Hey everyone, make sure you ask your boss to unblock www.pwaworldtour.com (and facebook) tomorrow so you can watch the LIVE-STREAM kicking off from about midday.
Luke Baillie at his first ever slalom event and myself sporting the sexiest looking sails on the water amiright?.
Good luck boys - sail logos look awesome
SWEEEEET photo.
are QANTAS looking after you with some excess baggage ?
Bloody hell that's a hell of a course they have to sail behind them.
I'd take a week to run it with my gybing skills
sweet sails !!!!
was reading on a blog that this bay is a fishing area (hence all the buoys outside holding nets and lines) and that during the first days of practice quite a few sailors experimented catapults (Finian x9) due to those lines not removed....
Heats should be starting in less than an hour.
Baptism of fire for Luke,he is in the first heat with Angulo.Dosn't even get to watch at least 1 heat before his turn.It would do wonders for his confidence if he could get through to the next heat.Though just finishing the race and being on the last leg of the coarse as the winner crosses the line would be an outstanding result.Good luck Luke!
Steve Allen is in the 3rd heat,couple of big names in his heat,but he should be right.
Sean is in the 5th heat with Van Der Steen and Diaz.
The RED TEAM leader is in the 4th heat.
GORED TEAMAUSSIES
WOW- Its been a while since Australia has had a serious slalom contender.Luke is the force.As the youngest in the field Luke is sailing incredibly well.Just got through another heat and with bonus style points for the forward loop attempt
www.pwaworldtour.com/fileadmin/user/main_editors/pdf/Competitor_Equipment_Korea_13.pdf
Here is the list of equipment the riders registered. Some interesting choices in there. For example, Sean registered the big 9.6 sail, but only the 110 as biggest Board? Or is this a mistake?
Select to expand quoteW3TT3R said.. Sean registered the big 9.6 sail, but only the 110 as biggest Board? Or is this a mistake?
He checked the long range forecast,it said it would be really windy.His strategy seems to be a new nutrition program,smaller boards and a larger harness.
Select to expand quoteKA360 said...W3TT3R said.. Sean registered the big 9.6 sail, but only the 110 as biggest Board? Or is this a mistake?
He checked the long range forecast,it said it would be really windy.His strategy seems to be a new nutrition program,smaller boards and a larger harness.
It's actually depressing what an extra 5-10kg can do to your speed vs getting fitter/leaner and ending up lighter. I think I sailed less, spent more time in the gym, ate more (and/or everything) this summer and seem to be considerably faster... haha.
Select to expand quoteKA360 said...His strategy seems to be a new nutrition program,smaller boards and a larger harness.
and a sheep (insert smiley here as it didn't work...)
Select to expand quoteSeanAUS120 said..
In all honesty, I am probably only going to take 8.6, 7.8, 7.0, 6.2 with me to Europe for the rest of the season. But we can register 6 sails so I thought may as well put every size down ... :-) Steve is using the 9.2 on the 110 and really likes it. I found I could get planing quicker on the 8.6 and 110 with a much bigger fin. One less sail to carry around ;-)
Is 15-25 knots your ideal event wind range for your choice of boards?
I believe you have chosen well for strong results in those conditions.If the wind is lighter the wide 110 will still serve you very well unless its 7-10 knots- but unlikely to complete an event with such sketchy wind.
If its nuken above 30 , the 100kg guys will rule anyway.
Don't worry that Dunky and Jaggi have bigger gear than you,they are tougher and more experienced than you.
Holy smokes its tricky out there right now check out the live feed if your finding work boring
Lots of weed and ropes to dodge as well
Select to expand quoteKA360 said..
Is 15-25 knots your ideal event wind range for your choice of boards?
I believe you have chosen well for strong results in those conditions.If the wind is lighter the wide 110 will still serve you very well unless its 7-10 knots- but unlikely to complete an event with such sketchy wind.
If its nuken above 30 , the 100kg guys will rule anyway.
Don't worry that Dunky and Jaggi have bigger gear than you,they are tougher and more experienced than you.
12-50 knots I am planning for. <12 knots I probably have the worst combo I could think of for my weight. The 110 is a bit of a gamble for me (Luke will do well on it), because in <12 knots I don't think it's as fast out of the gybes as the 127 which every other starboard rider is using ... BUT, in 12-15 knots with the 8.6, when every other rider is on 127, the 110 is FLYING ... We had that condition in my first heat of the event and I was able to easily hold out Jimmy Diaz and Ben van der Steen ... it's a small window....but looking through the past 2 years on the PWA, we do a LOT of racing in 12-15 knots so I took the gamble...
We are planning on skipping the next PWA event in Costa Brava (heading to GREEN ISLAND dontchaknow!) which is one that typically has a lot of 7-8 knot racing ... so glad for that!
Sadly they cancelled Fuerte... I actually really like the crazy high wind stuff ... the 80 litre is a pretty radical board; never got to use it in Fuerte last year though as we raced all week on 7.8's!
Select to expand quoteBenKirk said..
So you only get to register one board? 127ltrs seems pretty big!
3 boards, 6 sails ... 1 million fins.
The general strategy is to register a 130L / 110L / 90L depending on your brand's sizing options ...
I've got a couple of Z-Fins (47, 44, 42, 38, 36) then a bunch of really slick fins dad has built (46, 38, 32, 30, 28)...which I think are even faster than my Z's... It's really important to have every size so you've got lots of options when winds are tricky. Changing down a fin can be like changing a sail in slalom... Then you might need different style fins for chop or flat water.
The top guts might bring 20-30 fins to an event. 8 brought 6 that I'm sharing with Luke!
Select to expand quoteSeanAUS120 said..
I've got a couple of Z-Fins (47, 44, 42, 38, 36) then a bunch of really slick fins dad has built (46, 38, 32, 30, 28)...which I think are even faster than my Z's... It's really important to have every size so you've got lots of options when winds are tricky. Changing down a fin can be like changing a sail in slalom... Then you might need different style fins for chop or flat water.
The top guts might bring 20-30 fins to an event. 8 brought 6 that I'm sharing with Luke!
Which is the fin you broke in the last race?
It was a Z fin. But it was quite a few years old... Lots of hours on it. It was probably time for it to die.
