First look: Cabrinha 2013 Kite Gear

Posted on by Emile Kott

I attended the Cabrinha 2013 dealer launch last week in Poole. It was good to see all the usual team from Cabrinha including Chris Martin and Simon from the Pryde group. Also I met up with Susi Mai and Dre (team riders from Cabrinha). All the new toys were on display including the new surf board range in both PU and Epoxy. The boards have a combined wood and cork top sheet in the new models (a subwoofer, re tuned s-quad and skillet, the trigger and Pete Cabrinha’s own signature model).

Mike Rapier explained that Cabrinha have their own factory to make kites and now have a new factory making boards – the first boards are the beginning of a new project that they hope will push Cabrinha to the top of the board pile. The new twin tips look decent too with a stack of new models with refined existing models including Dre’s ‘Custom’ which has retuned channels/rocker, new tronic quad concave bottom, caliber and spectrum.

Susi May has developed a new line of ladies products in the ‘Siren’ line. The kites and boards have been tuned for women, and include narrower widths, a new bar with less through for depower, kites tuned for lighter riders who still want performance and yet they look good.

Lots of work has gone into developing the kite bar/lines/pumps –a complete re design for the switchblade. Work has been done on the bridles, foil shapes, material, colours and even the pumps have smoother action. (The pumps are see-through (!) so you can see the sand gathering inside). The drifter and vector have had a re fit with new material, lines, and tuned bridles. There is a redesigned X Bow which is faster for course-racing and a full bridled C Shape kite. And this year the Chaos which replaces the Nomad as the freestyle kite. The bar had had some tune ups including new lines, and detail work on the quick release with new ergonomic trim adjusters.

We will be having a Cabrinha demo of 2013 at West Wittering so watch this space ask simon@2xs.co.uk for details.

Action Photos from 15th June

Posted on by Emile Kott

Big thanks to Stuart Holland for sending in his GoPro footage from the 15th June.

If you have any photos from last weekend (30/1st July) then please drop an email as we would to showcase your footage and action photography.

Have a look at the action shots. The GoPro Camera takes watersports photography to a new level with amazing high definition – just look at the detail in the water droplets in some of the photos for a brief insight into the camera’s capabilities. And in the 2nd photo, who is the windsurfer in the background!?

If you want to create photos like this, then have a browse through our GoPro Products. Stuart mainly 3 mounts: the helmet mount, the line mount, and the surf board mount. They all create different angles of view – question is – which one would you buy?

Action Photos from 22nd June 2012

Posted on by Emile Kott

Another hard charging weekend started with a 40 knot Friday third one in a row used my 3.7 again in June .

Seems like we are getting some full on weather this summer and with maybe more coming next weekend.

Thanks for all the photos that are being sent in. This week Mark Rutherford, Craig Leroux, and Mark Perry’s GoPro took a sand blasting on the beach to get these great shots, and I also took a few of them.

If you have any decent photos or video, then please send them to me: simon@2xs.co.uk.

It was good to see so many people out – including a couple of Pros Andy bubble chambers &Timo who were going for some large moves.

And then Neal, Emile, Kyle, Justin were seen doing some nice stalled forwards. Other people I spotted were: Goodwin, Hatton, Da Perry’s, Mike Chesnut, & Westy…

      
         

SAM ROSS – Loop Rollover Course

Posted on by Emile Kott

SAM ROSS – Loop Rollover Course

1 Day (possible dates: 23rd or 24th July 2012) – £120

This clinic combines all the things you need to get those loops sorted, the right conditions, a like minded group of windsurfers and the coaching that can break this move down and make sure your skills and ambitions match.

We will spend the day, building skills, understanding how the move works and then putting into action.

If the loop is a move you have been pondering or dabbling with then this course will help you make the jump from “would like to loop” to “I am looping”.


As long as you are already sailing a board around 100ltrs in coastal conditions and can jump then those are the only skills you need. ..

To book – call 01242 513077

The New 2012 Ezzy Panther Elite.

Posted on by Emile Kott

The new Ezzy Panther Elite, four battened wave sail, has just arrived into the 2XS Office – you may of seen the pictures of the prototypes we put up in a 2XS news feature about a month ago of KP and Graham Ezzy.

The word is that this new sail has been worked hard by Dave and the R & D Team in Maui and they have evolved this new four batten sail so that when using it it feels as controllable as a five battened sail with a lighter feel and more manoeuvrability. 


 You know we don’t always believe in all the hype, but I have to say, Ezzy is a bit like Ronseal “it says what it does on the tin” – so its going to be exciting to try out this new sail. We have a 5.3m which we will have on the beach this weekend – and wind is forecast for Saturday so it looks like we can put it through its paces.

Availability will be end of July/early August – prices are expected to be between the current Panther Ltd and Tiger sails – we will have all the specs on the 2XS site as soon as we can. Prices TBC.

