REGISTER FORMULA BOARDS 2008-9
F2 Formula  FX   2008

 USA - FORMULA WINDSURFING CLASS

S. F. Bay Longboard Wine Classic and Ultranectar Challenge


The Saint Francis Yacht Club hosted the S. F. Bay Longboard Wine Classic and Ultranectar Challenge this last weekend. It's been very windy on the Bay the past couple of weeks and Saturday was predicted and looking like it might be windy so most everyone chose on the smaller side for both fins and sails. I ran what I'd been sailing for the past 2 weeks - a 9.0 m with the 61cm Kashy. I was light to medium powered on the first triangle under the Golden Gate Bridge and then the wind backed off for the 2nd triangle. I was first to the weather mark both times but a slight misjudgment on the way down the 2nd time put me drifting around the boat/mark east of the North Tower and allowed the rest of the lead group to catch up. Then on the way to Anita Rock, Dave Wells (on a 10.0) was able to get in, around and out without difficulty and put the rest of us behind him double jibing to make that mark. Coming out of Anita toward Harding I was in 2nd place with Mike Percey (also on a 9) close behind. I was able to make some time up on Dave when he got a little too close to the lee of Alcatraz but our positions remained unchanged throughout the rest of the race. It wasn't all that windy on the lower part of the course - most of us were able to stay in the outside strap on the reach from Blossom Rock to Point Blunt - normally one of the windiest and toughest legs of the race.
 
As we approached the top of the Berkeley Pier, I watched Dave jibe around a mark the St.Francis had set. I hadn't scrutinized the race instructions and wondered if the mark was for the kites who's start had followed ours so I rounded the traditional mark at the top of the Pier - between the pole and the pier - a longer course which increased Dave's significantly. It turned out that Dave was right. Fortunately for me, Percey wasn't sure about which mark to round either and played it safe and followed me. Eric Christianson who was on a 10 but had been over early at the start had been coming through the fleet. He was pretty sure Dave was right and he rounded the buoy and closed the gap between himself, Percey and me. But it wasn't enough to get him to the finish before me or Mike so that was how the classic ended for the first 4 - Dave by quite a bit then me, Mike and Eric together.
 
Crossing the finish started the clock for each of us in the Ultranectar Challenge and the trip back upwind to the StFYC was pretty uneventful. The wind was what I'd call medium powered for a 9 - probably 16 to 18 - and the tide was a light ebb, slowly turning to a flood. I managed to make it back to the finish line at the St. Francis 1st but Mike Zajieck had made up 2 minutes on me by the time he'd finished for the win. I was 2nd, Eric was 3rd and Mike Percey was 4th. We all 4 rossed the finish line very close to each other. One thing that was pretty cool was that I had the fastest overall time down and back, i.e. from the start of the Classic to the finish of the Challenge.
 
The course racing on Sunday consisted of 3 races with downwind finishes. It was light so most of us rigged 10's. I decided to take a chance and run a 70cm Kashy that had tested well. I usually don't run fins that long but I thought it would be a good time try it out in racing conditions. I won the first two races. The races were 3 laps each and in the first race Eric C was all over me. I was first to the weather mark and though he finally passed me on the last weather leg when I over stood a bit, I was fast enough to stay with him and force him to come in low and go a little wide at the top mark enabling me to come into the mark high and dive down to jibe inside of him. Then I was able to him off to the finish.
 
The 2nd race I was first to the top mark again but Dave Wells caught an especially good puff sailing the inside on one of the down wind runs and took over 1st place. Then on the last lap I jibed a little early and it was a race downwind to the finish. I was really surprised that I was able to hang with Dave on my setup as he's been very fast downwind but I crossed the line less than a board length in front of him.
 
The wind had picked up by the 3rd race so I changed down to a 9 and the 64 cm Kashy. For some reason I've not felt very fast on that fin in the L8 this year and but for the sake of experimentation I decided to run it to see. I didn't feel fast on it the last race. That and getting upended by a ferry boat wake in the middle of a jibe didn't help. By the time I got the sail up and was moving down the course again the lead pack was almost to the bottom mark. I thought I'd blown the day but there were a couple of other people in the lead pack that ended up in the water and when the scores were posted I had barely managed to squeak a first over all. The last race I finished 5th and with the two 1sts that gave me 7 points. Dave had the same total with two 2nds and a 3rd but my 1sts I broke the tie.
 
