Yes Anita reading with great interest. Thank you all for your input.
the one factor I think counts for alot in this sport we all love so much is experience. Once I had done 28 it was a matter of working out how I had done it and replicating it, your knowledge of all the small differences it took to go that speed is logged away and the next time your in a position to do it again it seems to come easier. Alot of the equipment tuning is also based on building your understanding of what it should look and feel like. As Evets said just because someone helped you out with tuning doesn't mean you have learnt from it. Lao told me about 6months ago to bear away more, more, more. took me months to realise just how far he meant and I still find myself not doing it enough(still haven't learnt). alot of these factors are affected by the conditions on the water the day your out. I was stubborn for most of the summer and kept sailing at Peli cos I felt I needed to break 30kn there, saw others doing it on a regular basis and thought if they can then so can I, but of course they have a far greater well of experience and so make it look easy when for me it was almost suicidal to try. Hitting 29 at peli was a hair raising ride with board control the hardest thing to overcome. At melville doing 29 with a flatter water state was much easier wasn't thinking about the board at all, instead was looking for the next gust and wishing for more power.
Hope to break through this barrier soon Anita and hope your there to do it with me, as your enthusiasm is infectious and we need to move on so we can focus on a 20kn alpha
speed thread keep it up. My 2 cents.
Down haul. Head of sail must be loose so it can twist off.
Out haul adjustable so you can bag the sail out on your down wind run but still get back upwind
Batten tension. Make sure there is enough in the battens boom and below to hold a deep profile.
Chase the gusts. Slowly goes fast all over the place. Once you get used to bearing away where the wind is rather than waiting for it to come your sped will increase
Slingshot. Look for the dark patch in front of you. Bear away just before and really bear away as it hits. Hold your line for a good 10 count even if it does not feel fast.
Check the windsurfer mag article http://www.windsurfermag.com/magazine/windsurf-speed-sailing-slingshot/?params=MjR8Mjg0fDA=
More wind!
Good luck.
This week I got fairly close to 30 knots, doing 28 point something which is a PB for me. Very strong wind with sustained gusts of over 30 knots. The water was reasonably flat but not mirror flat. I didn't sail off the wind too much but usually sailed a beam reach. I was very happy with my nautical mile of over 25 knots which isn't too far from my 2 second peak.
My sail wasn't rigged all that well as the mast is too long, it was rigged on a 460 mast and should have been on a 430. So the sail was off the deck a fair bit. I found out after getting back in, two of the batten bolts had come out and two battens were sticking out of the sail.
I'm not sure if the sail had been rigged right whether there would much speed increase but it would not have hurt.
So time to save up for a new mast and probably a new sail too.
paddymac, also have issues with oversheeting, but have found recently with being aware of it when bearing away and opening the sail up, body weight seems to move forward more onto balls of feet and that feeling of imminent catapult shows itself. Think thats where properly rigged sail comes into it's own as Lao said sail must be downhauled enough for head to twist off and exhaust wind efficiently. Now if only I can remember all this when out on the water
Anita we've got to think big, it's all we've got.
The best place to practice the 'slingshot' is somewhere like Safety Bay where the bank is submerged and you can choose the point at which to start the bearaway.
I freakin love the sensation
Sailing fast across the breeze watching the dark patches approach and getting ready to pull the trigger when it hits.
Paddy in terms of stance I think they mean push out with your front foot at the same time as extending your front arm. I find a fast stance is with my legs and arms almost fully extended getting my weight as far outboard as possible, then when the gust hits you can hold down the power and convert to acceleration (helps being 100kg+ )
I'd add that you need to have you harness lines long enough to enable you to fully extend your arms and get your weight right off the board. I've picked up a knot or two in peak speed just by lengthening my lines.
)
It's not that complicated, you maybe over thinking it. Two things to remember. Shut up and Sheet in.
Huey punishes fear
easy to crack 30knots in warnbro sound, i often get peaks of 34 knots with a 7.8, 121, 40cm fin big swell helps absolutely awesome full speed down the wave face, the acceleration is so sudden you feel like your falling off the back off the board
sheeting in when bearing away is not exactly correct coz u can oversheet and kill the run
Finally broke the 30 knot barrier today.
Why today could be due to two main factors. I rigged my sail with a bit of care. The sail I was using was missing two batten bolts. Recently I bought two new sails. They each came with a spare bolt so I used them. Secondly I rigged the sail on a different mast. It's recommended to use a 430cm mast. I don't have one so was using a 460cm mast. Today I rigged it on a 400cm mast with 45cms of extension.
As a result the sail seemed to feel more responsive and stable.
The second factor is I deliberately sailed downwind for some distance through bigger gusts.
The end result was a 2 second peak of over 31 knots that is around 3 knots better than my previous best speed. Also achieved a 20 knot alpha.
