kato said..

petermac33 said..

GPS has killed much of the racing on the river for sure. Most of the guys including slow boat now just sail upwind to then sail crazy angle off the wind,wtf. They are a ever present danger and like kitesurfers should be confined to their own little patch.

Sailing across the wind in a local drag race is much more fun.

Is this a piss take

Kato, haven't you been following Peter's posts, his views are usually a bit different to most others.
It may be if he actually uses a GPS he'll be forced to admit that the Earth spins.

sailquik said..

Yes, but more importantly it has improved my enjoyment of the the total windsurfing experience immeasurably!

GPSTC, GPSSS, Speed Fortnight, Lake George trips, new friends all over Australia and all over the world! etc, etc.

Come on Daffy you guys only sail one way and walk back .

I do agree with the social aspect Ive meet alot of guys and girls from all over Aus

After 33 years of selling windsurfing gear , the gps to me is the most important improvement in the last few years , people are not only improving technique and speeds but the whole sport has grown in numbers , 3 years ago we had only 4 members in the mid north coast team and now where solid with over 30 members and the team spirit is so strong , so big thumbs up to the gps ,

keef said..

Milsy said..

if the question is, does wearing a gps improve my sailing?, the answer is........no, , for me, i probably wouldn't have been as motivated without the gps, but its the effort that comes off that motivation that improves ones ability,

hey champ your saying you wont improve by wearing a gps , but it makes you more motivated to spend more time on the water = improvement, ill have to go along with that

your quick off the water too man, i only left that there for a second, the gps allows one to focus more on a particular style or set of goals, you could still focus on those same goals without it, your simply just creating a platform for accountability for speed in your sess, putting pressure on yourself off the measured results,, do you think you can go really fast and not be that good a sailor? i've seen guys break forty who can't do a plaining gype, the gps, or gpstc is only requiring you to get to a certain level of sailing competence, after that it starts to become more a measure of power not sailing prowess, for example leo is a good sailor, great speed on the gps, bryon is a great sailor but not as fast as leo, so the gps after a point wont improve your sailing its just measuring power, not sailing prowess, it appears once you've developed enough sailing prowess, a few yrs, you'd now be better off spending your efforts wearing a helmet, vest, weight and just keep converting more power, better gps results, but not necessarily more improvements in ones sailing ability,,,,buying a stopwatch wont make you a better runner, running itself will do that,, i'm off to port to pick up my new ka sails, yay, I think learning how to rig them well for myself over time will improve my speed more than wearing a gps will, good luck beefy keefy

Windxtasy said..

sboardcrazy said..

Kazza said..

Definitely, but my upper body has got bigger from holding onto big slalom sails (my t.shirts are a little tighter now). Jumping practice as suffered, don't like jumping expensive slalom boards & rigs. Tendonitis in the hip flexors from loading up the quads in down wind blasts and going for distance. So all in all I've found it has improved the sailing (more courageous flying downwind) but is hard on the body because you tend not to listen to the bod as much as to time to get out and your always going for it.

I must be doing something wrong as I don't get sore legs and everyone else says their legs get cramps or something.. Probably not good enough and not doing long enough bear offs yet.

I just get sore all over!

That's normal but boy the chiro stretches help even if I have to get up every few hours during the night so I don't seize up! ( Only after a long session) . That's one thing I was dissapointed in when I got my GPS - the biggest day I've done is 39kms.. How the boys do 160kms amazes me! I suppose the faster your average speed the easier it would be . I'm probably just too slow.

Milsy said..

if the question is, does wearing a gps improve my sailing?, the answer is........no, , for me, i probably wouldn't have been as motivated without the gps, but its the effort that comes off that motivation that improves ones ability,

hey champ your saying you wont improve by wearing a gps , but it makes you more motivated to spend more time on the water = improvement, ill have to go along with that[;)

your quick off the water too man, i only left that there for a second, leo is a good sailor, great speed on the gps, bryon is a great sailor but not as fast as leo, so the gps after a point wont improve your sailing its just measuring power i'm off to port to pick up my new ka sails, yay, I think learning how to rig them well for myself over time will improve my speed more than wearing a gps will, good luck beefy keefy

hey milsy the quick and the dead you know I think you nailed it , I'm off to port to pick up my new ka sails gps sailing becomes an equipment race , as you reach your ability you need to upgrade your equipment, e,g Leo's board is a lake board designed for flat flat water and basically a dog in chop, so you need specialized equipment to improve your times, doesn't mean your a better sailor,
keep your eye on the graphs if primbee is 20 to 30 wsw,w,wnw, even sw youll have a good chance of doing 40knts, mick made it down in 2 1/2hrs

Of course you improve with a GPS.

You have something to compare with, and strive to do better in different categories.
Provides some excitement while waiting to compare results.
Makes you a part of a social group, all there to help you improve.

As for me, unfortunately, I also got too obsessed with how to go faster because of it.