Steve Sylvester reporting

Interview with  GONZALO COSTA-HOEVER  ARG-3   ranked # 1 in the world  formula class

 

Rick Randall:  Gonzalo, tell me about the first time you ever windsurfed, and what it was that made you dedicate your life to it?
 
 GCH: : AT THAT TIME (WHEN 9) MY MAIN SPORT ACTIVITY WAS PLAYING RUGBY AT SCHOOL..AFTER THE FIRST TIMES TRYING TO WINDSURF I DONT REALLY THINK THAT I WAS THAT ENTHUTHIAST ABOUT IT. BUT IT WAS MY FATHER AND MY OLDER BROTHER WHO GOT HOOKEP UP. THEY LEARNED REALLY QUICK AND I WOULD SAY AFTER THEIR FIRST PLANNING EXPERIENCES THEY THOUGHT THAT I SHOULD LEARN ALL THE WAY ASWELL. NOT MUCH LONG AFTER THAT WE WERE ALL RACING, INCLUDING MY MOM AND MY SIS...WE WOULD NORMALLY WIN A PRIZE FOR THE BEST FAMILY OVERALL..
 
RR:  And what is it today that keeps you motivated?
 
GCH: PROBABLY THE FEELING EVERYTIME I GET ON THE WATER OF PLANING AND GOING SO FAST IS WHAT KEEPS ME IN ON A SIMPLE WAY.

ON A DEEPER THOUGHT THEN I WOULD SAY RACING AGAINS 100 GUYS AND WINNING RACES..
ASWELL MANY TIMES I THINK THAT WHEN I LEARNED I USED TO WATCH A LOT THE PWA VIDEOS AND HAD MY HEROES THAT MOST OF THEM NOW ARE MY GOOD FRIENDS AND RIVALS IN THE WATER.

 I WAS GIVEN MANY OPPORTUNITIES THAT I VE ALWAYS TOOK AND ALWAYS HAD A FAIR AND POSITIVE RESULT..ALL THIS KEEPS ME GOING AND MAYBE ONE DAY  I LL GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME WORLD CHAMPION.. 


 
RR:  You are one of the top Formula sailors in the world, and also a threat in slalom...how is it that you are able to be good at both?  Are there similarities between the two that make it possible, or are you just that good?
 
GCH: 

I HAD DEDICATED ALL MY PRO CARRER TO COURSERACING.

THIS PAST WINTER I DECIDED THAT I WANTED TO PUT ALL MY KNOWLEDGE INTO SLALOM AND GO TO EVENTS TRAINED AS GOOD AS WHEN I GO TO A FORMULA EVENT TO SEE HOW IT GOES. TO DO THIS I SPENT 2 MONTHS IN MAUI TRAINING WITH FINIAN MAYNARD.

I AM CURRENTLY 5TH AT PWA SLALOM RANKS AFTER ONE WINDY "DAY" COMPETITION IN COSTA BRAVA. 

FOR ME RACING IN BOTH DICIPLINES IS SIMILAR..ONE PAYS OFF MORE TO FOCUSS ON YOUR TOP SPEED AND THE OTHER ONE MORE FOCUS ON TACTICS..IS REALLY HARD TO TUNE ALL THE STUFF FOR FORMULA AND FOR SLALOM TO BE ABLE TO BE AT THE TOP ON BOTH...

I AM PRETTY GOOD AT STARTS AND TACTICS, THIS HELPS A LOT...


RR:  So which do you prefer, slalom or Formula?
 
GCH: FORMULA
 
RR:  What are the best tips that you can give to sailors who are trying to get to the next level in their sailing?
 
GCH: SPEND MORE TIME IN THE WATER AND TRY TO KNOW BETTER YOUR GEAR..AND DO MORE EVENTS.
 
RR:  In racing at the pro level, it seems that there are really big guys like Antoine who do really well, and guys who are lighter like you who also do well, no matter what the conditions.  What advantages do the heavyweights have and when do the lightweights prevail?  Are there techniques that one can use to overcome the advantages or disadvantages of weight?
 
