Stormy days after new year

January 12, 2012 by chris | 1 Comment

Are the winters wamer nowadays?

It was an awesome start in the new season. Just returned from new year´s celebration and the storm Andrea fully kicked in at Lake Neusiedl. I only sailed on 5,6 or 7,0 and used most of the days my smallest iSonic with 87 liters. We saw 5 great days out of 6 and tomorrow the wind machine will be on again. On the January 6th, the Twelfth Day, the storm had its peak and I was definitely on the limit with 5,6 and 87 liters. The temperatures were ok with 4° to 7° without the windchill. But still, unusual warm for January. Are teh winters getting warmer? We saw really low icy temperatures while the previous years. The lake frozen. But 2011/2012 is different. Hopefully not the end of the year :-) ! Probably I just feel less cold due to the fact, that I own a great drysuit now. After the weekend cold artic air from Russia should arrive and then I have to say: game over for a while. It´s time to get on a plane. The first PWA event of the season, which should take place in Vietnam, got removed to the end of the year. There is now enough time to prepare for the start in South Korea, which should happen from the 5th till 11th of May. Overall there are 8 Slalom events on the tourplan with a new event at Marseille, France in June.

Kerstin got some really nice shots on the 6th, when sailing overpowered on 5,6, testing a new 27 cm long fin, which was too short for the 87, even in the storm. The rest of the shots on the 7,0 were taken by Peter Hörler, one of the top Austrian Formula sailors. This day I was testing new Pfaffi Fins on the 87 in sizes 31,5 up to 33 cm. Thanks to both of them for the nice shots.

 

chris_start.jpgjibe_web.jpgjibe01_web.jpgpfaffi_chris.jpgwind_neusiedler_2012-web.jpg_DSC8481.jpg_DSC8522.jpg_DSC8531.jpg_DSC8564.jpg_DSC8646.jpg_DSC8652.jpgIMG_3053.jpegIMG_3081.jpegIMG_3088.jpegIMG_3091.jpegIMG_3116.jpeg

 

© Kerstin Reiger, Peter Hörler 2012, www.wind-guru.cz

 

Posted in Competition, Life, Windsurfing Tagged , , , , |

Getting used to the cold

December 31, 2011 by chris | 3 Comments

Each session in cold temperatures is teaching me how to get better in keeping my body protected against the cold air. Today, December 30th, a nice breeze was on and I was motivared to test my latest toys: Titanium socks, 1mm thick seamless gloves combined with my drysuit and a 5mm strong Titanium Arctic hood. And it worked well. Sure, the wind was ligter than in my previous sessions. Was on the iSonic 107 from 2012 and the Reflex 8,6. But the long socks under the drysuit kept the ankles warm. This are was a problem zone at my last session, when I used ordinary boots. The hands felt as well much warmer. Could not imagine, that 1 mm of  a great material without any stitches could make such a difference. And teh Artic hood heated my head up! The next step will be to organise really thick waterproof boots.

My testing partner Pfaffi worked hard while the last week to get a new nose profile done on a 40 S2, which matches great with the 107. The new concept felt excellent. We will continue the tests on other sizes.

We sailed till it was dark. And I really felt comfortable on the new iSonic. It was incredible in how less wind the board started to plan. At the moment I play a bit with the footstrap positions, but  bet that I will have them fixed as far as possible to the tail of the board. Plus with the mastbase. Had it around 3 mm back from the recommended position.

The next size to test will be the iSonic 117 wide. Just heard that the board works very well with 8,6 and 7,8. My job will be to find th eright fin sizes. Will use the board predominantly with 9,2 and 8,6.

Wish all of you a happy new year and have a great windsurfing session tomorrow with an unforgetable party. 2011 was a great year, also for myself. Despite back problems I enjoyed windsurfing and could make some progress on the race course, but also could improve my general body coordination and flexibility through the training I did in the past months.

I am also super happy having the 2012 boards already now. Received them last season very late, in April and had less time to train on them. Very soon the new Reflex III should arrive!

See you on the water in 2012!!

Chris

 

Thanks to Peter Pfaffenbichler for the shots!

IMG_2481.jpegIMG_2484.jpegIMG_2498.jpegIMG_2510.jpegIMG_2528.jpegIMG_2541.jpegIMG_2546.jpegIMG_2563.jpegIMG_2568.jpeg

Posted in Windsurfing Tagged , , |

Winter Windsurfing at Lake Neusiedl

December 29, 2011 by chris | 5 Comments

Had recently some nice Slalom sessions at my homespot Lake Neusiedl. The wind while the wintertime feels so much stronger and I feel like James Bond sailing in my dry suits. Already used the new 2012 iSonic 87. Is a sweet one. Jibes are super easy and has a lot of control. Had my 7,0 on. Looks like the weather will stay relatively warm and the lake will not be covered with hard ice very soon. Right now we ae testing new fins for 2012. Peter produced a new model, the S3, which will fit for the 87 or smaller boards. I am extremely excited about the results!

