MicahBUZIANIS
official Website 2008
Archive 2005/2006 by Micah Buzianis
June 2006
I just received these questions from a visitor to my website and thought I would post them for everyone to see. Hopefully it will be useful to more than just Miha. He has the 114 JP Slalom, a 41cm fin and a 2004 North Warp.
Hello Miha,
-downhaul tension - i allways trim it to max, even for light wind. Is it better to release it for light wind? How does the sail react if I over-downhaul it for stronger winds?
For the downhaul I think it is best to always pull it to max no matter what the wind is and then trim the outhaul for the wind, less for lighter winds and more for stronger winds. If you pull to much downhaul then the sail becomes very gutless and it is easy to pull the back of the sail through. You can also get the feeling of the top of the sail not having any power in it and just flapping around. But as long as you pull the sail to max or just slightly past then you should be ok.
- max outhaul tension - 2 cm? what for light winds? does the sail lay on the boom?
I can’t give you a number for the max outhaul tension, the best way to gauge is by how far it is sitting off the boom. You don’t want to pull to much tension on the outhaul otherwise you will lose all the power in the sail and it will become very twitchy in your hands. So you will have to go by feel, find a spot where the sail is easy to handle in strong winds but still has enough power to balance the sail then look at how far it is sitting of the boom and remember this as your max setting. For light winds it usually does sit against the boom, sometimes even as far up as the harness lines. This is fine as it just gives you more power, you can go to far with this but with this small of sail it is hard to go to far, but I wouldn’t let it go any farther forward than the front harness line.
- for wider range of use i am thinking to buy extra fins. Biggest/smallest fin?
I think you have the best fin size for the 114JP Slalom and your sail, this will get you the most range out of your set up. You could go with something bigger and smaller to gain a little more range, I wouldn’t go any bigger than 46cm and no smaller than 38 for this board.
- best mastbase position?
As for the mast base, since I haven’t used this board with anything but my Neil Pryde sails I can only tell you where it goes best for these sails. It may or may not work best for you, I have it about 1-2cm in front of middle. The best thing to do is to just move it around one day while sailing to feel that the differences are and see what you like best.
- i find cut out for boom very high. Should i lift my boom higher than normaly? My harness lines are 26" long.
You should have your boom so it sits just under your chin if you are standing on the board with one foot on each side of the mast and holding the rig upright. If the wind gets really light you can move it up 1-2cm and if it gets really strong then you can move it down 1-2cm. Your harness lines sound like the right length, I also use 26”, I see to many people using to short of harness lines, especially for slalom and freeriding I think longer is better.
Well I really hope this helps you out let me know if you have any more questions write me !!
Aloha
Micah
RACE OF CHAMPHIONS - SURFESTIVAL LAKE GARDA ITALY
This was my first trip to the Surf Festival and the Race Of Champions, I have been to Garda a number of times so I knew what to expect of the conditions but not sure what to expect of the race and the festival itself. From all I have heard the place is jam packed with people, coming to see all the stars of windsurfing as well as try all the new gear from the major players in the industry.
Well it didn’t disappoint, there were plenty of people in town and everyone was looking for wind and parties, both were found! There wasn’t wind everyday but three out of four was pretty good, and while the weather was a little colder than normal it was still a very nice atmosphere all the way around.
There were around 20 guys registered for the racing, most of them were local from Garda but there was also a handful of top pros on hand, Finnian Maynard, Arnon Dagan, Steve Allen, Bjoern Dunkerbeck, Andrea Cucchi, Karin Jaggi, and Alberto Menagatti. The format was all slalom and everyone would start together, the first day was to be figure eight slalom, second and third day downwind slalom and the fourth day would be long distance slalom. Even though it is slated as a fun event for show everyone was taking it very seriously.
