Chris Lockwood gave his new sail sponsor a present by taking the first 2 heats of Greek Speed championship at Karpathos just days before the start of the World Speed Championships at the same venue.

The winds were up to 45 knots by some accounts which made it tough for Chris as his smallest sail was a 6.2. Obviously he coped, must have been all those years on the Swan sailing with a metre or 2 more than everyone else. :-))

I wonder if any of his new team mates will lend him a 5.8? Some how I think it may be pushing esprit de corps (team spirit) a bit much. :-))



Translation from local site:

28.07.2009
Wind 7-8 Bft

Water 25 C

33 C air

Sun

Again Chris Lockwood from Australia with 42.3 knots is in the first place in our Greek international championships! Our guests just windsurf with 3.4 square meters sails..... good mood! Great wind! Today, we did not have as many rescues as yesterday

27.07.2009
Wind 8-9 Bft

Water 25 C

32 C air

Sun

First race of the Greek national open championship ......

Chris Lockwood from Australia today, was first with 39.9 knots ..... Super, congratulations to the other end of the world!

Well done Chris and thanx YoYo

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hardie said...

Well done Chris and thanx YoYo

Oh wow Awesome Chris big congrats mate you deserve it

Note the 42.3kn would be a 250m average so if he gets a chance to post on GPSTC his peak averaged with Ado in Hawaii should change the monthly result . Hardie don't send that cup out just yet. The butterfly effect will surely seperate the Pit and the SA mob.

Some other photos from Chris Schill at Karpathos.

Great photos - What size sail is the orange one in the last photo?!?!

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shear tip said...

Great photos - What size sail is the orange one in the last photo?!?!

One size down from f%#ken small either that or the sailor is 9ft tall.

Great news re: Chris too. (KA kept that mid year transfer quiet)

Great Wipeout photo,s.
42 knots is that chop is frigin fast!!!!.

KA Owner Andrew McDougall will be making a statement on the KA site soon regarding Chris. I honestly don't know all the details so can't comment other than wishing Chris all the best and hope he kicks some b..t.

well done chris,could he be the next big gun................

As one of only 2 Windsurfers to ever crack 50knots peak on gps I'd say Chris already IS one of the big guns
I'm pretty sure also that the event Chris is sailing in at the moment is the Greek Nationals speed event and not the official IWSC event which doesn't start till next week. Same location however so hopefully he can get the place dialled and really shake up the establishment!

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[b]sick_em_rex said...I'm pretty sure also that the event Chris is sailing in at the moment is the Greek Nationals speed event and not the official IWSC event !

Rex, you were not paying attention. I mentioned that in the first sentence of the original post. It was also mentioned twice more in the same post.

Here is a pic of Devil's Bay where the comp is held.



It gets pretty windy there. If Chris thought is was windy in the last few days then he better hunt around for a 5.8 as windguru is saying it is going to pick up for the worlds! It looks a pretty awesome forecast but from the reports and photos it seems to underestimate the wind.

can't wait to see the vids hope there as good as the last couple of years

nice 1 Chris keep up the good work! it must be smoking as that pic shows a pretty flat sail

that looks windy. The photos and info are great, thanks Yoyo

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yoyo said...

[b]sick_em_rex said...I'm pretty sure also that the event Chris is sailing in at the moment is the Greek Nationals speed event and not the official IWSC event !

Rex, you were not paying attention. I mentioned that in the first sentence of the original post. It was also mentioned twice more in the same post.

Sorry Yoyo Bad dog

old news but here is a short article looking forward to the worlds including entrant list
www.surfertoday.com/windsurfing

Comment from gps-ss post by Philip Adamidis

Date Monday, July 27, 2009
Naish Speed Pro/Sail Maui Sails TR-4 5.9/Fin Tectonics F1 Falcon 24

Ave(5x10sec) 39.81 knots- GPSdisplay max 42.07 knots- 250m run 39.28 kn

1st day o Greek Championship. Bad start in the morning, a little better in the end.

