sboardcrazy (24353km):
1190 days ago Patchy 15- 23kts E solid 18/20kts plus above the point Coal Point, NSW, AU
7m Turbo- WT57 - 28WT weedy
then 5.7m gator - WT57 - 24 Wt stealth weedy
It was already blowing about 12-15kts when I got there. I wanted to get the big sail going so I added an extra spacer and rigged it. Much better! Funny I usually have to take spacers out rather than add them..I was intending to use it but it was already 15-17kts so I rigged the favourite combo 7m on the 90.
A bit of a frustrating session. The sand islands were horrible , really patchy with big bullits..headed above the point. From 500m out and all the way to Toronto it was choppy with a solid 18-20kts..I usually revel in those conditions but I was pretty maxed out and the fin a bit big. The ribs are pretty good but still not healed and I kept thinking how easy it would be to go around the front and hurt myself.. I got the nm on that run.
There probably wasn't much chance of crashing as the board is designed for those conditions and very safe but my imagination took the fun out of it.
Did some full on runs where I flew across through the middle of some yachts going downwind with poled out headsails..I thought I would have got 26kts plus as I was really flying but I suppose I didn't get a gust at the right time .
It was pretty full on so I decided to rig the 5.7m and put the smaller fin in to settle the board . It had ramped up another notch by the time I got back out so I was maxed out on that combo and decided I wouldn't riak going above the point where it would be more. I'd stay out the front and do some gybe practise..
I need some flatwater gybe refreshers.. I was beating myself up about my woeful attempts but I suppose I haven't really got used to the board yet or got my gybes going in flatwater.. Hope I can get to LG so I can get it going.. I was pretty maxed out as I went for them too.
I had trouble getting my front foot out ( new booties so maybe I can blame them.. ) and would lose all speed and end up in a straight line. With my lightweight I think I need to put the mastfoot forward a bit to get more of the rail in the water. I was also using a new internet tip for the entry and I don't think it suits that board. It's a pretty careful weighting of the front foot which might suit a small FSW but this board needs more pressure so I think I'll go back to my usual step across technique..
On the plus side I was going for them fully powered up and I got a few dry ones including one where I came up behind Gert who gybed in front of me. I had to squeeze between the jetty and him and survived.. I also got lots of waterstart practise. I was worried the ribs wouldn't handle any gybe stacks but the stacks were pretty tame and the ribs didn't play up.
I'll have to dedicate a few sessions to just doing short runs and gybing out the front. The problem is we so rarely get consistent and strong enough wind there to use the smaller gear.
I was having issues with the front of the fin not being pulled down enough and I was spinning out a bit. Weird sometimes it's easy to get it to sit right other times I can't get the screw to go in properly?? Maybe I've crossthreaded it..another thing to sort out.
The gusts had me maxed out but it was getting too patchy out the front so I called it a day.
Heaps at the carpark.
Nic , Gert, Lajos , James after I finished, plus another few fins. Tony , Andrew, Hugh and later Greg on foils.
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