05 November 2017
Light wind fins testing
Many friends went to the Kabbelaarsbank, good oppurtunity to train with the slalom guys and girls.
When I arrived, wind was not what I expected, I was hoping to sail with 7.0 or 8.0, but the 9.0 was needed.
Used the isonic 127 and Warp 9.0 all day.
Started with the Sonntag SL-P 48 cm under the board.
The SL-P 48 gave a lot of lift. Had to work hard to keep the board on the water.
So soon decided to switch to the smaller: Sonntag SL-P 46 cm.
The SL-P 46 worked really well, could still go upwind. Pressure distribution much better. Board ran fairly loose. Speed seemed pretty good, not much other surfers to compare speed with. Sail felt a bit heavy. So gave the sail a bit more downhaul, which made it a lot better.
I had just bought a Busca 46 cm, so I wanted to test that as well.
In terms of type of vin, the Busca is more like Z-Fins/Boss etc, so I expected the 46 cm to be on the small side.
The Busca suprised me, board is running less loose than with the SL-P 46 cm, doesn't feel fast, but was quickly compared to other on the water.
It goes upwind like no other, even in minimal wind, not very quickly, but possible to point really heigh.
Very useful but cold afternoon, could test a few new fins, but have to do more testing to be able to determine what is the best one.
Current feeling: the SL-P 48 cm is too large. Should put in some effort to improve my trim, still not enough pressure on my front foot.
Kabbelaarsbank
13:15 | 0.25 hour | Wind: W/NW |
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Board: | Starboard iSonic 127 - Sonntag SL-P 48cm | |
Sail: | North Warp F2015 LW 9.0 - North Platinum(14) 490 - Severne Enigma 210-260 | |
First time with the SL-P 48 cm. Fin seems to have a lot of lift. A lot of pressure on my back foot, I had the idea I had to do everything to keep the board on the water. Quickly a changed for a smaller fin. |
13:30 | 1.5 hour | Wind: W/NW |
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Board: | Starboard iSonic 127 - Sonntag SL-P 46cm | |
Sail: | North Warp F2015 LW 9.0 - North Platinum(14) 490 - Severne Enigma 210-260 | |
First time with the Sonntag SL-P 46 cm. Somewhere I had expected that the SL-P 46 would be too small, usually I sail a Boss 49 cm. Fin felt very good. Water was also very flat, so then can also have had some effect. Sail was not fully powered. In the beginning I had a bit to little downhaul, the sail felt heavy. Some more downhaul and it was much better. No spinouts and controlled lift from the fin. little down wind to accelerate and the fin gave nice lift. |
15:00 | 1.25 hour | Wind: W/NW |
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Board: | Starboard iSonic 127 - Busca Slalom 46cm | |
Sail: | North Warp F2015 LW 9.0 - North Platinum(14) 490 - Severne Enigma 210-260 | |
First time with the Busca 46 cm, just got this fin a couple of days before. The fin gave less lift then the SL-P, in less wind I had the idea that the board had just too little lift, but had no problems going upwind. The fin goes upwind really well, even in light wind. With a harder gust (wind was really minimal for the 9.0) ran the was nicely loose, seemed just as fast as the other. |