Liptons, Alpha training on the Mistral Speed 55/95, TR9 6.3m Pepeweed 20/48. This board is very technical compared to the Manta 54/74 which is a gybe machine, If i learn how to gybe this thing at speed I expect a big alpha, anyway had fun
Firiebob (17842km):
1950 days ago
Novara Beach, WA, AU
Thought I might catch Hardz here but there was only Frank. Had a nice little zip around on Elmo's lumpy goodness and it sure was. Used a pointer for the first time in ages instead of my weedspeed, felt great. I did get lost, wasn't sure where I was or where my launch spot was for awhile
CA SL87, 34 Tribal Powermax, 6.6 Koncept and boardies.
Decrepit (54483km):
1950 days ago
Another great fangys session, tide a tad low, but wind nice and steady. Went with the 48, 6.2 and 19@55. Felt great, the new 6.2 light and effortless.
fangy (22667km):
1949 days ago
Fangyland weedy goodness with Capn Calm _post more later. Vintage Mistral Flow, FangyFin22, KaR 7.1. Coodanup, WA, AU
Just a run from the top to the bottom, the tide was too low to get a clear water run, but still good fum. Play it at 2x otherwise its a bit long plus I look as though I am sailing really well.
Happily, Millpond was on his way back to Albantartica so there was a good chance of a breeze turning up, the only problem was Cap'n Calm was lurking and the tide was heading somewhere else again. As it turned out, the Cap'n and I had a pretty decent breeze all to ourselves. Another 10 cm of water would have been ideal because traversing the weed patches was very slow and draggy. I am pretty happy with the numbers across the board, but I still find the Missy deceptively quick and I had to check the GPS to see whether I had indeed done more than low 30's speed-wise. It would be interesting to know if back in their day they were highly regarded for their handling.
The old Missy, FF22 and 7.1 combo seem to be pretty sweet in the 16 knots + range, albeit I think the fin is at its top end of sail size, married with my momentum muscle especially! For the first time, I decided to play around with outhaul settings going uphill. I generally don't bother and just monster the board back up to the top mark gybe and blast back down, but I suddenly realised having a rest a the bottom of the run is way more professional if you have the excuse of "adjusting kit" rather than just a being tired old fart.
Turns out I discovered what every other adjustable outhaul sailor on the planet already knows. Having done a fair chunk of yacht racing, I knew the sail foil profile going uphill was important, but until I did it on a windsurfer, I hadn't realised how horribly draggy the fat draught actually was. So next job, how to may an adjustable system out of all the bits n pieces in my shed...