GCH: I AM MAINLY THE ONLY GUY THAT IS BELOW 80 KG IN THE SLALOM FLEET THAT HAS DECENT RESULTS. THE ONLY ADVANTAGE I SEE ON A LIGHTER GUY IS THAT MIGHT HAVE BETTER ACELERATION OFF THE START OR A JYBE ON THE LIGHT WIND DAYS. HEAVIER GUYS NORMALLY HAVE A BETTER TOP SPEED EVEN IN LIGHT DAYS . I NORMALLY USE 2 SIZES LOWER THAN ANTOINE..AND A SMALLER BOARD...BUT THIS DOESNT MEAN THAT I WILL BE SLOWER..MAINLY A BIGGER GUY STAYS MORE TIME ON TOTAL SPEED WHEN HEATING A CHOP OR GUST SECTION...
 
 
RR:  And now, you are developing fins for Maui Fin Company in addition to competing...how is that going?  Will we see a line of Formula fins ever?
 
GCH: WE ARE CONCENTRATED ON SLALOM FINS ONLY..THIS IS A LOT OF WORK. I DO WORK ON FORMULA FINS WITH A DIFFERENT MANUFACTURE AND THIS HAS NO INTERFERENCE ON THE MAUI FIN SLALOM DEVELOPMENT.

WE ARE WORKING WITH G10 SO FAR AND OUR FIRST REAL TEST WAS COSTA BRAVA. IAM REALLY HAPPY WITH THE RESULT AND WE HAVE MANY MORE PROTOS COMING SO BY THE END OF THIS YEAR WE WILL HAVE A VERY GOOD PRODUCT.
 
 
RR:  You have traveled here to Florida a few times to race, how do you like it here?
 
GCH:I LIKED FLORIDA A LOT. I NORMALLY GO THERE AT THE BEGINING OF THE YEAR TO TUNE MY FORMULA STUFF AND DO SOME RACES. IS DEFFINETLY THE WARMEST FEEL WHEN RACING AS I HAVE MANY FRIENDS THERE.
 
 
RR:  Any last parting thoughts?  Any rumors that you would like to confirm or deny?
 
GCH: IF YOU MEANT PARTY?? I HAVE A GIRLDFRIEND FOR ONE YEAR AND HALF AND EVERYTHING IS GREAT..IF YOU MEANT SPONSORSHIPS? I AM 99 PERCENT SURE I WILL CONTINUE WITH F2 FOR THIS YEAR AND PROBABLY NEXT YEAR TOO. I HAVE A VERY GOOD RELATION WITH PATRIK DIETELHM WHO IS THE SHAPER AND I WORKED VERY CLOSE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BOARDS FOR THIS YEAR AND NEXT.
  
RR:  Thanks for taking time from your busy schedule to answer these questions!
 
GCH:NO PROBLEM, ANY TIME..

US WINDSURFING NATIONALS     Worthington, Minnesota 

by:   RON KERN

To sum up the 2008 US Windsurfing Nationals at Worthington, MN for the formula fleet of 19; “Dude, you should have been here!” would be my comment.  The community was 100% behind the race with enthusiasm and preparation.   The local people are interested in what’s going on, the local newspaper has lots of daily coverage with photos all combined with a music festival that runs simultaneously makes for a great windsurfing experience.  This year as a bonus the wind was very cooperative too, producing the famed windiest spot on the high prairie.  Conditions were challenging at both ends of the spectrum, with formula minimum to maximum conditions for racing.  For men, two sails could have done it all, 9.0m and 12.0m.  17 races were held, with racing each of the competition’s five days.

   

Wednesday:  Strong winds, the wind graph showing lots of mid 20’s average and gusts to the mid 30’s, 9.0m is really the call, but many struggle with 10m sails.  Fernando Martinez takes an early lead with four bullets for five races for the day and shows the 10m can be mastered in “too much” wind, followed by Peter Bonello in second, Stephan Lidington in third.   Ron Kern takes a bullet in the last race spoiling Fernando’s string of wins. 

 

Evening entertainment is rained out for outside after a torrential downpour and tornado watch and is moved to the Travelodge bar.  A great 3-piece band consisting of an electric guitar, a washtub & rope bass, and a washboard, make some awesome music for several sets and are later accompanied by nationally acclaimed local harmonica player.  Awesome!

