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MASTHEAD is where i experiment with my fotos - thanx for being tolerant with them........................................
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Before we go too far, please realize this analysis was performed for heavyweights in light to mid-winds. Not speaking about B&J/bump n jump, free-style nor wave sailing. Fairly flat water for heavy-weights ...
You put in your weight and voilà you have a guideline on what sail to use under which wind speed.
Here is a sample for 230 pounds which unfortunately is my current weight.
Luckily I have lost some weight recently !!
Click the graph to see it better
So, I used this data as a guideline and eventually drew up a table of numbers for which sails I used under which conditions... Then I plotted these numbers against the suggestions above:
Click the graph to see it better
Since I use kph, that is the measure I plotted against. Ironically the lines cross at the 8.x m² sail mark. THAT is my MOST used sail size for long boards AND short boards - due to the light wind nature in our area. The sails I use follow a more logarithmic trend than the other polynomial trend.
While I was Cape Hatteras about two(2) weeks ago, I had the honour of sharing the house with a fellow heavyweight whom we called King Kong/KK, due to his size. KK spent a month at Hatteras and was known to go out no matter what and usually clocked about 80 km per day on the water. His top speed was about 42 kph. He also used MUCH smaller boards and sails than myself and Helmut, another heavyweight in the house. King Kong's data looked a little different :
Click the graph to see it better
In this case both lines are following a polynomial trend, but King Kong typically uses a smaller sail than suggested until about 60 kph.
For me this data shows it is important to know what works for you and how far you can go. When I saw KK on an 86 liter board with a 4.8 sail, I could NOT believe my eyes !! The beauty of Hatteras is : when you go in the water it is typically shallow - EVERYWHERE... and THAT is why people like to try stuff there. Here at home we do NOT have such winds regularly and Hatteras is the place to try them.
Hope these numbers peak your interest in what works for you and how it compares. Would be nice to have some database that collected such data - where people live, how much they weigh and what works for them :-)
On this day I managed to get out twice... after purchasing a cheap mast 490 replacement for the broken mast in the video ...Both with the SailWorks Retro 8.0 and Mistral Equipe in light offshore winds. The water was warm enough that I wore NO wetsuit and NO booties ... On the 2nd session it was after a little rain storm and was with life jacket and harness. That session was a 9 outta 10 and FUN... Winds were closer to 12 knots on the 2nd session ...
It was another light wind day on Sunday with winds offshore SSE and gusts around 15 knots. Managed to take a looong video, but takes forever to load via wifi. So, here are a few pics to keep you amused :-)
here's a typical Cape Hatteras shot:
and there is a tropical storm to the south !!!
And YES there are jellyfish that sting
NOT touched yet ...
Jinxed myself - got hit on Wednesday !!
Now just waiting for the video to upload which i will add unedited.
That way one can see how well AND how poorly I did :-)
fyi there are also water snakes. I have seen snakes swim when forced to do so, but this snake seems to stay in water unless pressured to get out. Let's see if i can find an image on the web ...If I had to warrant a guess, I would say it is a Northern Water Snake and people get afraid because of its similarity to the copper head..
from lifeandscience.org
Here is the video - in it's entirety ...
On Monday we had a MUCH windier day. I spent most of my day trying to beach and water start with my HSM Fire 6.3 on my Fanatic BEE LTD 124. This may have been tropical storm ANNA that was giving us a VERY small taste of here medicine. A local at the Food Lion, who has been here about forty(40) years says that this was NOTHING and she will gladly take the rain over what could have been. I will try to get a video of myself planing, but will have to go through some video first...
Just to get an idea of how it was , here is a small clip when there were few people left. The big fellow at the house, whom we call King Kong/KK, started the day in 23 mph winds with a 105 liter board and a 6-oh sail. When the wind went to 26/27 mph , he was out on the 105 with a 5.4. That is about the time I came OFF. Then the wind cranked to about 30 knots and KK tried the 105 with a 4.8. He found was a bit bouncy and so, borrowed an 86 liter board and used it with the 4.8 . He said that was perfect. He had to have been on the water about four(4) hours in those winds and stated that he was NOT tired. He has the technique... I have a long way to go :-) No issues on my part :-) Although I was discouraged at times today ...
In his quiver KK has a JP SLW92 PRO, a Fanatic Hawk 135 and a Fanatic 105 FreeWave.
After today he is thinking of getting an 86 liter board as well..
Seems he already has a 113 on order !!!
Sails go from 11-oh down to the 4.8 ...
Seems that Ocean Side they were having fun in the waves as per iwindsurf forum:
Tuesday morning there was a little less wind. So, went out for my morning run on the Mistral Equipe and HotSailsMaui SpeedFreak 8.5. Glad I did becuz after that the wind went back to same as yesterday and more. The girl in the house borrowed a 3.5 sail and KK was out on 4.8. Helmut did not go out this afternoon either ... Anyways here are my amateur clips of amateur joe windsurfer :-) These are mostly for me :-) This place makes me feel like a beginner all over again...The intermediates are all on the water ...
Tomorrow wind will be from the north instead, but again quite a bit in the afternoon...
and the same thing from the bottom of the boom ...
And here are some more typical Cape Hatteras shots:
Already Wednesday, hump day, and there is still wind, but it shifted from the north. As usual, the winds were a little lighter in the morning and I did a trial run with the MEQ longboard and NorthSails/NS Duke 6.9. It seemed fine and went in to get the BEE LTD 124. Was flying, but the others said that 7-oh was too big. Eventually the 6.9 WAS too much and I came in. The weird thing here is the water levels and as such everyone runs weed fins and the shortest fins they can get away with ... My session was a 9 outta 10 and I feel a little less discouraged now ...People in the house are agreeing with my concept of one sail per board i.e. the TRUE range of a board is really about within one meter and not two or four meters as advertised. We are talking about the perfect feeling. Example even if a SailWorks Retro 6-oh will go on a Fanatic Hawk 135, it is NOT ideal. In 6-oh weather the water is usually NOT flat. The same 6-oh does MUCH better on something like a FreeWave 106...
