The new SWB Wave Pro WindsurferSurfwidow Beaumont is no stranger to wind and water and has developed two different types of Second Life windsurf boards, the first of which was the RSX range that harnesses real Second Life wind power. She hosts windsurf races every Monday at 11am SLT in Plum Gut using her RSiX windsurf boards. Surfwidow's new product is a wave board, which is designed to be stunt specific and work with Heather Goodlife waves.
The new SWB Wave Pro Windsurfer, comes with a lot of items. The system itself comes in two parts, the board and rail, which you rez into the water, and the sail which attaches to your avatar. This makes the sail "phantom", and prevents the sail from being locked into the curl of a pipe wave. The sail also has three prims to place numbers into for easy identification and the full windsurfer kit comes with the numbers.
Aesthetically, the SWB is very realistic. It has multiple foot straps, which are adjustable, and comes with a 'harness race pant' to complete the look. The board is completely modifiable, so you can adjust the straps and placements for your avatar's feet. All of the parts are copy/mod, and it's encouraged that you take time to make copies and edit the parts to fit you. You can also recolor the board in open chat with simple commands.
The SWB is very responsive in the water, requiring a lighter touch than its competitors, and at speed it makes very tight turns. It also has a distinct reverse, handy to back out of a bad place if you need to. Stunts on this board are a lot easier as well. Pressing the 'Page up' key gives you a simple bunny hop style jump. Press and hold 'Page up' key for long Robby Naish Big Air: over 10 meters of height! Pressing the 'Page down' key gives you a forward loop and a very loud 'Woohoo!' with it! In our testing, the SWB rode well on epics and pipeipeline waves, but the epics were much easier to ride. Most of the stunts required a lot of timing to avoid launching over the wave and landing behind it It's possible, however, to catch up to the wave and jump back over it from the back to get back on wave It's also highly recommended you read the notecards that come with the kit, they detail how to stop the forward loops.
The only down side is the lack of user control on stunt work. Carving back and forth on epics is very difficult, and doing tabletops or similar stunts seems impossible. It's easy to run back and forth, and with the right timing you can do an impressive front flip and land on wave to keep going. These windsurfers are very easy for anyone to jump on and start riding, with a minimal amount of information. It correctly handles more like a sailing craft than a surfboard. As long as you remember that, you can rip up the waves without a problem.
Another opular Surfwidow product that is the RSiX RaceWind Windsurfer. These are built specifically for racing. The kit comes with two models, red and yellow. Both also can be personalised with numbers, as with the SWB, and the board is recolorable in the same way. Racing boards are purely controlled by the Second Life wind. Pushing forward will change the sail angle, but not make you move forward. You also need to tell the craft to raise the rigging (rigup) or to stop (moor), and it takes some getting used to. There is such a thing as 'race wind' as well, but you get into that more when you get into racing. The ride is very technical, requiring some working knowledge on how sailing works in Real Life. You have to constantly tack, check the wind direction, adjust the sail angle to the wind (sheeting), and switch your stance to match the wind direction. It's not an easy task, but well worth it when you make your way around a course in a good time.
Both boards are available at WOOT on Jetset Island, where you can try out the RS:X for yourself just off the back of the store. If you rez the trial windsurfer, you'll catch the 'windsetter' and be able to have a consistent breeze to move you along. Surfwidow Beaumont windsurf boards cost L$375 each.
Useful links
SurfWatch: Surfing calendar - June-July 2008
SLURL: WOOT, Jetset Island
SLURL: Plum Gut
URL: Some windsurfing theory (US Sailing)
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