Call Simon if you want to check it out this weekend 0774 775 8883 email: simon@2xs.co.uk

A change in weather

Posted on by Emile Kott

These certainly aren’t the most typical weather conditions that we usually experience in June. However, being typical Brits, we make the most of all the conditions and still pursue our love of watersports despite the rain…

The rain started on Sunday night… and didn’t stop until late Tuesday night. West Sussex was issued with a severe flooding warning and only essential travel was advised. Simon took heed of this warning and took to his paddleboard to get around the 2XS office and car park.

Do send us any photos you might have of field surfing or paddle boarding/kayaking in urban locations.

With all the rain, last weeks windy weather seems like a long time ago. With gusts of well over 50kts, there was a lot of action to seen on the water.
Stu Holland took his new GoPro camera out on a surfboard mount and shot some great photos and interesting angles.

 Neal Gent was photographed windsurfing at Joliffe Road riding the storm force winds, amongst many other brave faces battling the winds

There is more unsettled weather forecast for the rest of the week and hopefully we will see you all at WWWC for another windy weekend.

The Witterings Charity Paddle Race 2012

Posted on by Emile Kott

2XS/X-Train, with Shore Surf Club are organising a charity paddle race to raise money for The Sussex Snowdrop Trust.

The annual charity race starts from Shore Road (on the beach at East Wittering), and ends at West Wittering Windsurf Club and competitors may use surfboards, SUPs or kayaks (prizes for the winner of each category COMBINED with highest sponsorship money raised).


Dates: Sunday 29th July 2012
Registration: 11.30am at Shore Road, East Wittering
Race Starts: 1pm (should take 20-40 minutes)
Entry fee: £15 (plus minimum sponsorsip amount of £15)
Bring all sponsorship money to the event.
It will be held in shallow water, at low tide, in safe conditions and safety cover will be provided by West Wittering Windsurf Club, Puma Safety and West Wittering Estate.

Under 16s must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.
All surfers&SUP’s must have a leash, and all kayakers must wear B/As.
BBQ at 2.30pm at West Wittering Windsurf Club to celebrate finish!

Download an Entry Form Here
Sponsorship Form Here Or you can collect from:
West Wittering Windsurf Club
Wittering Surf Club
Shore Surf Club

Sail For Gold Prepare Series at Weymouth

Posted on by Emile Kott

Had a chance to get down to Weymouth Portland harbour to check out The Sail for Gold Regatta which is one of the final International sailing events pre the Olympics.

Prosport sunscreen is involved as one of the Team GBR official supplier and myself and Rich Marsh went down to check the event out and meet some pro sailor.

We were expecting a nice sunny day out on a rib and some corporate hospitality, however, what we got was force 6, heavy rain and poor visibility. It felt like someone had unleashed a fire hose on our rib as we sat in Portland Harbour.

We had the chance to watch the RSX mens and ladies course racing, I have to say I was very impressed with the really high standard of the women who were hanging onto 8m+ rigs in really hard conditions and the speed and skill that these athletes have in competing in really strong wind conditions. We saw Bryony Shaw charging around the circuit as well as in the Mens Fleet, Britain’s Olympic medalist Nick Dempsey.

When the Mens Fleet went out the top end speed some of these guys were getting on boards not being renowned as ‘being the fastest’ was pretty spectacular.

We also saw some of the Finn Class start their racing but the visibility was so poor we could only see a couple of hundred metres into the mist. We also saw Ben Ainsley and Ian Gibson leave the shoreline heading out into some pretty strong stormy winds.

While we were in the Team GBR hospitality tent which felt like it was going to take off – we met with Pippa Wilson a Gold Medalist at the Beijing Games who told us about her experiences at the Olympics and the training involved to get there.

We hope Pippa will be coming down to the beach at West Wittering over the summer where she is going to learn to paddle surf providing we can supply the sunshine!!

Visit the Prosport Website ..

First look: 2013 Gear in Maui, Hawaii

Posted on by Emile Kott

This year I didn’t manage the pilgrimage to Maui,but our friends the Mckirgans did and Alex shot a few photos at Ho’okipa-Maui.

These shots showcase the conditions and new toys coming up for 2013.

It looks like from the pictures that 4 battens sails are the main development and Ezzy seems to testing a number a prototypes. (You can see Kevin Pritchard and Graham Ezzy testing a EZZY 2013 4 batten prototype). Naish and Goya allso seem to be doing more work on their 4 batten sails.

On the board front they seem to adding more fins and JP appear to have some 5 fin box options on their wave boards. The quads seem to be getting faster and with improved fins and refined rocker lines.
There is also a trend with fast thrusters coming out with both Quattro and Fanatic having boards in this style.

We will find out new 2013 RRD boards when they have their launch next week in Cyprus…

Nik Baker recently told me about a new Fanatic thruster which he really rated as replacement to the Fanatic single fin board.

There are also rumors are also about that Goya will launch a new light weight blank in their 2013 models – Marcillo Brown, can be seen with a 2013 Goya Pro Wave with some subtle changes more vee new nose shape and narrower tail.

Thanks to Alex who sent the photos over to me. He has been windsurfing since the age of 5 years old and learnt hi initial skills on one of our X-train Rippers courses. He has been getting some coaching in Maui from the master coach himself Matt Pritchard…