[Ed. Note: Ever since I met Surfwidow at the ACA-SL Cup when she transformed from a frustrated Cup racer into a talented Cup Videographer I have enjoyed watching her develop into a premier content and event provider for the SL sailing community. I am pleased to see Delinda choose Surfwidow for her current interview. - MTW]

I’ve seen her around the sailing grids (always up to something) and I finally had a chance to sit down and really talk with Surfwidow Beaumont. Although I must admit we also got to play around with many of her great creations throughout this interview. We sat down near the water on the Holly Kai Golf Course in Santa Cruz .

Delinda Dyrssen: Thank you for this opportunity to talk with you. Let’s start with your first name. Where did “Surfwidow” come from?
Surfwidow Beaumont: Well I have windsurfed for years and I drew a comic strip for a windsurfing mag. I called it “Surfwidow”. Some of the archives are on the net - so you could probably find them, it was for “Boards Magazine”.

DD: Boards Magazine. I will have to look for that. Lets get right to your latest project, the Olympic Windsurfer “RS:X”. Please tell me about it.
SB: I windsurfed since my childhood and always found sailboarding exhilarating. There is something ‘raw’ about it, something that I feel you cannot get from other water sports. A bit like comparing hang gliding to cliff jumping or jogging to parcours – its just that little bit ‘more’ you know what I mean? The first thing is you can put on the roof of your car or even in the back of a van or estate car, you can rig up in a short time, you can do this alone (although in RL you must work a buddy system if possible for safety reasons). Lastly its wind powered, no pollution other than that made to create it. You are there with the wind, alone and you can be becalmed and stranded, you can be flipped like a dummy, you can blast at tremendous speeds. When I first joined Second Life this was what I looked for first, but I only found somewhat ugly boards and rigs and of those that looked nice they were ‘regular’ vehicles – press the forward button and swerve about – bit boring after a while but still good. I could not find what I wanted and so decided to create it, using Armchair (Armchair Binder) as beta tester for SL navigational and tactical issues and my experience of how windsurfing actually feels in reality - and what it looks like.

DD: It looks as though you put plenty of thought into this. How long have you worked on the project?
SB: Well I spent about 4 weeks day and night. Unfortunately Armchair is in the US and I am in the UK
so I had to wait till he was available.

DD: Did you get to do any testing in Havoc 4?
SB: Yes and details are included in the pack. Although this is subject to change as Havoc 4 is too.

DD: So you have covered all the bases. On the day of the release I got one for myself and was astounded at the low price. Why did you mark them so low, only $375L I believe?
SB: From the word go the price had to be low. I have always been respectful of Kanker’s (Kanker Greenacre) low priced outlook for his Tako and Moth’s (Mothgirl Dibou) Fizz then followed suit. I charged 375L simply because its not just a board there are other items in the box including clothing but the board on its own is actually cheaper than the others. This not only encourages sales but most importantly it develops a ’scene’ and is newbie cost friendly. This being Olympic year I feel was a good time to launch it the RS:X scene, in RL this is really something and a far cry from the jumping about you usually think windsurfing to be. I created the board to be almost identical to the real thing – take a look at this video and then the real thing.
    It’s there with all the other sailing classes, and some say the most strenuous of all sailing due to the efforts involved – the sailors are not only super fit but super tactical too. RS:X is a serious business. We had the straight out-of-the-box board up to 53 knots at Anwar Straight and it was ‘bottom in the water’ speeds – just like the real thing really – with a wind setter set to speed 25 – that was fun and flat water blasting for the heck of it. The board is narrow which opens new strategic moves coupled with the gybe flipping of the sailor.  I have not fully exploited this but I can already see how this can be used when passing marks really close and ‘closing the gap’ without your butt touching the buoy. Leaning against the wind with the board leaning the same way takes some getting used to but people are already adapting pretty well. Taku (Taku Raymaker) and his mates have already made some good hotlaps. The sound is authentic – I even rattled a monofilm sail and recorded it to add in parts of the sound loop , as the board slaps along that monofilm does crease and rattle, this again I feel adds to the authenticity.

DD: Are there any plans for racing the RS:X?
SB:  It will come in time I hope. I started the RS:X WINDSURFING CLUB. Armchair, Taku and Beejee (Beejee Boucher) are officers so it should be good.

DD: Sounds promising (maybe this is one class I can compete in). You mentioned your link to videos above and most people involved in the sailing world of SL are aware of your work at “Second Life Sailing” on “You Tube”. What got you into this and where you plan to go with it?
SB: I made real life windsurfing videos and so its natural progression really. It’s easier in SL apart from the sim crossings that destroy some of the mosty beautiful shots as a boat takes off. The America’s Cup video kicked it off really but that was a slog. I doubt I will ever do that again to that level of editing and production. I was trying to prove something to the officials, Mark (MarkTwain White) and myself with that. But never say never eh.

DD: Well I am impressed with the final product and have watched all the ones you posted so far. My favorite has to be the one which takes advantage of the sinking of boats during sim crossing, “The Second Life Comedy”. I think you have a great outlook on rolling with the punches here in SL. What other prim creations do you have that maybe people who don’t know you may not be aware of?

SB: Well I made (I believe) the first SL rowing boat. Also a Steam Launch, and well here — I will give you one of these.
(Surfwidow hands me what looks like what I grew up knowing as a Hippity Hop. I hop and fly around a bit and also hear the whimsical sound effects she added).

DD: Great Fun! whats it called?
SB: Space Hopper - SWB Hopper

DD: With your creative abilities and personality… I really want to know the answer to this one. Aside from any of your own creations what is your favorite boat on SL?
SB: Thats a big question. I create more than sail as do a lot of content creators. I think if there was one boat that is like my cup of tea it would be the Trucor Beach Cat, although I rarely sail it. The Flying Fizz and Zinnemann Big Cats are there too. Hard to answer, I admire Hans ( Hans Zinnemann) and Mothgirl. Its not easy creating new angles. In any case I am given boats as I need them for video props and thats handy.

DD: Thank you for your time Surfwidow and I’m looking forward to seeing more of your creations and videos in the future.
SB: Thanks Delinda its been fun chatting .

As a proud new owner of a SWB Rowboat, until next time I guess I’ll go “row with the punches”.