First impression of the Exocet Warp SL56

As I arrived on the spot the wind was blowing 12 to 18 knots. I was disappointed about the conditions but I decided to rig the sail anyhow. I took the RS6 6.7 with minimum downhaul and put a SL7 33 under the board to maximize the chance to get the board planning.
I went out and immediately started planning. Did the wind increase or does this board plane so easy? I also have a Warp SL61 on order and while I was sailing I started to wonder if I really need a SL61 also.
The board has a very light feeling. Compared to the previous Warp’s the feeling is more direct and less soft. Good thing. The acceleration in a gust is instantaneous. As if the light and stiff board does not have any gravity at all.
I immediately felt at home on the board. It gives great confidence. That’s the thing you need to start pushing hard.
And then the first jibe, the board doesn’t lose any speed at all and comes storming out of the jibe. This is really a fantastic feeling. I once had a board (JP XCITE Ride) that was also a fantastic gyber in flat water. A long time ago I had a F2 Axxis which was fantastic in gybing in chop. The Warp SL56 is a combination of both. Very good exit speed and cutting through chop in a gybe.
The Exocet DDSA (double density shock absorbers) are still there and do their job. The foot straps are stiffer and even with the thick surf shoes (ION Ballistic) no problem to get in the straps.
I changed the SL7 33 for a SL7 31. Still enough grip for the RS6 6.7 in these light conditions. The speeds also went up a bit. I think that the SL31 will be my preferred fin for the 6.7 and I will put a SL7 29 for the RS6 6.2. When I get my other boards I will try the following combo’s.
Warp SL71 + RS6 8.4 + RS7 45
Warp SL71 + RS6 7.2 + SL7 39
Warp SL61 + RS6 7.2 + SL7 33
Warp SL61 + RS6 6.7 + SL7 31(33)
Warp SL56 + RS6 6.2 + SL7 29(31)
Warp SL56 + RS6 5.4 + SL7 27(29)

All I have to you now is to wait for some more wind to break my GPS records!

Lake Garda

My first vacation to the Lake Garda in Italy. I heard of some good wind conditions in the summer and I decided to give it a go. I camped in Torbole. In the morning there was a slight breeze coming from the North. Not really enough wind to go out. In the afternoon the wind came from the South. This wind is called the ORA. The morning wind is called the PELER.
It is difficult to start from the town of Torbole because the wind is not as strong near the coastline as it is let’s say 200 meters from the shore. The best starting place in Torbole with ORA wind is the parking place near the windsurf school Conca. (You will have to pay 8 euro’s a day to park your car there) The ORA wind will blow from about 2:30 pm till 6:00pm with a force 3 to 5 beaufort.
After one week in Torbole I heard from another windsurfer that the PELER wind is much stronger in the morning in Malcesine. There is a bus-parking there were you can park. The PELER will blow from 6 am till 9:30 am. One morning I tried to leave the camping early to go to Malcesine. Unfortunately I couldn’t leave the camping before 7 am because the gate was still closed. When I arrived at the bus-parking about 7:20 am there was not one parking space left. About 50 to 60 windsurfers were already out on the water!
The ORA and PELER winds are best in the summer when the temperatures are high and there are no clouths. One exception to this is the wind you can get after a thunderstorm. Then you can have 6 to 7 Beaufort for a couple of hours.
The Lake Garda itself has clear blue water. The water is coming from several mountain rivers. The water temperature in august was about 21° Celsius in Torbole. I also visited the following towns in the north of the Lake. Riva Del Garda (good food, nice market places), Limone (famous for Lemon agriculture), Torbole (windsurf), Malcesine (beautiful town and castle). In the south of the Lake you have a completely different landscape. The lake is no longer surrounded with mountains and the lake is much wider. The towns Lazise (within walls) and Sirmione (island within Garda Lake only connected with the main land with a small road) are also worth visiting.

All pictures are taken from the surfsport Conca d'Oro.
Special thanks to Equipe-Trading for the loan of the Warp Slalom 73.
Special thanks to Datamotive, my sponsor.



Conca

Impressive mountains

DataMotive

Andrea Cucchi and myself.

Speed

Speed2

Start planing and planing through lulls

Start planning


When you are on the water and there isn’t enough wind to start planning you can do one of 2 things:

1 Start pumping to get onto the plane
2 Go to the beach, enjoy the sun and wait until the wind increases


I'm off to the beach.

When is this windforecast going to materialise?



Sail closed, waiting for gusts to come. (see picture above)



When there is a gust coming I open the sail and put the mast forward to catch the gust. Then sheet in and plane by pushing the board downwind. (see picture above)


Planing through lulls


You are surfing with a good speed and nice power in your sail. The board is planning. Suddenly you see a big lull (no more rinkles on the water) but you want to continue to plane.

I take all the weight of of my feet and hang on the boom to put as much mastfootpressure as possible. Also try to keep the sail open and do not oversheet. (Look at the surfer to the left. He is not putting his weight on the mastfoot, the board sinks and stops planning)




When you see a new gust coming, open up the sail even more to get maximum airflow over the sail. When you feel the sailpower increasing, put your weight back over you feet. Start to sheet in the sail and accelerate again.





