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Board Rack of the Stars

Bonaireboardrack1

BoardsoftheprossignImagine if there was a board rack at Hookipa where Jason Polokow, Kauli Seadi, Nik Baker, the Moreno twins, the Sivers, Robby etc all kept there boards, and you could walk up to it and check out (without touching) what the Greats were riding.

In Bonaire, not only is there such a rack (with Taty/Tonky/Choco Frans’, and Kiri Thode’s planks) but you get to walk by it every day for inspiration when you get to Lac Bay. I like to think that the instruments of great performers (guitars, baseball bats, windsurfing boards, whatever) reverberate with past virtuoso performances.

Kiris_fin_2Then of course there’s practical information, too. My sailing buddy Peconic Jeff is obsessed with getting the right freestyle fin (he likes mine and certainly has more sailing time on it than I do.) I snapped a photo of Kiri Thode’s fin of the day, which turned out to be a GSport T1, originally 21 cm, though it looks like Kiri has had at it with a grinding wheel.

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7 responses to “Board Rack of the Stars”

  1. James Avatar
    James

    That’s COOL! I like the musical instruments analogy.

    Reply
  2. Jeff Avatar
    Jeff

    I have been looking at a Pro-Am wave fin as my freestyle fin candidate, although these GSport fins look pretty popular in Bonaire. According to the (now 2 years out of date) GSport website, the T1 was designed with input from Taty Frans and family.

    Reply
  3. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    One thing to remember about the Bonaire sailors is that those guys are spectacular freestylers…they may be using a less forgiving fin. It’s a much more upright fin than the sawed off wave fins that a number of people use (notably on Long Island is Mike Burns…you might ask him.)
    GSport has historically been a mess online…arguably having the worst website of any manufacturer in the windsurfing business. That’s too bad, because the fins are good.

    Reply
  4. Catapulting_Aaron Avatar
    Catapulting_Aaron

    I took a close look at a few of their rigs and thought — how in the heck do these guys stay upwind? And why are they always using 5.6’s and planing before everyone else?!
    It’s all about the TOW I suppose?

    Reply
  5. michael Avatar
    michael

    They’ve had enormous amounts of time on the water, but they also had excellent instruction when they were first windsurfing (Elvis Martinus, who teaches at Windsurf Place, was instructor and mentor to “The Bonaire Kids” before they were international freestyle sensations.) The old saying “there’s no substitute for time on the water” is not entirely accurate. There IS a substitute for some time on the water: good instruction. If you can get yourself to an ABK clinic this year, ask about early planing on small sails. There’s a lot to talk about…the technique is subtle, but it’s definately technique, gear set-up and gear selection.)

    Reply
  6. Bunty Avatar
    Bunty

    It’s all down to good instruction. When my son John did his clinic with Jem Hall one of the things Jem stressed on was the ‘Early planing technique’. 90% of surfers worldwide do all the worst things to get planing early………..including me, but just a few of Jems tips and I already feel a big difference. John will get planing in absolutely anything – almost, so if he is not planing then it definitely is not worth rigging up.

    Reply
  7. Ann Phelan Avatar
    Ann Phelan

    When I borrowed Hendrick’s board this past summer I looked at his 3 inch fin in dismay. I tried to sail it but could not…it’s amazing how these guys shred on such tiny fins..crazy or loco as they say there..

    Reply

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