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Darbonne
Joined: 27 Jan 2012 Posts: 252 Location: Farmerville, Louisiana
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Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 7:04 pm Post subject: |
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Wish I could have made it. That must be Bruce's Kona. Will you be at the Pumpkin Cup?
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GURGLETROUSERS
Joined: 30 Dec 2009 Posts: 2643
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Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 4:28 am Post subject: |
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I note that Dolphins prefer the Kona 1. They don't come out to play with me when I'm on anything else.
I can't speak for the preferences of Sharks, Killer Whales, or Loch Ness monsters. (Nor would I wish to!)
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999 Posts: 17775 Location: Berkeley, California
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Arthur_TX
Joined: 03 Sep 2013 Posts: 10
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Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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I think i will try to make it to pumpkin cup.
Weren't very many at the swap meet compared to many years ago when I last attended.
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giuantramontana@gmail.com
Joined: 01 May 2010 Posts: 8
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Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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I had a similar story to Arthur_TX and recently found a new windsurfing life thanks to longboarding.
I used to be an avid windsurfer from 1985 to 1998. Until the early 90s, I had sailed and raced locally longboards enjoying it. By the mid 90s, I ended up to be the only one among windsurfing friends with a longboard, so I sold it and moved toward wave sailing. At that time, negative publicity against on longboarding was huge in the media considering longboarders = beginner. When life and career came along, I was forced to abandon The Sport because I did not have time to follow the wind with a 80 liter board in a hatchback.
I tried to get back into the sport in the early and mid-2000s with no success (same issues, no time to go sail when it was windy enough for a wave or slalom board where I was living at the time).
Then, I moved to Seattle and met a local oldtimer who told me to get a longboard if I was hoping to sail in town. I did it, and don't regret it.
Longboarding has replaced most of the other physical activities. I currently longboard with any breeze or wind. Longboarding has allowed me to get back in shape, so I can take sporadic trips to the Gorge to slalom race and B&J.
After 3 years into it and participating in local informal racing events, I decided to take a big step and organize the perfect longboard vacation (after getting my wife onboard with the plan ).
Early this month, I went to Czech Republic and took part to the Worlds Raceboard (The longboard event). I was not ready to be competitive, but, anyway, it was a blast. I will definitively repeat the experience in the future. Just starting a race with other 109 sailors around you, it was intimidating at first, and an adrenaline spike later (see photo).
Talking about longboard resurgence, this year Worlds had the largest number of participants ever: 110. It was a great learning experience and great fun, too. It was great sailing with a very friendly crowd with participants from all over Europe, Australia and Argentina. I was the only USA sail number. Many of the participants return every year and would like to see more participants from this side of the world.
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Sailboarder
Joined: 10 Apr 2011 Posts: 656
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Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 9:01 am Post subject: |
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It's great to hear that raceboard events are friendly too. I've done a Kona event that was great, but I was assuming that raceboard events were more down to business.
Thanks for sharing your story.
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konajoe
Joined: 28 Feb 2010 Posts: 517
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Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 9:13 am Post subject: |
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WOW! That's really a nice event.
But I started reading some of the reports and blogs from the racers. Sponsored team riders were talking about making equipment choices, right and wrong. I personally hate racing against folks who have access to better equipment than I have. But I know it has its place.
If you liked that event, check out one of the big Kona events next year. One board, one sail, one fin. No equipment war. No pumping. Very fair racing. You'll love it!
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Sailboarder
Joined: 10 Apr 2011 Posts: 656
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Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 2:39 pm Post subject: |
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On the KonaOne page, there's an inteview with Max Wocjik. He won the raceboard world and the Kona European. I think he dominated the World's but found the Kona to be a tighter challenge.
http://www.konaone.com/
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giuantramontana@gmail.com
Joined: 01 May 2010 Posts: 8
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Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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Regarding Kona events, I will certainly look for future events as long as they offer charter. At the Raceboard Worlds, I chartered a new Starboard/Severne 9.5 set and rented a 8.5 rig locally.
Regarding Raceboard, I feel I need to add some clarifications and corrections on your post. The class limits the gear a sailor can register for the whole event to 1 board, 2 sails, 2 fins and 2 centerboards. The board must be a production board, so no favoritism for team riders (btw the world champion in raceboard also won the kona european on his first time on a kona, so he is good independently from gear and pumping). The extra gear is necessary given that you may race in any conditions as long as the average wind speed is between 5 and 30 knots. The two sets of registered sail/fin/centerboard are mostly for light or high wind. If races are all held in light wind, everyone end up using the light wind set, but it may happen strong wind. At this year event,we had strong wind in the first day with two races held in 18g28 (knots) and two races in 14g22.
Raceboard is certainly more physical when raced in light wind. A good aerobic training will help in light wind because it allows to pump more and/or better. However, the class rules also limit the total number of races per day and the number of consecutive races (back to back) when light conditions occur.
The class allows for a more competitive race, but I found the event to be quite friendly with only 1-2 protests per day.
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giuantramontana@gmail.com
Joined: 01 May 2010 Posts: 8
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Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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Regarding Kona events, I will certainly look for future events as long as they offer charter. At the Raceboard Worlds, I chartered a new Starboard/Severne 9.5 set and rented a 8.5 rig locally.
Regarding Raceboard, I feel I need to add some clarifications and corrections on your post. The class limits the gear a sailor can register for the whole event to 1 board, 2 sails, 2 fins and 2 centerboards. The board must be a production board, so no favoritism for team riders (btw the world champion in raceboard also won the kona european on his first time on a kona, so he is good independently from gear and pumping). The extra gear is necessary given that you may race in any conditions as long as the average wind speed is between 5 and 30 knots. The two sets of registered sail/fin/centerboard are mostly for light or high wind. If races are all held in light wind, everyone end up using the light wind set, but it may happen strong wind. At this year event,we had strong wind in the first day with two races held in 18g28 (knots) and two races in 14g22.
Raceboard is certainly more physical when raced in light wind. A good aerobic training will help in light wind because it allows to pump more and/or better. However, the class rules also limit the total number of races per day and the number of consecutive races (back to back) when light conditions occur.
The class allows for a more competitive race, but I found the event to be quite friendly with only 1-2 protests per day.
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