Monday, May 18, 2009

Vassiliki Windsurf 18/5

Vassiliki

18/05/08
1923 (local time)

Sailed from 1500 to 1840

Winds: 10-25knots. Very Gusty early, filled in the afternoon. Was cross-off most of the day.

Water: Fresh… but warm.

Kit: Tabou 90ltr Freestyle, 5.2 Remedy (early) 4.7 Poison (later)

Tabou 90ltr was a really nice board to ride, the raised rails/heels make it a super comfy board to sail and gybe. Popped really well. The board felt lively underfoot with nice heel pads and foot straps.

5.2 Remedy was rigged on an SDM, felt quite heavy to throw around, felt as if it was a freeride sail. Not the best sail for freestyle.

4.7 Poison was rigged on an RDM. This said feels quite similar to a Neil Pryde Alpha. Very, VERY powerful wave sail. A lot of pull… no, f*ck loads of pull from the back hand. My arm was getting ripped off in every gust. I pulled 1-2cm of outhaul on to flatten it off; it fixed the problem slightly, but was still very back handy.


The Day

Today was awesome, first time I have been planeing in 6.5 weeks. When I first went out, it was extremely gusty, with huge bullets coming through. I started off just trying to get my rhythm back as I was dropping nearly all of my gybes. I tried several duck gybes today, with a very poor success rate; I think time will fix this problem.
Our teacher today was Steve-o super cool dude. I set some goals for myself for the month.

My goals are:

• Get my forward loops sorted
• Popping comfortable
• Getting Vulcans & Spocks happening
• Pulling off a Flakka

So, when the wind built and started becoming consistent it was time to start my goals, so I started off with a Vulcan. I went for it, popped the board but held on to the back of the boom… Poor mistake, it was like going into an catapulted forward loop, I skimmed across the water 3 times until I was whiplashed into the water! Good fun!

The whole day, I was always trying to get the vulcans happening on port tack ( I wasn’t trying on starboard) And I was getting closer and closer until I ran out of petrol and my pops weren’t powerful enough.

The day finished, I was wrecked with no more petrol! It was an awesome day! I loved it!

2 comments:

  1. So you’ve finally made it to Vass! I bet it felt great to be back on the water.

    Make sure you get a motor scooter and head up the mountain behind Vass then along the stunning west coast and down the peninsula to the light house – Awesome! Also there’s a little know/unused dirt road around the south east coast of the island that comes out near Nidri which gives you fantastic views of Meganissi island which you can’t get from anywhere else.

    Good luck with your new moves - I’m looking forward to hearing the updates of your progress. Not getting too much wind back here, although I’ve learnt how to do pushloops in my last couple of sessions at Ricketts in strong westerlies.

    Have fun – I wish I was over there!
    Fletch

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  2. It's about time you got on the water again - you have been soft as complaining about how many days since the last one!! What do they say?? Oh yeah - Harden up young fella!!

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