Windsurfing sails from The Loft 2005 by Monty Spindler

The Surf Festival rocks over the long weekend large with a large exhibition of windsurfing equipment.

Friday evening party with the Sideshore Trading team at the Subito... good mood, good music, many guests enjoyed the party at the Subito in Fehmarn. Sideshore trading sponsored the drinks!
Sebastian, Anne, Timo, Jessy, Alexander, Katia, Joshi, Nabil, Thorsten, Ursula, Lucky and Monty were heavy into Vodka Red Bulls and Capirinhas danced into the early hours...

The Surf Festival rocks over the long weekend large with a large exhibition of windsurfing equipment. All major windsurfing manufacturers attend the event, tents, flags, music, food, wind and sea all make for a good time.
The Quattro guys were there- Keith Tabul and Lalo Goya. Pio Marasco from MFC and Francisco Goya also attended.
The event takes place on a narrow spit of land named Wulfener Hals on the island of Fehmarn. A shallow lagoon on the west side lets windsurfers of all ages and abilities enjoy the sport in shallow, flat water. On the east side there is the Baltic Sea and open water for the more experienced windsurfers.
On the 15,000 windsurfers visit the event, sails and boards stand ready on the beach for aspiring sportsmen to try.
The winds were good Thrusday and Friday, unfortunatey on the weekend the winds did not fill in.

An informal speed competition was completed... The F2 Speed Challenge was run in the fresh winds on Thursday and Friday. The speed course is open to everyone, the top speeds are recorded with a radar gun.
F2 holds 8 events around Europe, Fehmarn being the first event.
Fehmarn Surf Festival F2 Speed Challenge- 40 participants, Ludger Dierken
Thursdays results (14-18 knots wind):
1. Ludger Dierken Exocet Turbo Boost 67 O2 7.4 2005
2. Uwe Michelsen NP race sail 7.8 Speed competitor in European events.
3. Tillmann Heinig Custom board North Warp 7.5

Friday results (12-15 knots wind):
1. Manfred Krueckeburg Naish race sail 8.0 Lorch
2. Ludger Dierken Exocet Turbo Boost 67 O2 7.4 2005
3. Uwe Michelsen NP race sail 7.8 Speed competitor in European events.

#April 25, 2005
Design quality confirmation: magazine tests?

Windsurfing magazines evaluate sails offered to the worldwide market each year, their test results are published in editions that influence the popularity of tested sails.

Some windsurfers place minimal importance on the test results, believing that it is the amount of advertising paid to the magazines from the sail brands that determine test results. One might say the issue is; are magazines placing top priority on their readership, or on their advertisers?

Some windsurfers place great importance in magazine test results... they appreciate that the windsurfers who evaluate sails genuinely try their best to accurately test the sails and arrive at accurate results.

Different magazine tests often produce very different results. This may be explained by the fact that tests are completed in different locations; different conditions may produce different results. Also, tests are performed by different teams, the testers in each test team will most likely have different ideas as to what ideal sail performance might be.

Despite the controversies concerning magazine sail tests, when a sail-brand collect superlative results from a score of magazine evaluations it is safe to say that the design quality of the brand is unquestionably established. The Loft has received absolutely outstanding magazine test results. See our 2005 test results for yourself!:

-Lip Freewave Concept 6.2: Test winner German Surf magazine Jan-Feb 05.
-O2 Freeride Concept 7.4: Test winner French Planchmag magazine April 05.
-Lip Wave Concept 4.7: Test winner French Wind magazine April 05.
-O2 Freerace Concept 8.4: Super results French Wind magazine April 05.
-O2 Freeride Concept 5.9: Super results North American Windsport magazine April 05.

The Loft continues its work developing progressive, cutting-edge windsurfing sail designs, we look forward to future magazine tests world-wide.

#April 19, 2005
Roeland won ...

Roeland won the first event of the year in Belgium.

Name: Roeland De Rycker
Where: Knokke (Belgium) - Surfers Paradise
Event: Lords Of The Wind, Belgian Freestyle Championship, -18 years old
When: 16-17 April
How many competitors: 8 people
Conditions: +/- 12 knots. Only two heats. First they were divided in two groups, every group did one heat. Then a heat with the two best of the first heat (Roeland and Robby) and a heat with the two best of the 2nd group (Kenny and Dieter Vandereycken). As this was the only heats they had done, they made the overall ranking on the points given in the heats and Roeland won!
Roeland take the Lip Wave 5.7.

