Name: WASZP - the one design foiler
Brand: WASZP
Price: 11400.00 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.4 (5 reviews)

Australian Tristan Brown

Merry Christmas from the WASZP Team!

We hope everyone has a safe holiday season and do plenty of WASZP sailing.

Summer in Australia

It has been an incredible 3 months since the season started down under. Following the announcement of the 2019 WASZP Games at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in Perth, we have seen the WASZP go from strength to strength. After our first shipment of 21 boats in October we have started to see consistent racing and genuine excitement from the entire industry in Australia.

The market and the future

We realised the demand was building so we decided to order our second container, this time bringing 21 boats into Melbourne. Sales have been similar with around 10 boats pre-sold and about 15 other people keen to buy. We expect the rush to be the same as the first container, once this container lands and majority will be sold pre Christmas. The other thing that is exciting is the quality of sailors that are buying these boats, we have Olympians as well as a lot of sailors who have been on the edges of the Australian Sailing Team who are now looking to do something, fun, progressive and competitive. As summer is ramping up we are now seeing regular pockets of fleets, usually up to about 10 boats and racing formats are being trialled as well as tuning and technique. We now have sailors being able to foil tack and gybe and get around the course in really good shape, it is exciting to see these boats and sailors develop as the tuning and techniques get better. We are still a long way off getting the most out of this boat and it will be fun being at the front of the learning curve. It is now with these efforts that the class is growing organically and there is no stronger marketing than seeing 10-15 WASZPs sailing regularly at high speed.

WASZP Games 2019

In November we welcomed the news that Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in Perth will host the 2019 WASZP Games. This will be a spectacular event with early indications of 120+ boats with a number of countries comitting to containers. The Swan River is the perfect place for WASZP sailing, with 15-20knot seabreezes coming in like clockwork and flat water with minimal traffic. The fleet in Perth now has 10+ boats sailing since the first boats were delivered in October. We expect 25 local Perth boats will be on the water before the Games, early expectations are for 70+ Aussie boats in attendance.

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What have we learnt from our experience

The first Australian Nationals at Sorrento in January will draw a fleet of 30+ making it easily the biggest fleet outside of the WASZP Games. The heavy focus on participation and lifestyle is driving the class, we want to be inclusive and the more people foiling and learning to foil the more exciting it becomes. Everyone in the class is on a learning curve and being able to help others as we go along is lifting the standard and enjoyment. We have new racing formats, like slalom and GPS we want to trial and learn more about what this boat can do, as well as test and develop the sailors.

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We now have 78 boats in Australia just 16 months after production started. It has now reached a point in Victoria where if you are a young guy or girl coming out of pathway classes or wanting to continue in sailing this is the boat of choice. We have families involved, many people have bought boats with 2 sets of tramps and an 8.2m and 6.9m sail to allow their kids to experience foiling, it is this accessibility that will allow this boat to stand the test of time and continue to thrive under a natural pathway.

With the WASZP Games in Perth in 2019 there is no better time to jump into the WASZP and enhance your sailing experience!

Merry Christmas to everyone and hope you have a great break and are ready to launch into 2018 with the WASZP team. It is exciting times ahead!

Will Drew joins WASZP as an Australian Youth Ambassador

WASZP is pleased to announce that prominent Open Bic sailor Will Drew has purchased a WASZP and joined the team as an Australian Youth Ambassador.

The 14 year old from Western Australia will end his highly successful association with the Open Bic class after the QLD Nationals, and take delivery of his WASZP 6.9 in the new year. He will spend 2018 coming to grips with his new class, and training to compete in the International WASZP Games at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in January 2019.

Will was ready to graduate out of his Open Bic after the Lake Garda Worlds in August, but like many Bic / Opti / Minnow sailors, did not have the size to jump straight into a Laser 4.7. Being regionally based in Bunbury, the option of managing a two handed dinghy campaign in the metro area was also prohibitive. "We looked at everything from Bic Techno, to Nacra, Laser, 29er and 420". "A few older sailors asked me to steer their 29er as they had sized out as skippers but had a lot of money invested in their own boats"

"There are a lot of young sailors sitting on the sideline, waiting to see if a foiling pathway will emerge via the WASZP" Will commented. "I have come to the realisation that at 45kg, and more than ready to graduate out of my junior class, the WASZP with a 6.9m rig is a great option".

Wills graduation into the WASZP 6.9 may trigger a small wave of other talented junior sailors from around Australia making a similar move. "Someone has to be the first, and there are already a bunch of youth and senior sailors with a WASZP in Australia". " I know a few really good Bic and Opti sailors who really want to get into WASZP sailing, I don't think I'll be the only junior heading into WASZP as a dedicated pathway for long" Will said.

Looking at some of the elite WA sailors who have recently moved into the class, there will be no shortage of talent in the boat park. Olympic Laser hopeful Matt Wearn, and Australian Laser 4.7 coach Tristan Brown are just a couple of the WA sailors who have recently moved into the class. A quick look at the people following the WASZP Sailing facebook page may have some other high profile sailors joining the ranks in 2018.

Already an Australia ambassador for Forward WIP, Will is no stranger to the requirements of representing a brand. "Results are important, but so is helping promote the product and a high level of sportsmanship" Will offered. "There's no point winning with an ugly attitude, you need to be humble in victory, and willing to congratulate your opponents when you get beaten". "Win or learn has always been our moto, there is no losing".

Looking forward to locking horns with other junior WASZP sailors from around the World, Will is particularly keen to compete against the strong Norwegian junior team. "Tristan was sending Dad pictures of the small Norwegian kids at the Lake Garda WASZP Games". "We went down to Malcesine to see the Moth sailors, and saw the WASZP’s on the other side of the lake."

"Tristan came up to see us at the Bic Worlds, and called in on me at NSW Bic States in 2016." He's been really supportive of my career, as has Matt Wearn and the fantastic team at Freshy". Will is also a member of the RFBYC Advanced Match Racing Institute, where he is coached as a helmsman by some of the Worlds leading youth matching racing talent in David, Sam and Lachy Gilmour, Torvar Mirsky, Will Boulden, Grant Alderson and others. "I see a lot of great sailors doing foiling and match racing as a career, I would love to do something similar so the WASZP 6.9m is a perfect platform to kick that off" and the beauty of the WASZP is Will can head into the 8.2m rig and compete at senior level without having to buy another boat.

"That and the WASZP looks like heaps of fun, which should always be a priority for all sailing" Will is excited to try the different racing formats provided by the WASZP class and also continue to grow with the brand.

Follow Wills progress here through our news feed, and on his regularly updated Facebook page Will Drew Sailing.

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15th Dec 2017