(pictures taken with a windspeed of 12 to 15 knots)
Kit : Exocet Warp Slalom 73, Select Viper RS 45, NeilPryde RS6 8.4, Mystic Waist Harness

BK Racing G-dam 24-25 may 2008

A bit of history.
In 2002 I bought my first formula board an AHD Diamond Formula 95 just to maximize surfing time in low wind conditions.

This board was very easy to surf and it was still fun on a half-wind course. It felt a bit like a very large slalom, very easy to control when the wind increased.

After a year I tried some Formula competitions. It became clear that I didn't have the same upwind angle as the competitors on the newer boards. In 2005 I bought the Fanatic TT Formula.

This board allowed a sharper upwind angle but the fun of half wind cruising was gone. Due to the sharper rails and the more powerful 70cm fin it became too physical for me to sail.

One year later I switched the Fanatic TT Formula for a JP Slalom 134.

This board was 80 cm wide and came with a 54cm fin and equipped with a NP V8 9.0m2 it gave nearly the same planning possibilities in light wind as the formula.

So far on the history.
On the 24th and 25th of May there was a BK racing competition on my home-spot. The wind was already there Saturday morning so it was very possible that they would also do some slalom competition. This convinced me to sign in. I knew that the BK still gives priority to the Formula-competition. Therefore I borrowed a formula-board and equipped it with an also borrowed 9.5m2 free race sail.

Although the wind looked strong enough in the morning we started with 2 formula races. No fun for me.


Then, after general request from the riders, they set the course for some slalom competition. In fact they only put out 2 buoys and it was actually a figure 8-slalom.



Anyhow the fun was there. This was my first ever slalom-race. We always had to do a full-fleet start which made it difficult for new guys like me. But it was very exciting. You can image the mesh at the first gibe! People gibing, falling, water starting in quite heavy chop. I was happy with my gibing technique. Didn't fell once. Only my starts were bad and the board-speed wasn't so good.
(this will certainly improve when I get these)
At the end of the day we had done 2 formula-races and 5 slalom-races.

Ben Vandersteen was also there and he even managed to end 5th in a fleet of 30 in one of the formula-races on an Exocet Warp Slalom 80 with a 9.0m2 sail.




On Sunday there was only one Formula Race and there wasn't enough wind for the slalom competition. Although the pictures taken that day shown here under may prove otherwise.




The results for the BK Formula and BK Slalom at the G-dam.

Test : Kona One

The weather has been very, very good for more than 2 weeks (2 may till 14 may) in Belgium. With temperatures of 27°C Belgium was the warmest place in Europe! The downside was that we only had some thermal winds during this period.

I got a Kona One from the shop to test. At least I thought I was going to test it but it turned out I had to wait for my turn.

In the morning there was no wind at all and the kids used the board to peddle and play. The soft deck is great for this.



In the afternoon my wife took the board. I rigged an old Saber although it had been 2 years since she last surfed she
was cruising around immediately without any problem.



Then I took over, started with some light wind "freestyle". (have to get rid of that JP sticker)



Then suddenly the wind went to 12-14 knots. I rigged my RS6 8.4 and went out. With the dagger board out you can go really good upwind to prepare for
the good gusts. I collapsed the dagger board and the board gradually accelerated onto the plane.
Once you step into the foot straps the board rides flatter on the water. From that moment the board actually feels smaller because on the reduced water contact.
This is the effect of the ducktail. Then the board accelerates a second time. The board also jibes good. Again the effect of the duck tail.





Conclusion. Very versatile board.

Test : Exocet Warp Slalom 73 at the Wild Games

Sunday 27th of April I went to the Kabbelaarsbank to join the fun slalom event called The Wild Games. This event is one of three events called the The 3-games. Since I already sold my Sonic 125 I didn't have a light wind slalom board. My local surf shop Zwemer managed to get a Exocet Warp Slalom 73 which I could pickup directly from the distributor.




In the morning the winds were very light. Together with the RS6 8.4 and Select RS7 45 cm I went out. In the beginning there wasn't a lot of wind. The board floats very well for my 86 kg. When the first gust came the board quickly jumped onto the plane. I immediately felt at home. The foot straps at the correct spot. “Very comfortable footpads with heel bumpers.”



Then the fun slalom started. During the first 2 manches the wind was so light that I could hardly plane. There were some guys using 12m2 sails and formula boards!!! The start was always a full fleet start (40-50 competitors) which made it difficult to get a good start. Since I was on a test board I didn't want to risk damage during the crowdy starts so I started a bit later. Light guys or big sails got the advantage.




Later on when the wind even increased a bit more I started to feel the difference. Because of the comfortable ride over the chop you gain a lot of confidence which allows you the push the board harder and get better board speed. The board feels light and sporty.





During the next 2 manches I managed some better starts and I was overtaking some guys. Overall results here.

Exocet is now introducing their new Slalom range. These boards will be lighter and stiffer and will still have the famous DDSA (Double Density Shock Absorbers). They are using the same technology as they did on their new Formula, "The Black Beast".



I'm already on the list to test one of these.