Latvian SL Championship

Aloha,

Last weekend I took part in Latvian Slalom championship in Liepaja. We did 3 full eliminations in the wind of 14 to 20 knots. I was using 8.6 Severne Reflex 6 and SB iSonic 130 for all races. There were a total of 41 sailors in the fleet. I took 2nd place in all of the races which granted me a 2nd overall. Janis Preiss was super fast and consistent today and there was nothing I could do against him (for now :) )

Super nice racing in general, and I am very happy about my result too.

Irklenčių nuoma ir pardavimas, turai, technikos kursai - EkstremalusLaisvalaikis.eu !

Sveiki,

Kaip jau turbūt girdėjote nuo šiol mes su Ryčiu turime ir SUP'us / irklentes!
Galime juos Jums išnuomuoti, parduoti, galime smagiai leistis upių turais su Jumis ir Jūsų draugais ir nuveikti dar daug kitų įdomių veiklų!

Visą informaciją galite rasti mūsų tinklapyje:

www.EkstremalusLaisvalaikis.eu

SUP'us/irklentes įsigijome iš buriuotojo profesionalo, Steve Allen AUS-0, dalyvaujančio PWA pasaulinio lygio varžybose, ir jau nuo 1989 metų dirbančio su didžiausiomis vandens sporto kompanijomis ir kuriančio bei vystančio vandens įrangos technologijas, tad pačios irklentės tikrai išdirbtos ir kokybiškos, stabilios ir taip pat turinčios gerą greitį!

Šiuos SUP'us galima pripūsti iki įspūdingų 25 PSI  slėgio!

Džiaugiamės galėdami populiarinti vandens sportus ir Lietuvoje !

Iki greito :)

Vėjas Galvoje CUP 2015 (+ Lietuviškai)

Vėjas Galvoje CUP 2015

Hey fellas!

So, we are here in Nida with Rytis in one of the best locations for windsurfing in Lithuania. As always, nice weather, nice company of friends, a lot of space for rigging and extra activities while there is no wind. Wonderful as much as it can get !!! 

Lithuanian Slalom/Formula Cup 2015

Hey guys,

A few days ago we had a powerful slalom/FW competition held in Kintai - one of the best spots for slalom competition in Lithuania. I must say - it was intense. Not only we had strong winds, but we also had a fierce fight with TOP 5 sailors. You can find all about by reading further, so good luck and have fun reading! :)

SLALOMO STARTAS 2

Štai ir antra straipsnio apie slalomo startą dalis. Kiekvienas buriuotojas turi vis kitokią taktiką kaip geriausiai startuoti, todėl manau du skirtingi požiūriai padės jum susidaryti bendrą vaizdą. Pastebėsite, kad yra dalykų kuriuos tiek aš tiek Arnas labai pabrėžiam (įsidėmėkit juos), arba kur mes turime skirtingas nuomones. Tai nereiškia, kad mano ar Arno startai yra geresni, tiesiog skirtingi metodai pasiekti tam pačiam rezultatui.

1)      Pasiruošimas startui. Svarbiausia tiksliai žinoti starto procedūrą. Kokios vėliavos, kiek minučių ir t.t. Paprastai tai būna paaiškinama per vairininkų susirinkimą. Jeigu nesupratot, drąsiai klauskit teisėjo. Jo pareiga yra paaiškinti jums taisykles, starto procedūrą ir distanciją. 
Nuotraukos yra iš PWA varžybų, kaip matote niekas i startą daugiau nei 3 sekundes nevėluoja - toks turėtų būti ir jūsų tikslas. Šiuos nuotraukos yra pavyzdžiai gerų startų.
NIEKADA NESTARTUOK PASKUI KAŽKĄ

Lithuania's Windsurfing Cup - Nida 2015 Spring

Hey guys,

A quick and brief post about RS:X Lithuania's Windusirfing Cup. It was completely vice versa as I expected before going to Nida but it was still a massive amount of fun. Nida, was, is and will be one of the best places where competition can be held in Lithuania.

This photo somehow matches what my expectation was compared to reality.

By signing to go to Nida, the forecast showed a stable 6-7m/s of wind that made me think of how crazy and awesome it will be to compete in plaining conditions with RS:X! It was fun, and it was crazy - with no doubt, just take your time and make a guess, if there was no wind or too much wind??

