18-30kn DW run

Nice one dave, let the dw season begin

From a review point of view I will add that the 30kn winds were gusts as you can tell by the sound on the vid. The board handled the conditions well when it was all lining up but as I approached different points on the bay there was a lot of cross chop and this I found particularly hard to handle and had to paddle on my knees for those sections. The Wind surfers cut up the water a lot in one section and others it was just a mess, like being in a washing machine.
Speed etc I have no idea as my phone was sealed in a bag in by pack but the seal did not ho,d so now I need a new phone, a bag of rice did not help this time!!!
There was a variety of sizes in the swell and I though the Sidewinder handled it well and this time I crashed into the back of waves without falling off due to bending my knees much more. Had I not fallen off so often I would have kept up with the crew more but realistically I knew I would be the last one home but not by more than 5min form one and 15min for the other.
To put that into perspective there was a Unlimited and a DW specialist SIC and when I was upright I did not lag that far behind. Regarding falling off it was due to my skill level but sometimes the wind just got hold of me and the board and I had to go over. Windage on the Sidewinder is pretty good imo as I tried to go across to the others as they waited for me to make sure I was ok, to be honest it was better than my Glide which was a lot heavier.
It will be interesting to see how I go on a run that is a consistent 20-25kn and lines up nicely which will happen eventually and I look forward to that. I doubt I will ever do a run over that as I have to realise I am no spring chicken and the board may be too light for those conditions, would need a DW specialist board then I think?

Getting the board to the car at the peak of the wind was interesting until I got a helping hand. If the angle is not right a 9kg board gets a lot of wobble in your handso I put it back on the water and tried again getting the angle right with the wind behind me. After that it was really easy to handle, it has a great sweet spot and the lack of weight made it stress less on the hands and arms after a long paddle.
So for me this board does everything I want as a one board option that covers everything except surfing my Mana. It gives you options from Glass to 2kn runners and everything in between. BUT I should get a DW only board for those bigger conditions Ijusthave to figure out where to keep it if I get one.

it looks like your very wide chested.
haven't DWing for so long ..thanks ...