3 Fast Weeks at Karpathos

Back home after 3 great weeks at Karpathos in Greece. 17 days on the water and almost 900 logged kilometres at speeds between 35 and 43 knots. This was the 3:rd year in a row and for me the weeks at Karpathos is very special in many ways. I get the opportunity to test trimming and I can improve my small gear sailing. I brought 3 speed boards and one small slalom board, four sails, five masts and 40 fins. The conditions are very demanding with gusty winds around 20-45 knots, 5-9 Bft.


The last 2 years I have arranged an event called King of Paradise. The event site is Karpathosspeed.com
This pic is not Photoshopped!
 It is a GPS-event and we count the best 250-meter runs. That format is quite demanding because if you want to perform you have to be on the water as much as possible. You never know when the best gusts will come. Still I find it relaxed, and it always nice with some competition when you do speedwindsurfing.

Training camp
I am very happy with my sailing in Karpathos this year. I do not get many days with small speed gear so it very learning to get that many windy days in a row. It is like a training camp with the best mates in the world. This year I also had great help from Dirk Jan Knol with trimming my new sails from the Loft Sails. I did six new PB (personal best) and finished third in King of Paradise all three racing weeks, and was the fastest of the day a few times (which wasn´t easy with top world cup sailors as Dirk Jan Knol, Daniel Borgelind, Markus Emanuelsson and Magnus Bengtsson). Also fast "locals" like Nick Vardalachos and Panagiotis Drakopoulos where sailing with us.

Some reflections
At gusty spots where you need good upwind properties and high speed in the acceleration into high-speed, a small slalom board could be easier and faster than a speed board in the same size. I ended up sailing my Carbon Art SL55 rather than the SP53. With the SL55 I logged speeds over 42 knots and 10-second average over 40. Another reflection, I found the C3 Venom and Black Project Type S, the best fins in my quiver. (I sailed with 6 different top-fin-brands).

PROS and CONS with 3 weeks at Karpathos
+ I got very fit
+ Developed my small gear sailing enormous
+ Very good food
+ Airport pick up and storage and resque by Chris Schill
+ New PS´s
+ Great sailing mates
+ Competitive racers
+ Windy
+ Technical spot
+ UFO at Bella Karpathos Pizzeria in Pigadia
+ All people on the island are very nice and true friendly
+ My family loves the island

- Sharp and slippery rocks
- Short speed strip
- Technical spot
- 3 weeks slips away too fast
- 48 weeks until I go back again

And a video of a "standard" + 40 knots run, Carbon Art SP44, Loft Racing Blade 6,3