On the first day the wind came up quickly and looked like it was going to be a windy day for the lake. I rigged my 8.4 and 9.0 RS6 as I knew I would need good power to get of the line with so many people. In the first race I took the 8.4 and my 114 JP slalom board, I had good power from the start and with a good start managed to take a bullet in the first race, with Bjoern in second and Andrea in third. In the next race the wind backed off a bit so I went up to my 9.0 and 134 slalom board. In this race Finnian took pole position off the line, he had some good board speed on his 9.0RS6 and had a clear lead at the first mark, I tried to gibe inside of him and take his wind but he had a good gibe and was off again to take a bullet while I held on for second. In the final race of the day it was again Finian who took the honors at the line after another great start and I had to follow him around the course again to settle for second. Unfortunately for Finnian he had a bad first race so I had the lead for the overall after one day of racing, with a first and two seconds.
The second day of racing was downwind slalom, the wind was a little bit lighter but with down wind it was much easier than the figure eight of the previous day. I rigged my 8.4 and 9.0 again but was on the 9.0 and 134 all day. This slightly lighter wind seemed to suit me much better, in the first race a felt a little late on the line but had good speed and was easily first to the first mark. Finnian was right behind me but he was a little slower than me out of the marks so I was able to easily hold on for another bullet followed by Finnian. Unfortunately we were both called over early with another three or four guys so our results were scratched. In the second race it was looking like we were all a bit early and as everyone kept going about 2 seconds early I slammed on the brakes at the line and stopped. This was a bad mistake though as they let everyone go, so as I sat on the line and watched I knew I had made a mistake. Bjoern took the bullet in this race, and Finnian was again called over early, it is really hard to say what the race crew was looking at because they called Finnian over but Bjoern was at least one-two board lengths ahead of him and he was clear???? I certainly wouldn’t make this mistake again! I went for it on the last start and was clear; Finnian had the best start and was leading after the first mark. I was in second and Arnon was pushing me in third. However on the leg to the last gibe mark I had some good speed on my 9.0 RS6 and my 134 JP slalom and passed Finnian before the gibe mark. This gave me another bullet and Finnian another second. After two days of racing I was back in third with two last places on the day, we only needed one more race to get two throw outs though, then I would be looking pretty good.
The last day of racing the wind was looking pretty light; lots of cloud cover didn’t suggest that it would be windy enough to race. But the sun broke through and the south wind came up just enough to get us on the water. It was the long distance racing today, three reaches across the width of the length starting up by the Hotel Pier. I rigged my 9.8RS6 because it was looking quite light and downwind so I figured I could use the extra power. At the start the wind was just enough to get planning and stay planning, I took a conservative start as Steve Allen won the start we were two and three at the first mark behind local racer Massimo, but a wide gibe let both of us sneak inside him. We pumped out of there and had a big gap on Arnon who was in third. We continued to pull away from the rest of the pack and I was slowly creeping up on Steve but he had just enough power to hole me off round the last mark and the last reach to take the win. The second gave me two throw outs and a comfortable lead overall. After the finish the wind backed off and they had to cancel the start of the last race. So in all we had seven races and two throw outs.
The race crew was a bit suspect at times but in all it was a great event for the public and for the racers. I was certainly happy in the end with the victory, my first big one of the year and the first big one for my new teams Neil Pryde and JP!!!!
Results:
Micah Buzianis, Neil Pryde/JP
Bjoern Dunkerbeck, North/T1
Steve Allen, Gaastra/Tabou
May 2006
Event report Defi Wind 2006
It was quite a drive from Austria to Grussian but with my van finally registered and legal again, thanks to Werner it made it a lot nicer! It took only a day and a half in Innsbruck to get the van inspected, insured and plates for it. It was actually a very nice day and a half as well, Innsbruck is a very nice city to hang out in. Once back on the road though with Austrian plates instead of Maui plates I was a lot more relaxed. I made a short stop in Garda to pick up the rest of my gear and then hit the road. I drove for about four hours and stopped just before San Remo to sleep.
It took another nine hours after a good nights sleep to get to the race site in Grussian but I was welcomed with very nice conditions, good wind and warm sunny weather. I was a bit stiff from the drive but I always feel the best thing to do after a long drive is to get some exercise so I rigged up and went for a sail with Antoine, Finnian and Arnon. The sailing was very comfortable, a little bit gusty but very flat water so it was quite relaxing.