I stopped taking videos because some of the long runs are just that - long runs... I am sure there is enough here for me to remember :-) I offered Helmut to try the GoPro for himself, but he did NOT seem interested. I find it an excellent learning tool - for myself. They say one can learn a lot from watching a video of oneself.
In the afternoon winds dropped a little and came from the NE. I suggested my NS 6.9 with the BIG longboard, but KK said take the 124. After a quick test I came back and got the BIG monster. Minor adjustment putting mastbase forward to keep board flat and voilà - purrfect. Had a BLAST. Pun intended. Both KK and Helmut did NOT do so well with 7-oh and Fanatic Hawk 135s. Was a 9 outta 10 day for me !!
Here are some pics of the day :
Andy Brandt was at Ocean Air Sports WED night, but I arrived during the intermission and got tired of waiting for the 2nd portion of the talks and left. KK and Jocelyne stayed ....
Thursday morning was a little colder. People walkin about in wind breakers and long sleeves... Kept contemplating about 7-oh or 6.3. Just when i convinced myself to rig down, KK came out and said it was 7-oh weather. Oh well, my gut feeling was correct. KK went from 6-oh to 7-oh to 8-oh on the same day. I re-rigged my 7-oh and stayed with it, but on the MEQ longboard. It was a pretty good day, but the mistake i made was taking too long a break in the afternoon and i got cold. So, took a hot shower and put the stuff away... KK went out and did another 30 km on his Fanatic Hawk 135 and SW Retro 8-oh !! Max speed reached was 43 kph ...
Friday is supposed to be light to NO wind and SAT it's time to go home with an early start.
Watched this and found it to be an inspirational movie - "keep the stoke" !!
The bad news is : I did NOT get in the footstraps. However, I do know the Mistral Equipe will not help in that area. With the BEE it would just have been a matter of pushing myself a little more. My feet were there. Now know that for Hatteras fin weeds are used for weeds in the fall and for water levels in the spring. People are using SurfGrass and special BlackProject FreeDelta RE fins.
FreeDelta RE 22 cm does 6.5 to 8-oh
When I go with my smallest 34 cm fin people are asking if I have anything smaller. People do NOT seem to appreciate the power and range of the Mistral Equipe. They feel it is just too big and no fun. I had a lot of fun on it here in Hatteras. The AHD 160 would have been fine here one day and Mistral Equipe many days more. Thus it WAS the right choice to bring here. Days when the BIG boys of 230 + pounds were struggling with their 7-oh sails on their Fanatic 130 Hawks , I was out blasting on the MEQ with the 7-oh. I am actually curious which modern board could do that?? Give enough flotation for a heavyweight and yet be good in 7-oh conditions ?? Maybe this is where those new FreeMove boards would excel ??
The good news is: I had FUN and TOW. Think I got out on the water every day except Friday and the last Saturday (that day should not count). That's six days out of seven. Many people come down and get to windsurf three out of the seven...Most was with the MEQ !!
Went out Friday morning with the MEQ longboard and HSM 8.5 SpeedFreak. Had a BLAST. There were only two of us on the water blasting and gaving fun That makes windsurfing seven days out of seven for me !!! ... Since Friday was NO wind in the afternoon, I took my father's comfortable touring bike for a ride from Avon to Frisco. It was a long run (about 50 km) and at one point I just decided it was enough and turned back. On the way there I was in 5th gear and on the way back 2nd. Stopped at the windsurf shops on the way - Wind-NC and chatted with Andy about planing with a 7-oh and being a heavyweight & FoxSports and asked about their repair man who seems to have been a shaper/ fixer since he was seventeen !! Forgot sunscreen and now look like a lobster. Plan is to have filet mignon tonight and leave early tomorrow. It was a special week, but somehow wish my wife and young son could be here with me. Ah well, will see them soon. Long weekend back home. Thank goodness !! Need a break from my holidays...
Car was packed by Friday afternoon and left Avon, NC early SAT morn around 4h45. We arrived on West Island, Montreal around 20h30. That's about 16 hours with two(2) half hour stops on the way back for food n gas. It is about 1400 km and every stop costs about one hour using the law of averages. This is good in terms of travel time then. Average of 100 kph or 60 mph.
We were stopped by the police after the big bridge-tunnel. Said we were going 74 mph in a 55 zone. There are displays on the bridge which showed us going 62 mph and the garmin GPS showed 102 kph & we were on cruise control. We were allowed to leave and were told we were lucky because we would have to go before the magistrate otherwise. I was curious WHY we were stopped, but kept my mouth shut during the entire discussion. Was it the overloaded car or my wild looks ? :-)
Regarding the LongBoard ---- Quote from iwindsurf forum:
"Long/narrow will fast glide when not planing and the transition between glide and plane is long and sometimes hard to tell the difference between a fast glide and slow plane, nearly the same thing. "
Here is a summary of my week @ Avon, NC:
Addendum: Forgot to mention that Helmut purchased a Fanatic FSW 105 while we were there. He felt the price was right. KK and I feel the problem is - there are NOT many occasions to use such a board for heavyweights in MTL/YUL UNLESS you are ready to go out in the fall storm winds !!! However, even for myself, I have calculated that IF i was to get a smaller board, it would be an FSW 105 !!! For now I have MUCH to learn with the SB iS 117W/large ...
