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

tobyr said...

we need to move on so we can focus on a 20kn alpha

Hahaha!
I'll be happy with a 16kn alpha!
A big part of the reason I haven't got that 30kn 2 sec yet is that I've spent most of my sailing time this year practicing gybes. I am such a slow learner!

Thanks for all the ideas people, it is quite heartwarming to see how many people know me personally and have offerred advice. I certainly feel I am amongst friends.
It is true that lack of wind or inability to sail on the windy days has been the major obstacle. I got my 29.6 at the end of last December and thought that 30 would be not long off but there have been few windy days since!

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.

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.

Pointman said...

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.

Oh this is good.
This thread is developing into a mine of useful information!
Keep it coming!

I'm just itching for some wind to try these things out now!

Pointman said...

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

Is this for the beam reach prior to the slingshot?
Presumably once you are going downwind your back leg is bent?

evets said...

Sail tuning by someone who knew what to do helped me. I went months just under 30 and was convinced I could not do it. >>>>>>>

Now look at you!!! Almost got a 40!

yeah but still have no idea how to tune a sail!

It's not that complicated, you maybe over thinking it. Two things to remember. Shut up and Sheet in.

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

hardie said...

sheeting in when bearing away is not exactly correct coz u can oversheet and kill the run

wen u bare away u change the angle of attack of the sail. you need 2 present as much of the sail to the wind as possible. Which can mean opening the face of sail gradually as you bear a way.

nebbian said...

pepe47 said...

Mine was reducing the size of the fin. I thought I needed a 32cm fin to provide enough lift to get going and stay going through the lulls, it turned out otherwise. I put a 29cm (mfc weedie) with my 5.8 and picked up the 3 knots I needed.

Mine was increasing the size of the fin. I thought I needed a 31 cm fin to give less drag, but in reality I needed a 37cm fin to balance the 7m I was using at the time!

Different strokes for different folks

Are you doing this Nebs so you have control through chop?

Are you

Mobydisc said...

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.

SENSATIONAL

Mobydisc said...

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.

Oh Well done! Yes you have to go downwind. That alone makes a huge difference.

Windxtasy said...

decrepit said...

What a lot of heavy guys don't realise is how much chop slows lighter people down.
Well at 70kg, that's where I place the blame for my lack of speed anyway.
And I'm sure Anita is a fair bit lighter than me.

Also most speed gear is aimed at bigger heavier people, those footstraps are probably too far apart.
Board trim is important, getting the entry point behind the front strap is hard if you don't have enough weight to sink the tail.
A few people have used aluminium bars to extend the front straps backwards with good results. (See Tom Chalko's page).

My fastest speeds are on a 5.3 metre sail with a fin around 20cm in flat water. with 25-30kts wind
Instead of going bigger Anita I'd try going smaller, (being in control is a big part of going fast) and looking for flat water with decent wind.
If we get a good day at yoyo's this Winter, that should do it.

Yes, keeping the board down in chop is very difficult for me, especially if overpowered.
I think I would like my footstraps closer together but they are as close as they can get without modifications.
I'd agree with being in control being important. If you're overpowered you're not using the sail at it's maximum efficiency. I have often been slightly overpowered on my 5.8. It hard to tell with the koncepts because they are manageable even when very overpowered. Now I have the 5.0 sorted I will use it more often.
I only have a slalom board, not a speed board.

I'm not doing speed runs but I find with my 95ltre Rocket the straps are too far apart to use both unless I'm going beam reach or lower.I tend to sail with my rear foot out of the strap and up against the front one as a result..Bit scary in chop.I think they don't design boards for small females..