After sailing I met the organizer Phillipe Bru and he welcomed me and directed me to an apartment where I was to stay. Since we were scheduled to start racing tomorrow I decided to go stock up on some supplies at the store and then head to the apartment and get some rest. Pieter Bijl arrived later that evening around ten after flying from Maui then driving to Grussian from Belgium, he was exhausted to say the least.
The next morning we arrived at the beach around ten and it was already quite windy and there were what seemed like thousands of windsurfers at the beach rigging and preparing their equipment for this exciting race. All in all there were 600 registered sailors from top pros to virtual beginners all looking forward to some fun and different sailing. The course was very close to the beach as the winds were straight off shore and the legs were nine kilometers long. It wasn’t always a broad reach as the wind was shifting constantly, so sometimes there was a lot of upwind, and sometimes just broad reaches.
I was wondering how difficult it was going to be starting with 600 people at the same time but the organizers did a great job making the starting line long enough and with the rabbit start it made it easy to not go over early. We were given a one hour preparatory signal and then at zero the rabbit would speed up the line and everyone would cross as close as possible behind it. It wasn’t quite a mass start as I thought, there were still quite a few people coming across the starting line up to ten minutes after the start, but hey that is what fun racing is all about!
The first race was for four legs of just over 9km each, this race started as a pretty close reach but as the wind shifted it became a lot of upwind on the way back. We started close to the beach and hugged the shore as much as possible for 9km then jibed and came back to about 1km past the start boat jibed again and headed back for two more legs. It was quite clear from the start who had the best speed, Antoine and Finnian were pushing each other quite hard and Cyril was giving them a run as well but in the end Antoine was clearly having the easiest time so he was able to push it a lot longer and harder than anyone else. This really showed in all the results as well as he was able to win all six races without to much of a challenge from anyone. There were about ten to fifteen guys that were really able to push him from the start but this only really lasted for about 1 or 2 km’s. We had a good variety of conditions as well, mostly on the lighter side but we raced from a 6.7 to a 7.8 and Antoine even used his 9.0 in the very last race as it was looking very light.
We only had one race on the first day so it was sort of an easy day to warm up with. After this first race though I was pretty tired and knew that we were in for a long weekend if we were to do two of these a day. In the end the race took me about fifty minutes and I would say I was about 3-5 minutes behind Antoine. It was a pretty incredible site seeing so many people line up for a start but it was even more amazing after the first jibe mark you would sail back the 9km to the next mark and there was a line of people for about 8km of this all racing as hard as they could.
The second day ended up being the windiest day of the four but we still remained on our 6.7’s and 7.2’s. There was some excitement and misfortunes on the second day and it really looked like it could be a battle between Finnian and Antoine but the former had some bad luck and as he lost his foot from the front strap he was flung over the handle bars and landed on his head on his sail and broke one of his battens. This took Finnian out of the race and to the hospital. The doctor said he was very lucky as “he could have been a vegetable right now”, this didn’t really make him feel any better and he was certainly not going to be able to get out on the water again over the weekend. He was pretty disappointed with this diagnosis as he was enjoying this type of sailing but he knew he had to play it safe with this type of neck injury. Needless to say Antoine again won both races again without much of a challenge from anyone.
Day three produced some lighter breeze but still plenty to get of another two races. Today they decided to shorten one of the races by half and make us do only one trip down the beach and back. This was more to my liking as I wasn’t really in the right condition to do four 9km reaches back to back. There was some more very exciting action this day as Pieter Bijl was showing some good speed in the event and he was really pushing it to try and take at least on race from Antoine. Unfortunately he pushed it just a millisecond to hard and hit the back of the rabbit boat and went over the handle bars. Luckily the boat had rubber pontoon sides so it didn’t do any damage but this is a very scary thought running into something going this fast and then getting launched into it. He is very lucky that he didn’t get injured seriously, but in form he got up and managed to work his way back to fifth which is very impressive considering how many guys he had to pass and all the dirty air he had to work his way through.