FW Worlds summary

The last day

Sunday was the hardest racing day of my life. With the wind gusting up to 30 knots and the sea state best described as – boiling (2.5m sea swell + many different directions of wind chop), holding on to 10.7 was a challenge. Everybody who had 10 or 9.5 were using it - only me, Maciek POL 23, Nico GER 7 and Vincent GER 1 were on 11s. I have never seen so many catapults in races as I have seen on that day. Personally I was using the second chicken strap to have at least a tiny bit of control on the downwind run and I only felt once, - when I was standing in both FRONT footsraps – don’t even ask. By the end of the second race most of the guys in the fleet looked pretty much done. And that gave me a chance to rack up some better results. Even though I was on a bigger sail, due to my good physical conditioning I still had plenty of energy left for 3^rd and 4^th race of the day. So I focused up pushed through pain and discomfort of holding on to 10.7 on the upwind in 30 knots and finished 15^th and 17^th. These results allowed me to move into 23^rd spot in Overall ranking of the event.

FW Worlds, Day 4 (AKA 57 knots day)

No races today. And the reason is....(drum roll) we had to much £$%% wind and then we got rain, cold weather and that was it for the day. And when I say too much wind I mean it was hard to walk,  gusts were measured up to 57 knots

FW Worlds Day 2

In the morning it seemed like it is gonna be another great day for racing just in a bit lighter winds. We were sent out on the water according to plan at 12. However, the wind wasn't strong and consistent enough to do races. Therefore, the RC made the right decision to sent us back to the beach. After 3 hour break the wind turned a bit and got stronger again. We were sent out on the race course again and we even did two starts. however, the wind was too unstable to keep the races going.

At least today I finally learned how to tape my feat so the power tape doesn't get washed away.

Formula Worlds, Day 1

We had 4 races today in 7 to 25 knots wind, and 2.5m swell. The swell was a bit smaller than yesterday, but I got to know that in the boat they measured the wave up to 3.5m yesterday (at least so I heard). The conditions were super tricky. I went on 10.7 as did most of the guys, some choose to go with 10s.

1st race I got quite a good start on starboard tack at the pin end, and after the tack was coming into the top gate in TOP 10 position. However, I got into a hole and stopped 10 meters to the mark. A few people around me stopped as well. Then Janis Preiss cam from behind, tried to stop, but unsuccessfully and crashed into the back end of my boom. I went for a swim and he went away, but to be fair the only other option he had was crash into someone else. Plus he apologized afterwards. Anyway, after getting back on the board I felt down once again (not that easy to pick up the bloody sail in 2.5 meter wave with guys passing all around you). Then I had to go back up to the mark and I was taking it one place before the last. During the 3 lap course I gained back a few places then lost a few and finished 24th in the end.

Formula Windsurfing World Championship, Registration Day

Today is the first day of 2015 Formula Windsurfing World Championship. Although we only had registration, practice race and opening ceremony today.
The conditions - wow. Again very gusty and very shifty (5 to 25 knots), but on top of that we had huge swell rolling into the bay. I mean sometimes you couldn't see the guy who was sailing 50 meters in front of you. I would say the wave was around 2.5 meters. Nevertheless it was quite a soft one, so it wasn't to difficult to go over it. Anyway, I haven't sailed in waves that big for a few years now so it was quite scary at first.

I did to sessions today one in the morning where I was so scared by the wave I didn't really think about sailing. And then in the afternoon I did the practice race. Only 4 guys came to the starting line (out of 29 registered sailors). I didn't have my starting watch so my start wasn't the best but later I was just happy to be able to sail quite comfortably in these conditions. Everyone was confused about the course, how many laps we had to do and so on. In the end no one finished the race, but it was fun just to go around the course, check your laylines and get acquainted with the gusts.

7th Day in Azores

It has been a week since I came here and today was the first day I did not go on the water. Don't get me wrong it was windy. Kind of similar like yesterday just a touch stronger, gustier and 1.5m swell rolling in through the gates of the harbor. I decided to save myself for the competition. To be honest, most of the guys did the same,-  the conditions were not exactly perfect.
Thus after finishing the first draft of my uni essay (yep, I manage to find time for studying here) I went to the local wave spot. Which is just 10min walk down, inside the harbor. Two surfers were trying to get waves, while Ross, Janis and a few other guys were sailing on their formula boards just 50 meters away. 

