I started early in the day on my Falcon 104 and Koncept 6.6 with the new Select S11 37cm. The fin feels very similar to my old SL7 but it is definitely more refined, better and smoother on all points of sail. They have taken an excellent shape and made some very small enhancements. Impressive.
The wind built throughout the day and I changed down on the board (89l Falcon) and held on. Andy was out on the Reflex2 7.8 and Gareth on his trusty Force 5.3. This range of equipment being sailed at the same time demonstrates how good our modern windsurfing equipment has become. I took the Reflex2 7.0 for a spin and must say I was right on the edge. I had not rigged the sail myself and the downhaul was not enough for me but despite this I was able to cope in winds which a year ago would have seen me out on a 6.0 or even a 5.0. Because they were sailing together, we were able to compare the old Code Red sails with the new Reflexes as they hauled over rough water. Interesting - the new sails seem to open up a lot more and somehow allow the rider to maintain board trim at speed over the bumps.
A few national slalom guys were also blasting around on full slalom kit. These guys really are in another league - so fast and controlled in wild conditions. The new Pryde race sails are unbelievably fast and impressive.
Holding the Reflex2 at such high speeds reminded me of the reasons we non-racers favor camless sails for wild blasting. You are just so much more relaxed and the sailing is so much more enjoyable. For me race sails and full slalom boards are essential for light to moderate conditions. As soon as things get hairy ditch the cams and have some fun!
The body is complaining badly from all the recent sailing so chemicals have had to be used. Cataflam with some medicinal Captain Morgan and Coke was the remedy of choice. Not good for you of course (the Cataflam - not the Captains) but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Masts
The wind is set to blow all day today building all the way through so we will be able to choose early/big equipment/easy sailing or later/small stuff /wide eyes. Anthony our supplier has lent me one of the new Select S11 fins to try so I look forward to that. I'll report back.
The subject of windsurfing masts has really bugged me over the years. It is also a bit technical and can be extremely boring to anyone who knows about masts or who is not interested in statistics and measurements. If you are one of these people please disregard this post.
If you have the stomach for it here we go -
Take a plausible scenario - A friend is leaving for London and is selling his windsurfing kit. I buy his Maui Sails TR-6 7.0 for a good price. I have two 460 masts (a Pryde X9 460 and a Powerex ZRace 460). Are either of these compatible with my new sail? Maui Sails gives me no information on the mast bend characteristics which the sail was designed around. Pryde tells me nothing about the bend characteristics of their mast and neither does Powerex. I have to resort to trial and error and even if the sail feels OK with one of the masts is it optimal? Could I be getting far better performance with another mast? I just don't know.
Thankfully the industry has standardized stiffness across the sizes (460 mast = IMCS25) but bend characteristics are a different matter. The extent to which the mast top flexes in relation to the bottom section when under tension gives the mast its shape and this shape provides the template for the mast sleeve. To achieve the desired air flow over the foil the designer also takes into account the way the mast is going to behave under stress. From all of this it becomes obvious that a mast which works with one sail may fail completely with another but how are we supposed to know which goes with which?
Bend characteristics are measured using a standardized method so all the info we need is available but for some reason not shared. There are exceptions of course - Sailworks give us all the info we need on their masts but very few of the other guys do this.
Bend characteristics are calculated as follows:
The mast is placed horizontally on two supports, one 5cm from the base of the mast and one 5cm in from the tip. The supports are thus 450cm apart for a 460 mast. The supports will be placed against a wall or board. Shoot a chalk line between the two supports. You then measure and mark the centre point of the mast. You also need the "top mark" (half way between the tip and mid point) and the "bottom mark" (half way between mid point and base)
Tie a piece of string round the mid point and suspend a 30kg weight from the mast. Measure the deflection from your chalk line to the centre point of the now flexed mast. Say for example that the deflection at the centre point is 10cm. Now measure the deflection at the top mark. Say it is 7.5cm. Measure the deflection at the bottom mark. Say 6.4cm.