I guess speedsurfing is the only sport in the world where you can compete with zero training and claim victory.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Board Naish Speed Pro/Sail Maui Sails TR-4 6.3/Fin Tectonics F1 Falcon 24

Ave 39.23 knots Max GPS display 41.83 knots-250 m run 39.14 knots

2nd day of Greek Championship.Mixed feelings. Good performance in the morning with 2nd overall behind amazing Chris, then in the evening, I got the wrong pace. The wind was hailing whenever I went upwind and then on the run... nada. This must have been my worst heat ever. Nevermind, that's why discards are for. The good news is I am leading the Greek pack.

Chris congratulations!!! You are amazing (and lucky with this gust).Andrea same to you. Great run!!!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Board Fanatic Falcon 80/Sail Maui Sails TR-4 6.6/Fin Tectonics F1 Falcon 28

Ave 38.57 knots Max GPS display 40.43 knots- 250 m run 38.68 knots

Day 3 and disaster struck the team :-(
Poor Nikos dislocated his shoulder in a crash that did not seem dangerous. Out of nowhere! Misses the rest of the Championship and the World Cup as well. Also misses a chance to snatch the Greek title since it has been a real struggle to beat him this time. Courage Nikos I know it sucks but the future is yours. You only need to be a little patient. Relax and make the best of it.

As for the conditions it has been a real lottery with gusty conditions and short heats. It is a pain in the ..s to finish the run with 33 and the guy behind you makes the winning run at 39. Anyway, consistency paid off.

And from Andrea Baldini, also on the gps-ss site

Date Monday, July 27, 2009
Board Carbon Art SP 44/Sail Challenger Sails Aero+ 5.9/Tectonics F1 Falcon 24

Ave 38.43 knots- Max GPS display 44 knots-250 m run 38.25 knots

Very hard day today for the Greek Championship!!! Super strong wind with superb gusts!

I did my fastest run at 12,03 ( supposted to start at 12.00) but was still the red flag.....big shame for me!!!!!!

The 5.9 was very hard to hang for me and after I change for the 5.4......very difficult to go up-wind starboard going in the run...so I couldn't have any straight run.I had a super acceleration in the end of the run that pushed me really scary close to the rocks......44 in gps was great but it was not for 2 second because the gust hit me and I had to suddenly slowing down.

anyway interesting day.....as someone said!

Date Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Board Carbon Art SP 44/Sail Challenger Sails Aero+ 5.4/Fin Chris Lockwood 24

Ave 38.4 knots max GPS display 43.5 knots-250 m run 40.3 knots

I had the first run in the competition with very good wind.... and after that the wind drops a little bit and I took the 5.9... anyway some nice sailing and super windy like always here in this beautiful Island!!!
I was with the Chris Lockwood fin 24: AMAZING M10 !

And from Jacques van der Hout


Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Sail Neilpryde RS Racing EVO 2 6.2/ JP Speed 49 Pro Edition/Fin C3 Venom 26

Ave 39.43 knots Max. GPS (display) 42.01 knots -250 m run 39.26 knots

First day ever for me on Devil?s bay. Super gusty.
We only sailed in between the heats of the Greek Championships.
Most competitors we doing 250 runs between 27 up to 39 knots today. I don?t know my speeds on the course compared to Chris Lockwood for instance as we didn?t sail the course during videotiming. I think still big room for improvement. My sail was was a little overdownhauld (on purpose), my fin was not perfectly fitted in the fin box and i don?t know my new boards.
Another 2 days to get this solved.
It will be a hard competition because you need to be lucky with the gusts all over the course and you need to have balls if we get the 50 knots of wind like they had the past 2 days. And i don?t want to crash and hurt my balls......

Other comments here etc.. www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=user&smnu=sessions&uid=1071

Sounds like it's going to be a lottery as to who gets the best gust oh well the more runs they can do the more the odds improve in their favour.
Still don't understand why a World Champion is going to be crowned after this event you would think it would be held at a place where they can at least get a 500m run.
I want to see a leg of the world speed sailing champs held at sandy point we could bull**** and say $50,000 prize money that way all the top nobs would turn up and just give the winner a carton of beer

And a set of 20inch harness lines...for second

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choco said...

