Maui Monthly no. 43. November 2008

no. 43. November 2008

Maui, Hawaiian Islands

The time is running Where did this month go? I swear the weeks went by like days and the month seemed like a week. The older generation always warned me that time goes quicker the older you get. I remember being a kid and daydreaming about how cool it would be to be twenty or twenty-five years old and I couldn’t wait ‘til that time came. Well those days have come and gone and the reality of day to day existence is both my daily challenge and pleasure.

Living and working on the island of Sal, in Cape Verde creates daily challenges and victories that keeps me moving forward in a one step at a time attitude.

I’ve probably been writing about our new Angulo Cabo Verde Windsurf Center www.angulocaboverde.com for the last few months, and yet it is still at the forefront as one of my biggest challenges. It’s open and up and running. The rig fleet has over one hundred MauiSails set exclusively on MauiSails 75% carbon masts and Streamlined extensions and mast feet. Also new to Angulo Cabo Verde this year is our MauiSails “carbon boom upgrade” for anyone seeking a no-compromise windsurf holiday.

As part-owner ( together with my wife) I always see the many details that need to be finished and fine tuned.... Theres a saying in Cabo Verde, “Faze casa k nada, acabo e tudo”.... “ building a house is nothing, finishing it is everything”. So you can get the gist of what we’re doing.

We’re also doing the finishing touches on a new 90 sq.m front street piece of real estate that will serve as our new retail location. I have to run down there now to do some finishing touches on the lighting selections. Beyond all that boring stuff, we are just finalizing a contract with the government to do the on-site organization for the World Cup here in Sal. It looks like this year we may actually have the green light to create the atmosphere we’ve wanted the last few years, but have run into some walls of beurocracy in the past. However patience and persistence equals results. so lets stay tuned.

By all means the highlight of my month was working together with Bogo and the new addition to our R&D, Jean Bouldoires, as well as my dad and brother,Mark. We have designed and released our best boards to date. Look for it online at www.anguloboards.com. Before signing off, I’d like to wish a Wonderful Christmas greetings to everyone in hopes of familys and friends celebrating the birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Aloha, Josh Angulo CV-1 www.mauisails.com | 0

Maui Monthly | Our Experience Your Reward no. 43. November 2008

Maui, Hawaiian Islands

How many races this month?

In the beginning of the month I did some slalom events in the Northeast of Brazil. Around 400 km from Fortaleza. The place is very nice for slalom racing because is flat and very choppy at the same time and windy like always in the Northeast of Brazil this time of the year. We had the races inside a river and also two jibing marks are on the outside of the ocean. The beach is completely full of people watching the races. Very nice. After all the races we went out in the beach and everybody there asking for photos and signature. I was feeling like a real Hollywood star there !!!

After all the slalom races I was back in my lovely formula equipment again. One week before the FW events I was there testing and training everyday at the Marina Park Hotel. This place we had the Brazilian nationals and the FW grand prix this year. The days before the races testing with my local friends I knew my speed was very good with the TR 4’s.All the sizes are machines during the course , going upwind and downwind.

We did two nice events here and I’m very happy with my results and very happy with the performance of the sails. Thank you guys once again. I really have the best gear I could ask for.

I’m looking forward for next year !!!!

See you on the water !!

Gabriel Browne BRA-50

FW Brazilian Nationals 1st - Gabriel Browne ( 1st youth ) 2nd - Paulo Dos Reis 3rd - Wilhelm Shurmann 4th - Victor Melo 5th - Fabio Melo Brazil Formula Grand Prix 1st - Gonzalo Costa 2nd - Gabriel Browne 3rd - Ross Williams 4th - Wilhelm Shurmann 5th - Paulo Dos Reis

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Maui Monthly | Our Experience Your Reward no. 43. November 2008

Relax time is coming Time to start to relax as the end of the year approaches.

Most the real work has been completed for the TR5 and once again we have pushed to the last moment and made good progress on all aspects of the design and quality. A new look logo, refinements of shape and twist to enhance speed and handling. It’s a never ending process but at some stage you have to say “we have achieved our goals for this race sail”, and send off the final designs for production.

Once again we will be registering sizes 4.3m to 10m for the PWA sail registration. The PWA has tightened it’s rules this year after a few sailors pushed the current rules over their boundaries. We will need to supply photo’s of the sail and details of construction of the main parts of the sails.

Wave sailing has been awesome in November with consistent swells and a variety of winds. We will start to look at waves sails here in the next month and gather ideas for the 2010 designs, so if anyone has some ideas please let us know.

On a personal note I completed my first “century ride” this month, which is a 100 mile or 160km bike race around Maui.

I managed to stay with the peloton for about half of the race, but eventually got dropped off the back and had to gut it out for the next half, pedaling most of the time alone.

A very hard race with tied legs by the finish, but another great experience.