We now have the stats we need. We have a mast with a bend of 75% top/64% bottom. Deduct the bottom number from the top number (in this example 11) and you get the curve Delta. A low curve Delta indicates a hard top mast whereas a high Delta indicates a more flex top design. Here are the categories specified by the industry:
Delta Classification
-6 Hard Top
7-9 Hard Top/Constant Curve
10-12 Constant Curve
13-15 Constant Curve/Flex Top
16-18 Flex Top
19-21 Flex Top/Super Flex Top
22- Super Flex Top
To get back to our example with the Maui Sails TR-6, the fact is that neither my Pryde nor my Powerex masts are going to work. Both Pryde and Powerex masts have Deltas of around 15. Maui Sails are designed around masts with Deltas of less than 10. If I had a Gaastra Gold mast or a Severne Enigma these would almost certainly have worked with my new sail but why could no-one tell me?
Masts with the same bend characteristics can still differ in performance of course depending on carbon content and quality of construction. A state of the art high carbon mast should recover more quickly after deflection than something cheaper giving a feel that is crisp, light and exciting where the cheaper model can feel a bit leaden even if it works with the sail.
I leave you with a website address which gives some broad categorizations for various mast brands:
www.unifiber.net/2011/mast-selector
Good winds - talk to you soon
The subject of windsurfing masts has really bugged me over the years. It is also a bit technical and can be extremely boring to anyone who knows about masts or who is not interested in statistics and measurements. If you are one of these people please disregard this post.
If you have the stomach for it here we go -
Take a plausible scenario - A friend is leaving for London and is selling his windsurfing kit. I buy his Maui Sails TR-6 7.0 for a good price. I have two 460 masts (a Pryde X9 460 and a Powerex ZRace 460). Are either of these compatible with my new sail? Maui Sails gives me no information on the mast bend characteristics which the sail was designed around. Pryde tells me nothing about the bend characteristics of their mast and neither does Powerex. I have to resort to trial and error and even if the sail feels OK with one of the masts is it optimal? Could I be getting far better performance with another mast? I just don't know.
Thankfully the industry has standardized stiffness across the sizes (460 mast = IMCS25) but bend characteristics are a different matter. The extent to which the mast top flexes in relation to the bottom section when under tension gives the mast its shape and this shape provides the template for the mast sleeve. To achieve the desired air flow over the foil the designer also takes into account the way the mast is going to behave under stress. From all of this it becomes obvious that a mast which works with one sail may fail completely with another but how are we supposed to know which goes with which?
Bend characteristics are measured using a standardized method so all the info we need is available but for some reason not shared. There are exceptions of course - Sailworks give us all the info we need on their masts but very few of the other guys do this.
Bend characteristics are calculated as follows:
The mast is placed horizontally on two supports, one 5cm from the base of the mast and one 5cm in from the tip. The supports are thus 450cm apart for a 460 mast. The supports will be placed against a wall or board. Shoot a chalk line between the two supports. You then measure and mark the centre point of the mast. You also need the "top mark" (half way between the tip and mid point) and the "bottom mark" (half way between mid point and base)
Tie a piece of string round the mid point and suspend a 30kg weight from the mast. Measure the deflection from your chalk line to the centre point of the now flexed mast. Say for example that the deflection at the centre point is 10cm. Now measure the deflection at the top mark. Say it is 7.5cm. Measure the deflection at the bottom mark. Say 6.4cm.
We now have the stats we need. We have a mast with a bend of 75% top/64% bottom. Deduct the bottom number from the top number (in this example 11) and you get the curve Delta. A low curve Delta indicates a hard top mast whereas a high Delta indicates a more flex top design. Here are the categories specified by the industry:
Delta Classification
-6 Hard Top
7-9 Hard Top/Constant Curve
10-12 Constant Curve
13-15 Constant Curve/Flex Top
16-18 Flex Top
19-21 Flex Top/Super Flex Top
22- Super Flex Top
To get back to our example with the Maui Sails TR-6, the fact is that neither my Pryde nor my Powerex masts are going to work. Both Pryde and Powerex masts have Deltas of around 15. Maui Sails are designed around masts with Deltas of less than 10. If I had a Gaastra Gold mast or a Severne Enigma these would almost certainly have worked with my new sail but why could no-one tell me?
