Greetings from Lake Silvaplana

[wearnhaw]

Happy National Day to the SIngapore folks!

Writing from Lake Silvaplana, 1800m above sea level somewhere in the Swiss Alps. Nice place... very picturesque. Sailing in flat waters surrounded by snow capped mountains!

Just got here last night, after a short but eventful drive from Zurich (includes scavenging for roof rack, stopped by swiss police for overloading the car and no baby seat (for Leong Soon's baby Alicia), scavenging for baby seat and a very long drive thru winding mountain roads). The view sure makes up for it though... but as they say, nothing is free... and the scenery must have been included in the hotel prices as well!

The lake is rather tiny... imagine sailing in Mac Ritchie... but much much nicer surroundings. I am still wondering how the held the optimist worlds here last week. Must have been quite jam packed!

And jam packed is what it will be starting this weekend when windsurfers and kitesurfers invade this place! 3 events: Euro Cup Formula and slalom, IFCA freestyle worlds and Redbull King of the Air kite Comp. Lots of hotshots like Mucah Buzainis and Antoine Albeau will be showing up. I just hope that my ass won't be whipped too badly by the pros!!!

Anyway, will report back again... menatime, you can check out www.euro-cup.org or www.formulawindsurfing.org for details.

regards from Switzerland,
wearn haw

[<K-21>]

Good Luck to you and the flower pot man !!

[wearnhaw]

Hey George,

  Thanks! Sure could use the luck... especially on the highways! We are contemplating driving thru Italy to get to France after this event so we won't bump into the swiss cops again!

  Mr flower pot actually brought a pot to be smashed to ward off bad luck... but he forgot to smash it upon arrrival in Zurich... hence the road block! Well, at least the boards made the trip in 1 piece...

  We are relocating to a cheaper place and will go sailing later! I think I am gonna freeze... just realised that the lake is filled by the melted snow gushing down from the mountains... a la 'evian' style! yikes! Good thing that we won't need to wash sails! In fact, the water is drinkable! How nice...

[wearnhaw]

Hello from Silvaplana again,

Day 2 of competition. It is one big party here... They transformed the carpark into a huge carnival, with food stalls, a 2 storey high TV screen with stage, tents full of the latest windsurfing gear and a huge Playstation tent with lots of games consoles.

Wind hasn't been fantastic since 2 days ago. We were supposed to have the Surf marathon (5 VERY confusing upwind and downwind slalom laps in the lake) yesterday... but that didn't happen. The wind teased us all day... managed one start (with about 100 formulas!) but the wind gradually died off and it was soon abandoned. Came back, went out again when the gust came in... but came back in again. And that was that! By 5pm, it became clear that it wasn't gonna happen.

What was interesting though, was that I met 2 swiss folks. One onshore... came up to me and said he remembered me... huh??? Said he lived in Singapore for some time and sailed at East Coast. Hans is his name and I am sure his name will ring a bell amongst some of you folks.

Another was on water, when he shouted,"Hey Singapore! What is your name? You know Kelly Chan??!!!" Thought he was abit rude at first, but met up with him on the beach later and found out that he sailed with Kelly and gang back in the 90s. Wow! Way before my time!

So, it was an eventful day... and yes, I tried to port start the fleet... barely made it and ducked behind antoine albeau! wow!Oh yes, I must say that it is an amazing line-up of pros here! Micah Buzainis, Jimmy Diaz, Steve Allen, Antoine Albeau... the list goes on! World Champs past present and future!

Will be having surf marathon again today before starting the Euro Cup Formula proper.

regards,
wearn haw
SIN 2

[Meng]

pic of penang mafia in action.
 Penang mafia

guys, have fun !!!! Starboard F-192,POL-10,USA-34 and USA-911 for me !!

has Bo found his 'Hollywood' in Silvaplana ?

[wearnhaw]

Hello one and all!

  Greetings from a very, very cold Silvaplana! It rained out yesterday and temperatures dropped! My hands and feet were painful from the cold! Well, afterall, it is supposed to be summer, and I only have a 2mm shortsleeve wetsuit!

  We did have the surf marathon though... pretty long, 5 laps... The winds tore thru the valley also, ahead of the rain clouds... Micah Buzainis won ahead of Wotjek and the rest of the field. Very shifty and gusty conditions... I managed a fairly good start. But was too greedy and went too near the left shore in anticipation of a lifter from the next gust! Missed it completely and was left standing while half the fleet planned away! Oh well, that put paid to any hopes of a good one!