Sounds like it's going to be a lottery as to who gets the best gust oh well the more runs they can do the more the odds improve in their favour.
Still don't understand why a World Champion is going to be crowned after this event you would think it would be held at a place where they can at least get a 500m run.
I want to see a leg of the world speed sailing champs held at sandy point we could bull**** and say $50,000 prize money that way all the top nobs would turn up and just give the winner a carton of beer

Further info translated from local site

29.07.2009
Wind 7-8 Bft
Water 25 C
Air 32 C
Sunny

Very nice racing day. Many photographers and spectators. Naturally again Chris Lockwood from Australia on top. ...... Tomorrow come Björn Dunkerbeck and some other top people! Then afternoon of the 31 July, registration for the World Cup !

Photo Chris Schill



Now it is going to get tougher for Chris with Antoine, Bjorn, Finian and Cyril turning up. Racing starts on the 1 August and goes through to the 5th.

To me it looks like the perfect venue if you are going to hold a one event world championship. Howling wind every day, reasonably flat water (unlike the 3' surf at Fuerte). Sure it is short, but 250m is long enough to sort them out.

Some more Chris Schill photos

Not extactly Sandy Point photography conditions. I guess there are some advantages in having pebble beaches as apposed to sand. :-))

Chris Lockwood and Neil Pryde - it's going to take a while getting used to that. Interested to read the press release from KA on their separation. Regardless, it's great to see him excelling on the international stage.

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sausage said...

Chris Lockwood and Neil Pryde - it's going to take a while getting used to that. Interested to read the press release from KA on their separation. Regardless, it's great to see him excelling on the international stage.

He's riding Kiwi made boards so Kiwi owned sail company completes the package

From Chris Schill

30.07.2009
Wind 7-8 Bft
Water 25 C
32 C air
Sun

very good race conditions ..... of insanity, have some Rescue behind us, but fun!





And from Jacques post on gps-ss

session_date Thursday, July 30, 2009
Board JP Speed 49 Pro Edition/Sail Neilpryde RS Racing EVO 2 6.2/C3 Venom 26

Average speed 39.61 knots
Max GPS display 41.95 knots
250 m run 39.41 knots

Tried a lot of different settings today. The wind was much more consistent than yesterday. First i had to sand my fin for one hour to make it almost fit. Today i bought at the local Praxis and gas station p40 and p80 sanding paper to finish it tomorrow.
The fastest run we made today was 102,99 km on the scooter with Hans on the back. Tomorrow we have to to beat that aswell.
How fast did Peter and Ben do on their scooter?


Sounds like the Cobra QC leaves a bit to be desired and maybe Slowie's competition will take themselves out in scooter races...

And from Peter Volwater post on gps-ss

Thursday, July 30, 2009
Board F2 Missile XS
Sail Maui Sails TR-5 6.3
Fin Tectonics F1 Falcon 25

Average speed 39.58 knots
Max. GPS (display) 42.45 knots
250 m run 39.58 knots


Hans Kreisel gps-ss

Thursday, July 30, 2009
Board F2 Missile XS
Sail North Sails Warp F2009 6.3
Fin Caspar Speed XX 25

Average speed 39.07 knots
Max. GPS (display) 42.47 knots
250 m run 38.49 knots

Nice training after the greek championship. Conditions were better today. Small board also works better today. Kept it safe with a big fin, tommorow I am going to try small one.

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yoyo said...

Some more Chris Schill photos

Not extactly Sandy Point photography conditions. I guess there are some advantages in having pebble beaches as apposed to sand. :-))

It's just when the pebbles start flying through the air that it gets interesting

Hi guys,

Firstly I need to say a big thanks to Andrew McDougal/KA for the support over the past few years.

I also now need to say thanks to NP, Hudson, and Reg for coming on board- especially last week, to get the equipment to me in time for these contests. The equipment was sourced at the last minute so it was a difficult logistical task to bring all the parties together to make it happen.

And last but not least, thanks to you guys for all the support from home.

cheers,

Chris

Good on you mate,

We're fully behind you all the way.


Go Australia, Go SLOWY !!!

Onya Chris, just keep hammering and hitting top speeds.

Hi Chris,

New Zealand Boards, New Zealand Sails.....

To complete the transition you need to immigrate to New Zealand.....

Seriously, congrats on getting to these events on the other side of the world & your achievements.

Hey Chris

Go forth and tear the opposition apart!

All the best dude!

Go Slowly.Post some butterflies for us can you

Congrats Slowie on your well earned Greek Open win, we all hope this puts you in superb form for the the next challenge.

Go get em!!!