Masts with the same bend characteristics can still differ in performance of course depending on carbon content and quality of construction. A state of the art high carbon mast should recover more quickly after deflection than something cheaper giving a feel that is crisp, light and exciting where the cheaper model can feel a bit leaden even if it works with the sail.
I leave you with a website address which gives some broad categorizations for various mast brands:
www.unifiber.net/2011/mast-selector
Good winds - talk to you soon
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Some Thoughts on Sail Quivers
Gareth's venerable Naish Force 5.3 is on its last legs and he needs to decide on a replacement. The options are Gaastra Poison 5.4, Gaastra Cross 5.2, Severne NCX 5.5, Severne Gator 5.3. As mentioned in previous posts we are Gaastra Cross fans here but I would favor the Gator if I were Gareth. Between the sails and recommended masts the Severne set up is almost 1kg lighter than the equivalent Gaastra set up. The new red and black Gator colours are very cool and the 2011 models just look right to me. I rode a friend's 2010 Gator 5.3 not long ago and found that it needs a bit more care to set up correctly than the Cross but when you get it right it is super comfortable and fast.
This all got me thinking about what an ideal sail quiver for our conditions would look like. I have in mind an aggressive sailor of 75 to 90kg . For our particular mix of conditions I believe that you need a mixture of high performance cammed sails with soft sails in all sizes under 7.0m. I would choose Reflex2's in 7.0 and 7.8 with a Gaastra Nitro5 9.0m for the cammed sails (we have rediscovered the old Nitro 5's here - they are light, easy to rig, rotate beautifully and on Gulftech or Fiberspar masts are fast and easy to control) Ellie, my partner sails an old Nitro5 9.0 easily in quite strong winds.
The soft sails would be Gaastra Cross (6.4/6.0/4.8) or Severne Gator (6.5/6.0/5.3/4.7). You could have the big soft sail in a Gaastra Savage or Severne's NCX pro if you wanted more speed.
If we had access to a wider range of sail brands you could add Sailworks Hucker (6.6/5.6/4.8) or Sailloft Hamburg Bionic (6.7/5.9/5.3/4.7). Like Severne with their Gator range, Sailloft Hamburg offers their Bionic range which starts with wave sails in the small sizes and gets more slalom orientated as the sizes increase - a nice concept. Ka's Koyote camless sails are great as well of course and have been clocked at speeds of over 40knots. Feather light as well. Awesome!
This all got me thinking about what an ideal sail quiver for our conditions would look like. I have in mind an aggressive sailor of 75 to 90kg . For our particular mix of conditions I believe that you need a mixture of high performance cammed sails with soft sails in all sizes under 7.0m. I would choose Reflex2's in 7.0 and 7.8 with a Gaastra Nitro5 9.0m for the cammed sails (we have rediscovered the old Nitro 5's here - they are light, easy to rig, rotate beautifully and on Gulftech or Fiberspar masts are fast and easy to control) Ellie, my partner sails an old Nitro5 9.0 easily in quite strong winds.
The soft sails would be Gaastra Cross (6.4/6.0/4.8) or Severne Gator (6.5/6.0/5.3/4.7). You could have the big soft sail in a Gaastra Savage or Severne's NCX pro if you wanted more speed.
If we had access to a wider range of sail brands you could add Sailworks Hucker (6.6/5.6/4.8) or Sailloft Hamburg Bionic (6.7/5.9/5.3/4.7). Like Severne with their Gator range, Sailloft Hamburg offers their Bionic range which starts with wave sails in the small sizes and gets more slalom orientated as the sizes increase - a nice concept. Ka's Koyote camless sails are great as well of course and have been clocked at speeds of over 40knots. Feather light as well. Awesome!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Fins
Here are some random thoughts and opinions on the subject of fins. Our supplier sells Select so most of us use these fins. As stated previously the old SL7 (now the S11) is a firm favorite providing a good mix of upwind ability and straight line speed. In rough water we use the old Evo Lightning which has a bigger rake and is therefor more forgiving. I suppose the current equivalent is the S09 which I have yet to sail but which I'm sure is a great fin. Select's SRX Free Slam which replaces the old SuperX looks like the ultimate freeride fin for our conditions.
