Slowboat (51974km):
3 minutes ago Melville
Like yesterday but got there earlier. Tide was lower so wasn't game to go into the shallower areas until later.
Got to use my brand spanking new 63cm Rapid 111 speed board!. Due to how shallow it was I put in the 27 weedspeed and ran the 7m. A bit underfinned for upwind in the holes. It was gustier than usual. Spent most of the day on the northern end (deeper) parts of the bar, but later the tide came in a bit and I saw darryl get over the main one with a 30 so threw some runs in up there. Nailed one small gust (finally) in the flatter water which gave me a bit of power for a brief moment, for a 40.7 vmax. Short but sweet.
So yeah I'm absolutely stoked with this board. Will put a more powerful fin in it (weedmax 26) next time and it should be a bit easier upwind in the lulls, but holy crap it was flying. Easy to get going, floats me (?!!), I can tack it, and it doesn't need a giant fin to balance.
I designed it for gusty spots where the wind drops out in the holes and it helps a lot to have some volume. I've made the volume distribution easy- so you can stand behind the track without sinking (for my 94kg), and let the board slide up onto the plane... love it. Melville is one of those places, and thats why I've always run seemingly huge boards for the conditions. I hate sinking. This board lets me get to the gusts, with bigger sails if I need, and shorter fins to get past the shallower hazards. I'm expecting this to be used a lot this summer  . If we get some days like last december I wouldn't be surprised if I get a Melville PB on this thing.
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