noice mayte

did u happen to get the wood one from surf fx? it is so light for wood sandwich model. would be a good buy

i too am surprised people don't buy them for blazing around instead of a "freeride" board or "bump and jump". if u put a bigger fin in it, it's just as good as a board designed for those who like to cut the grass. maybe not as quick as a slalom or speed board, but more versatile

with hands in normal sailing position, put most pressure against the sail with front arm, and just use the back hand to trim it. if you are doing it right you can virtually apply all the necessary back hand pressure with one finger in about 15 knots. don't be scared to commit some weight and lay the sail down into the wind

p.s. if the sail looks like falling onto the water, take your hands off the boom and grab the lower mast/foot of sail and most of the time the wind will push it back up

yeah you'll find a balance between tilting the sail forward or backward like with normal sailing off the plane but it doesn't take much tilting, and will most likely feel best with the sail further to the back than normal off plane sailing

front foot just in front of mast base, and back foot right between front and back straps or sometimes just behind front straps works for me

yeah, 5 -10 knots is good for learning this stuff

Haircut said...

noice mayte

did u happen to get the wood one from surf fx? it is so light for wood sandwich model. would be a good buy

i too am surprised people don't buy them for blazing around instead of a "freeride" board or "bump and jump". if u put a bigger fin in it, it's just as good as a board designed for those who like to cut the grass. maybe not as quick as a slalom or speed board, but more versatile

Yes, I did !!
Since it was really light, and I rigged a 6.2, I used a big ol' fin I used to have in my Maui Project Style. It is an awesome fin, and always worked extremely well in the Style.
It went very well in the Freestyle, and I'll probably use it a lot, I think, certainly for bigger sails.
I think most people are like me, and see videos of a few guys doing radical tricks on freestyle boards, and think it's just totally beyond them, so teh board has no relevance. They don't really rpomote them much as an all round flat water board. I think it's gonna work very well for me though.
I've always thought that fun is inversely proportional to horsepower in a motor-bike and I thiknk sailing is the saem. A super-fast slalom board is actually less fun than a slower board you can throw around and be an idiot on.

....problem for me was no holes for outboard footstraps for blasting with bigger slalom fins

100% agree'd with haircut here.

i've gone from a 92L freestyle wave with a 27cm fin, to a 99L board with a 23cm fin (which is not just shorter but also has less chord) both with a 5.9m sail.

haven't lost any upwind ability, actually probably gained some in light winds because i can now get planing a bit earlier.

p.s. wello still sucks at low tide

i've been using a 32cm with 6.4m sail in light winds and get planing very early. also found a short wide 25cm freestyle fin gives plenty of lift for the 6.4 as well. but we are talking 12 knot wind range, as soon as the wind is 15 knots there is penty of drive.

i agree that the double strap option would improve the general blasting feel on freestyle boards but only really feel that way when wanting powered upwind sailing. off the wind there doesn't seem to be much difference. also only think that it is applicable on boards over 110lt.

on the smaller circa 100lt freestyle boards a single strap is plenty.

852 Helitack attempts
851 Failed attempts
1 Succesfull HELITACK
Woohoo, i quit while i was ahead :P

Scully said...

852 Helitack attempts
851 Failed attempts
1 Succesfull HELITACK
Woohoo, i quit while i was ahead :P

Congratulations !!!
That's gonna be my first trick to learn

Scully said...

852 Helitack attempts
851 Failed attempts
1 Succesfull HELITACK
Woohoo, i quit while i was ahead :P

grats!

any luck sailing backwinded?

and ken how awesome are new toys, you got a 98 freestyle and the 92 quad now? we need pics! hope to see you out sailing again, we should have a pretty big freestyle contingent soon. should definately organise another supersession, hopefully with more wind!

heres another shot of my joker, i love it. strangely enough its my biggest board, yet its also the lightest and the shortest, pretty cool design



i think i'll get a new boom, and that will be it for this season.

swoosh said...

Scully said...

852 Helitack attempts
851 Failed attempts
1 Succesfull HELITACK
Woohoo, i quit while i was ahead :P

grats!

any luck sailing backwinded?

and ken how awesome are new toys, you got a 98 freestyle and the 92 quad now? we need pics! hope to see you out sailing again, we should have a pretty big freestyle contingent soon. should definately organise another supersession, hopefully with more wind!

heres another shot of my joker, i love it. strangely enough its my biggest board, yet its also the lightest and the shortest, pretty cool design



i think i'll get a new boom, and that will be it for this season.

Yeah, I've been living too far from the water for a few years, and this is the first season I've been out more than once in about 5 years, so even though my gear was OK, it was getting a bit dated, and was all a bit worn out. It seems like I've bought a bunch of stuff lately, but all my old stuff was pretty knackered.
The FSW was great for getting me back on the water, and was a very easy board to sail but I started to find it a bit limiting in bigger swells and couldn't throw it around like I was tryng to.
Since I'd sailed in Bundaberg for years, I didn't really have the right sails for down here, but I picked up a 6.2 Alpha this year, and that made all the difference. Lots of wind too, so suddenly I was right back into it.
I haven't picked the quad up yet, and was going to leave it until afte my holiday, but with Coral Sea lows starting to form, I think I'll grab it this weekend.
As soon as I get it, I'll post some pics.
Would be great to catch up and have a better chat in person.
I'm moving house this weekend, but next week should be a bit calmer. Maybe catch up at Shearwater or the Train, depending on what the wind does. Tuesday would be cool, if there is wind somewhere.
That Joker looks very cool too, nice graphic on the bototm.

^ This. My other board is a Starboard Carve and it is maybe twice as hard to gybe as my JP FreeStyleWave of the same vintage.

Boards: Hmmm... maybe I want a Freestyle around the 95-100 range, and a twin/quad around the 85 litre range? and 3 sails (one being a storm sail). I'm 75-80kg and intermediate.

Fins: I was running my 6.2 Alpha with a 27cm fin the other day, I think I could go 25cm without noticing any difference. The mast was all the way forward. Am I right in thinking you can get away with a smaller fin on a narrower board because you can far more easily use the rail? I'm an ex-bodyboarder where fins are very, very useful, but almost optional.

There are a few spots on the broadwater I'd like to try, like Hollywell on a NE, but they are so shallow. Quads and twins might open up some new sailing spots. At 16cm draft you've actually got more sailing area than the kites because you don't have to worry about trees.

Days like today I feel like going into Surf FX and buying gear to make me feel better. (Don't lick your lips if I walk in today, just getting a bodyboard for son Greeny )

See you all when it's windy next. I'm off to Adelaide mon-fri for six months. Hopefully get some sailing in after work

I'm a bit back-foot heacy, so I like the 31 cm fin I am using at present. I'll try teh stock 24 on windier days.
Swoosh, I really need a 6.2. At 82kg on a good day, I spent 3 seasons down here sitting on the beach watching, cos I only had a 5.7 wave sail. Gettint teh 6.2 made all teh difference to me this year, realyl put the smile back on my face.
I went for the 92 L quad cos, (a) that's what they had, (b) it's just not windy enough down here to regularly use a smaller board.
I still have my old Delta thruster, about 75-80L, for forays to windier climes or the odd hell-windy day. You should have a blast on that sometime, and I have a Windtech 8.8 downwind slalom board too, built for the Ledge to Lancelin race, which is a real hoot to sail. Anyone who bumps into me at the beach can have a blast on those any time.

Good luck in Adelaide, EP, lotsa wind down there in winter.