I think we all need two lines of slalom fins - one line for flat and the other for rough water.
Deboichet has the SL2 for power and the SL4 for control in rough water. I have tried these fins and was very impressed with both of them. Class products and fast fast fast.
C3 has the Venom for rough water and the Sting for power sailing. Peter Volwater was raving about the Sting when he was here last year. The C3 fins really look the part as well. Boogie is one of the design stars of our sport and strikes me as one of those gifted but meticulous and uncompromising individuals who need to get everything 100% right. Probably not the easiest person to work with but so good for pushing continuous improvement in windsurfing fins.
I have not ridden Black Project fins but hear good things about them. They are G10 fins and from the look of it the Type R will be easy to control at speed (a nice rounded tip).
An interesting fin which I have been keeping an eye on is from Smartfins. These are two part fins which flex along their length and they claim that this makes it possible to get the same power from smaller fins. They have only had their 32cm model on sale for the last 2 years however so I'm suspecting that there may be problems with the other sizes. Their racing results were good in 2009 so the concept looks as if it works but where are the other sizes?
Sonntag Fins is a brand that I have always wanted to sail. They just look right to me and I have to say that if I lived in Europe I would have tested them long ago and would probably be using nothing else.
My friend Pit from Switzerland uses Hurricane Fins which he rates quite highly. I borrowed 2 sizes from him last year and I agree - they are great fins. They are really thin and extremely light so I am always a bit nervous about damage.
OK that's enough for now. Cheers and speak to you soon
I think we all need two lines of slalom fins - one line for flat and the other for rough water.
Deboichet has the SL2 for power and the SL4 for control in rough water. I have tried these fins and was very impressed with both of them. Class products and fast fast fast.
C3 has the Venom for rough water and the Sting for power sailing. Peter Volwater was raving about the Sting when he was here last year. The C3 fins really look the part as well. Boogie is one of the design stars of our sport and strikes me as one of those gifted but meticulous and uncompromising individuals who need to get everything 100% right. Probably not the easiest person to work with but so good for pushing continuous improvement in windsurfing fins.
I have not ridden Black Project fins but hear good things about them. They are G10 fins and from the look of it the Type R will be easy to control at speed (a nice rounded tip).
An interesting fin which I have been keeping an eye on is from Smartfins. These are two part fins which flex along their length and they claim that this makes it possible to get the same power from smaller fins. They have only had their 32cm model on sale for the last 2 years however so I'm suspecting that there may be problems with the other sizes. Their racing results were good in 2009 so the concept looks as if it works but where are the other sizes?
Sonntag Fins is a brand that I have always wanted to sail. They just look right to me and I have to say that if I lived in Europe I would have tested them long ago and would probably be using nothing else.
My friend Pit from Switzerland uses Hurricane Fins which he rates quite highly. I borrowed 2 sizes from him last year and I agree - they are great fins. They are really thin and extremely light so I am always a bit nervous about damage.
OK that's enough for now. Cheers and speak to you soon
Today's Sailing
The wind has blown all day and I was on the water just after 13:00 on my 89l Falcon and beloved Ka Koncept 6.6. I held this all afternoon - overpowered but in control. Gareth came out on his 5.3 on a 90l Blast and had a tremendous sail. The fact that our sails are so far apart in size got us talking about whether it is better to be overpowered or comfortable. I believe that the answer depends on what you are trying to achieve. I always use this type of sailing as an opportunity to practice sailing fast over rough water and concentrate on keeping the hammer down for longer and longer stretches. My aim is to improve to a point where I can be comfortable going at full tilt for each entire leg. I'm not there yet and catch myself slacking off as soon as I am ahead and after each bad tailwalk. Not good. The answer as I see it, is that if you want to get the most enjoyment from your session, rig down to a size where you feel you can keep the hammer down for the entire leg. This will provide max fun and some excitement. My training sessions (like today) comprise max excitement with quite a bit of terror thrown in.
