I know I said that I would be
discussing the costs of some of the new technologies but this needs some quiet
thought and there is too much going on right now. We have racing on our lagoon and some high
powered internationals have turned up.
The racing is to begin today and
our winds promise to be ballistic. Not
so good for the free-sailors and to be frank, not so good for the racers
either. Anyway we will see how the top
guys handle the wildness.
Joos finally got his hands on a
Severne Fox 105 board which he is considering buying. I clipped my North E-Type 6.6 onto the board
and took it for a spin in light, squirrelly wind/ demon chop. I planed all the way out and all the way back
but was scratching at times. Not ideal
conditions then, but what a machine! When
powered up the board is absolutely composed regardless of chop levels. Good speed is reached quickly and easily. The front of the board cuts through the chop
and the back seems to dissipate any remaining bumpiness giving a totally
settled ride. Gybing is super easy as I
suspected it would be. The standard Fox fin is great. I would invest in one or two smaller sizes for
overpowered sailing but as your main fin, the G10 36cm blade supplied is
excellent and bound to become a close friend in time.
Joos asked my opinion as to
whether he should buy the Fox. Yes, yes,
yes! I would buy this board in a
heart-beat. It seems to have been made
specifically with our local conditions in mind.
Even with my weight being more than that of Joos, I would still opt for
the 65cm wide size.
If I were ever to buy a Fox 105,
my ideal medium wind board would then be an iSonic 117 (light version of
course) and between these two boards I could cover most of my sailing (with a
few sails and fins of course). For the
time being I would hold onto our T-Rex and Bic FW 1.3 for the really light
stuff but keep a keen eye on all the
latest developments in foiling which I am convinced will become the light wind
solution of choice for all of us.
Raffi from Surf n Curve (Severne agent) is here
for the racing and brought the new Severne Reflex-8 sails and an exciting new
range of Severne racing masts. These are
the Apex Pro line and promise to be something very special. They are SDM at the base with a slim, whippy top
section. This is not a new concept of
course but Severne seems to have taken it to new levels. The slim top softens the sail but has super
quick recovery rates so you have some softness without losing any
stability. Please look out for these
sticks if you are serious about slalom racing in 2017.
Erik Beale was out on the water
yesterday hitting speeds of 38k on slalom equipment. He had a really interesting slalom fin
proto-type on the slalom board. I will
not describe the shape to you in case it is secret but this is not a slow
fin! When he was done on the slalom stuff, Erik took out his speed board (Patrik on Gasoil fin) for some “proper speed”. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone going
as fast across our launching beach before.
Civilians were frightened!
OK, I think that Ellie and I will make our way down to the beach to watch the racing. The skipper’s meeting was scheduled for 09:00 but knowing windsurfers as I do I am willing to bet that nothing will happen until mid-day. We may rig some freeride kit, have a short blast and maybe sail alongside the racers to get an idea of their speed.
Talk to you soon
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