September marks the official start of the season here in the Antipodes and several Associations are staging their first events of the season on the first weekend of the month.

Currumbin will be the venue for the SEQWS Club sign-on day (Saturday 5/9), while the NSW Wavesailing Association has opted to kick-off proceedings on the South Coast (5-6 September) rather than Birubi.

For details on these events, or those planned in your state, simply follow the links in our "Wide Brown Land" feature.

Early-bird entries are now being accepted for this year's The Taranaki Wave Classic (23-26 October) with all those who register prior to the 30th of September in the running to win a new Gaastra wave sail.

Proudly presented by the Taranaki Windsurf Club the event is renowned the world over for epic down-the-line wavesailing as well as bbq's, beers, and good times.

Definitely one to mark down in your diary! - http://www.taranakiwaveclassic.com

Following on from the success of their inaugural 'Teams' event on Fuerteventura last March, Frenchmen Thomas Traversa and JB Caste are taking the concept to the reefs of Reunion Island (4-16 Spetember).

Billed as a "friendly teams-based event", the Reunion Wave Classic will see 12 pro's join four invited locals, competing for both individual and team honours in four teams of four.

And with a field that includes the likes of Victor Fernandez, Alex Mussolini, Klaas Voget, and our very own Scott McKercher the action is sure to be red-hot.

http://www.reunionwaveclassic.com

One, two, three, or four, the number of fins you ride this year is really up to you, with several manufacturers (including Exocet, Carbon Art, and RRD) offering thrusters in their waveboard lines for 2010 and JP, Quatro, and Starboard (pictured) adding quad fins to theirs.

Of particular note is the fact that though the latter have opted for a conventional fin configuration (i.e. larger leading fins, smaller trailing fins) both the JP and Quatro models feature smaller front fins and slightly larger back fins.

It's also worth noting that Naish remain the only brand not offering a multi-finned option for 2010.

Meanwhile, JP-Australia, OES, Fanatic and Tabou are among the brands to include dedicated Stand-Up Paddle boards in their new season's lineups.

And as with many of the models in the Naish and Starboard ranges, most of the aforementioned boards are also configured to carry small rigs making them ideal for light-winds and small waves.

Too much fun!

In what could best be described as a match made in heaven, Maui Ultra Fins have teamed up with the crew at Hot Sails Maui's to create an official test centre on the Valley Isle.

Based at HSM's Kanaha Kai surf shop the test centre will enable customers to try any (or all) of the fins in the revolutionary MUF range before deciding to buy.

Hot Sails head honcho Jeff Henderson is reportedly a huge fan of the "X Wave" model, while there's no denying the fact that the "X Twin" series is at the forefront of twin fin design.

The move away from "traditional" to "new" media has been given added impetus of late with the launch of UK-based on-line publication "Windsurfer International".

"WI" is the brainchild of ex-PWA Media Man Brian McDowell (who is famous for his part in the Beach Telegraph - a leading windsurfing Blog) and is both highly-readable and very user-friendly.

Check it out at: http://www.windsurferinternational.com