#March 28, 2005
Roeland De Rycker: King of Freestyle

According to rumours, the PWA plans to scale back freestyle competitions, probably to the profit of Super X. This may be bad news, because in Belgium many young people practice windsurfing thanks to Freestyle.

Among them- Roeland De Rycker, only 15 years old and already stuffed with talent. Roeland began windsurf at the 8 years age, and began Freestyle four years later. Since he was 12 years old he only thinks about freestyle: his preferred spot is called "flat water"! Roeland already has his prizes- two successes at the Young Guns of Freestyle (Rookie), held in the Netherlands in 2003 and 2004.
To see him in action just go to Brouwersdam, Grevelingendam or Oesterdam, depending on the direction of the wind! Roeland has already travelled abroad (Tarifa, Leucate, Rinkobing Fjord in Denmark, or Rosas), and his dream is to sail one day in Venezuela and Aruba.
Which manouevres is he able to do? Impossible to enumerate them all! He goes from the air jibe to the one foot jump, while passing by the push tack, the grubby or the spock... obviously Roeland is known in the windsurf industry in Belgium and was quickly sponsored by Windsurfshop.be, The Loft Sails and Sailboards Tarifa. Recently, Roeland forms part of the international Loft Team. Photos of Roeland are in the Loft brochure and on the The Loft web site 2005. "Roeland is class"!

#March 21, 2005
Black color LIP Wave

For those who don't know...

There's also new color black vailable for 2005 LIP Wave from The Loft! For more info on Lip Wave sails please visit here

#March 15, 2005
The Loft at Slovinian Surf Fair

Slovinian Surf Fair and the stand of our Slovinian distributor Peter Silec of Prosurf

The fair was held on Sunday, 13th March, in Maribor. There were approximately 500 visitors from Slovenia and Croatia. Fair was covered by local radio, the reportage from the fair was published in several nautical magazines and also on internet page (www.totisurf.com) which is unfortunately only in Slovenian language. Surfers showed quite big interest for Loft Sails!

#February 06, 2005
Pierrot news from Australia

Starting this year Pierrot is a new rider with The Loft Team.

"I'm now in Magaret river after leaving Lancelin and Perth. Margaret river is the best spot I have ever seen. Last week we had waves of 5 meter and more. This wave is so radical but you can make 5 bottoms easily. For jumping it is just such a crazy feeling, you jump so high! The wind isn´t gusty but a little bit cold. I go in the water all day with 5.2 or 4.7."
Pierrot

View images from Pierrot's session >>

#January 29, 2005
The Loft Movie by Liquid Pixx

High quality [ .wmv 8.6 MB ]
Low quality [ .wmv 1.6 MB ]

Oliver Viering
Liquid Pixx Tarifa
www.liquid-magazine.com

#January 05, 2005
The LIP Freewave 6.2 takes it all in German SURF Magazine 2005 test...
"In the Northern or Baltic Sea, most surfers use the same sail for waves and tricks in flatwater - and then, the LOFT is the best choice." SURF 1/2005

"LIP Freewave - a name that sounds not so much like flatwater-action in El Yaque... however Monty Spindler confidently submitted his "freemove" sail into our 05 freestyle test. And why not?... the performance requirements for wave and freestyle sails (around 6 m2) are nearly the same: early planning, soft handling and sufficient on-off functions are all needed for convincing an engaged windsurfer.

It was no surprise that this "freewave concept" design would work in tricky conditions, yet as well the LIP has a very early planning quality; in lightwind the Lip starts planning as early as the Severne.

Naturally, the strong reinforcements in the LIP make it feel slightly heavier than the super light Australian design. The LIP, when compared to the North Disco or the less reinforced GunSails Jam, has a similar feel regarding weight.

For Duck Tacks and moves that need a power-off-function where the profile becomes flat (which is appreciated by dedicated and technical tricksailors), the LIP has no leech fluttering and no nervous movements - no power-point wandering.