 

Thursday:  Lighter winds start out the day but build in the average and gusts that get people’s attention with big sails.  Four races are held.  Fernando opens up his lead a bit more and Ron Kern has a better day with another bullet and a couple 2nd’s moving him into 2nd position followed by Peter Bonello.  Most all of the fleet is on about a 12m.  Floridian Martin Abete finishes the day with a bullet in race number 9.

 

Friday:  Strong winds again, mid 20’s average and gusts to mid 30’s, 9.0m is the call and four races are held.  Ron Kern who is in second after two days, scores a bullet in race one with a good lead.  After lunch, he starts out the second race of the day well with a big lead for the first lap but crashes on the downwind jibe when his outhaul comes off the clew and he’s left in the water reattaching finishing with a 7th, Fernando takes a bullet.  The next race for Ron rounds first at the upwind but crashes going downwind after a stuff.  It appears Ron is the fastest man between crashes.  Meanwhile, Fernando is sailing consistently and opens up the lead that had shrunk only a bit.  The battle is now moving for third place with Peter Bonello and Allison Shreeve one point away at the beginning of the day.  Peter sails steady for the day with three back to back 2nds and opens up his lead on Allison.  Stefan Lidington is coming up from the back scoring consistently and finishing the day tied with Allison.  Jay Salzman is ecstatic winning the 3rd race of the day, claiming it’s the first time he’s ever won a race.  And of course, there is more great music for the evening.

 

Saturday:  Lighter winds, low to mid teen average.  The challenge for the day is to see who will come out for the third place.  Allison Shreeve shows her stuff today.  She scores two bullets and a 2nd and moves herself into third overall.  Fernando scores another bullet in race 3.  The day ends with Allison in third, Peter Bonello and Stefan Lidington slipping back to 4th and 5th places.  Fernando pretty much has 1st wrapped up and Ron is in 2nd. 

 

Saturday has an evening banquet outside in perfect weather at the backyard of Bill Keitel’s lakefront home with a plentiful pasta buffet.  Everyone welcomes a good helping of food after being run hard for the last 4 days with 15 races under their belts.  Music at the outdoor stage follows. 

 

Sunday:  Light winds, touching and staying at formula minimum with some gusts blasting through the course.  Ron and Fernando swap bullets and 2nd’s in the last two races of the series.  The wind is the lightest, with the most holes of the series making getting to the wind the key.  In the last lap of the last race, Ron & Fernando round within just a few yards of each other at the weather mark and Fernando gets a great downwind blast on a super huge header making it to the mark in one shot easily winning the closing race.     

 

Sailing on a small lake setting brings up many of the skills that you may have read about in sailing books.  Wind shifts, finding the pressure, covering your competition, good transitions, all played a huge part in success for the competitors who figured it out.  Fernando Martinez mastered it winning with 9 firsts and overall first place.  Second overall was Ron Kern with 4 firsts and 5 seconds and winning the over 50 “vintage” class.  Third place overall was women’s pro racer Allison Shreeve who took two bullets and two seconds racing with the Starboard Formula One Design kit and winning the women’s fleet.  She did extremely well using the 9.5m women’s rig and the 11m men’s rig, depending on the conditions and a second non-kit fin all within the formula rules but not keeping to the One Design format against the more open formula fleet.  Of course there was much talk on the beach after racing about the pros and cons of switching the Olympic windsurfing board from RS:X to the Starboard Formula One Design.

 

It was kind of funny the next day about 40 miles out Worthington, getting gas, the store clerk recognized Ron from the front page photo of the regatta results.  Nowhere but in Worthington would this have happened!  If Worthington bids and wins for the US Nationals again, I know I’ll come back and I would suspect that most everybody would share that opinion about having a great race here.  Again, “Dude, you should have been here!”

by: ALLISON SHREEVE    AUS-911

Worthington certainly knows how to put on a regatta for the 65 competitors who made their way from all over the country and beyond for the US Nationals.  From Tornados to glorious sunny conditions, a beautiful lake just perfect for windsurfing, and the lively sounds of the Unvarnished Music Festival made this a most memorable week.  The US Nationals have just concluded for 2008 with 17 spectacular races in Formula and 19 races in the open Raceboard fleets.  The race committee and organizers made the most of every opportunity to make this five day event a racing spectacular. Fernando Martinez dominated the fleet, with Ron Kern, Peter Bonello and Allison Shreeve in a hard fought tussle for the minor placings.  Over 65 competitors turned out for a week of grueling racing in conditions ranging from 4 to 40 knots.  Allison Shreeve, competing throughout the week on the Formula Windsurfing One Design kit finished an impressive third overall in the Formula fleet and first woman.

