First elimination final - Steve Allen came second to Bjorn. I think Sean O'Brien came third in his first heat but went over early next race and unfortunately Troppo and Jesper didn't make it past first heat.
all the details here http://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=2364&cHash=c50be90e671266e7afbd0ba7a51bfa08
Wow, Steve Allen is doing really well. He came third in the winner's Final No.2 behind AA and Bjorn. He was second on last gybe but Bjorn just got him on the line.
Jesper came second in his heat but like Sean a couple days before, he went over early in his second round heat. Troppo came 6th in his heat. Elimination No. 3 has Jesper and Troppo up against each other in their first round heat.
I'm sure they are - but are these wide boards faster than the older style slalom boards - from a few years back.
This is the bit that does my head in. They look like a pain to gybe - so there advantages must mean they are fast on a reach or off the wind???
wayneg said... I'm sure they are - but are these wide boards faster than the older style slalom boards - from a few years back.
This is the bit that does my head in. They look like a pain to gybe - so there advantages must mean they are fast on a reach or off the wind???
they are slower than the old style boards but being wider you wont loose your speed through the gybe.
wayneg said... I'm sure they are - but are these wide boards faster than the older style slalom boards - from a few years back.
This is the bit that does my head in. They look like a pain to gybe - so there advantages must mean they are fast on a reach or off the wind???
The wider boards have a greater wind range so you can keep going if the wind picks up or drops out a little and you can point higher (if required). In perfect conditions an older-style slalom board probably is quicker.
racings been pretty tough, miss the start by a second and its game over unless you have some kind of warp speed device built into your board. I managed to nail two first outta the blocks and still got done by the first mark.
conditions have been ranging from 7 - 24knots over the week. sometimes in the one race making it very hard to choose the right setup on the day.
so far i've raced on all my boards here, 135l light wind beast 115 medium and the smaller 92l. My best setup is the 92l with a 7.1 going full power as I think it evens up the field a touch when its proper windy. a 6.3 would be even better.
8 guys going hell for leather into the gybe marks at 30 odd knots sure gets the blood pumping.
nah i got it out once to wear but then the event went on standbye and the wind dropped.
finished off the last race with an over early. hopefully the pwa let me do another event after this pretty piss poor performance.
seanhogan said... do you actually need to be allowed to enter the events ?
Yes, you kind of need to qualify. The top 48 in the rankings can enter automatically then the next 16 sailors apply for wildcards (max 64-man fleet). It's easier to get in if you've done events before, but actually at the more popular events like Fuerteventura and Turkey, quite a few people get rejected with wildcards!
wayneg said... I'm sure they are - but are these wide boards faster than the older style slalom boards - from a few years back.
This is the bit that does my head in. They look like a pain to gybe - so there advantages must mean they are fast on a reach or off the wind???
Compared to oldschool slalom boards of the late 90's early 00's, these new boards are TONS easier to gybe, have triple the windrange and are much easier to sail in bumpy conditions. If you watch a PBA slalom video from the 90's see how many guys crash at every mark, nowadays, nobody crashes that often (and it's the SAME guys racing - haha).
I've never compared but I'd be very suprised if these newer wider boards are not faster in light/medium wind conditions than narrower boards as we are pushing much bigger sail sizes on them. The small boards have not changed very much since the old days.... Day 4 we had 28 knots on the course for a few squirts and half the fleet were on 8.6m and +120L boards! Not fun, but definitely possible!
Severne 3 out of the top five.
Avanti 28th and 32nd. (Volwater , Maynard)
Avanti, lovely looking, beautifully made and light sails but the guys are either very unluckly or could it be the sails are not as fast as they hoped. My guess is the former.
yoyo said... Severne 3 out of the top five.
Avanti 28th and 32nd. (Volwater , Maynard)
Avanti, lovely looking, beautifully made and light sails but the guys are either very unluckly or could it be the sails are not as fast as they hoped. My guess is the former.
my guess is that the sailor is more important than the sail... or the board.
yoyo said... Severne 3 out of the top five.
Avanti 28th and 32nd. (Volwater , Maynard)
Avanti, lovely looking, beautifully made and light sails but the guys are either very unluckly or could it be the sails are not as fast as they hoped. My guess is the former.
my guess is that the sailor is more important than the sail... or the board.
yeah it hasn't been a good start for either FM or the Voltmeter - these are the two that I was referring to in above post. Probably concur with you Yoyo & Swoosh re: sailor ability verse gear performance although is anyone sailing Avanti's in Oz yet and if so any feedback on performance.
That's the PWA not virgins 
