Yesterday we had another day of great open water slalom @Kikugawa with decent chop, strong current and wind gusting 30knots.
Enjoy the movie


All in all it was way easier than last year but still a bit harsh on the gear, resulting in my first Jetski ride ever.


Can you find mistake in the picture?
Wind data

Today one try but things look bad...

Those sails don't need much out haul do they, you'll be right!

Yeah, some times one of the only things you are looking for is a little bit more out haul...

Yep, your boom went boooom!!

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shinobi said..
Yesterday we had another day of great open water slalom @Kikugawa
Can you find mistake in the picture?

"open water" by any definition. Folks in Japan don't hold back, thanks for the video.

Mistake in the photo? Was a full-on slalom board the best choice for winning races?

Respect for that

No grass

Great video - looks damn challenging conditions for slalom gear.

Awesome vid ~S

samurais !!! respect !!!

Shinobi, Great event and footage.

Looks great. Just one thing tho-- I wanted to see how many did or did not complete the gybe round that inshore marker. But the shot got edited every single time!

Full on conditions! kudos to those that even survived..

Mate
That's a surf beach on a windy day, not choppy.
Your surf must fricking huge on a calm day if that's choppy
Looks fun but

Thanks for that, wouldn't catch me out there on slalom gear.

Impressive

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musorianin said...
Looks great. Just one thing tho-- I wanted to see how many did or did not complete the gybe round that inshore marker. But the shot got edited every single time!

The inside jibe was ok this year, the wind was a bit weaker but still sufficient, last year we had close to Zero wind in the inside mark, making it a pretty nasty affair.
The outside jibe is like every year, fully overpowered in the middle of decent chop with heavy current...

This was the 10th edition of the event and it is every time full power on, at least on one day.

I will never again say that Botany was choppy...

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Ian K said...

shinobi said..
Yesterday we had another day of great open water slalom @Kikugawa
Can you find mistake in the picture?

"open water" by any definition. Folks in Japan don't hold back, thanks for the video.

Mistake in the photo? Was a full-on slalom board the best choice for winning races?

Yeah wave boards have a certain appeal considering the chop, there is however one little problem: upwind performance...
The heavy current together with the 8 course do make the slalom board the selection of choice.
I had the new iS90 on the beach but as wind at the inside mark was strong, I stayed with the more comfortable option.
The real Pro's however must stick with the 6+3 regulations, forcing them to go fully sick with 5,6 or anything in this range...
Amateurs can choose what ever suits their level of fear

Ha ha looks awesome!

That's the cool sort of racing! Love the footage!


We used to race in that sort of setting 20 years ago, but in a side shore downwind slalom format. I used to love it as I was light so not fast, but in that stuff, good gybes and starts were key. We did running beach starts and the best kit seemed to be fast bump and jump stuff. One of our mates showed up with his full carbon, hard to gybe DSB and fully cammed race sail, sure he got to the first mark in the lead but never survived the lumpy outside gybe marks!

The fun bit was gybing the inside marks in the breaking surf!

Thanks for the post and vid!

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scottydog said..
DSB and fully cammed race sail,

DSB?

Dedicated slalom board?

Haven't heard that one before!

Here comes the full report movie, 16 minutes that should also brush up your Japanese.