2020
19 December 2020: Short winter slalom session
Sunday 20 December 2020
Southwest 16 to 24 knots wind predicted, unfortunately the wind turned out SSO. Sailed with the iSonic 117 with S-Type SL 7.3 and SL-X 41cm Getting away from the shore was a bit tricky, wind was directly on-shore. Sail turned out to be a bit too big in the gusts. So increased the time to past max, that helped. In the channel, and especially in front of the cottage park, as often, the water was chaotic, waves from 2 sides, very difficult and heavy to sail through. Jibes usually went well, but not always planing. Sailed until was about to rain. It was, good, but it was heavy. [Read...]
21 November 2020: First cold surf day of this winter
Sunday 22 November 2020
Prediction: SW 18 to 28 knots, unfortunately it turned out to be SSW. Good moment to try my new Fanatic Tri-Wave 89, with 5.3 Banzai. Near the beach no wind, further from the beach enough wind to get planing with some pumps. No waves for waveriding, but few small waves to chop-hop. Wind was minimal, bigger set would be better: switch to the FSW 102. Stayed far away from the beach because the wind there was clearly a lot better further out. In retrospect, the 6.0 would have been better, but still had a good session. Was first time the weather was really cold. [Read...]
14 November 2020: Gusty afternoon at Kabbelaarsbank
Sunday 15 November 2020
All weekend wind, all weekend S to even SSE. Not the best direction, Saturday 15 to 20 knots, Sunday 25 to 40 knots. Saturday dry and chance of sun. Sailed with the iSonic 117 with S-Type SL 7.3 and SL-X 41cm. It was bobbing and planning, wind quite gusty, maybe the 7.3 too small. A couple of pumps and I could get planing most of the times. Practiced a lot on tacking. Went really really well, 9 out of 10 attempts went well. Wind was SSE, so yes, gusty, but it was not cold, dry and often some sun. Lovely sailing. Impressed by the SL-X 41cm. [Read...]
02 November 2020: Repetition of yesterday, this time better material choice
Wednesday 04 November 2020
Forecast had already diminished a bit in the morning. On arrival, it didn't seem as extreme either. Rigged the Banzai 4.2, sailed with the AHD 253 and the JFSW 84. Reasonable waves to jump and wave to ride. In terms of wind a repeat of yesterday, with the 4.2 clearly a better choice. Wind was eventually directly onshore and that with a nearly 1 meter shore break it was a bit tricky to get out. Which of course some surfers didn't see or know were thrown back on the beach by the waves. [Read...]
01 November 2020: Extremely gusty warm afternoon in November
Wednesday 04 November 2020
Winds would turn from south to southwest around 1 to 2 and increase. Started with the JP FSW 84 and 4.7, wrong choice, too small. Slugging back to the beach and walk of shame back over the beach. Took the FSW 102, wind came back quickly. Took the FSW 84 again. Until the wind was really too hard: 3.7 on the FSW 84. Not the right choice, back to 4.7. Was quite entertaining, but definitely not my best day. I always seemed to be just wrong about it in terms of material choice. [Read...]
25 October 2020: Fun day with minimal wind
Sunday 25 October 2020
Wind again too south for the best winds. Sailed with Jeroen and Jurjen at Kabbelaarsbank. Doubted for a long while what to rig, eventually choose the iSonic 117 with S-Type SL 7.3. Wind was south, so gusty. 7.3 wasn't bad, in the gusts I could easily plane with the 7.3. In the wind holes Jurjen also stood still with 9.3, so the 8.3 might have helped a bit, but certainly not everything. Was especially nice cruising. With 11 to 12 degrees and no sun a little chilly. [Read...]
24 October 2020: Light wind at sea
Sunday 25 October 2020
Wind again to south, no rain, went to Blokkendam together with Jurjen. Sailed with the FreestyleWave 102 and Banzai 5.3. Water was pretty flat, only occasionally a low steep wave. That was a lot of fun jumping. Hardly any waves for waveriding. Very impressed with the 5.3 in minimum trim. Today somewhere in the middle between the sandbar and the beach, I fell into the water, I could stand there: 1.5 meters deep during low tide: bizarre. Sailed until the wind was gone. Nice day, not really a wave day, more freeride, but dry and not cold, and wind not too gusty. [Read...]