Day one, the regatta forecast was for strong winds.  This was an understatement when winds gusting 35-40knots graced the course area.  The course was set across the lake and with a windward leeward/M slalom course on the outer loop which made for some really spectacular crashes at the buoys.  While everyone had a bit on, it was impressive to see even the beginners out there having a go, and with the course set close to shore, the spectators were given a real treat, complete with commentary that could be heard far and wide!  Allison ended up with 5th at the end of the day, and a large hole in her board courtesy of a starting line crash.  The final race for the Raceboard fleet was cancelled due to a category 4 Tornado heading straight for Worthington.  Panic stations and a mad rush to pack up equipment and to get inside was the goal, and soon half of the fleet congregated in the small fort of the Kremer’s beach house watching the TV for weather updates.  The Tornado went around and Worthington was back in the safe zone. 

While day two was not quite as “exciting”, everyone was feeling the muscle pain a bit more than usual, so the race committee had pity and only ran four races in the lighter winds.  The unveiling of the handmade wooden trophies at the briefing definitely served as an incentive for doing well for the rest of the week.

Day three the power generating windmills were working from sunrise with another 25-35knot day.  Thankfully the direction was a little more in the SW so it wasn’t so gusty coming down the lake.  Because the waves picked up more than before the race committee had to use five anchors just to hold the boat still in the silt and only managed three races for the day.  Allison still in touch with top three but lingering in 5th had some work to do in the final two days. 

Finally a light wind day on day four with barely enough wind to race.  After canceling the first race because only Fernando and Allison made the starting line in time and then came off the plane half way up the first work, they started the race again in 4-8knots of breeze.  While some struggled to stay in the gusts, others thrived taking advantage of every puff of wind they could find to get around the outer looped course.  Allison came away with two firsts and a very close second putting her into third place on a count back to fourth.  Allison said, “I was really happy with the performance of the Formula One Design equipment in super light wind.  We were starting 10 minutes behind the Raceboards and RS:X fleets and nearly caught them all by the finish of a 30 minute race.” 

The final day of racing had everyone on their toes.  A warning was issued from the race committee that they would start as early as possible in order to be off the water by 1:30pm.  So with that notion all sailors dragged their tired and sore bodies out of bed earlier to make the first start of the day at 10am.  A NW breeze was building, different from the past days, much more shifty and gusty, but still the races were started.  The first race of the day Allison crossed the fleet but then got stuck in a hole with no wind, then the fleet got stuck in a hole and Allison caught up again.  The lead changed so many times that it was a lottery as to who would get to the next mark first.  

Following pack up Allison held a presentation of the Formula Windsurfing One Design equipment on the beach where most of the racers attended.  Many technical questions were asked, but most of all people were pleased with the performance of the equipment from 4-40knots of wind with one kit.  Allison also set a new GPS speed record over 10 seconds averaging 26.60 knots and spiking a top speed of 32.05 knots on the Formula One Design gear.

Allison will now head home for one month to recover and prepare for the rest of the European season.  She intends on competing at the FW Europeans in Poland and the FW Worlds in Portugal in the coming months. 

Allison 
www.aus911.com

Worthington has been a great host city and the regatta is a blast for us as guests.  Things are well organized and the race committee is doing a great job.  The wind is cooperating well so far.  We've got 9 races in so far.     On the trip up we stopped at Lake Barkley in Paducah, KY Sunday afternoon for a sail.  Good thing, as when I went to rig I realized I had left at home most of the  mast extensions I needed.  The session at Lake Barkley was not particularly great, except I can now say I've sailed in Kentucky, but I did get some time on the water and most importantly realized I was missing the gear.  My next door neighbor was able to get the missing extensions to me by next day air in time to rig and tune Tuesday!  A mere $101.96 pissed away on next day freight.

