Windfestival 2010

E' ufficiale.....

NISSAN-RRD SURFIN'VENICE – SUCCESSO STORICO

NISSAN-RRD SURFIN'VENICE 2010

Il 27 giugno 2007 è stata scritta una bellissima pagina di storia: circa 100 persone provenienti da tutto il mondo si sono radunate a Venezia per partecipare all’evento organizzato da RRD e NISSAN col patrocino del comune di Venezia per promuovere la Surf Colture in laguna.

La parata che ha portato i rider sui loro SUP scortati dagli storici “sandali” della Remiera Settemari lungo gli oltre 6km, dal Tronchetto attraverso il Canal Grande fino all’Arsenale, (cantiere navale della Serenissima) ha creato un nuovo legame fra la cultura del surf e la città di Venezia. Durante il tragitto dei 100, migliaia di persone hanno realizzato che esiste un altro modo di navigare su una tavola utilizzando una pagaia come mezzo di propulsione. Mentre i turisti scattavano foto dalle rive e dai ponti, dalle gondole e dai vaporetti, i veneziani si affacciavano incuriositi alle loro finestre per assistere allo spettacolo di questi surfisti che con la loro pagaia si disimpegnavano agilmente lungo il Canal Grande assieme alle gondole e altre imbarcazioni impegnate nei loro traffici quotidiani.

«Stiamo assistendo ad un momento storico» ha commentato Ricci dal palco in Campo San Biasio dopo la lunga parata, «oggi la surf-culture e la tradizione marinara veneziana sono entrate ufficialmente in contatto!».

Dopo un meritato pranzo a buffet per tutti i partecipanti alla manifestazione, nel pomeriggio si è disputata una regata fra 20 atleti pre-selezionati, che ha visto il forte inglese Neal Gent tagliare per primo la linea del traguardo di fronte al giovane italiano Giuseppe Giusti e a Eduardo Diaz, forte atleta proveniente da Gran Canaria.

Al termine di una gioiosa cerimonia di premiazione e di chiusura dell’evento, ci si è dati tutti quanti appuntamento all’anno prossimo per una seconda ed ancora più ricca edizione della Surfin’Venice.

A giudicare dalla gioia dei partecipanti e dalla reazione della città, la manifestazione è destinata a diventare un classico del SUP in Italia, in Europa e nel mondo.

Si ringraziano tutti i rider che hanno preso parte all’evento, il Comune di Venezia per il patrocinio, l’associazione culturale InVenice e la storica Remiera Settemari per il preziosissimo supporto prima, durante e dopo la manifestazione.
 Un ringraziamento particolare va a Eliana Argine e alla sua perseveranza, senza le quali Surfin’Venice sarebbero stati una missione impossibile. Un grande ringraziamento va anche ai main sponsor della manifestazione: NISSAN col suo progetto NSA (Nissan Sport Adventure) legato al mondo del water-boarding e RRD, azienda italiana leader nel settore dei water board sports.

NISSAN-RRD SURFIN'VENICE: HISTORICAL SUCCESS!

NISSAN-RRD SURFIN'VENICE

On 27th of June 2010 was written a wonderful page of our SUP history: about 100 people from all around the world have gathered in Venice to attend the event organized by RRD and Nissan, under the sponsorship of the municipality of Venice, to promote the Surf Culture in the Venetian lagoon. The parade, which took the riders on their SUP (Stand Up Paddle Boards) escorted by the historical "sandals" of the Rowing Settemari along more than 6km from the Tronchetto through the Grand Canal till the Arsenale (historical Venice shipyard), has created a new link between the Culture of Surf and the city of Venice. During the parade of the hundreds, thousands of people have realized that there is another way to cut the water surface on a board using a paddle as a vehicle of propulsion. While tourists snapped photos from the banks and bridges of Venice, from the gondolas and from the ferries, the Venetians looked out their windows, curious to witness the spectacle of those surfers who paddle easily along the Grand Canal, with gondolas and other boats engaged in their daily traffic.

"We are witnessing a historical moment," Roberto Ricci said from the stage in Campo San Biagio after the long parade; "Today the Surf Culture and the Venetian Marine Tradition officially came into contact."

After a well deserved lunch-buffet for all participants of this beautiful event, in the afternoon was held a race among 20 pre-selected athletes, which saw the powerful English rider Gent Neal cut to the finish line first in front of the young Italian talent Giuseppe Giusti and of Eduardo Diaz, strong athlete from Gran Canaria.

During a joyful prize giving ceremony, Roberto Ricci expressed his will to meet again everyone next year for a second and even bigger edition of Surfin'Venice.

