Two quick topics:
- A new high wind sail for me
- Commentary on some recent PWA racing.
High Wind Sail
I am seeking to replace my small,
high wind sail. In these conditions, our
sea is wild with survival being more important than speed. You need a forgiving board, a really good
rough water fin and a sail which can be controlled and easily de-powered (hence
the need for something waveish).
I am looking for a 4.7-4.8m
freewave model.
The sail being replaced
is a Tushingham Storm 5.0m. Because this
sail came with the Tush 400, 100% RDM mast, I really need to be looking for
something from a maker whose sails set on soft masts (Pryde, Ezzy, RRD etc).
The soft mast restricts my choice but I am
not willing to spend a whole lot more on a new mast/sail combo if I can get
away with buying only the sail.
I suppose the ultimate buy for me
(if I had an appropriate mast) would be Severne’s Blade Pro 4.7m. The lack of suitable mast as well as the
stratospheric price of this sail rules it out for me I’m afraid.
The second unreachable sail on my
list (if I had the mast), would be North’s new Super Session 4.8m. This is much heavier than the Severne but
looks like one hell of a product for wild conditions (we need to watch the
reviews)
The third dream sail is Avanti’s
Viper 4.7. If I had a new Severne red
RDM 400 mast then I would be in a position to consider this against the Blade.
Sails which are available in Cape
Town and which will work on my mast, are Pryde’s Fusion, RRD’s Move MK6 and
Ezzy’s Legacy.
The Fusion comes in 5.0m which
is slightly too big.
I am therefore left with the Move 4.7m and the Legacy 4.7m,
either of which would be perfect for me.
I just need to look at factors such as price, availability, good second
hand offerings etc.
The Ezzy may look a bit wimpy in this company but don't be fooled. Ezzy sails are special.
Recent PWA Action
Please have a look on the PWA site
for the 2017 Fuerteventura slalom racing videos. The prominent thing for me in all the races
shown, is the quality of the gybing. This
meeting has probably the best levels of gybing from everyone I have ever seen
on the circuit. Very impressive!
What I wanted to comment about is
the crash caused by Taty Frans when he lost control and tail walked right into
Pierre Mortefon on day 9. Here is the
video. The crash occurs at 45 seconds.
I can only think that Taty's fin was overwhelmed by the conditions. Taty’s speed is incredible showing how fast the iSonics are but if your blade can’t keep up, things can end very poorly, very quickly.
Taty was badly hurt (on Pierre's fin I believe) and Pierre was taken to hospital but released with no major injuries .
Both Julien and Antoine continued to first and second, showing their class and the quality of their equipment in the 40 knot conditions.
I once heard Juju described as a sailor who can enter a gybe in 7th position and exit in 3rd. We see him doing exactly this to Antoine in the final gybe of this race.
Good winds
