22 May 2020
Lovely afternoon Brouwersdam
Increasing winds predicted.
I arrived just after the showers. Wind had just left. Surfers where using 4.2 and 4.7 sails. Wind probably came back again, so rigged the 4.7.
FSW 84 with Banzai 4.7 and MUF 20/11.5
I expected less wind near the beach, as is usually at Blokkendam. But I stepped up and was planing. The wind was clearly back. Further from the beach the wind was clearly stronger and the 4.7 a bit large. Back on the beach I increased the trim of the sail a bit, that helps a little, but wind increased further and 4.7 was really too big. Time for the 4.2, or the 3.7, as the wind was really strong. Waveriding and jumping were almost not possible anymore.
FSW 84 with Banzai 4.2 and MUF 20/11.5
The 4.2 work a lot better. I could waveride and jump. But water was also getting rougher, it was high tide, so it was more difficult to sail. The FSW 84 isn't the best in these conditions. But if I could find a little better water it was really enjoyable. Wind slowly increased and the 4.2 became really too big, maximum trim to be able to sail. More survival than surfing, so time to stop.
Lesson of today, Always take everything, I really should have thrown the AHD in the trailer, that would have given a lot more control than the FSW, and then the 3.7 would definitely have been an option.
It wasn't cold, but it was stronger wind than I expected. The sometimes very hard gusts made it exhausting, but the jumping and waveriding made it a lot of fun.
Blokkendam
15:15 | 0.5 hour | Wind: SW 20/32 kts |
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Board: | JP Freestyle Wave 84 Pro - MUFins X-Wave 20cm/MUFins X-Tri 2x11,5cm | |
Sail: | Goya Banzai Pro 4.7 - Goya Eightyfive Pro 400 - AL360 E3 Carbon 160-220 | |
Set worked well at first, fins give ample grip, never spinouts. Jumps well. Maybe the fins are a bit too big? Wind quickly increased, which quickly made the sail to big. Outhaul on max, bit more downhaul. Nothing helped. |
16:00 | 2 hour | Wind: SW 24/35 kts |
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Board: | JP Freestyle Wave 84 Pro - MUFins X-Wave 20cm/MUFins X-Tri 2x11,5cm | |
Sail: | Goya Banzai X Pro 4.2 - Goya Ninety Pro 370 - AL360 E3 Carbon 140-200 | |
First time with the Banzai X Pro 4.2. Correct trim was easily found, especially harness lines had to go a lot further back than I expected. Sail is very stable, never overpower. Wind increased a lot, could easily have sailed with my 3.7. Set was often too fast, probably due to the Freestylewave, the AHD would have been better in these conditions, but I hadn't taken that. Not so much wind expected. Maybe another set of fins would have been better too. Jumping, with left foot in front, my bad side, finally went pretty well again. Some very nice wave riding. Until the wind really got too strong and it was more of a survival. |