chris_podo16122011_01.jpgchris_podo16122011_02.jpgchris_podo16122011_03.jpgchris_podo16122011_04.jpgchris_podo16122011_05.jpgchris_podo16122011_06.jpgjibe_lake_2011_17_12_2011.jpglandscape_web.jpgnature_web.jpgspeed_lake_17_12_2011.jpg

Posted in Windsurfing Tagged , , |

A windy year on tour

August 8, 2011 by chris | 16 Comments

2011 is the season with the most wind I´ve ever had since I started competing on the PWA Slalom circuit in 2005. Wind in Vietnam, wind in South Korea, extremely strong wind at the Costa Brava, wind at Aruba, but I competed in Texel, Holland, in the IFCA Worlds, where we had a lot of wind,too and 40+ knots of wind at Sotavento, Fuerteventura. So far I used my 9,2, the biggest registered size, only in two eliminations, but my 5,6 in 10 eliminations. In 2010 there was the chance just in one elimination at Fueteventura to use the 5,6.

Now I am here at Alacati, Turkey, where the wind blows stronger than in the previous years. It was easy to travel to Turkey with a dircet flight by Pegasus from Vienna to Izmir. Here we stay at the Bakirli Otel. It´s a quite relaxed place next to the center of Alacati. The eventside has moved from the mainspot to the opposite side of the bay, where Cagla Kubat has set up her new Windsurfing Academy. It´s a super relaxed spot. The center is located a bit higher up on a rock and offers a great view on the whole bay.

Loading the truck at the airport together with Arnon, Kurosh, Jesper, Marco and Manuel. Burcu controls the action (Pic: Kerstin Reiger).

Getting delivered the gearbags directly to the beach (Pic: Kerstin Reiger).

Obviously it was too much wind for me and my body this season and I got problems with pain in my back and my left leg, before the IFCA Worlds started on the 20th of June. Since then I worked hard to recover my body. A lot of stretching, no windsurfing. It was hard to sit on the beach and watch other people having fun out there. But Kerstin always motivated me to think positive. While our stay on Tenerife I tried to sail, but had massive pain and stopped after 45 minutes.

Stretching helped definitely (Pic: PWA/John Carter).

Just one day before the competition got started at Sotavento I decided to visit a doctor, who gave me 3 injections. Thanks Norbert!! The injections made it possible to start at the Slalom on Fuerte, where I could finish in 32nd position with the worst preparation possible. But I felt surprsingly fit on the water and had much fun racing in the 30 to 40 knots strong conditions.

Totally powered on Reflex II 5,6 and iSonic 87 at Sotavento (Pic: PWA/John Carter).

Preparing the jibe at the inside mark (Pic: PWA/John Carter).

Right now I am very positive about the upcoming event here at Alacati. I already had two sessions on the water and felt fine. I really hope, that my 7,0 will arrive on time. The sail is still somewhere at an airport. We could see a full fleet here, what means that 64 men could enter the event.

After the event we will travel a bit through Turkey. Excited already!

Back home from Turkey I will get a MRT done in the hospital to see what happened in my back. There should be enough time to get top fit until Sylt for the final in the end of September.

The Pegasus entrance gate to the dusty road, which leads to the Cagla Kubat Acadamy on the opposite side of Alacati bay. It´s a fresh new venue for the this year´s event (Pic: Kerstin Reiger).

Driving to the beach, on the back of the car of a local farmer (Pic: Kerstin Reiger).

 

Posted in Life Tagged , , |

The next events are getting closer

May 26, 2011 by chris | 22 Comments

The beach and bay of Jinha, South Korea.

After I returned from South Korea – the trip was cool and I could score better in the last race of the event – I try to remember, what I learnt at Jinha Beach about racing, sail trim, body trim in between my rigg and board, pumping technique, jibing.. Additionally the time in South Korea is always a very relaxed one. Everything is organised great and as a rider you feel very much welcome!!

I already had two excellent sessions on th ewater of my  homespot at Podersdorf, Lake Neusiedl and I could feel a lot of improvement in the settings. Especially on the iSonic 107 plus the Reflex II 8,6 everything feels excellent. And with the 9,2 and the 127 I can play in the lightest conditions.

The next flight to Barcelona will start on Sunday late afternoon. This time my girlfriend Kerstin will be on the trip as well and it will be fun to stay together at the beautiful Costa Brava.

Tomorrow I will join a public event of my sponsor Sportpool Burgenland and talk to school kids about the windsurfing life and the coolest sport ever.

For June 2011 I already fixed the schedule: after the Costa Brava PWA event I will participate in the One Hour event at Lake Garda and later the month as well the IFCA Slalom Worlds on the Dutch island of Texel.

See you on the water,

Chris

Markaction at South Korea in 2011 (Pic: Carter/ PWA 2011).

Selfportrait at Jinha, South Korea.

Perfect tent setup for the gear storage. That´s the tent I shared with Steve Allen this time.

Posted in Competition, Life, Windsurfing