21 October 2020: Warm gusty afternoon
Friday 23 October 2020
In the afternoon wind, in the morning rain, so was at the dam around 13:30. Sailed with the FSW 84 and Banzai 4.2 with different fins. Today rigged the 4.2 on the CAAS mast. Wind came straight from the south, as always not the best wind for the Blokkendam, going out sometimes nice waves to jump and to inside some waves for nice back-wind wave riding. Wind turned slowly to SW, jumping was often good over both directions. Sailed until I was completely done. Great afternoon, lovely sailing. Pretty good conditions, warm, only the wind direction was not perfect and therefore gusty. [Read...]
10 October 2020: First delicious, later gusty and lots of rain
Monday 12 October 2020
Sailed with Martijn and Jeroen at Kabbelaarsbank. Sailed with JP FreestyleWave 102 with Banzai 6.0. Nice freemove session, bit of jumping, lang runs to the other side of the lake. Wind was turning a lot, it was gusty. It was especially pleasant to sail with some friends again. [Read...]
08 October 2020: Super day, unfortunately a lot of rain
Friday 09 October 2020
Today southwest wind predicted the best direction and also slightly more than Tuesday. Sailed with the JP FSW 84 and Banzai 4.2. At first not many waves, but when the tide came up the waves also increased. I could jump both ways. It was really enjoyable. Especially when the wind was exactly southwest and the waves got better. Sailed until I was completely empty. Extra bonus: Watched the release of a couple of Seal pups at the Gorsje. [Read...]
06 October 2020: Sloshing waves with showers
Wednesday 07 October 2020
I had to go home on time, so early (10 hours) in Zeeland. Winds would turn from south to west around 11 a.m. and increase. Started with the Ultimate Wave 94 with Banzai 4.7. Wind still minimal, so sail at minimum trim. Water was very flat, so really boring with the UW, so took the FSW 102. Wind minimal, until a heavy shower came over. After that, the wind quickly increased and waves also came. Good time to test the UW 94 again. Obviously not comfortable yet on the UW 94. So took the FSW 84, but it just turned out to be tricky conditions. Not the best conditions. [Read...]
05 October 2020: Light wind at sea
Wednesday 07 October 2020
Decreasing wind, on arrival, surfers where still planing with 5.0, so started with JP FSW 102 with Banzai 5.3. 6.0 would have been better. Water very flat. Wind decreased a lot, so switched to iSonic 101 with e-Type 6.6. Sometimes the 6.6 was minimal, but mostly it was delicious. Towards the end, the tide came in and the waves increased. That sometimes made it harder. Sailed until the wind dropped to much I could hardly plane anymore. Little too flat water at sea for my liking, with these kinds of conditions I like sailing on the lake side much better, less sand. But I did have a good time. [Read...]
04 October 2020: Strong south wind at Brouwersdam
Sunday 04 October 2020
Wind was predicted south, not the best direction for Blokkendam, I was early so first on the water. Good moment to test the Ultimate Wave 94 with the Banzai 4.7. Water was very flat, boring with the UW. Once on a wave the board had a lot of grip, turns tight. Wind increased until the 4.7 was overpowered, switched to the FreestyleWave 84 with Banzai 3.7. Because it wasn't that extreme, the FSW 84 worked really well. Unfortunately the waves were low, style and close behind each other. In contrast the back-side wave riding was very nice. Nice morning. [Read...]
02 October 2020: Light wind Friday afternoon
Sunday 04 October 2020
East wind, but nice few hours sailing. Choice of kit was easy: biggest: iSonic 117 with S-Type 8.3 and SL-P 46cm Wind on the shore not very strong, but on the other side clearly stronger. So mostly stayed on the other side of the lake. Actually the first 1/3rd was too little wind and bobbing while further out it was lovely. Sailed until the wind died off and I could not plane anymore. For east wind it was very nice sailing, not at all that gusty. [Read...]