The secret to sailing overpowered is to balance the power of the sail positioning the force right onto the fin. This you do mainly with downhaul and outhaul. Too much outhaul can bring the centre of effort forward making the board feel heavy and can result in spinouts (because the force is focussed in front of the fin - no bite) Too little outhaul and the centre of effort moves back resulting in the force bearing behind the fin causing the board to tailwalk. Anyway quite a big topic which also involves the sail (some sails push down while others lift up), footstrap and mast foot placement.
The secret to sailing overpowered is to balance the power of the sail positioning the force right onto the fin. This you do mainly with downhaul and outhaul. Too much outhaul can bring the centre of effort forward making the board feel heavy and can result in spinouts (because the force is focussed in front of the fin - no bite) Too little outhaul and the centre of effort moves back resulting in the force bearing behind the fin causing the board to tailwalk. Anyway quite a big topic which also involves the sail (some sails push down while others lift up), footstrap and mast foot placement.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Some Random Thoughts About Sailors and Brands in the PWA
Gaastra has lost Kevin Pritchard and Finian from their slalom team - 2 big losses in my view. They are left with Arnon, Cedric, Ross and Alberto Menegatti for the men's fleet. I'm not sure that this group are going to win any significant victories in 2011 (fine sailors though they all are). This has to be a concern for Gaastra. They did pick up Valerie Arrighetti for their ladies team however, and this can only be a good thing (not good for Loft Sails but Loft has got Ben vd Steen this year to even things out) Ben is someone who really is capable of winning races.
In 2009 Josh Angulo was a force on the tour. He was always at or near the front and I'm sure that this resulted in sales of Angulo slalom boards and of Maui Sails. In 2010 he signed up with Gun sails and came precisely nowhere in the 2010 slalom racing. A no win situation for all as far as I can see. Maui Sails loses a great ambassador, Gun Sails shows that its slalom sail can turn a good sailor into a bad one, people tuning in to the racing for the first time get the impression that Angulo boards are slow..... Nobody wins.
As mentioned above, Finian has left Gaastra and I don't see him on any of the other team lists. He is an important sailor being one of the two or three guys capable of giving Antoine a run so it will be interesting to see where he ends up (back with Pryde maybe??).
Gonzalo has left Maui Sails and gone to North/Fanatic. Really good for North and Fanatic, very bad for Exocet and Maui Sails. Maui Sails has only Peter Volwater as a top sailor. They have Phil Mcgain of course but he doesn't compete on the world tour. Maui Sails can end up slipping out of view. Not good for their brand.
As I mentioned in an earlier posting, Naish Sails hasn't launched its Stealth sail or its SP Slalom board yet and I'm wondering if they have eliminated these models from their line-up. A pity if they have. If they have opted out of slalom then where will Sarah Herbert end up this year?
In 2009 Josh Angulo was a force on the tour. He was always at or near the front and I'm sure that this resulted in sales of Angulo slalom boards and of Maui Sails. In 2010 he signed up with Gun sails and came precisely nowhere in the 2010 slalom racing. A no win situation for all as far as I can see. Maui Sails loses a great ambassador, Gun Sails shows that its slalom sail can turn a good sailor into a bad one, people tuning in to the racing for the first time get the impression that Angulo boards are slow..... Nobody wins.
As mentioned above, Finian has left Gaastra and I don't see him on any of the other team lists. He is an important sailor being one of the two or three guys capable of giving Antoine a run so it will be interesting to see where he ends up (back with Pryde maybe??).
Gonzalo has left Maui Sails and gone to North/Fanatic. Really good for North and Fanatic, very bad for Exocet and Maui Sails. Maui Sails has only Peter Volwater as a top sailor. They have Phil Mcgain of course but he doesn't compete on the world tour. Maui Sails can end up slipping out of view. Not good for their brand.
