Extremely gusty warm afternoon in November
Winds would turn from south to southwest around 1pm to 2pm and increase. So no reason to be at the dam early. On arrival, the wind was still too south. Jurjen was using his 4.7 at minimum trim and that was going well. Wind didn't seem very hard, so also opted for 4.7 as well.

JP FSW 84 with Banzai 4.7 and MFC 22.5/Makani 8cm fins
Wind too south, the first a bit of walking to get as far away from the dam as possible and as deep as possible. Start downwind and then I was able to plane quickly. Set worked well going out, first wave directly a jump. But after the jibe it was minimal and I could still just come back planing, but not to the launch area. Turned around to gain sum ground and get back to the Blokkendam. Unfortunately wrong choice, ended up further back on the beach. Had to walk back up the beach. (walk of shame).

Wind seemed gone, so actually had to go to a bigger set, tried a bigger board first: FSW 102, not my normal choice for 4.7, but should definitely work with flatter water.

JP FSW 102 with Banzai 4.7 and Makani 26cm
Stepped on and almost immediately planing, little downwind to get away from the beach, then a wave: nice jump.
Wind came back quickly, wind had turned. Sail soon needed more trim. Waves got better. Could ride quite a bit of wave and some jumps. Quite a lot of nice waves for back-side wave riding and at near the beach some waves for front-side riding. 1x managed to hit the lip nicely. Wind was very good again, maybe even too strong for the 4.7, so no reason to keep using the 102.

JP FSW 84 with Banzai 4.7 and MFC 22.5/Makani 8cm fins
Mostly good, but wind increased further and further, so the 4.7 was often too big. Between the strongest gusts was really nice. Lots of wave riding and jumping. But the gusts were hard, sometimes really extreme strong. Sailing cross wind: crash. I came above the water, everyone nearby is in the water: 40+ gusts! Actually, it wasn't really possible to sail with 4.7 anymore and I should start rigging smaller. 4.2 seemed not small enoug, comming from an over max trimmed 4.7. So go right for the 3.7.

JP FSW 84 with Banzai 3.7 and MFC 21/Makani 8cm fins
My timing or material choice today was poor. The 3.7 was brilliant in the gusts at first, but soon too small, With minimal trim it was still doable, but earlier the 3.7 might have been good, but now actually too small. In the gusts and the waves it was quite wonderful sailing with the 3.7 very nice wave riding and jumping. Especially with the wind turned there were sometimes waves for jumping on the way back in, that combined with the gusts made for delicious long floaty jumps. Staying upwind became more difficult with the 3.7 even at minimum trim: time for the 4.7 that was still on the beach.

JP FSW 84 with Banzai 4.7 and MFC 21/Makani 8cm fins
First meters good, nice to have more pressure, but before I was well on the water, the wind was also very strong again with extreme gusts. In the wind holes it still ok, but especially the extreme gusts made it difficult. So also almost nog wave riding or jumping. Got pretty tired, too: time to stop.

Was quite entertaining, but definitely not my best day. In hindsight I should have taken the 4.2 when the wind really came through, that might have been better. 4.7 was too big and the 3.7 was often too small when I used it. I always seemed to be just on the wrong material at the wrong moment.

Blokkendam

Present: Jurjen

13:00 0.5 hour Wind: S
Board: JP Freestyle Wave 84 Pro - MFC Freewave 22,5cm/Makani Walu 2x8cm
Sail: Goya Banzai Pro 4.7 - Goya Eightyfive Pro 400 - AL360 E3 Carbon 160-220
  First run was perfect, but later too minimal, even with minimal trim I could only plane on the way in, using the waves, but I didn't get planing going out against the waves.
13:45 0.25 hour Wind: S
Board: JP Freestyle Wave 102 Pro - Makani Kaku 26cm
Sail: Goya Banzai Pro 4.7 - Goya Eightyfive Pro 400 - AL360 E3 Carbon 160-220
  Set worked good on the first run. But sail was soon too big and with it, the board definitely too big. With so much wind, the board didn't want to turn anymore. Tried to go front-side near the beach a couple of times, managed one hit of the lip: nice.
14:00 1.5 hour Wind: S
Board: JP Freestyle Wave 84 Pro - MFC Freewave 22,5cm/Makani Walu 2x8cm
Sail: Goya Banzai Pro 4.7 - Goya Eightyfive Pro 400 - AL360 E3 Carbon 160-220
  Set worked well in the wind holes, but in the gusts absolutely impossible to sail. Even with the 4.7 over max trimmed the hardest gusts were impossible to control. But outside of the gusts, set worked wonderfully. Jumps wonderfully, sometimes even possible towards the beach, beautiful waves and with the strong wind these quickly became floating jumps. Back-side waveriding sometimes brilliant. I managed to find some steep high waves.
15:30 0.75 hour Wind: SW
Board: JP Freestyle Wave 84 Pro - MFC Freewave (06) 21cm/Makani Walu 2x8cm
Sail: Goya Banzai X Pro 3.7 - Goya Ninety Pro 370 - AL360 E3 Carbon 140-200
  The 3.7 was brilliant in the gusts. Lots of control, great waveriding. But outside the gusts too small, could hardly go upwind. In the windholes I stood completely still, really sinking. Even with minimal trim it wasn't really good outside the gusts.
16:15 0.25 hour Wind: SW
Board: JP Freestyle Wave 84 Pro - MFC Freewave (06) 21cm/Makani Walu 2x8cm
Sail: Goya Banzai Pro 4.7 - Goya Eightyfive Pro 400 - AL360 E3 Carbon 160-220
  Probably wrong choice, the 4.7 was too big, only in the wind holes it was doable.