Judging by the joy of the participants and the reaction of the city, the event is destined to become a classic of SUP in Italy, Europe and worldwide.

We thank all the riders who took part in the event, the City of Venice for the sponsorship, the cultural association InVenice and the historic Rowing Settemari for the precious help and support, before, during and after the event.

A special thanks goes to Eliana Argine and her perseverance, without which Surfin'Venice would have been a mission impossible.

A big thanks also goes to the main sponsor of the event NISSAN with its project NSA (Nissan Sports Adventure) and RRD, Italian company leader in water board sports.

RRD Rider Heineken Breaks Through To Beat Top Formula Windsurfers In Course Racing

Hi thought this would interest you since it was an RRD Team rider that
did the deed. A pretty historic Day that I thought you'd like to know
about. Kiteboards finally broke through to beat the windsurfers in a
fair race. First time in the world that I know of. I am author and
photog. aka Waterhound.com

Full Article with Photo gallery and complete results
http://www.waterhound.com/historic-day-at-cal-cup-as-the-kiteboarders-break-through-for-victory.html
San Francisco Bay Area kiters and windsurfers have been on the cutting
edge of many trends and Saturday June 19th's Cal Cup race in Berkeley
was no exception. Cal Cup number 4 went off with big winds and big
happenings.

For the past few races some of the world's top Kiteboarders have been
racing alongside the Cal Cup Formula Fleet. While some of the kiters
have come tantalizingly close to winning a race it took two of the
worlds best to finally draw first blood.

With Andrew Koch (Ozone Kites, Aguera Boards), Johnny Heineken (RRD
Kites, Mike's Lab Boards) and the current world champion Adam Koch
(Ozone Kites, Aguera Boards),in attendance the tension was palpable at
the skippers meeting with the Formula Fleet knowing today might be the
day a Kiter finally breaks through for a bullet in a race. All three
kiteboarders are part of Team Fluid. Winning the day wasn't really
feared by the windsurfers- but it should have been.

While the Cal Cup Formula Fleet is not sailing at the level of the
World's top Formula sailors there are still some tough competitors in
the fleet. With multiple national championship results and countless
race wins under their belts the fleet is one of the best amateur
fleets in the world and probably the best amateur fleet when its
stonking windy like it was today. Most of the Formula fleet were on
their 9.0s with a few of the larger riders choosing 10.0s. The course
featured a shortened windward mark setting, with the A fleet doing 2
laps.

Race one and the kiters were on best behavior on the starting line.
Just taking the sterns of the boards at the gun it was pretty evident
that the Formula board still out performs the kiteboard upwind.
However two very different styles were apparent amongst the kiters.
Adam Koch was sailing significantly higher angle up wind than Johnny
Heineken. Koch was pretty much holding the same angle as the Formula
Boards but was just slightly off their pace with board speed.
Meanwhile Johnny had significantly more board speed than anyone on the
course while sailing a lower line, but was it enough to overcome his
lack of upwind angle?

4 boards (the gap is pictured above) made the windward mark before
Heineken was able to make the mark followed closely by Koch. The
separation was about 15 seconds between the first boards and the
kites. Adam and Johnny then both put the hammer down on the downwind
leg and were absolutely flying. Then the hammer came back to smack
them. In a spectacular cloud of spray Koch goes down in the very
definition of a yard sale. Heineken also takes a fall but is able to
avoid the sever wipeout of Koch. As we know swimming is slow and with
a shortened course a single mistake will take you out of contention as
it did this race allowing Steve Sylvester to take the win. In a sign
of things to come Heineken put himself together to recover for second
place with Chris Radkowski on Formula gear in third.

Race 2 saw the kites feeling a little more comfortable on the line and
pushing in to the fleet to get legit starts albeit still on the sterns
of the windsurfers. Koch was still holding line with the Formula
Boards while Heineken was again footing for speed (You can see this
quite clearly in the pictures below). Steve Sylvester makes the
windward mark first with an 8 second lead over Johnny. 3 boards and
Adam Koch round about 10 seconds behind the two leaders. As they come
to the leeward mark Johnny has used his speed to overtake Sylvester
and has taken the lead.(full photo sequence). After the leeward mark
Johnny has not only made up the deficit he is now 13 seconds (in full
disclosure it was 13 alligators) ahead of Sylvester. As they round the
mark you can see the two lines being sailed are totally different with
Johnny going low and fast and Sylvester holding the high line. As they
get back to the windward mark for the second time Sylvester has cut in
to Johnny's lead and is now only 7 seconds behind and both have
extended to a good 30 second lead over the following pack. As they
round Heineken is laser focused and is not going to let this one slip
away. By the time he gets to the leeward mark he has extended again
over Sylvester to an 18 second delta. As he tacks to port to go for
the line he clears Sylvester and the race is his. History made. The
first legit win by a Kiteboard in a fair Formula Race. Sylvester
finishes 13 seconds back. The next 3 boards and Heineken all finish
within 45 seconds of the two leaders. The most notable impression I
was left with was that this was fair racing and the two craft
amazingly similar with respect to total performance around the course.
What happened then? The better sailor won. NICE WORK JOHNNY!