6th Training Day in Azores

Guess what?
It was windy again. This place just keeps delivering sailable conditions every day. It was super gusty and super shifty again as yesterday, but still sailable. In the morning it was 4 to 15 knots increasing over the day to around 10 - 25 knots. In the morning the guys were choosing between 12s and 11s and in the afternoon between 11s and 10s.I was sailing on 10.7 and tried to test my fins. Unfortunately, after 6 months break I can barely feel the difference between fins. Nevertheless, I think I found quite a good downhaul setting for my sail - so I am happy about that.

Training Day 5 in Azores

Today we got some really nasty conditions. 12 to lets say 28 knots, super gusty and super shifty. All the guys started going out on 10s as I decided to stay on the beach for a bit and relax. I didn't want to go out on 10.7 crash around and break equipment or worsen my wrist injury which came back two days ago.Anyway, on one of the first runs Arnon Dagan broke his mast, at the bottom of the harbour, luckily the organizers were quick to react and sent him a rescue boat. A bit later Steve Allen broke a mast in the equipment tent. At the end of day Sebastien Koerdel hit smth in the water and broke his finbox and damaged his fin.

4th Training Day in Azores

It was windy again. 10-12 knots in the morning dropping to 6-9 knots later. Today, I was training with Janis Preiss and Gonzalo Costa Hoevel. We were on 12.5 and it was super nice conditions for these sails at the beginning. I put a bit more downhaul then yesterday and the sail felt quite a bit faster yet still powerful. I was going the same speed with Janis and Gonzalo, but they had a slightly better angle. However, Steve gave me a secret advice on how I can improve that, so hopefully I will be able to try it over the next few days. Again, I tried both of my fins (ZF0S- and BOSS B9 72S--). Unfortunately, I was not able to feel much of a difference - perhaps I lost the sense of equipment over the 6 months I haven't sailed. The Z fin feels a bit faster and less powerful, but when you get up to speed it points as high as BOSS. With BOSS it might be a bit easier to start planing, but later the performance becomes very similar to Z fin's.
Check out some action and equipment photos:

2nd Training Day in Azores

Today the wind was a bit lighter and everyone went out on 12.5 sails. So it was a nice to finally try out my new Reflex 6 12.5 monster. The sail feels really nice, super powerful and very very stable. Again I played around with mast track position, fins, harness lines and after 2h of sailing I had quite a nice setup.
However, due to my recent illness I felt completely exhausted and I called it a day.

Red Bull Storm Chase - 2013/2014

Hey guys! Long time no see! After the last post of Rytis with adorable surfers it’s my time to shine! And this week I just can’t stop myself from not writing about the latest event in the Windsurfing world that blows me away every-single-time. The event is called – Red Bull Storm Chase.

Alana Blanchard and something to think about!

And here we goo!
Check out this latest video clip from surfer girl Alana Blanchard. Actually you can check all the previous once as well. And after you have enjoyed the view of all nice beaches, perfect waves and Alana herself of course you can think a bit deeper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0XmFscqfZ4

Comeback

And here we are!
Since the last post many things have changed in my and Arnas' life and that was the reason we did not post.
I am now studying in the University of Warwick in UK. Top 5 Uni in UK, however not windsurfing wise. Actually it is almost impossible to windsurf around here, - at least for now. Thus, I've joined the rowing club of the university and now I am fitter than ever before.
Arnas has been studying for over a year now, but this year he has started work as real estate agent as well (keep that in mind if you need to sell your wood cabin for a couple millions haha).
In the end we do not really had what to write about as we did not windsurf. However, we knew that you guys are still following us, reading old posts. Each day that I did not write something here was building on me like a pile of bricks. And I reached the moment where I just could't live with it any more.

FW JYM Worlds Day 2

Today we have offshore wind again. That means that the water is totaly flat, however very gusty.
We had two races already. In the first race I was first and in the second race I was second. Now I have 3 points and sit in the second position. First is Christian Justessen DEN 26. He was second and first.