The West Coast Speedsters (W, United States of America) - 2018-02-11
Sailor 2 Second Peak (Kts)5 x 10 Second Average (Kts)1 Hour (Kts)Alpha Racing 500m (Kts)Nautical Mile (Kts)Distance Travelled (km)
Taty
34.97(D)
33.325(D)
8.897(D)
23.466(D)
26.363(D)
24.432(D)
Barton
24.774(D)
23.684(D)
4.028(D)
4.564(D)
10.551(D)
14.553(D)
Nagel
29.745(D)
28.714(D)
10.861(D)
19.057(D)
22.712(D)
29.452(D)
Roo
Roo Jr.
Jay-Anthony
Marc
Aron
RD
Amado
Terence B
Juvannie
Alexander
Terence C
Bimbi
Chen
Marc van B
Gediminas
David Brittain
Manouk
Chad
Physiorol
Average32.3631.029.8821.2624.5426.94
Taty (2763km):
2236 days ago
6 categories

Lac Bay, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

2018 GA Vapor 7.1, 2018 iSonic 90  Fin testing day



Barton (5511km):
2236 days ago

Lac Bay, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

2017 GA Vapor 6.4, 2015 iSonic 90, MFC KPRC340, Wind: 15 - 20

A day of struggling/learning... Wind was strong enough (in the gusts) to be fully powered on the smaller gear. Unfortunately, everything felt different today. The chop was bigger, of course, the board was smaller which was good in the chop but fell off a plane very quickly when trying to jibe. Also, was using the GA carbon boom I got from Taty, which I like but I was struggling to stay in the harness lines. Took me a couple of runs to remember that Taty decided to force me to use longer harness lines by including 30" lines with the boom Wink. Once I finally remembered this, I adjusted my grip on the boom and didn't have as many 'disconnects' of the harness popping off the line.

On the positive side, I got more proficient at surfing the chop (baby swell) faces to keep from getting launched off the face. Probably slowed me down some but not as much as getting launched would have... I had a couple opportunities to try waterstarting - doesn't take much of a wind fade to make that more difficult than on the bigger gear. I'm now heavy enough that the iSonic 90 reminded me of the old Gorge days of almost sinking the board if I didn't have the proper weight distribution when doing a 'light wind waterstart'. The good news for me is that I don't freak out any more if the wind isn't strong enough and I have to float for a while when waterstarting. Also, GREAT news for me was that the Vapor 6.4 was really easy to clear for waterstarting. Not nearly the issue I remember having with the older Neil Pryde EVOs.

The introspective reflections for today were that I need to accept my present windsurfing reality and abilities. Watching Taty and the young guns blasting around it great fun to watch but also a downer to recognize that they are going 5 to 10 knots faster than I am in the same conditions. More specifically, I need to accept that I really don't want to be going any faster in the chop, at least not until I increase my skill/confidence level. Today was enough of an E-ticket ride, I don't need anything more. And, I was the only 70 year old out there (and on slalom gear no less Laughing).



Nagel (139km):
2229 days ago

Lac Bay, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

GA Vapor 6.4, iSonic 87



Comments
Boro


USA
United States of America
2236 days ago

Can you send some of that warm weather and wind up North Barton? It looks like there is endless supply of it down there.

Barton


W
United States of America
2236 days ago

Boris, this next week is looking very good, if you are into wind and warmth Laughing . We are just starting into the windy season down here. For various reasons, each year we return to Oregon in late April or early May so we miss the windiest part of the year down here. I remember one year as we boarded the airplane for the USA (still have to climb stairs outside the plane) and noting that I was almost blown off the stairs by 25 to 30 knot wind gusts Surprised .