  After that, we had 2 attempted starts... but each one was called off due to Genral recalls... well, we have 160 starters from 22 countries! Imagine all that squeezed into seletar reservoir! In any case, the winds didn`t hold up for long enough for any races to be completed.

  And that was that! Everyone packed up quickly to escape the raina nd the cold once the organisers called it a day at 5pm.

  And here we are now, 10am on day 3 of racing... the overnight rain and cold snowcapped all the surrounding mountains! What a sight! Summer??? Oh well, 12 deg now, hope it warms up. Otherwise there won`t be much wind as well as the prevailing wind here is the Maloja, which is a thermal wind generated when the rocky mountains behind us heats up, creating a rush of wind through the valleys.

  Let`s see how it goes!

best regards,
wearn haw
SIN 2

[<Jean-Marc>]

Hi,

For those interested at seeing the snow-capped mountains in the background and the start-line in the foreground, check the webcam here & action from the 4 past day :

http://camserver.mobotix.ch/showpics_01.asp?Cam=s94u&S=1&KundenID=Mobotix&OwnPic=1

Cheers !

JM

[wearnhaw]

Hi,

  Sorry for the mistake... The surf marathon was won by Andre Cucchi, ITA champion! And guess what, he spent 6 years in Singapore when he was a small kid! Too bad he did not stay on and joined our `Foreign talent`scheme! And how do I know??? He told me so... on the water in between starts yesterday... and also that it is much warmer in Singapore!

  Looks like no racing today, all reacers chilling out in front of giant screen (15m x 10m???) playing games and watching TV!

  Forecast is supposed to be much better tomorrow.

  I am keeping my very numb fingers crossed!!!

regards,
wearn haw
SIN 2

[<IJ>]

Wearnhaw
It could be worse, remember this is the summer!

If you see Hans again, pass him my regards. He was at Pasta Fresca in the good old days, maybe mid 90's
He sailed a blue AHD 295 i believe - what else would a Swiss sail?

[wearnhaw]

Hi!

  Greetings from Silvaplana again! And once again, the wind is from the wrong direction. i.e. not the thermal wind direction... which is not good. Already 1pm and it is not getting any warmer!

  Race control just had a skippers' briefing... they are going to run slalom! Due to space constraints! Interesting... only 10knots... and maybe gusts of 12 knots! Obviously the guys are not too happy! I am not doing slalom... haven't got the gear here... so, it doesn't really upset me! Hah! Steve Allen stood up an led a 'rebellion'!!! haha! Calling for a boycot and not sail in the crappy conditions! This is actually quite funny...

  Anyway, the heats are posted... and we are going to see what happens! I will be up 2 storeys high ont eh spectator stand on water's edge and tryin to get some good shots!

  Still freakin cold... brrr...

  And won't be able to say hi to Hans, as he left on Sun, had to go work. He stays near Zurich, but makes the weekly pilgrimage to his Silvaplana caravan! It sure was fun talking to him, his wife and Adrian. These guys know alot of you ... ummm... old birds.... way before my time!

  Seeya.

regards,
wearn haw
SIN2

[wearnhaw]

Hello everyone!

  The sun is back and the snow is gone! So, there is a good chance of good winds today... well, it is now or never! Already the last day of competition!

  The skies actually cleared up yesterday evening, after the cut-off time of 5pm though... a good 15 knots from the 'wrong' direction and most of the guys went out on their large slalom boards to test the waters. The slalom race did not materialise in the end though, but the F2 shore team set up their radar guns to set up 'speed traps' for the speedsters! Tops were Arnon Dagan and a swiss guy clocking 55km\h on 9m sails... brings back memories of how we were trying to do this back at Seletar reservoir!

  In any case, I think they are going to run the slalom races once the wind kicks in. This is because the Formula can always use the marathon results... which sucks!!! They do need a slalom result... but I sure hope they squeeze in the Formula races as I am itching to go after sitting around for 4 days! Such is windsurfing... always at the mercy of the wind gods... well, for those in Singapore (which probably has more wind now!!!), isn't it nice to know that it isn't a local phenomenon when the wind does not show up when there is a event!