As I mentioned in an earlier posting, Naish Sails hasn't launched its Stealth sail or its SP Slalom board yet and I'm wondering if they have eliminated these models from their line-up. A pity if they have. If they have opted out of slalom then where will Sarah Herbert end up this year?
Reflex2 7.8 Maiden Flight
The wind started off quite light yesterday and I was on the water at about 10:00 with my Ram 7.8 and Fanatic 104 with 37cm SL7. A bit small for the conditions but because the whole rig is so balanced it gets planing pretty quickly. Andy rigged the Reflex2 and initially put it onto his Manta 125l. The results were mixed and he didn't seem that comfortable. We learned that the small v shaped crease we saw in the luff sleeve of the 7.0 the other day was also in the 7.8 confirming that it is part of the design. Relief. We also learned that it is very easy to over tighten the battens with the reflex batten tensioners and had to back off a bit on two of them.
Anyway Andy continued making small adjustments and eventually changed to his 110l Manta with Select Evo Lightning fin. These are the fins we rate for rough water but they don't have the bite or power of the SL7's. This set up was good but wasn't getting away from me. The winds were still light and the water flat.
What happened next was bad news for everyone not riding a Reflex. The wind started building and Andy started hauling away from everyone (2 Code Reds, a 2010 Vapor and my Ram). He changed his fin to an SL7 and as the wind picked up even more so did his lead on the long runs. The last run for me was a long 4 leg race incorporating a deep downwind blast with some fairly stiff upwind tacks. I had become totally overpowered and crashed out at the downwind bouy. Andy hit the beach about 1km ahead of me. The wind increased and Gareth my sailing partner turned up at about 14:00, rigged his 5.3 wave sail with 90l board and was soon blasting. Andy just kept going with the 7.8 getting faster and faster. I'm not sure I've seen a 7.8 being held so comfortably in such strong winds.
One recurring problem he did find was a tendency for the back of the sail to hit the water occasionally - especially on upwind legs. This could be due to his sailing stance, mast foot position or simply an aspect of the sail one needs to adjust for. My own feeling (as I mentioned earlier) is that the extended batten above the boom results in increased sail area above the boom and to balance this you need to increase the foot area some how. The foot of the sail then ends up a little fuller than one is used to. This is just a thought.
Anyway a fantastic day's sailing and a revelation about the capabilities of the Reflex2 in the hands of a proper sailor.
Anyway Andy continued making small adjustments and eventually changed to his 110l Manta with Select Evo Lightning fin. These are the fins we rate for rough water but they don't have the bite or power of the SL7's. This set up was good but wasn't getting away from me. The winds were still light and the water flat.
What happened next was bad news for everyone not riding a Reflex. The wind started building and Andy started hauling away from everyone (2 Code Reds, a 2010 Vapor and my Ram). He changed his fin to an SL7 and as the wind picked up even more so did his lead on the long runs. The last run for me was a long 4 leg race incorporating a deep downwind blast with some fairly stiff upwind tacks. I had become totally overpowered and crashed out at the downwind bouy. Andy hit the beach about 1km ahead of me. The wind increased and Gareth my sailing partner turned up at about 14:00, rigged his 5.3 wave sail with 90l board and was soon blasting. Andy just kept going with the 7.8 getting faster and faster. I'm not sure I've seen a 7.8 being held so comfortably in such strong winds.
One recurring problem he did find was a tendency for the back of the sail to hit the water occasionally - especially on upwind legs. This could be due to his sailing stance, mast foot position or simply an aspect of the sail one needs to adjust for. My own feeling (as I mentioned earlier) is that the extended batten above the boom results in increased sail area above the boom and to balance this you need to increase the foot area some how. The foot of the sail then ends up a little fuller than one is used to. This is just a thought.
Anyway a fantastic day's sailing and a revelation about the capabilities of the Reflex2 in the hands of a proper sailor.
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