Wednesday racing wound up with big wind.  It was on the border between 9m & 9.8m for me and I selected the 9.8m.  The 9m would have actually been the call for the 1st two races as it was gusting well over 30 and I was flattened a few times on the course.  Many didn't go out and were falling more than I so I still managed 5th & 6th place finishes.  By race 3 it backed off a bit and I could actually race and got another 5th in race 3, a 2nd in race 4 and won the last race by a solid margin finishing the day on a upbeat note. 

Thursday was light to start out.  Most of the fleet, about 20 boards, were rigged around 12m, myself the 11.8m.  The first race I took off on the wrong side of the course the first lap and was pretty far back, but worked up to 5th place finish.  Having figured things out the next race was a battle with Allison Shreeve and I took her at the last tack to the finish line and scored a first.  The next two races I was at the 1st or 2nd spot throughout the race and got touched out by Fernando Martinez in race 3 and by Martin Abete in race 4 scoring two seconds.   Fernando is sailing very well and has a good string of bullets and is 7 points ahead after 9 races including throw outs and I'm second, 10 points ahead of Peter Bonello who is in third.  Lots more racing to come, and it's not over yet!     Ron kern ( k )        

 The first day  of competition  for the US WINDSURFING NATIONALS  was held today  in Lake Okabena with 35 mph winds, 4 races  for the  formula class with  Fernando Martinez (A- 42) from Miami  winning the first 3 races of the day . World champion Allison Shreeve ( AUS-911)  from Australia finishing top 5 in most of the race.  At the of the day sailors has to be evacuating for a tornado warning. Stay tune for more pictures and results
Calcup May 17th
 
The preceding week had been unseasonably warm to hot in the Bay Area and that usually means flukey wind from an unusual direction or no wind at all. But Saturday morning there was fog off the coast for the first time all week and the wind looked to be setting up from the West for a good 20 mph. The location for the race was Pt. Isabel.
Since the wind looked as if it was going to build for the rest of the day, I rigged a 9 and put in a small 61cm fin in my L8. Most of the other racers rigged 10s and were using larger fins. The first race was windy enough to medium power my setup. I got a good start and managed to hold off everyone except Eric Christianson who passed me on the last downwind leg when I overstood the leeward mark. Fortunately I tacked early and was able to lay the pin end of the line barely beating him to the finish. 
For the 2nd race, there was a little more wind. Mike Percey and I got a good start and battled it out to the finish. I understood the first beat and had to double tack the first windward mark and Mike understood the second beat and returned the favor by having to double tack the second windward mark. That gave me just enough advantage to make it to the finish line first for another bullet.
For the 3rd race, the wind was beginning to come in waves. Mike Percey got a good downwind run off the top weather mark and was just enough ahead to keep the wind for the 2nd beat. Eric Christianson and I were left at the leeward mark , me standing and Eric driving off trying to stay on a plane. By the time the wind filled back in again, Mike was way ahead and Eric was enough below me so I was able to salvage a 2nd at the
finish.   By the time the 4th race started there were huge holes. No one was planing at the start. The first 3 races had been taking a little over 12 minutes each but by the time Eric, Mike and I met at the leeward mark after the first downwind, 20 minutes had passed. Fortunately, the race committee called the race as the fleet was spread out all over the
course. That was it for the day.
 
For results see
http://www.calcupevents.com/Results/2008/CalCup2_PtIsabel_Formula.shtml
 
Steve Sylvester reporting
International Windsurfing Association

Happy New Year! 2008 just started with some exiting one-off events on the agenda: Olympic Games in China, a board to be chosen for the 2012 London Olympics and a new ISAF rulebook 2009-2012 to be prepared. The IWA and its member classes hope to contribute to all of these. The first item on the agenda is an evaluation - do we want to continue with the RS:X as the Olympic board? Do we want to see the RS:X replaced with a planing board? It looks like now or never; Weymouth has promising wind statistics and the new ISAF policy that races should be held between 6 and 25 knots creates an opening for a one-design FW board to try to become Olympic. We can choose the 1992 path and first elect FW as the Olympic Class (with Formula Experience as a feeder class) and then in 2009 choose one board and one rig to become the Olympic one design. Or, we can propose this year a new one design FW class. By mid March the IWA should decide which path we want to follow. Then we have the Olympic Games in Qingdao, China where we look forward to some exciting racing, hopefully in sufficient wind. Media coverage of this event is big and let’s hope that the Medal Race a