  Oh yes, did I mention that I am salivating at all the fast gear on show here... especially the slalom stuff... deboichet custom and proto fins that are just so sweet... and the brands all have the new 06 brochures and some of the new 06 boards on show! The F2 speed needle, Missle II has a very interesting concept with air ducts behind the mast foot to the tail... like a F16 intake! And the new SX boards... the new JPs, North sails etc... wow! I will upload some pics once I get to France or Spain tomorrow enroute to Portugal.

  And I have managed to speak to Antoine Albeau, Steve Allen, Micah Buzainis, Jimmy Diaz... the list goes on. Very interesting to know about how they travel, compete, find the money and go about their training and testing programmes!

  Oh yes, the freestyle guys gave arived!!! Their Worlds start today as well... these are the guys that you see in the videos pulling of forwards and spocks and what tehre isn't even a name for yet moves! And you can spot them distinctively... from their baggy jeans and raggae style! hah! I guess the style goes with the flair on water as well!

  Seeya... from a very sunny Silvaplana... finally!

regards,
wearn haw
SIN 2

[wearnhaw]

Well, greetings from Barcelona...

Did not have time to post after the event,was too busy packing up and driving off to Tarifa! Stillnot there yet though...Traffic has been heavy as this the the summer vacation season in Europe... Lots of jams at highways and worse, accidents. Been on the road for 2 days and stopped at Monte Carlo, Almanarre and Leucate along the south coast after coming down from the Swiss alps thru italy.

In the end, there were 2 races held on the last day. In freshening winds gusting up to 15 knots. Very tight racing... I found out the hard way as I got bruned after the start and had my options limited... ran out of space due to the narrow lake and was forced to tack andduck the fleet, which was bad news! Didn`t do too badly in the 1st race, but the 2nd one was really badas I fell in at the top mark... and got a really cold dip!

Think I ended up 43rd or something overall... Our thai friend Bo was 38th I think.. Ake did well in the twenties.Penang Mafia is somewhere behind me slightly.

The eevnt was won by Keith Atkinson ahead of Andrea Cucchi and Antoine Albeau.Really tight racing as some of the hotshots like Ross Williams and Gonzalo etc did not make it into the top 15!At this level of racing... you can't afford to make mistakes...not to mention not being fast! But I must say that my equipment was working fine... and it was really nice sailing in a lake filled with evian water!!! Totally falt waters even in 20knots... fantastic for formula sailing!

For now, will spend 2 days of strong wind sailing in Tarifa before heading to Oeiras, Portugal for the next Euro Cup event(23-27 Aug). Gonzalo told us it is not so safe to have so much gear exposed on the roof of the car for more than a few hours in Portugal.. so we ain't going early!

Will report back again... once we get there! Well, only about 1000km or so more to go!

regards,
wearn haw
SIN 2

[wearnhaw]

Hello!

  As promised, I have uploaded the pictures. Back in familiar territory here in Tarifa, southern most tip of Spain! Took me 3 days of driving just to get here due to the bad traffic jams (due to summer holiday season these few weeks)... but it is more than 2700km from lake silvaplana afterall...

  Unfortunately, the usual conditions (30-40 knots) are not happening here today! Sighs... was looking forward to some slalom gear training in the nuclear winds here. Will head onto Portugal for the next Euro-Cup event tomorrow. Hope the traffic isn´t as bad!

  From the press release, more hotshots will be at the event! Yikes! That´s gonna make it racing even tougher! Oh well, if you want to improve, the best way is to learn from the best!

  Meng should be on a plane to Portugal now as I type. He finally managed to make the trip after much persuasion and help! So, that´s great! One more Singaporean in Europe! And so, the trials for SEA Games are on! Winner gets an all expense paid ´holiday´ to the lovely Philippines! And with the added incentive of fighting for a SEA Games gold! How nice!

  Oh yes... the pictures! Yes, they are here... follow this link!

http://www.wearnhaw.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=6

  And I think there are event pics at Formula Windsurfing website as well!

http://www.formulawindsurfing.org/event.php?id=30

regards,
wearn haw
SIN 2

[<K-21>]

Ah....dog shit city!!!!!
No doubt one of the best places in the world to sail, with only that sinking sliding problem to worry about as yopu step out for dinner in the new Gucci loafers !
Now what about the windsurfing groupies that follow you windsurfing stars around ?
A report (with pictures) is required please.
Good Luck.

[fcuksurf]

groupies ??

That's u and Penang maphia old days my friend. how i envy u.....