25 September 2020: First autumn storm
Sunday 27 September 2020
Big storm expected, up to 9 bft. Sailed with Jurjen at the Grevelingendam. In the beginning, the wind wasn't WNW yet, so started with the JP FSW 102 with Banzai 5.3. Close to the shore bobbing, on the edge of the shallow water: strong winds. Sailed until the wind turned and increased. Switched to the AHD with Banzai 4.2, the 4.2 ended up being trimmed over max, it sailed very well between the hardest gusts. The strongest gusts were extreme. Jumping, back-side waveriding: Enjoying it. Grevelingendam can be really nice spot. Steven and Yentel gave a demonstration of why they are pro surfers. [Read...]
05 September 2020: Afternoon light wind surfing
Sunday 06 September 2020
Prediction was 12 to 16 knots, enough to cruise with big sails in the afternoon. Sailed with the iSonic 117 with S-Type 8.3, started with the SL-X 43cm, later switched to the SL-P 46cm. Step on and was planing directly, wind direction perfect: WNW, so in the bay good wind. Fun racing back and forth with Boris and Hans. Hans was often just a little faster, Boris just a little slower. Especially if we had to get upwind, I couldn't keep up with Hans. The SL-P 46cm ran so much more free. It took some getting used to the big sail. But it's nice to have long runs with some surfing buddies. [Read...]
03 September 2020: Afternoon surfing with Martijn
Sunday 06 September 2020
In the afternoon good wind predicted, Martijn was on vacation, good time to go surfing at Kabbelaarsbank. Prediction was 25 to 32 knots SW. Started with JP FSW 102 with Banzai 5.3 and Makani 26cm. Freeride, bit chop-hopping. When the wind increased, switched to the FSW 84. Freemove, jumping, bit of wave riding: enjoying. Rescued somebody. It was nice to have sailed with Martijn again. In retrospect, the 4.7 would surely have been better. [Read...]
30 August 2020: Great day Brouwersdam south
Wednesday 02 September 2020
Strong northern wind predicted throughout the day, good direction for Brouwersdam south. Sailed with the JP FSW 84 with Banzai 4.2 and Select 21cm/Makani 8cm. Tricky shore-break, took a bit of focus and timing. The water was chaotic: a lot of moving water, high swell, but few steep waves, and certainly no long lines. Bit of jumping, bit of back-side waveriding. Sailed until I was completely empty. It was really a great day, wind was relatively stable. never too strong, never not planing for long. Lots of jumping. No sunshine, but also no rain. [Read...]
26 August 2020: Last parts of Storm Francis
Tuesday 01 September 2020
After almost 1.5 years since I last sailed at Grevelingendam. Around noon the storm was going to decrease a bit, making surfing possible. Sailed with JP FSW 84 with Banzai 4.2 and MUF 20/Makani 10cm. Typical Grevelingendam conditions, lots of short steep waves. Often nice jumping. Really delicious bump-n-jump. Wave riding wasn't really possible, yes sometimes a single back-side hit, tricky with the waves so close to each other, often you're already past the wave after a bottom-turn. Very nice sailing sailing, good to have sailed at the Grevelingendam with the small kit again. [Read...]
25 August 2020: Beginning of Storm Francis
Tuesday 01 September 2020
Next night, Storm Francis will come over. In the evening, the wind would turn from SSE to SW and increase considerably in strength. On arrival the wind was still south, so not yet turned. Used the JP FSW 84 with Banzai 4.2 and Freewave 21/makani 10cm. Inward there were lots of nice waves to play and waveride, especially back-side wave riding was great, some runs almost al the way in: back to back wave riding from wave to wave. Going out, the waves were also getting more beautiful and higher, some nice high jumps. Lovely evening, was often really perfect, very nice waves. [Read...]