2021
North Sails Proto from up close
Friday 03 December 2021
Pieter Bijl was photographed, up close, with a North Sails XOver proto. I haven't seen any pictures from that close. [Read...]
01 December 2021: Few hours bump-n-jump surfing
Thursday 02 December 2021
Best day of the week, space in the agenda, dry and wind. Sailed with JP FSW 102 and Banzai 5.3. Nice sailing. Little rain, no sun, cold. Wind through the showers somewhat variable. It was nice that there were like 10 surfers on the water. [Read...]
18 November 2021: Wonderful light wind session
Saterday 20 November 2021
Prediction only became less. Upon arrival, nobody was planing. Sailed with iSonic 117 and S-Type 8.3. The 8.3 turned out to be a good choice, could almost always plane. Certainly not the wind that had been predicted, but with a lot of sun it was a wonderful November afternoon. No gloves or cap needed. Not even used my winter shoes. [Read...]
07 November 2021: Wonderful day at Grevelingendam
Sunday 07 November 2021
Wind direction was predicted W/NW: perfect for the Grevelingendam, sometimes this can give nice chop for jumping. Sailed with JP FSW 102 and Banzai 6.0. It was a nice day: lots of sun, constant wind: Fun! [Read...]
06 November 2021: Disappointing wind
Sunday 07 November 2021
Prediction was 20 to 30 knots W/SW, wind was rather S/SW and 18 to 22 knots. Wind would increase, so rigged the 5.3. Sailed with: Goya One Pro 95 and Banzai 5.3. The 5.3 was a bit small for the conditions. Wind was disappointing, more was predicted. No sun or rain, but not really cold either. [Read...]
31 October 2021: Rain
Tuesday 02 November 2021
Forecast: rain, normally enough reason not to go to Zeeland. But I hadn't sailed for long. There were an absurt amount of surfers, especially for late October. There was almost no parking space left. Sailed: iSonic 117 with S-Type 7.3 and SL-X 43cm. It was raining almost all the time, wind gusty. Certainly not a good day, but nice to have sailed again. [Read...]
06 October 2021: Lovely afternoon at the Grevelingendam
Thursday 07 October 2021
Around noon the rain would stop and the wind would turn to WNW. Sailed the Goya 95 with Banzai 5.3 It was dry, sometimes sun, right wind direction, wind not gusty. I sailed until I was getting tired and the wind started to decrease. It was delicious. [Read...]
30 August 2021: Nice evening freemove
Wednesday 01 September 2021
Monday evening: Very quiet, only a handful of people on the water. Wind was disappointing: sailed the Banzai 6.0, with FSW 102 en Goya One 95. For freeride, the FSW 102 is clearly more fun. Few steep waves, only mostly swell. A bit of jumping, but mostly nice long runs. Nice sailing. [Read...]
27 August 2021: Late afternoon chop racing
Wednesday 01 September 2021
No time to drive to the beach. Sailed with iSonic 117 with S-Type 7.3 and SL-X 41cm. Wind was N/NW, so heading out was going down the waves, on the way back full against the chop. Tough conditions for the knees. Sailed until I could hardly plane anymore. Were a few nice hours. Half the runs it was though sailing. [Read...]
22 August 2021: Wind was disappointing
Tuesday 31 August 2021
After the rain, wind would turn and pick up. WNW 20 knots was predicted. Perfect for the Grevelingendam. Started with iSonic 101 with E-Type 6.6 and SL-X 36cm, in the beginning that was good, later wind decreased. Switched to the iSonic 117 with S-type 7.3 and SL-X 43cm, unfortunately, it was short-lived. Always rigged just too small, always expected that the wind would come. The wind did not come so always sailed just too small. [Read...]
16 August 2021: Nice afternoon at sea
Monday 23 August 2021
I had expected to go to the Grevelingendam, ended up driving to the sea. Sailed entire afternoon with the Banzai 5.3. Almost all the time with the Goya One Pro 95. Tried the JP FSW 84 Pro again. I understand again why I have been a fan of the JP Freestylewave for so long. The Goya is clearly better at wave riding, and still fun for bump-n-jump, but the Goya is just bigger and jumps a little less easily. It was nice, in the beginning unfortunately still rain. But at the end clear blue sky. Few really good waves, but still quite a bit of jumping and also occasional waveriding. [Read...]
08 August 2021: Another fun afternoon at sea
Sunday 22 August 2021
After a nice Friday afternoon/evening wind was predicted for the entire Saturday. In the morning some showers, so after that it should be very good. Sailed with the Goya One Pro 95, Banzai 4.7 with 19/11 thruster set. In the beginning the wind was still fairly gusty, started with minimum trim, ended with over max trim. Waves were a bit variable, depending on the wind strength and direction: sometimes nice waves for waveriding. Sailed all day with the same set. Stopped because there was a heavy shower coming. I should have changed to the 4.2, at the end the 3.7 would have been better. [Read...]
