’t wait to get started.
I am really looking forward to the new PWA world tour season to see how all the sponsor switches will effect the rankings.
Source: extremesportsmagazines.nl