The Loft LIP Freewave Concept also feels soft and smooth in your hands if the wind comes up."

The Lip Freewave 6.2 has, in the sum, the best marks in the following categories:
-early planning
-freestyle quality
-freeride quality

View more >>

#January 04, 2005
Masts from The Loft!
A super light hard-core reduced diameter mast and racing standard diameter masts now available from The Loft.

All LoftMasts are 100% high-modulus carbon pre-preg:
-the fastest possible reflex-response,
-the lightest possible weight,
-the greatest possible rig stability... windsurfing unlimited.
Read more about The Loft Masts >>

#December 23, 2004
Big day in Tarifa
Big day big bay... best sail 3.4qm... Rider Joss, photos Tanja...

For more images visit www.stehsegelrevue.com

#December 14, 2004
The Loft Sails 2005...
The Lip and O2 2005 sail lines have been finalized! Many new items have been applied to our successful designs. Reduction in sail weight has been a top priority for 2005, and the results are stunning. The weight of our 05 sails has dropped an average of 1/2 kilo... The Loft 2005 designs are among the very lightest available.

Extreme durability is characteristic of The Loft 2004, longevity continues in the 2005 lines along with the dramatic weight reduction. How?... surgical attention paid to all sail parts while maintaining integrity. Critical points fully addressed with applied scrim reinforcements and Kevlar™ to ensure longevity. All 2005 Loftsails are built with substantially reduced monofilm content, in fact the Lip Wave Concept 2005 is 100% laminate! No corners cut- so you keep riding.

Numerous new items go into The Loft 05- new molded mast pad, new stainless 3-roller integrated tack pulley, new light and effective molded PVC foot edge, new materials for the mast pocket as well as new alu-rienforced Grid-Xply and new aggressive and totally functional aesthetics.

The Loft 2005 is real evolution... feel it!

#October 12, 2004
The Loft in wind tunnel
In September 2004 The Loft was asked to develop a windsurfing rig model for testing in the new wind tunnel facility at the CEAMA in the province of Andalucia. The opening of the wind tunnel was highlighted by the arrival of the King and Queen of Spain. That windsurfing was presented certainly helps to promote our sport.

Mr Jose Terres-Nicoli is an active windsurfer and the technical director of the Wind Engineering Division, which is one of the 3 divisions of the Environmental Fluid Dynamics Research Group at CEAMA (CENTRO ANDALUZ DE MEDIOAMBIENTE). Snr. Miguel A. Losada is the managing director of the facility, which is organized into three subdivisions: Harbors and coastlines, Rivers and wetlands and Wind Engineering.

The new CEAMA wind tunnel is different from most wind tunnels because it is specialized in the simulation of the wind characteristics near the surface of the earth and sea. Most wind tunnels are concerned with static winds where turbulence & wind-speeds remain constant for the study of Aeronautics. In contrast, wind speed and turbulence intensity changes dramatically with the influence of the earths surface- this effect is termed wind gradient. Few wind tunnels are designed with wind gradient studies for applications in civil and environmental engineering- and windsurfing rig studies!

Working with Jose Terres-Nicoli two 1:5 scale models were produced at The Loft; an O2 Freeride Concept 6.6 and the Olympic class Laser sail. Built into the two models are more than 20 micro-tubes in each, which are used to measure air-pressures at specific locations. Air pressures are measured at the micro-tube ends, the tubes are led forward to the mast and travel down inside the mast pocket and connect to computer-sensors under the tunnel which assimilate the datas.

A unique system to actually see wind turbulence has been installed. Forward of the models a machine throws fine water vapor in the air. Just behind the model a beam of laser light is diffused into a sheet. As the water vapor passes through the laser light the influence of the foil can be understood visually.

The opening of the wind tunnel was highlighted by the arrival of the King and Queen of Spain. Security was very high before and during the visit of the royalty. The wind tunnel is so large that the King, Queen, technicians and security people were all actually inside the tunnel inspecting the windsurfer model. The paparazzi were busy with the photo-ops and the event was presented in the Spanish media. That windsurfing was presented certainly helps to promote our sport.

The Loft looks forward to further studies working with CEAMA.

Monty Spindler
October 2004