Surfing in the tail end of storm Bejamin
Last night storm Benjamin had come over, which brought a lot of rain, but less strong winds than predicted. Today was dry and I was able to stop working a little earlier, so we had a chance to sail a bit and catch the tail end of Benjamin.
It was quite busy on at the dam: Autumn holidays. Most were sailing with 3.7 or 4.2.
Doubted about the board, after a storm there can often be very nice waves, so I took the Slate hoping for a lot of front-side riding.

Banzai 4.2 on the Wave Slate with K4 16 / MFC 11cm quad setup
Get on to the water and planing instantly. Bit further from the beach more wind. Set easily got upwind. Got the trim set up quickly. Unfortunately almost only swell and no steep waves, so not much for wave riding. Occasionally found something for a back-side hit. The few times the wave was good enough to try front-side, it went very well, especially for how little I have sailed this year.
I could always get upwind very easily, so smaller fins should be possible. Not that control was bad, the Scorchers are soft and that is nice with a lot of wind. Time for something to drink and to change fins.

Banzai 4.2 on the Wave Slate with MFC 15/11cm quad setup
Upwind was just a little bit less, but a more direct feel. Also nice, but just a little less nice when the water is very rough. In the meantime it was really high tide, sometimes slightly nicer waves, but it was still not amazing conditions.

I had sailed only a little lately, so no top surf condition, didn't feel fit either. So tired relatively quickly. So it wasn't a long session.
It was nice to sail again. 4.2 was great. Unfortunately there were not very many good waves. So basically, the Wave Slate wasn't the best choice.

Blokkendam

Present: Henk, Henk (Ouwe), Ron, Ronny

15:30 0.75 hour Wind: W/SW
Board: JP Wave Slate 96 Pro - K4 Scorcher 2x16cm/MFC TF 2x11cm
Sail: Goya Banzai X Pro 4.2 - Goya Ninety Pro 370 - AL360 E3 Carbon 140-200
  Sailed the Slate as a quad.
Set worked well. 4.2 was the right size. Fins may have been a bit long, but I could get upwind very easily. But fins didn't really feel too big either. Board had a lot of control. A few attempts to for frontside waveriding, all times succeeded. The Wave Slate is great in these conditions. Unfortunately there were a few really good waves.
16:15 0.5 hour Wind: W/SW
Board: JP Wave Slate 96 Pro - MFC QS 300/MFC TF 2x11cm
Sail: Goya Banzai X Pro 4.2 - Goya Ninety Pro 370 - AL360 E3 Carbon 140-200
  Sailed the slate as a quad.
The smaller QS 300 are 15cm and much stiffer than the K4 Scorchers. upwind was still good. board had a bit less control. The fins are clearly stiffer. But that has the advantage that everything feels a little more direct. What feels a little more active. Wave riding, on the few waves that were there went well. Little to jump on.