Owner:
krafty
Member
Member#: 3052 Location: Registered: 28-11-2006 Diary Entries: 467
Mood: waiting for wind
|
8th November 2008
Windsurfing: Pevensey Bay Wind Direction: SSW Wind Stength: 23-35 knots Surf / Sea State: decent waves and some white wa Air Temperature: ok Sea Temperature: ok Weather: overcast with some rain Max Speed: Distance Covered:
What with some new toys needing using, and forecast for wind both days this
weekend, then the added pressure of a Loop Clinic organised for Sunday
..... there was little danger of me not getting a sail in today.
Opted for Pevensey as had some other DIY bits to do first thing before I
could go anywhere, so 11am at Pevensey ..... it was windy for sure, but
checked with the windy meter and it was 23-26 knots steady, gusting 34
knots. There were lots of decent waves too .....
So ... which toy to use?
After a nano-second decision was made ...... the Fanatic Twin Fin 84 was
crying out for use, with a North Ego 4.7m ....
Okay, it wasn't really ideal twin fin wave riding conditions, but it's a
new toy and it was windy, so there was never any doubt .....
First impressions .... didn't seem especially hard to sail, felt like it
went upwind pretty well, although the rip made sure you had to work bloody
hard, whatever you were on. First couple of runs I lost some ground
downwind, but as got a bit more tuned in to the new board and rig I managed
to maintain status, albeit a couple of beaches downwind. Didn't get much
chance to wave ride, due to intense focus on working upwind, though did
allow myself the odd relapse to hunt out jump ramps and just couldn't
resist a couple of backside rides. It wasn't an ideal day for me to try the
twin fin, but I really enjoyed the feel of it ..... it felt quite playful
underfoot, and I'm sure there will be better days for me to really enjoy
this board.
With the rip getting progressively stronger, I opted to break out another
new toy, the Allwave 92, and also tweak the outhaul of the Ego to check how
it reacted. Pretty much as soon as I'd plugged them together, it absoluted
chucked it down, and then the wind dropped to nothing. So, stood there
chatting, and watching Big Al wallowing up to his knees, pointing towards
Rosetti but sailing sideways towards Cooden in the rip.
Lucily the wind filled back in a bit, so out I went again on the Allwave.
In truth, it was relatively marginal at first, but got going, and the ramps
were really shaping up. Trouble was, each lull or jump and corky landing
was costing me distance downwind, and then when out the back heading back
in the wind dropped right off for a few minutes. I found myself heading
back in towards the outfall, but as got in, the wind filled in, so decided
to sail back upwind, but got drilled by a set and was 4-5 beaches further
downwind before I could cuss the rip!!
Luckily it filled in again although most had packed up by then. Just late
starter U-Surf and me out for a bit from the car park, before I conceeded
the day as done, cream crackered.
I'd done a fair bit of walking in the shallows, battling the rip, and I'd
crashed and burned a few times, taking a beaut of a fall going over the
falls on one wave to many and getting the full rinse cycle treatment. My
only forward loop attempt, and not one I'd initiated with any form of
intent. My last jump before packing up was a pretty big back loop attempt,
which activated brain cells and saw me jetison the board as a self
preservation manouvre .... typically I lost two beaches ground downwind
before waterstarting, so time to de-rig and head home.
Quite a good fun day, in a masochistic way, and one that didn't fill me
full of the confidence that I'll be able to just go out and do forward
loops just coz someone says I can. Doesn't mean I wont try, just means I
haven't yet.
Bring on tomorrow ....
|
Toys Used:
Statsbar:
About MY Statsbar
|