Race 3 saw an easing of the wind but was still almost a replay of race
2 with Heineken again taking the bullet, Sylvester again taking second
place and Adam Koch in third.

Race 4 saw Heineken taking advantage of some mistakes by the
windsurfers. With the race seemingly in his back pocket Steve
Sylvester severely understood the leeward mark on the second lap.
"dogging it" slowly all the way down the course he was just trying to
make the mark and avoid the double jibe. With the Ferlet, Mirel, and
Heineken all catching up to Sylvester it would take one more mistake
by Steve to get Johnny by him. After the rounding Sylvester overstood
the finish and Johnny tacked over on the lay line to get Sylvester at
the line for the win. Ferlet, Mirel, and Sylvester than drag raced to
the finish with Mirel also getting the better of Sylvester and Ferlet
just behind them both. As I said earlier this was a sailing race and
mistakes were going to show in your score. Truly impressive to see
such parity from such different gear.

Race 5 showed everyone was pressing really hard. A plethora of white
North Sails were clearly over early but despite horns and screams from
the RC (audible from his lordships) many racers sailed almost a full
lap before realizing a general recall had been issued.

Race 6 (really race 5) saw Adam Koch get in to the action for his best
race of the day taking the bullet. Xavier Ferlet put himself and his
Formula Board between Adam and Johnny Heineken to take second place
and relegating Heineken to third. One board was not going to be enough
to deny Heineken his prize; first place on the day. Xavier Ferlet had
been winning most of the Cal Cup racing so far but was overpowered in
the first 4 races on his 9.5 and 67 cm fin.

A lot of folks in the kiting and windsurf worlds have been trying to
figure out who is faster, kites or windsurfers and this race should
add some fuel to this debate. However the true take away from this
experience was amazingly; the sailors. When I envisioned this article
I always thought it would be equipment focused but as I watched the
racing unfold it was really the sailors that were the story line. The
kiters blended in like they were part of the fleet and given their
skills on their gear a welcome part. There were no problems reported
with tangle ups between kites and windsurfers despite a pretty crowded
start at the starboard end of the start line.

Some notable performances on the day came from Jack Lundquist and Mike
Percy. Percy being 5 months removed from a complete surgical rebuild
of his shoulder and 30 days off a knee surgery showed flashes of his
old self. Having only been on Formula gear a few times removed from
the surgeries he was able to complete all 5 races and put up a few top
5 finishes. Junior racer Jack Lundquist also put up a tremendous
performance in the big breezes. Many full grown men would have retired
under the big wind and big waves of the day but Jack not only
completed all races he even put up a first place result in his fleet
in the days final race.

Days like today a race committee truly earns its stripes. With the
conditions as fierce as they were both Jane Morson and Rachel Hermann
deserve heaps of praise. Bouncing, bashing, and bobbing under a
relentless sea spray makes for a long day. THANKS!

Next Race July 17th. Go to www.calcupevents.com for more information
and to see the complete results. If you're a kiteboarder interested in
competing at Cal Cup you need to apply first. Do so by sending an
email to info@calcupevents.com This e-mail address is being protected
from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with a brief
sailing resume.

HUGE Photo Gallery Races 2-4 - Click Here.

--
David Wells
editor, waterhound.com The Ultimate Water Sports Newsletter. 3 Times
a week direct to your inbox totally Free.
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Danish Freestyle Tour - 1'st place for Kenneth

Hey everybody...
This weekend i won the first series of the danish freestyle tour.
The conditions was really tricky with light winds and messy waves.
But in the end i finished on top.

Best Regards Kenneth Danielsen

Racing fever on Westerland

The starting signal for the SEAT Kitesurf World Cup 2010 is fired and
five races already battled out. The international Kitesurf-choice was
welcomed by bright sunshine and a gentle to moderate breeze. 60 kiters
gathered.