Maui, Hawaiian Islands

Busy November for Art It has been a busy month at the loft as we work to finalize the TR-5’s. After much testing and refinement we finally figured out the recipe to make the new sails significantly faster than previous years. The TR-5 incorporates a combination of modified twist profile, softer luff curve, adjusted outline and seam shaping refinements. We also payed close attention to our rig tension measurements which were compiled throughout the development process.

We were able to monitor the effect of shaping changes on tension as we progressed through the designs. We were also able to relate one size to another in order to create a harmonious transition. The tension data also reinforced the importance of correct tuning and showed what a big difference small adjustments can make.

It has been interesting to observe the relationship between a sails handling and “feel” and its speed and efficiency. Our on the water testing generally indicates that the sails with a softer, more comfortable feel also have the fastest GPS results. This demonstrates how an efficient sail will not only be fast but also comfortable and light in the hands.

Well, I’m trying to tie up all the loose ends at work and at home before heading off to China in a couple days. The swell is also building on the North shore, tempting me into one more windsurfing session before being locked in the factory for a week.

Aloha, Artur Szpunar www.mauisails.com | 0

Maui Monthly | Our Experience Your Reward no. 43. November 2008

Maui, Hawaiian Islands

Great month on Maui November was a great month on Maui and the first in a long time where I didn’t go on a plane. Maui had the whole spectrum of conditions, from ballistic trades to gentle Kona’s and everything in between. I had some of my best wave sessions ever at Ho’okipa. It was a rare joy being stacked on my 5.0 Legend. It doesn’t happen often here and kept the crowds away. At the other end I had some very wobbly 5.8 days just managing to sneak out through the sets, and then getting some amazingly smooth mirrorlike waves. Slalom sailing was also at both ends of the scale with some ‘hang on’ 5.5 days and much more tranquil 8.4 runs. I also ventured back onto a Formula board for the first time in three years, which gave me a reminder of how fun but painful on the legs that can be!!

All the varied conditions made Maui the perfect testing ground for the new TR-5’s. I have had some testing experience with other brands over the last few years and have seen their different approaches and the results they produce. Gaining a further insight into the race sail development with Barry, Phil, and Art was by far the most interesting part of the month. I got an inside view into the evolution that goes on and the level of expertise these guys have. It is a finely oiled process which produced

outstanding improvements in a very efficient way. The communication between the findings on the water and the observations from Barry and Art on the land enabled them to make small adjustments which produced huge improvements. By working between the beach and water we got massive jumps in performance between one session and the next. It was after witnessing how much a sail improved in exactly the way we wanted that I fully appreciated how good Barry and Phil’s system is and why the Team Races are so highly regarded. We now have a couple more weeks before the PWA sail registration deadline and only some very fine tuning left to do and already by far the most competitive race sail yet.

With only one month left before 2009 is upon us and the Christmas hype already sweeping in I’m looking forward to another windy one here on Maui and lots more sailing. I hope you all have a very festive time and some of you are lucky enough to wake up on the 25th to find a nice new MauiSail under the tree!

Aloha Dan Ellis GBR-52

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Maui Monthly | Our Experience Your Reward no. 43. November 2008

Maui, Hawaiian Islands

A mighty fine November November has been such a great month for us. Plenty of wind, some early good waves, and lots of TR-5 development. I really love to be on the beach and then get back into recuts and alterations to make our guesses turn into reality. When we find a systematic set of adjustments that shows measurable (GPS) improvement from day to day, it is really encouraging and enlightening. And it makes the rest of the job of tuning the remaining sails much easier and dependable.

This season we were able to see plenty of sails in action at high levels of competition and to also begin to see the results of our work last season around this time, as we tuned the TR-3 into 4. As with all things, we never give up on the idea that what we do can be better and better... it’s just a matter of finding out exactly what that should be. By taking key sizes that we can use here almost daily and doing the kind of changes we think will improve the performance characteristics we want to expand (always better range and low-end, ease of handling, and control at speed), it is possible to get a set of parameters and ratios we can look for in the other sizes. Our early work during the summer and right after Phil was in Sylt, had proven to even the tension along the leech, make the twist smooth and correect for loading, and to add some depth and potential power to the lower sections. Using the Omega load cell is teaching us lots about tension and the relationship to rig feel and tuning range and will lead to better accuracy in tuning recommendations.

I am heartened by a growing list of people who are moving up the competition ranks and who found great speed in the TR-4 as this leads to confidence in the development methodology and shaping decisions. A World Championship in Formula, lots of improvement from a wide range of sailors in all disciplines, and regular positive feedback from people all over, offers us assurance that the relatively unusual design path we are on is bringing good results.

When we jumped off in the TR-3 development, that was not such a sure thing as we feel now.

Finally...November brought my 93 year old Mum out here again and we had some good times, including a fine day sailing on the J-105 off Lahaina with Geoff Bourne and Debbie Brown. Mum loves to be afloat. No whales yet, but everything else was perfect. Thanks be for that.

Aloha Barry Spanier

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