This is a collection of links to Erik Loots' Speedsurfingblog which a lot of you will know and some may not. I am trying to collect together some of his older posts that are worthy of reading and will help us all get better speeds out of our sessions.
click the links in red to see the articles I am referring to.
First is an article for the beginners, how to start speedsurfing, it talks about the most basic piece of equipment needed, the GPS.
How To: Start Speedsurfing
How To: Setup your GPS
This next piece helps you to get the right settings on the GPS, it feels complicated at first but if you follow the instructions you only need to do it once. My bit of advice here would be to make sure you update to the latest firmware as this changes some of the menu options slightly and adds a couple of really useful options such as 'delete all'. This delete option is really useful for a quick way of getting rid of previous bests before another session.
There is a piece I have done about using the GPS to help with this, I have tried to make the process easy. It took me a good year of using it before I realised how to do this in the most simple way.
Setting up your board and rig is a key part to speedsurfing success, knowing the different settings for different conditions can give a few knots difference no matter what your ability is. The settings are different to simple blasting and are a lot more technical. Step by step we will try to guide you through the process.
When learning to speedsurf you often will go out with a bigger rig than you are used to, feel overpowered and lose control. This is normal, here Erik tries to break down what it happening and how to solve it with simple tips to develop your technique.
As you have progressed through those first few sessions, realise (like I did) that 30knots is actually quite an achievement, especially as a 5x10sec average this article helps you develop your technique from simple control to getting faster and faster speeds.
This is a little article on the different brand combinations. Some brands work really well with any other, while some are highly developed together. Erik talks a little about it here.
You ARE going to CRASH. The first time can really dent your confidence, especially when it costs you a lot of money to replace the (probably quite new) kit. My first real crash is documented here - First time out on Speed Kit. As you gain experience you ARE STILL going to crash. There are ways to help minimise damage to yourself and your kit, Erik talks about them here.
The first true goal, it really is an achievement. There are many windsurfers who will claim to have sailed this fast. I worked with one who convinced us he had been well over it, he is a very good windsurfer but when he got his slalom boards and GPS it still took him a few months to actually get past this barrier. Nearly a year later he is still trying to break the 32knot barrier. Each knot is an achievement, hopefully he believes me now. Erik shares his advice here.
This one is now getting you into the big league in anyones standards. If you can get this goal on anything other than perfect flat water with constant winds then you are doing very well. If you manage that through chop and gusty winds then the day you get flat perfect conditions the holy grail of 40knots is surely possible (that is what I keep telling myself!). Now Erik, if you don't mind I need an article done on how to get 40knots, I got the 35knot peak after following your advice.
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