Two Nice Videos of Sailing in our Lagoon

Hi

Here are the two videos I spoke of in the previous post. Both of them are too large to be included on the face of this post but please click on the links.

The first link is from Fanatic’s website and contains some good footage of sailing on our lagoon.

https://vimeo.com/152212685

The stills on this post are all from this video.
The first minutes of the video contain orientation footage of the area. The herd of eland picked up by the drone is nice for me because we often bump into this group when  cycling through the park in winter.

Miriam is shown rigging up at Kraal Bay - a Viking woman in our lagoon – very cool. When I saw Miriam on our main beach during the racing I did not recognize her at first because in my mind I had her on Challenger sails/NoveNove boards. She has changed her sponsors to Loft/Angulo of course.

Anyway here are some notable sections of the video:

• At around minute 2:10 Danny looks round and alters course slightly to join up with Vincent (Pt-7). From around 2:23 we can compare the behavior of the Warp vs the AC-1 as they both speed towards the drone. The Warp’s behavior is quite simple – flexing slightly in the gusts. The AC-1 seems alive somehow, exhausting and recovering rapidly and constantly. This lightning response probably accounts for the stability people find with this sail particularly in strong winds.

• At around 3:30 you see Craig speeding in. Look carefully and you notice his left ear strapped with duct tape. About two weeks previously he wiped out badly on one of our stormy days and crashed so violently that he burst an ear drum. Duct tape, the windsurfer’s friend, fixes all things!

• From around 4:05 Miriam is captured entering her gybe which she goes on to sabotage by bending her arms and leaning backwards instead of forwards. These are such common gybing problems that I thought I should highlight them for you.

The second video is of one of the races. It was posted by a hydrofoiling site called FoilEver.

https://youtu.be/LbTkaNlfAtc

The coverage is pretty good but for me positioning the drone directly behind and above the field is not ideal. With side-on footage (looking down) we would have been able to identify individual racers, compare stances, equipment behavior, passing tactics etc. Anyway, quite a nice bit of racing.

Note at the end of the video, how far ahead Vincent is from the rest.  He absolutely dominated most of the races, and then went on to win the downwind dash that weekend.  The foiler right alongside him reminds us how far this side of kiting has progressed.

Good winds

   

Cool Video/Cool Equipment

Hi

Hannes Louet-Feisser, a windsurfer in Ireland sent me this video. It showcases Garmin’s Virb X/XE and the Virb Edit Software as a really cool recording combo.

Please have a look at the video.

https://www.facebook.com/hannes.louetfeisser/videos/10207187354658621/

Hannes is a good sailor as well and rides some really nice stuff. In addition to the recording media (the main subject of the vid) pay attention to his gybes and the speed of his hand changes. We cannot be slow or sloppy with hand and foot changes in a slalom gybe and Hannes nails these two aspects properly.
He also does some quite tricky tacks but it is the gybing which interests me.

Anyway the Virb X/XE and software are a fine combination. I like the way all the data is displayed on the screen (position on the course, speed at each point, average speed, direction of travel etc). This is all so nicely overlaid in real time, onto the video. Very convenient for analysis.

Hannes also supplied this link which explains how to use the Virb Edit software with your GoPro:

How to use Garmin Virb Edit with the GoPro

I was going to include two more videos of racing on our lagoon but there is a bit of work involved with them. I will do them in the next post.



Good winds (and thanks Hannes)

New Performance Sails

Hi

I may have been sleeping on this but I discovered last week, Severne’s new slalom sails on their site. Both Reflex and Overdrive look awesome. Severne, once again doing what it does best – continuous improvement. They are just so relentless with this and have used it to carve their way to the top in every sail category.

S2 Maui has also had its new race sail on the net.

Severne

REFLEX_7

The Reflex sees further improvements in stability. Where North have concentrated on simplicity, Severne forges ahead with ever more complex engineering. North has shown that an easy, 7 batten race sail can win against everyone (er everyone except Antoine!). Severne know exactly what they are doing however, and it will be interesting to watch the two approaches compete on slalom courses this year.

