DEVELOPMENT
Ola and I have been completing the process of designing and refining the Flywave G4 design for Simmer Style. This is our down the line board and I wanted to make sure it passed the test in the ultimate down the line environment: the legendary Ponta Preta, the African island point break with its smooth, emerald aqua green peelers. As Ponta Preta is often ridden in light float and ride situations, my board was 92 litres, which provided me plenty of volume to float, yet the spiral V based design ridden as a quad performed much more like a smaller board, tight arcs mixed with long drawn out bottom turns. It was impressive to be on a 5.3 and be able to pick up 200 metre freight trains that had not a drop of water out of place. Equally impressive was how well it performed on the last day that was big with 25 knots of wind.
Ola and I have worked together for over 8 years and it’s been a great experience. Ola’s impressive understanding of dimensions and curves coupled with a fundamental hard core love of windsurfing and complete mastery of numerical equations has been an extremely rewarding experience for me. He can take my certain philosophies and experience, and churn out numbers and curves that result in some very innovative concepts. I’m mostly a wave riding specialist in down the line environments, however, based on a long history of also being in real world environments like California and Finland, my requirements are very similar to those in the general market. Efficient boards that are fun to ride are very important to me.
Ola understands the difference between futuristic and realistic. We’ll ride everything from quad to single fin and everything between, including tri and twin fins, and foils!! I believe there is an ideal specific combination for everyone in any given setting, as well as there is a basic setup that works well everywhere all the time also. It’s about balancing the averages and making it work where you want it to.
QUALITY
Cabo Verde today is a legendary place, yet it remains elusive for most. Josh and I have managed to consistently be able to share and rejoice in the many historical sessions that have happened over the years. The track record speaks for itself. I have learned a great deal from him and he’s one of my all time favourites to watch.
At my age and level of experience, it’s certainly quality over quantity. Cabo Verde as stated is usually the highlight of my year as far as conditions. It feels good to get it right and manage to fit a few sessions in with Josh. I cannot imagine sailing Ponta Preta without one of my all time favourite sailors to watch and sail with. These sessions were epic and yet more timeless memories to savour, with good friends and classic conditions. It was also satisfying to test the Flywave G4 and enjoy its performance. Passed the test with flying colours!