08 May 2021
All afternoon rain
South wind predicted, but cold and chance of rain. The wind was south-east and rain all day.
Started with iSonic 117 and S-Type 7.3 and SLX 43cm
Wind was obviously stronger than I expected, had thought 7.3 would be minimal, but the 7.3 was big. Wind was a bit gusty, but given the direction not too bad. At the surf center in the shallow water" very flat, super nice gybing. In front of the harbour steep chop, tricky gybing. Everyone was sailing in the narrow part, so quite busy and paying close attention. The wind increased quickly, so soon more trim in the sail, that helped a bit, but especially towards the surf center, just after the gybe in front of the harbour it was difficult, very difficult. I had chosen the 43cm because of the expectation of minimal wind. So let's change for a smaller fin.
iSonic 117 and S-Type 7.3 and SLX 41cm
The 41cm helped, clearly a little more control, but the 7.3 was large or too big in the harder gusts. In the flatter water no problem at all. But in the chop it was tricky and heavy sailing. Wind was so strong that a smaller set had to be possible.
FSW 102 with Banzai 6.0 and MFC 29cm
Good choice, light set, much easier in the chop. Could always plane. Especially on the edge of the shallow in front of the harbour there was some nice steep chop for jumping. Towards the surf centre the water became flatter and flatter. Practiced on short-board tacks: succeeded a few times. In front of the harbour gybing remained tricky, not that I fell, but planning gybes were impossible. Made a couple really nice high jumps.
When I took off my harness I saw that the strap was almost through on one side, really only 1/5th of the strap was left. The other side was also far through. Luckely I had stopped in time.
Despite the rain, despite the south east wind, still a very nice afternoon. Many familiar faces. Fresh, but not really cold, no cap or gloves needed.
Kabbelaarsbank
11:30 | 0.75 hour | Wind: SE |
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Board: | Starboard iSonic 117 - Sonntag SL-X 43cm | |
Sail: | North S-Type SL 7.3 - North Platinum(13) 460 - AL360 E3 Carbon 200-260 | |
Set worked well. Could easily plane, set had a lot of control at first. Wind increased, more down and outhaul. In the flatter water very good: fast and control. But because of the SE wind in front of the harbor: very difficult chop, it was almost impossible to sail through it. Time to try a smaller fin. |
12:15 | 0.5 hour | Wind: SE |
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Board: | Starboard iSonic 117 - Sonntag SL-X 41cm | |
Sail: | North S-Type SL 7.3 - North Platinum(13) 460 - AL360 E3 Carbon 200-260 | |
Control not always super. With the 41cm more control than with the 43cm. In the harder gusts, even the 41 was big and it was tricky in the tricky chop in front of the harbor. In the flat water really great gybing. |
13:30 | 2 hour | Wind: SE |
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Board: | JP Freestyle Wave 102 Pro - MFC Freewave 29cm | |
Sail: | Goya Banzai Pro 6.0 - Goya Hunderd Pro 430 - AL360 E3 Carbon 160-220 | |
Control, jump, fun. Certainly on the edge of the shallow in front of the harbour there was a nice steep chop to jump nicely: a few attempts at table top. For the surf center super easy gybing. It was almost impossible to gybe in front of the habour: high steep chaos chop, but that wasn't because of the kit. |