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 were:
· 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!
