In 2012 there were the KONA East Coast Championships held in Trois Rivières, not far from Montreal. So, at first I thought about entering the open class races, but instead went as an observer ...
Locally we have "Sailboarder", who was taking part and ended up in 8th place plus had a lot of fun. Other than him, there is only one other person in town riding a step-tail, but that is the RRD LongRider.
For me , the issue was always cost of a KONA ONE and the fact that I already have a Mistral Equipe I/One and Fanatic Ultra CAT. For bigger winds, early planing , etc I am well covered.
What about others who would like to embark, but find it too expensive. Well, not long ago KONA announced the KONA Step ONE which is about $1400. Since the original ONE is about $1900, this step down is a LITTLE more affordable.When it hits the used market, it should be under one thousand dollars. However, it is my understanding that the Step ONE is NOT accepted or allowed in the KONA ONE class races - how unfortunate !!
Before the KONA STEP ONE (i believe it was before) there was also the KONA ONE CARB ie a carbon version of the KONA ONE. Obviously for those who wanted the shape of the ONE with a stiffer, lighter construction. Again, obviously, this model is MORE money and again NOT accepted into the KONA ONE class races...
In Florida, Calema Sports and Tinho Dornellas, often host an event with races. Well, Tinho has gone over to the Kona camp in a BIG way since about 2014 !!
It is quite large and allows for beginners, heavy weights, etc without the need for a centreboard. This board was an inspiration for Tinho and KONA to build another board ... This one is called the HULA and came out in 2015.
Hula2 from tinho dornellas on Vimeo.
This board and the Z2 are wider than the KONA ONEs. The Hula is almost 88 cm wide and in my book is a FreeFormula. It should plane early and be a very comfortable board. Why are KONA offering other models now ?? There is more discussion here...
http://www.konaone.com/blog/kona-hula-setting-new-standard-within-school-boards/
And just when I thought that was the limit, I received a comment on my blog post regarding heavy weights windsurfing , which informed me about a KONA tandem called the Mahalo. Here is a post where Ottis is riding it alone. He likes it even like that - with the nose out of the water like a BIG longboard (RSD2 or Phantom 377):
Just a small reminder - the KONA ONE came out of the Exocet camp. Believe it was sold or ?? to Joachim Larsson of Sweden and became its own brand ...
So, while i was expecting the StarBorg to bring people back to windsurfing, it looks like it will be KONA and it all started with the ONE.
And what is this one - a KONA 9.5 TT "sails like a 90 liter board" ?? from Toronto ads
Locally we have "Sailboarder", who was taking part and ended up in 8th place plus had a lot of fun. Other than him, there is only one other person in town riding a step-tail, but that is the RRD LongRider.
For me , the issue was always cost of a KONA ONE and the fact that I already have a Mistral Equipe I/One and Fanatic Ultra CAT. For bigger winds, early planing , etc I am well covered.
What about others who would like to embark, but find it too expensive. Well, not long ago KONA announced the KONA Step ONE which is about $1400. Since the original ONE is about $1900, this step down is a LITTLE more affordable.When it hits the used market, it should be under one thousand dollars. However, it is my understanding that the Step ONE is NOT accepted or allowed in the KONA ONE class races - how unfortunate !!
Before the KONA STEP ONE (i believe it was before) there was also the KONA ONE CARB ie a carbon version of the KONA ONE. Obviously for those who wanted the shape of the ONE with a stiffer, lighter construction. Again, obviously, this model is MORE money and again NOT accepted into the KONA ONE class races...
In Florida, Calema Sports and Tinho Dornellas, often host an event with races. Well, Tinho has gone over to the Kona camp in a BIG way since about 2014 !!
But that is only the beginning. Tinho is not only well known for being considered a "master windsurfing instructor, but also a class A windsurfer designer. He is responsible for such boards as the AHD ZEN, but also built his own Z2 board .
Hula2 from tinho dornellas on Vimeo.
This board and the Z2 are wider than the KONA ONEs. The Hula is almost 88 cm wide and in my book is a FreeFormula. It should plane early and be a very comfortable board. Why are KONA offering other models now ?? There is more discussion here...
http://www.konaone.com/blog/kona-hula-setting-new-standard-within-school-boards/
And just when I thought that was the limit, I received a comment on my blog post regarding heavy weights windsurfing , which informed me about a KONA tandem called the Mahalo. Here is a post where Ottis is riding it alone. He likes it even like that - with the nose out of the water like a BIG longboard (RSD2 or Phantom 377):
Just a small reminder - the KONA ONE came out of the Exocet camp. Believe it was sold or ?? to Joachim Larsson of Sweden and became its own brand ...
So, while i was expecting the StarBorg to bring people back to windsurfing, it looks like it will be KONA and it all started with the ONE.
And what is this one - a KONA 9.5 TT "sails like a 90 liter board" ?? from Toronto ads
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