Finian Maynard: Vid

And here it is our Finian Maynard playing hard with his brand new toys. The guy looks pretty fast riding his new weapons... doesn't it?

Monday morning picture

Findogg and Aurelio ready to work out some new RRD flatwater toys...

Finian @ Garda Lake

Leaving France was not easy as we had such a good testing session in Leucate sailing every day on different equipment since we arrived. I was sad to leave an area that has always had a special place in my heart having won several speed events there in the past, but it was time to have a location change.

Before we left we did manage to get a session on the 9.4's and big boards which was a real change from the 5.5/6.1 and 45-knots of wind! The big equipment is so different to sail with much more emphasis on trim off the fin and feathering the board with the hands and feet.

Onto the 1000 km drive to Lake Garda stopping at 3am and starting again at 8am buzzing with the thought of sailing on my 129 and 9.4 at my 'local middle EU spot' considering that I spend several weeks a year at Garda during the season doing final preps for the light-medium wind settings. Yesterday we arrived to strong winds for Garda (South @ 18-25), but by the time we rigged the wind was down to 10-17 so out on the 8.5 and big boards we went. Brrrr, the water felt like an icy stream on the feet, this was a shock, but as always the human body gets acclimated and the testing continued.

Today was a perfectly sunny painting straight from an artist's dream. All of the pics posted in this news are from this wonderful spring time Alpine dreamland today. Life couldn't be better especially after having my family joining me here last night. Best case scenario!

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Thanks for tuning into our training trip news items.

Good sailing,

Finian

Photo courtesy avantisails.com

Findogg: 69 Heaven

Another great session for our Finian Maynard:

"The wind has been different every day this week, which is ideal for getting prepared.
Today was no exception. A consistent (for Leucate) 21-30 knots stayed throughout the late morning and afternoon session.
We were greeted by a cloudless blue sky which stayed the entire day making the title of this news all the more clear with the main point being that we both sailed on our 6.9 sails until the end when Peter had a solo session on his 7.7.
The 6.9 is simply a top class sail in all aspects. Not much more to be said. I can't wait to race on it and see if the feeling on the water means good results on the race course with all of the world's best...

My RRD 98 XF V.4 is feeling very good with this sail size as with the 6.1 or 5.5 in the mega powered conditions we have had in the last several days. My boards and sails are fitting together well in terms of board rocker/outline/bottom shape and the sail draft positioning, power point/drive percentages and leech release points (which dictates how the boards trim on the tail, something that is not often talked about in windsurfing).
The training continues tomorrow with light winds on the cards. That should mean 30-knots for this place... maybe not...we would like to try the big stuff soon as I am really looking forward to sailing my XF V4 129's (great board), although it is looking like stronger winds again for Sunday.

All in all, this week has been a great start to the final countdown preps before Italy.

Good sailing,

Finian"

French Training for Finian Maynard

Photo courtesy avantisails.com

Waking up this morning didn't set the heart on fire as the wind was not so strong at the hotel so it seemed perfect for some 'normal' testing with the small boards and sails as we both wanted to try our selection of high-wind boards today.

That plan seemed to go fine until the moment we launched at midday. Bang, the wind came howling in at 40-knots and that is being slightly conservative from my perspective on the beach. Out on the water was a different prospect as the chop was really tall and close together making it a technical game with the ocean to find a way to pass over the tops with stability and control, no easy task mind you.

Several runs in and it was clear this was going to be a really strong afternoon breeze. Sure enough, the wind kept building reaching what we both thought to be 50-knots, the point where the water turns to almost complete smoke. It is always fascinating to be right there amongst that force of nature riding it like you were on an angry bull.

All in all, we didn't do any 'testing' today as it made no sense but the session was really fun, not so cold and always a thrill to experience a blue sky and 45-knots of wind for hours.

France always delivers the goods in terms of wind. Merci!

Ciao, Finian

RRD X-FIRE LTD V4 action video

Check it out Finian Maynard in action on new RRD slalom weapons!

The revolution is here! RRD has developed the most exciting and performance driven range of slalom boards to ever hit the windsurfing market. The all-new X-Fire V4 sets a new standard in slalom sailing with the introduction of the 'TT Tail' ( stands for TORO TAIL ), the next generation of design concepts that will take the world by storm. A comprehensive design and testing program has produced 5 all-new designs that will be the market reference in 2012. One look at these racing machines and you will agree!

More info: CLICK HERE

RRD X-FIRE LTD V4 AVAILABLE NOW!

The revolution is here! RRD has developed the most exciting and performance driven range of slalom boards to ever hit the windsurfing market. The all-new X-Fire V4 sets a new standard in slalom sailing with the introduction of the 'TT Tail' ( stands for TORO TAIL ), the next generation of design concepts that will take the world by storm. A comprehensive design and testing program has produced 5 all-new designs that will be the market reference in 2012. One look at these racing machines and you will agree!

CHECK IT OUT... CLICK HERE