The 2016 Reflex has an even wider sleeve than last year’s model. This frightens me but racers will appreciate the improvements to stability and rotation.

Reflex 2016

OVERDRIVE_R7

The Overdrive has 7 battens and can be rigged on rdm masts. These things no-doubt soften the feel on the water and should boost speeds in the hands of non-racers. 

Comfort = Speed.  

I'm not convinced by the fiddly design elements above the clew but knowing Severne, these shapes enhance some aspect of performance.   

Overdrive 2016

The two images above are from Severne’s website.


I still believe that for the likes of me, the Turbo is the way to go in larger sizes (7.5, 8.6 Turbo.  5.7, 6.5 Gator) but if you need every ounce of speed and possess the required skill and strength, put both the Reflex and the Overdrive on the short-list for your next upgrade. 

S2 Maui

If you want to push the boat out for your new race sail and feel like something new, have a look at the new S2 Maui - Venom. You can see a whole bunch of Spanier/ Szpunar trade-marks in the design and I’m sure it will be special on the water.

They have moved away from the 9 batten layout employed in the Maui Sails TR model of bygone times. The sleeve, the red, the black and the blue bits of the Venom are made from their magical new material.

I like the Kevlar stringers running down the sail. Strong but light!  Nice! 

S2 Maui Venom – a lovely thing

 
The image comes from their FaceBook page.

Good winds

Some Equipment news and Commentary

Hi

We have been blessed with fantastic winds over the last few days.  Each day the wind picks up slowly allowing one to rig perfectly for the next hour or so, sail, rest, re-rig and go out again in stronger conditions.  With winds like this, clear, clean water and old friends to share the conditions with, how could we ever complain?

 

The racing guys were here and quite a few internationals showed up for a week of racing.   The first race started on Saturday but only got underway when the conditions were completely ballistic.  It was interesting to watch how they managed.  Vincent Langer from the Fanatic team ruled the day.  When every other sailor changed down from their 6.2m sails to 5.4m, Vincent just stayed with his 7.2m sail (Point -7, AC-ONE).  The man is a force of nature and even seasoned racers could not work out how he held that size in those conditions.

Craig and Danny from Fanatic also did really well.  Craig, Danny and Vincent were all riding 2017 Falcon proto-types.  Watch out for the final versions when they come out – they are going to be serious machines!

Here is another gripe about windsurfing equipment.  Charl, a local hot sailor (and Joos’s son in law), showed me three harness lines, all marked as 26inch.  These lines were from Gaastra, Pro Limit and Chinook.  Not one of them was the same length as any of the others and the length differences were substantial.  

This is totally unacceptable.  You put your money down for an expensive set of lines and get them onto the water to discover that they are too short.  Come on manufacturers – this is not rocket science.  All we expect from you is the ability to measure a piece of rope!

    

Speaking of Joos and Charl, they have been experimenting with a 6.0m Gator and a 6.0m NCX, on a small slalom board and a Tabou 3S,96. Surprisingly they both report that the Gator seems to suit the slalom board better and the NCX seems better on the 3S - totally counter intuitive. 

 I took the 3S/NCX combo for a spin and found it fantastic. The sail is fast and stable on the little 3S. I did not get the chance to try the Gator with the 3S so I cannot say whether I agree with the findings of Joos and Charl. If I get a chance on this combo, I will give feedback. 

 The new Gator is fantastic. Charl joined the racing with it – the only non race sail in the fleet - and scared quite a few hot racers on their race equipment. 5 Battens, no cams – wtf?!

Good winds

Some Equipment Concerns and a Useful Link

Hi

I have had feedback from several readers regarding the piece I wrote about my experience with the Tabou 3S 106 some time ago.  Guys are buying this for a high wind alternative to their slalom equipment - a great choice as far as I'm concerned.  

What worries me slightly is the fact that almost to a man these guys have picked the Severne NCX 7.0 as their sail of choice for this board.
The sail size is covered by the board specs for the 106 on Tabou's site but I am slightly worried about the NCX.  My experience with the NCX 7.0 is that it is quite racy and heavy - fine for a slalom board but I'm not sure how it will work with the 3S.  