After 5 races in the first day of competition, and our top rider Abel
Lago actually is in fourth position, but still everything it's open to
reach better ranking positions, since only 3 points separate him from
the second place.

More news to come...

Blind Paddling Challenge 100 km

"The Ancient Salt Route"/"Antica Rotta del Sale"
da Pirano a Venezia 17 luglio 2010

martedì 22 giugno ore 17.30, presso la sede della RSC Bucintoro www.bucintoro.org Salone "Gardini" ai Magazzini del Sale, alle ore 18 è stata presentata la sfida che gli atleti della RSC Bucintoro , Daniele Scarpa e Tibaldo Zamengo lanceranno sulla distanza dei 100 km con una imbarcazione kayak surfski doppio.

Gli stessi atleti saranno presenti ai camp.ti Italiani master alla gara Int.le di Auronzo di Cadore a difendere il loro titolo di Vicecampioni d'Italia 2009 cercando il successo per il titolo 2010.
Tibaldo e Daniele parteciperanno domenica 27 all'evento "Surfin' Venice" insieme ai campioni Antonio Rossi e Yuri Chechi.

Il programma di avvicinamento alla sfida prevede quanto segue:

martedì 22 giugno presentazione della sfida al mare: Challenge 100 km "The Ancient Salt Route"/"Antica Rotta del Sale", da Pirano a Venezia e presentazione della prima scuola di SUP & Canoe Outrigger/Surfski aVenezia presso la www.bucintoro.org con la collaborazione di "Canoe
& paddle Republic" by daniele scarpa

sabato 26 partecipazione ai camp.ita Master con kayyak biposto olimpico sulla distanza dei 1000 metri . Località Auronzo di Cadore

domenica 27 partecipazione al "Surfin' Venice" by Nissan e RobertoRicciDesigns su tavole SUP (Stand Up Paddling)

lunedì 28 serie test valutazione presso istituto Ismerian con il Dott. Filippo Ongaro e la Dott.ssa Sonia Ongaro con lo staff tecnico Ismerian

sabato 3 luglio partecipazione alla manifestazione/gara Periplo di Bergeggi Savona

venerdì 16 luglio a Cavallino presso www.marinadelcavallino.com presentazione alla stampa del percorso definitivo e presentazione sponsor tecnici. Pomeriggio incontro con Comunità Italiana a Pirano.

sabato 17 luglio partenza ore 6 del mattino alla volta di Venezia. Arrivo a Venezia dopo circa 8-10 ore alla sede della www.bucintoro.org

Nuovo "Centro Test Wave RRD" Tre Ponti (LI)

Ecco qualche foto del nuovo "Centro Test Wave RRD" Tre Ponti.

Here you can find a few pictures about the new "Centro Test Wave RRD"
Tre Ponti (Li) one of the most radical spot you can find in Tuscany

Abel: new video Go Pro, home!!!!

This video was filming in Galicia, I hope you like it!!!!
Esta es la primavera en Galicia, espero que te guste!!!

http://vimeo.com/12770113

Abel Lago Go Pro Galicia from abel lago on Vimeo.

Flo Update

Hey guys,

I had a pretty sucsessful weekend at the vodaphone windskate
worldchampionship in Kiel/ Germany. After 9 hard rounds, i could
defeat all opponents with some "killermoves" and finally win the
competition.
Now I am the official " windskate worldchampion for 2010"

The Journey never stops and i just arrived at the canaries where i
train hard next weeks for the upcoming worldcup.

Keep you up to date...

All the best

Flo

New RRD team in Tarifa

Based in the Pro Shop of Sailboards Tarifa, we are happy to present you our new Race team and RRD Test center. All 2010 windsurf and SUP Boards are now available in this well known spot of Tarifa. Sergio and Eduardo, E- 808, as members of RRD Sailboards Tarifa team will be present in most of the spanish and portuguese events. We hope to see you soon in Tarifa.

RRD & Sailboards Tarifa in the Iberian Tour

RRD team with riders from Spain, Eduardo E-808 and Portugal were presents at Portimao Iberian Tour.We were the biggest team and for sure the more fun. RRD X-fire v2 135 and 112 prove their performance. Light winds and good organization that will continue in Isla Caneal Huelva next week. Hope ti see you there, Eduardo E-808.

Marocco

Le jaune fluo était dans le ciel de Moulay Bouzerktoun en ce début
juin grâce à l'anglais volant John Skye au nordiste Bastien Ramery qui
n'ont pas hésité à faire quelques frayeurs au photographe pour obtenir
des clichés sympas !

Photos : Augustin Vandenhove