Barton (5511km):
3052 days ago Bonaire Lac Bay. NP EVO 6 7.0, iSonic 107, MFC KP-RC 360, Wind: started 17-20 knts, ended 23+.
Taty Frans delivered to the beach the birthday present I bought myself yesterday - Taty's 2015 iSonic 107 Carbon board. Taty had sailed it maybe 10 days, 5 of those in the PWA competition in New Caledonia in November where he earned a 2nd overall podium finish. Of course, Taty is now busy unpacking his 2016 boards. Taty's recommendation is use the iSonic 107 where conditions warrent the 7.8 and 7.0 sails and use the iSonic 90 for 5.8 conditions. He suggested I try the board with his footstrap setup and then modify as needed - mistake. Taty is about my size but much stronger, more agile, you name it... He has the front straps in the 'middle' position which is probably OK for now but had the back straps all the way back. I made a run north to the mangroves - board seemed quicker than the 90 in similar conditions (yesterday). Stopped at the end of the run and adjusted foot strap size then made a run to the rental sailing area. Felt OK but I was noticing some tailwalking as the wind seemed to be increasing. Adjusted straps again and and made another run to the mangroves - this time the board felt pretty twitchy as the wind was picking up. Was going to make a downwind run to the launch area but got overpowered, and catapulted. Limped back overpowered to the rental area, made one short downwind run and walked the rig back as I was way overpowered at this point. Moved the back straps to the center position but suspect I may move them to the forward postion for a while. In general I liked the way the board handled when I wasn't overpowered. More stable than the iSonic 90 although I had the feeling that I will get catapulted more as I'm not sure the 107 accelerates as quickly as the 90.
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