On the last day the wind had backed off a bit more, the forecast said there was to be no wind but it had been wrong all week, and just before the start everyone was rigging up their big sails. I stayed with my 7.8 as it looked like it was plenty of wind for this and I didn’t want to risk being overpowered for forty kilometers. I played it right and was perfectly powered for the whole race. Antoine took his 9.0 and was struggling for most of the race and was being pushed very hard by Pieter but in the end he was able to muscle it and win again for the sixth time in as many races. With Pieter’s second place finish he secured second overall for the event. Steve Allen showed some fine form and stamina to secure a third place finish overall and rounding out the top ten was Florent Renard with Neil Pryde and JP and Julien Quentel with Neil Pryde and Starboard. All in all a very good showing for Neil Pryde as they took four of the top five places.
For me I didn’t have the best event ever results wise but I had a tremendous amount of fun and for me this was what it was mainly about. I of course wanted to win but I felt from the very first race that I didn’t have the right conditioning to be able to push these guys for such a long distance. I had some good speed off the line and was right there for the first one or two km but that was about all I had in me. I was just glad to be able to go to an event like this and see how much fun it was to do this type of racing with so many people in such a relaxed yet competitive atmosphere. The organizers of this event have created a very unique template for racing that can involve so many people from so many levels of the sport. Whilst Grussian is almost perfectly suited for such an event, the concept of it should very seriously be considered by people from around the world and then copied. It is a great way to get top level pros and amateurs together on the same race course at the same event and enjoy themselves on and off the water!!!
I have to give the performances of the event to Florent Renard and Julien Quentel both of these guys are young and upcoming racers who have had some very good results already this year and seem to be coming in to their own in all types of racing. Both of these young guys have some good potential for the future of racing.
The organizer was already talking about next year and the possibilities of increasing the number of participants, this year there were 600 and 200 on the waiting list. His goal for next year is to have 900, with the popularity and atmosphere of this event I am sure that it is going to continue to grow. It will certainly be on my list for events to attend next year!
April 2006
The Slalom Gybe by Micah Buzianis
check in here.
January 2006
MICAH BUZIANIS SIGNS WITH NEILPRYDE AND JP AUSTRALIA
JP Australia (JP) and NeilPryde Windsurfing (NPW) are pleased to announce that world class racer Micah Buzianis has joined the JP and NPW International Team.Micah Buzianis (USA 34), born in Denver, Colorado but now living in Maui, Hawaii, is an accomplished and experienced racer who has consistently achieved outstanding results in throughout his career including the rare feat of holding 3 consecutive world titles - 2004 Formula World Champion, 2005 IFCA Racing World Champion and 2005 PWA Slalom 42 World Champion.
Mr. Neil Pryde commented: "Having a rider of Micah's caliber join NeilPryde at this time adds to the strength of our race team, his experience will contribute significantly to our development and testing process and we look forward to seeing Micah achieve more great results in the years to come"
Micah Buzianis had this to say about his move: "I could not be happier about my new home in windsurfing. I have always really liked what JP and NeilPryde do, from marketing, to testing, to team management, product development, Both teams are always giving it 110%. Finally this year it came about where I had the opportunity to join NeilPryde and JP and I immediately jumped at the chance head first!!!".
"I am 100% convinced that Robert Stroj from NeilPryde and Werner Gnigler from JP are the best and most professional designers around. I enjoy working with those guys - together we are a winning team. Our shared main goal is to win the Slalom World Title for the next two years."
"Right after I joined JP, I was able to do the final approval for the Second JP Slalom Board Generation which is coming out now and which I will be racing on in 2006. I have also been involved in the test program for the new X9 mast from NeilPryde. Together with the new RS:6 sail and the new JP Slalom boards it's an unbeatable combination."
NeilPryde and JP welcome Micah to the team
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