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What is the fastest alpha ever ?

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Created by Imax1 > 9 months ago, 8 Nov 2023
decrepit
WA, 12766 posts
13 Nov 2023 9:20AM
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I've just downloaded it, and had a look with a video editor. Woody does it much better than me (5kts this day), although the sequence looks similar.
I haven't got time now, but later I'll extract the Woody sequence, and post. And yes the nose does rise slightly, but only for a frame or two.

elmo
WA, 8868 posts
13 Nov 2023 10:01AM
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Figured out a while back that all my gybing issues are from PEBAB

decrepit
WA, 12766 posts
13 Nov 2023 3:45PM
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Woody sequence.


You can see he's going faster than me by his rooster tail, (although I guess he's a fair bit heavier and displaces more water.


Sail is coming up prior to flip





Feet unchanged as sheeting in starts



Old front foot moving back, and I think new front foot is in it's strap.



Back foot now in, and a few seconds later, ------

hooking in

you can see the raised body to line hook up with line.

Then he's away!

Flex2
WA, 366 posts
13 Nov 2023 8:04PM
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peterowensbabs said..

Flex2 said..
Latest video from Albany Nov3/4. Initially I was just trying to get a few shots of Woody's Alphas as he is on mission to crack 30 but a few other sailors in there doing some nice Alpha's including Decrepits very tidy effort of 23.7 and Rondog (27.47), Stretch (25.66) very smooth turns. Somehow I completely missed Dodi who just beat Woody's Alpha of 28.441 and quite a few other sailors (Jay, Boz, Antman and probably others) pulling 25+ Alpha's I missed getting good/any shots of. My lowly efforts (the POV shots) were around 22 with top of 23.5 as my cross wind speed/speed in general is terrible. Despite checking the tune in this video prior to uploading it unfortunately blocked in the US so you will have to use VPN to watch there.



Thats great footage but what impressed me most is your flying skills, FPV? What drone do you use?


Drone is off the shelf DJI FPV with all footage in sport mode as too chicken to sail in manual mode yet over water.

sailquik
VIC, 6165 posts
15 Nov 2023 1:16PM
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Not up there withthefastest, but one of my fastest @ 27.75Kt Got it on the helmet cam with telemetry.
LG, 2022

?feature=shared




BTW. I also do a variation of the strap to strap Gybe where I flip the rig before switching my feet, but I put the back foot in first coming out of the gybe to keep the fin driving.

This one felt nicer but was slightly slower @27.4 and I have not found the telemetry to add yet. The look back before the gybe is line up my exit angle with something on the far shore:

?feature=shared

Shifu
QLD, 1992 posts
16 Nov 2023 8:51PM
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^^^ Amazing gybing!

Pcdefender
WA, 1607 posts
16 Nov 2023 9:57PM
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I would get bored after a few runs sailing on such flat water.

Flat water is good but not all the time.

Depth of water looks shallow in the second video so i am guessing you were using a delta fin.

No grabbing the mast on sail rotation which is easier on flat water i think.

John340
QLD, 3363 posts
17 Nov 2023 3:27AM
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Pcdefender said..
I would get bored after a few runs sailing on such flat water.

Flat water is good but not all the time.


The 80 odd speed sailors ,who drive thousands of kilometres, to make the yearly pilgrimage to Lake George each January to March, might not agree

sboardcrazy
NSW, 8225 posts
17 Nov 2023 8:02AM
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Pcdefender said..
I would get bored after a few runs sailing on such flat water.

Flat water is good but not all the time.

Depth of water looks shallow in the second video so i am guessing you were using a delta fin.

No grabbing the mast on sail rotation which is easier on flat water i think.


Nothing like planing and gybing in glass.

mathew
QLD, 2133 posts
17 Nov 2023 8:02AM
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John340 said..

Pcdefender said..
I would get bored after a few runs sailing on such flat water.

Flat water is good but not all the time.



The 80 odd speed sailors ,who drive thousands of kilometres, to make the yearly pilgrimage to Lake George each January to March, might not agree


That is because, that Lake George exists in a different reality, where its Earth is round... so those sailors dont get bored.

The reality of which Pcdefender exists, the Earth is flat - its very boring in that reality.

MobZ
NSW, 457 posts
17 Nov 2023 9:15AM
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boardsurfr said..
Planing threshold in jibes is somewhere between 6 and 8 knots. 8 knots is clearly planed through on a slalom board; 6 knots means the board never really sank down, and it looks like a planed through jibe to observers. Small speed boards may have somewhat higher numbers. These numbers may seem low, but keep in mind that the lowest speeds in a decent jibe are usually just for a couple of seconds or less. Often, it's just a single point, with nearby points being 0.5 to 1 knot higher. Measuring at 5-10 hz instead of 1 hz will typically result in a 0.5 knot drop in reported minimum speed.

As Kato said, very good jibers often have minimum speeds around 15 knots. Here are the jibes from his 29 knot hour this year on Lake George:

The best windsurf jibes I have seen in GPS tracks are from Slowboat this spring in Albany, with a couple of jibes above 20 knots minimum speed:

In the data above, you can see keeping 50% of the entry speed in jibes is very good for windsurfers, and 60% is outstanding. With a foil, it's easy to keep a lot more of the entry speed, even in much tighter turns and chop. Here's and example of an average session from a good winger:






At my spot on the gear i'm on, they will never be fast fast and far from the fastest ever, but working toward 50% is a good goal for me now learning to jibe. That turn analysis feature is great.

kato
VIC, 3506 posts
17 Nov 2023 11:12AM
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Pcdefender said..
I would get bored after a few runs sailing on such flat water.

Flat water is good but not all the time.

Depth of water looks shallow in the second video so i am guessing you were using a delta fin.

No grabbing the mast on sail rotation which is easier on flat water i think.


Grabbing the mast ???? Not sure why you would do that. BTW LG is just one of the epic spots in Aus and yes I enjoyed the swell line of Safety Bay. The only way to improve your windsurfing is to get out of your pond and explore the world.

decrepit
WA, 12766 posts
17 Nov 2023 4:43PM
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kato said..>>>>>> The only way to improve your windsurfing is to get out of your pond and explore the world.


Pete would be scared he's fall off the edge.

remery
WA, 3709 posts
17 Nov 2023 7:37PM
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decrepit said..

Pete would be scared he's fall off the edge.


He's doomed...


sailquik
VIC, 6165 posts
18 Nov 2023 12:11AM
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Pcdefender said..
I would get bored after a few runs sailing on such flat water.

Flat water is good but not all the time.

Depth of water looks shallow in the second video so i am guessing you were using a delta fin.

No grabbing the mast on sail rotation which is easier on flat water i think.


I don't get bored in the slightest little bit. Every day and run is different and there are always challenges. It's a big lake and there are always other places to explore.
For many years, year after year, I have spent up to two months sailing there, day after day, and loved every minute of it.
The water is not as shallow as it looks. Most of the places we are sailing it is a meter to 1.5m deep, but still very flat.
Minimum depth we usually sail in is around 30-40cm deep. The depth varies very gradually, so it is quite safe and we very rarely run aground if we are sensible.
And yes, we mainly use 50 degree deltas, or 40-45 degree rake weed fins, depending on the state of the weed each season.
I have no time to grab the mast in gybes. It's too slow to do that, and not that easy to do with a Cammed sail with a zippered boom cut-out either.



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"What is the fastest alpha ever ?" started by Imax1