The 106 really shines with a light, fast, flat, freeride sail and if properly rigged, one of these in 6.5m can be a revelation on the water - fast, comfortable and fun. Change down on sail and fin size when the wind jacks up and you can reach astonishing speeds in difficult conditions.

Interestingly, the NCX sizes smaller than 7.0m are perfect for the 3S (the new NCX 6.0 is fantastic). I must say that the NCX 7.0 I sailed is from 3 years ago and I know how Severne improves their stuff every season so I may be worrying for nothing.  

Here are some of the sail models I know will work with the 3S 106 for high speed blasting:

• Severne     - Gator

• GA              - Cross

                           - Matrix

• North        - E-Type (I recently acquired a 6.6 E-type and                                                                                                             will be giving feedback soon)

• Hot Sails   - GPX

• Maui Sails - Switch

• S2 Maui    - Banshee

• Loft          - Oxygen

For all of these models the 6.5 (ish) size will be the sweet size but the board will fly with smaller sails in strong wind.  Don't hesitate to screw in a slalom fin like Select's High Wind G10 or iFins Fight Club.  Hold on tight! 


Here is a link to the global wind map.  Many of you will have this already but if you don't, it demonstrates what is really happening with your local wind


http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic=11.44,42.38,512

I take this opportunity to wish every reader all the very best for the new year.  Happiness and proper wind for a change!

Phil

Reader Feedback

Hi

Guiseppe, an Italian reader gave some feedback after my article on the difficult rotation of Gareth's 2016 GA Phantom.  He tells me that he is in bed with influence - (WTF?).  It took me a few seconds to work that one out!

 

Anyway, Guiseppe makes some good points in his e-mail which I will attempt to summarize.

He recons many cammed sails come with spacers fitted today.  I was unaware of this, not having bought a high performance sail for some time.

 

He rightly points out that your new sail will be tight for the first few sessions and your rotation could indeed be difficult.  In this case remove the spacers.  The sail will stretch over time however, and it is advisable to check the fit of the cams on the mast from time to time as the sail beds in.

 

As soon as you detect looseness, re-fit the spacers (start with the smallest provided, increasing in size as required).  This will ensure that you maintain optimal efficiency over the life of the sail.

Thanks for this Guiseppe and I hope your influence clears up soon.

The comment on my previous post regarding Flikka boards was a strange thing.  I had just been on the Flikka site (which I do from time to time) and this comment appeared on the blog out of the blue about Flikka boards. Not sure how that sort of thing happens.  

On the subject of Flikka, I know that they test here in Cape Town sometimes so Flikka guys - if you bring any slalom stuff please spend a day or two in Langebaan and give me a shout.  I would be very interested to ride one of your boards (120l or 140l) and provide commentary for the readers. 

Good winds

Phil

A Call for Standardization

Hi

Looking at our sport I have to say that we have little to complain about.  Every brand has great designers who are pushing for continuous improvement in design and materials.  Apart from the very high prices of new equipment, our sport is awesome.

What always irks me however, is the lack of standardization in areas where it could be so helpful, practical and easy.  Here is what I am talking about:

A while ago I included an image of Starboard's new light footstrap and remarked on the adjustment system they had developed.  Here it is:

 

The system appeals to me because it is simple and easy but while looking at it I was reminded of the failure of our windsurfing brands to get together on standardizing a few non-proprietary elements we all use.

I would like the screw head for every footstrap screw to have an internal hex button-head cap like the bolt below.

  
I would like all fin bolts to have exactly the same head.  I would also like the air screws on my boards to have this feature.

Lastly, the size of the hex aperture on all of these things should be exactly the same as in the batten tensioning grommets on my sail.  

This level of standardization would allow me to carry one small key (on a string round my neck or in a harness pouch) which I could use to tighten any or all of the above while on the beach or indeed while standing in the water, waiting to launch.

 


Come on suppliers - this would be so easy to do and would enhance the enjoyment of everyone who loves this sport.

Good winds