fangy (22687km):
1466 days ago Monday Session - Monday started off as a decent enough. I went for the WT Cruise 287, Koncept 7.0, and a FF24 because I thought I might be a tad perhaps a tad under powered. This was a cunning plan that was working well enough. The FF24 was pushing the board up to plane nice and early and I could head up wind happy as Larry. Mid arvo the breeze started to push in nicely and so it was time to push things along a bit. By now the FF24 was too much power and turning into a bit of a bucket, but with all that power I thought I should try a fully loaded slingshot.
Boom Crash Opera happened instead. The load on the boom as I initiated the bear away was too much and my HPL disintegrated at the front and then the back. And while I made a season best dent in the estuary, my board happily scooted away downhill. I popped to surface still holding my boom and nothing else. I rescued my kit and lashed on by spare boom. I contemplated whether to flip the remnant boom and sail back to base, or leave as is, and walk ashore and then skip merrily the kilometre or two back to base.
Having decided to do the whimsical walk I limped the board for a bit and then plodded ashore at Wamba Road, only interrupted by the Scud having a crack at feigning concern. Yet again another sibling Care Factor Zero was the judges decision.
I walked back along the foreshore, resplendent in full regalia, past all the mum’s at the playground who regarded me with the deep suspicion that only new Mum’s can, as to what a weird looking creepy old guy might be doing near their feral snotgobblers.
About halfway back to base the wet boardies started to make their presence felt and therein initiate a some serious chaffing action. By the time I make it back to the car, I have two chaffed cherries and the faint smell of pork crackling.
Jump in the Kommandantmobile and toddle off home for a replacement boom… Back to Wamba Road and re rig with replacement boom and finally head back out. By now the breeze is solid and the FF24 is just too big for anything other than playing silly buggers in the chop. This turns out to be an inordinate amount of fun and I kept at it until stumps was called by the Scud whistling past from Boundary Island on his way to Nairns on an unintentional NM run.
Not sure I can call it a Top Ten Fangy Day with all the carnage to boom and balls, but still good fun in the sun.
Tuesday - Tuesday session was on the money. The tide had dropped and there was a decent breeze again, so WT Cruise 287, Koncept7.0, FF22 was the kit of the day. I also ignored the settings on my Koncept and rigged it as I used to rig sails to see the difference as I suspect my Kilwell might be on the stiff side for this sail. So, not quite so mental on the downhaul, leech not so floppy as a spaniels ears and neutral outhaul.
The difference is astounding, all of a sudden I had a sail with some bottom end, forward drive and the sail has gone from being the least favourite to top of the pile. It’s a scary long, long way from suggested settings: 4 cms less downhaul and 6 cms less outhaul! But now it works as a reasonable step between my 7.8 and 6.6.
The sailing today was pretty much focussed of getting my gybing technique sorted on the WT Cruise, but rather than have the discipline to complete and alpha I often just took off downhill for a quick squirt in the small chop stuff. With a lazy max at 35 I am well happy with the performance and I can see there is much more speed potential to play with in future. I also for the first time had some decent squirts in the Murray River Channel - usually I fin the wind dies as soon as I get close to the river mouth, but today was different and the novelty was worthy.
The only thing stopping the day being a Top Tenner was arriving back at base to find both my car and trailer gone. After the initial sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, I noticed the trailer on its lonesome some hundred metres or so down the road…
Hmmm I wonder whether the recently licensed household snotgobbler has come down to pinch the car for her never ending social events timetable? Possibly she has stopped down the road outside a family friend’s place and got him to take the trailer off for her…yep I will go with that. Now, that only leaves the problem of how to get home when all my clothes and phone were still in the missing car…
Wednesday - The same combo again today: WT Cruise 287, Koncept 7.0 and FF22, and a quick ping around the paddocks. Nothing much to report today other than I am quite surprised at the alpha given I was tacking upwind and I had not even considered trying to maximise the U turn. I am really keen to keep practicing and improving these on this board. The NM run home wasn’t too shabby either. Defo a Top Ten Fangy Day albeit short and sweet. Wednesday's tracks just so I have some crayon work.
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