06 August 2021: Lovely afternoon/evening session
Sunday 22 August 2021
Forecast: all day 20 to 22 knots of wind, turning SSW to WZW. Started with the Goya One Pro 95 and Banzai 4.7, ended with the TriWave 89 and Banzai 4.2. Best waveriding so far: back-side to front-side ending wit a perfect lip hit. It was great, especially after 16:30 when the sky turned blue, the wind direction perfect, finally again. I should have switched to the 4.2 much earlier. That was much better and less tiring. That perfect front-side hit, I'll have a smile on that for a very long time to go. Sunday hopefully again z'n day. [Read...]
06 July 2021: 3rd Tuesday in a row surfing
Saterday 10 July 2021
finally: SSW to SW 20 to 32 knots predicted: looking forward to it. Sailed with Fanatic Tri-Wave 89 with Banzai 4.2 and MFC 19/10cm fins. Wind started south. With the tide came in, the waves become more fun, waveriding, more jumping. I made a couple of front-side attempts. It was a lovely day. The wind was gusty, waves often not great, but finally the right direction. The Tri-Wave certainly did not disappoint with the 4.2. Next time more head-to-head testing with the JP FSW 84 to compare them. [Read...]
29 June 2021: Another nice Tuesday night session
Wednesday 30 June 2021
Almost a repeat of last week, just a little less wind. Wind seemed a bit minimal for the 6.0, sailed with the JP FSW 102 with Banzai 6.0 and MFC 29cm. Water was not flat, a bit low, but tricky chop. Occasionally I could find a steep wave and I was able to jump, not much for waveriding Together with Ron and Stefan did some duck-gybe practice. Set was often a bit small, even with minimal trim. Very little floating. Nice sailing, unfortunately few nice waves to play with. Unfortunately, no sun. [Read...]
22 June 2021: Great session
Wednesday 23 June 2021
NNE 19 to 21 kts wind predicted, perfect for Brouwersdam south. First time with the Goya One 3 Pro 95 at sea. Sailed with my Banzai 5.3 and MFC 21/12cm fins. Wind was super constant. A lot of nice waves to jump and some for wave riding. Fins might have been a little large. Jumping took some getting used to: shorter board. Waveriding was great: board turns tight without spintouts, especially for a board this size. Sailed until I was completely empty. Unfortunately little to no sun, but otherwise a perfect afternoon, enjoyed! Hopefully I will be able to sail the Goya One 3 Pro 95 at sea again soon. Next time hopefully with SW wind. [Read...]
05 June 2021: Light wind and chop
Sunday 06 June 2021
Wind WNW, and not so strong: best spot: Blokkenpier, from there along the beach to the kite spot. Sailed the iSonic 117 with S-Type 7.3 and SL-X 43cm. After every gybe, it was bobbing. Waiting for a gust and then a couple of pumps to get planing. Hopefully helped by a wave. Once planing I could usually plane the whole length of the beach. Very long runs. It was tiring sailing, the chop/waves and also a lot of pumping to get planing. Temperature was quite good but unfortunately no sun at all. Wind was not as strong as predicted, but still a nice session. [Read...]
09 May 2021: Wonderfully warm, but gusty
Saterday 29 May 2021
Wind predicted from the south, sunny and warm. Sailed the big kit: iSonic 117 with S-Type 8.3 and SL-P 48cm. With southerly winds, you need to get upwind to have more space and a bit more free wind. Once past the surf centre, long stretches, could be sailed along the sandbank and the island. Sailed most of the time with Jeroen. In the harder gusts I really had to give more outhaul and the 48cm was really too big. But most of the time the fin made it very easy to get planing. Wind was gusty and was gone too soon, but the temperature was lovely, winter wetsuit was too hot. Nice day. [Read...]
09 May 2021: Wonderfully warm, but gusty
Saterday 29 May 2021
Wind predicted from the south, sunny and warm. Sailed the big kit: iSonic 117 with S-Type 8.3 and SL-P 48cm. With southerly winds, you need to get upwind to have more space and a bit more free wind. Once past the surf centre, long stretches, could be sailed along the sandbank and the island. Sailed most of the time with Jeroen. In the harder gusts I really had to give more outhaul and the 48cm was really too big. But most of the time the fin made it very easy to get planing. Wind was gusty and was gone too soon, but the temperature was lovely, winter wetsuit was too hot. Nice day. [Read...]
08 May 2021: All afternoon rain
Thursday 27 May 2021
The wind was south-east and rain all day. Started with iSonic 117 and S-Type 7.3 and SLX 43cm. Wind was a bit gusty, but given the direction not too bad. Everyone was sailing in the narrow part, so quite busy and paying close attention. The wind increased so tried the SLX 41cm. Wind increased more, a smaller set had to be possible. FSW 102 with Banzai 6.0 and MFC 29cm. Good choice, light set, much easier in the chop. Almost ripped the strap of the harness. Despite the rain, despite the south east wind, still a very nice afternoon, not really cold. [Read...]
