Maui Monthly no. 31. November 2007

no. 31. November 2007

Martin van Meurs hit 50.7knots on TR-3!!

The main goal for me when I joined Maui Sails was to try and break 50 knots, regardless of the distance. Training sessions throughout the year showed me I had made huge progress in fine tuning the gear and adjusting my stance for record breaking conditions. However, up till now I wasn’t very lucky with the wind. In Soutehnd, the venue for an official record attempt starting in January 2006 finally my luck changed.

I wanted to get to know the spot where the attempt will be held and thought I would get a nice but for sure no epic session in. The Ray itself looks amazing. As the tide drops an incredibly long sandbank gets exposed. It was a pretty long walk to get to the strip but as soon as I got there I knew this is one of the few places where the record can be set. The very first run I felt the TR-3 5.1 worked just like it should.

I cranked the downhaul to make sure the sail got enough breathing room for acceleration. The run was smooth but the strip wasn’t totally flat like pics we’ve seen from Sandy Point. The wind wasn’t particularly strong but still I felt I was smoking. In the end it turned out I immediately did a 45,4 500 meters run with a peak speed of 47 knots. The wind got less, the speeds got down and all of a sudden the swung around in a fierce rainsquall and dropped a little again.

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We moved to the second strip. I lost valuable time because I needed something to eat in what later turned out to be the best section of the day for average speeds. Because of this I needed to stay for the day ranking (5x10sec) when most others were going back ashore since it was getting late. I got pretty tired and almost thought about giving up, happy with the 500 meters speed I got in.

Bob Cunningham, the only one left on the water with Dave mc Innes and myself was smoking on his 5.8. I was way underpowered and could only get some decent peak speeds in, but the averages were way too low. I needed one more fast run for my day result, decided to put in a lot of negative outhaul to try and compensate for the smaller size and all of a sudden I saw a cloud nearing which could bring the needed wind. As soon as I saw the first whitecaps flying I got onto the board, felt the wind increase and bore off at the wall. Apart from the start everything went very smooth.. The start was critical since I could only build up speed 2 meters from the shore because outside there was too much rolling chop. I was nearly overthrown because of the push in my back from the squall and then the “magic carpet ride” began. I slowly moved from front foot to back foot pressure, made sure I wouldn’t over sheet the sail, locked in the mast foot pressure and released back foot pressure a bit since the 5.1, once on the run, still felt a little small.

Photo : Eric Baardman

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Maui Monthly | Our Experience Your Reward no. 31. November 2007

Maui, Hawaiian Islands

Photo : Eric Baardman

As it turned out later I only got 12-14 seconds of full powered up speedsurfing in, the rest was accelerating and decelerating. I didn’t have any reference points and I was so concentrated on the run that I forgot to count. The 500 meters run was not perfect by any means and still it turned out the speed was 47 knots. Since it was very bad weather I thought my Navi showed a peak speed of 83,49 with a top speed of 89,89 on the dial. A little disappointed about the average I went back to the shore only to find out I did 93,49 (over 50 knots). YIIIIHAAARRR. The run showed me this spot is capable of delivering the goods for an outright record. there is no question a couple of windsurfers out there can do the trick and I’m happy I’ve earned the right to say I’m one of them. I will do my utmost to break 50 over here and fight the big boys present at the official attempt. Barry and I already have had very good talks based on the findings of this run to create a sail which is even faster than the TR-3 I used. Boogie made me perfect asy fins and the Naish production SP60 clearly is a board capable of breaking the record. Hopefully we will get lucky and a windsurfer will be the first craft to break 50 over 500.

Martin van Meurs

Barry Spanier comment : It was totally Martin’s effort that made this happen. We made a good sail that was able to be tuned and managed in strong conditions. Martin is wholly responsible for making it go fast though. He has the dedication and interest that is necessary for achieving something like this. he works on fins, and spends a lot of time testing and tuning for being ready for the peak moments. It takes that kind of effort to make high speeds possible. you can’t just go out and do that.

It does feel good to be involved with supporting his efforts as much as we are able to right now. We can’t afford canal time, or the waiting costs, so the GPS method has brought the possibility into the realm of anyone with interest who chooses the best equipment they can find available and figures out how to use it. He has spent years working towards this and what I think is so commendable is that he basically a ‘citizen sailor’ with a real job and responsibilities. this further proves the democracy of the GPS system and, I think, adds to the interest of other ‘normal’ sailors who might be similarly inspired. It proves you don’t need the giant money backing and complex effort to succeed.

Aloha, Barry

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Maui Monthly | Our Experience Your Reward no. 31. November 2007

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Kevin : Australia, Thailand, Maui, Brazil The month of November was a great month filled with action and good times. I managed to go to Thailand and Australia for some sailing in Margret River with Scott Mckercher and friends. Maui has also been some good conditions for testing out the new TR 4’s and they are really getting good. We have been making them softer and more controllable as well as some better low end to get even more drive and power out of the gybes. I think they are going quite good and cannot wait to get them on the racing course. Now I am off to Brazil to do a nice travel story and then back to Maui for Christmas.

Hope you guys are enjoying your holiday season and see you on the water.

Aloha, Kevin.

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Maui Monthly | Our Experience Your Reward no. 31. November 2007

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Taty : Thailand and Vietnam trip 1st November Kiri and I took a two day flight to Thailand to test the new Freestyle Starboard boards. It was the first ever long flight. We depart from Bonaire on the 1st at 3pm and arrived in Thailand the 3rd at 2pm. It was great to be in Thailand to meet all the Starboard team. They are very nice, hard working and open minded people. I didn’t eat much because I am very picky. I ate mostly fish during my first week in Thailand.

Sailed In (Pataya) for two days; first day 5.2 nicely powered up, second day 5.6, just right wind. This place can be such fun when there’s wind. I like the condition there with water very warm same like Bonaire:0 Second week Tiesda organized Kiri and I a trip to Vietnam so that we can test the new 2009 Flare boards. We didn’t have wind for the whole 6 days so we just slept, ate, internet, swim, and watch movie for the whole 6 day. Just on the last day the wind kinda picked up so we had three hours to test 4 boards. Only tested 3, but thanks God we had wind in Pataya during the first week in Thailand so that we could decide which board to choose to go for production for 2009.

The trip to Vietnam was a 1:30 flight from Bangkok then a 4 hour drive to the FULL MOON hotel. I hate to drive so long in a car to get to the hotel it seems like the trip takes forever.

It’s okay, because to visit new places and see so many different things in such long trip makes you look at life in another way..

The Culture in Vietnam is so funny to me. I’ve never seen so many scooters on the road. In Vietnam I saw more scooters then cars. Four people on a small scooters is prohibited on Bonaire and most of the places I have been, but in Vietnam it’s okay to do this. The bus driver had been stop by the traffic police because of having the board bags in the bus and had to pay about 10euro fine, while some people are driving more dangerous on the scooters with sometimes plywoods and they don’t get fined. But we got to live with that..hahaha..

The 16th, Kiri and I flew back to Bonaire... after two weeks of not sailing much in Thailand and Vietnam.. The wind was great on Bonaire so that same day we arrive I went to the Sorobon beach and sailed. 5.2 Loco was a perfect size for the first week I have been back home. Then we had the last week of November with perfect 4.8 conditions very windy and big chops. It’s the perfect 2 months of the year where the wind starts to build in and the water gets more deep in the bay, so this means that we get big waves outside the reef, and with storms wind kicking in by early December it will sure be a great end of the year with wind..

Life is good, and I am having fun here on Bonaire.. sailing a lot and I am training to improve my freestyling and get more consistency. Will start with a diet and a training program next week, as I may need to go to the RSX qualifier in New Zealand by early January... don’t know if I will do good as I have only once been on the RSX equipment.. but will do my best..

Take care y’all..

Taty frans NB-9

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Maui Monthly | Our Experience Your Reward no. 31. November 2007

Maui, Hawaiian Islands

Artur : The TR-4 evolution continued The TR-4 evolution continued this month and we are now at the point of finalizing the designs so that they are ready for production. The TR-4 is faster and has made progress in other areas as well.

The TR4 sails are, in general, slightly lower tension than the TR-3. This has resulted in a more efficient twist profile and a softer feel. We achieved this through adjustments in the luff curves and seam shaping. We also increased shape in the bottom part of the sail to provide better low-end power.

The ultimate goal of all these adjustments was, of course, to make the sails faster. GPS testing and parametric testing has shown us that we have succeeded in this respect.

Other improvements to the sails include new cams and new batten tensioners. The new cambers have been designed to be lighter weight and to reduce wear on the mast. The new tensioners are low profile and minimize the adverse “pinching” effect that many tensioners have on the leech of a sail. They help give the sails a cleaner profile when under load. We have also added new wear protectors on the batten pocket where the sail touches the boom and around the bottom sleeve area.

The TR4’s also have a new, cleaner graphic look that incorporates strategically placed mark cloth to improve durability in high wear areas.

We are all excited to see the TR4’s prove themselves on the racecourse this coming season.

Aloha, Artur Szpunar

Thanks for everything in November.

This month was flying by so fast it was almost amazing. I guess that’s what happens when deadlines loom and there is a solid wall of preparation to assemble before finally hitting the GO button (production of TR-4). It’s almost funny to think back on the last twenty years and try and remember when I have had a Turkey Day or Christmas without the pressure. This year I expect Christmas will be the best one in awhile, just because we are actually hitting our production schedule deadlines.

Tomorrow morning I’ll be heading to Japan to welcome our new agent and check out the local racing scene there.

I’m very excited to get back there again after more than ten years of merely passing through the Narita transit lounges. It will be fun to see the changes and check in with old friends. I’ll be reporting on that event in next month’s newsletter.

Until then...

Aloha, Barry.

We had some killer surf here to be able to watch a lot of wave sails in preparation for getting into the next round of designs. I was watching while Phil paid the ultimate price for that last, late afternoon session in falling breeze. Board, boom, mast, sail, all took the fateful trip across the Hookipa rock garden. Only the sail will get fixed. It looked like fun until then.

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