Had a pretty good sail today and it was unreal to see decrepit and his wife out there sailing and having a good time. What a great sport this is turning out to be. I think it's tops that they show up together and rig up an go for a sail together and come out smiling. That's awsome i recon. i just hope i can still go out and enjoy myself with my wife like those 2 when i'm their age and how's this she didn't even have an uphaul she only deep water starts if she falls off. Big thumbs up from me.

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qldnacra said...

Had a pretty good sail today and it was unreal to see decrepit and his wife out there sailing and having a good time. What a great sport this is turning out to be. I think it's tops that they show up together and rig up an go for a sail together and come out smiling. That's awsome i recon. i just hope i can still go out and enjoy myself with my wife like those 2 when i'm their age and how's this she didn't even have an uphaul she only deep water starts if she falls off. Big thumbs up from me.

I watched you up-haul once, and thought, you won't know yourself once you learn to water-start.
Dig in, and learn soon. Waiting won't make it easier. You have all the sail control skills you need to make the step up.

Hey Ken. I can water start i did it about 5 or 6 times today but a couple of times i couldn't be stuffed because the wind was a bit up and down and didn't want to just hang there with my arms in the air waiting for a gust. Or maybe you saw me after i stuffed up trying to quick tack but stayed on the board so just uphauled instead of getting in the water. Not sure

Yep, it's a great sport qldnacra. I started about your age, and have been having a ball since.
There's always new boundaries to be pushed, and new stuff to learn.
It can be absolutely competitive or compeletely relaxed, In so many disciplines.

The GPS Team Challenge has recently added a whole new dimension for me. I'm windsurfing more than ever.

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qldnacra said...

Hey Ken. I can water start i did it about 5 or 6 times today but a couple of times i couldn't be stuffed because the wind was a bit up and down and didn't want to just hang there with my arms in the air waiting for a gust. Or maybe you saw me after i stuffed up trying to quick tack but stayed on the board so just uphauled instead of getting in the water. Not sure

Fair enough. I just saw you the once, after I dropped a gybe by stuffing the nose under a small wave while looking at the massive oncoming cruiser.
Most of us are too lazy to up-haul, and just fly the sail and wait for a gust.
I rarely attach an up-haul line, just gets in the way at in-opportune moments.
I'm mot sure any of my boards are big enough to even let me up-haul. An up-haul can be handy for yanking the sail into the right position when you drop it on the wrong side though, especially in heavy swells.

I know what you mean about the uphaul being a pain at times. I don't know how many times it has gotten caught around one of the front foot straps and dragged the board around when i'm trying to fly the sail and it really pisses me off but because i know that the uphaul is there to use if i need to i am more inclines to try stuff than i would be if it wasn't there. It also allows me to stay out and chug in lighter than ideal wind and wait for stronger wind because i know i can get going again if there isn't enough wind to water start if i do fall in. Maybe i will lose it when i've been sailing a bit longer don't know.

By the way Ken did you get tempted by one of the Single Thrusters

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qldnacra said...

By the way Ken did you get tempted by one of the Single Thrusters

May have done. I mean, what's 6 litres anyway ??
Up-haul definitely has it's uses. I do use one at Currumbin on SE days, as the wind can be so fickle. Last time I resorted to using it though, I didn't have much success, and ended up doing a big swim. I think I did a couple of swims that day.

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qldnacra said...

I know what you mean about the uphaul being a pain at times. I don't know how many times it has gotten caught around one of the front foot straps and dragged the board around when i'm trying to fly the sail and it really pisses me off

That has never happened to me. Do you wrap the bottom of the uphaul rope around the bottom of the mast as this should keep it out of the way?

My uphaul rope is elasticated so it sits tight against the mast when not in use.

Yeah it's around the bottom of the mast through the hole in the bottom of the mast pocket in the sail. It's just that the uphaul is quite long i think. I does have elastic on the bottom but it's pretty loose between the base and boom. I'm just going to tie more knots in it i recon to shorten it up a bit more then i think it will be better

Picked up my SFT today. Had a board to trade, and a small stash of pesos.
Not expecting to use it before spring though.

I was there dribbling over mine and getting my missus set up for kiting when you picked it up. Pretty horny aren't they. I'm picking up mine next week but i doubt i'll be able to wait until spring to give it a run

what kind of sft did u get / getting?

the 93 L single fin thrusters seem to be the flavour of the month

r har!

2011 or 2012?

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qldnacra said...

I was there dribbling over mine and getting my missus set up for kiting when you picked it up. Pretty horny aren't they. I'm picking up mine next week but i doubt i'll be able to wait until spring to give it a run

Thought it might have been you, but was not sure. That size is a bit (lot) more of a floater for you than me. I might get some wind in CQ though.

@hc - 2011. New stuff arriving soon, so old stock is being run out. I always liked the 2011 graphic too. The 2012 look is being hailed as the saviour to bad taste, but I'm not overly convinced from the pics in the dog.
I was going to get the 99, but for a grand, 6 litres can go suck itself. The smaller board will be nicer once it's up and running anyway. Waistline is slowly receding too, which helps.

2011 93 litre Single Thruster pro edition. So it's got the thruster set up not the single fin like the wood sandwich. Getting very excited about giving it a run should be interesting but very good i hope. At all of 67kg it still should be OK for me to uphaul if i need to which is a good thing because at this point i still want the option to be able to do that because the water starts are frustrating to me in variable or lighter wind. So hopefully Ken is right and it will be a floater for me. Man this sport has got me by the nuts i think i might be obsessed. I can't stop buying stuff and it's keeping me very poor at the moment but i don't think about the money when i'm on the water so it must be money well spent. You only live once right, so you may as well make it fun.

Stupid forum is loading like a dog, resulting in double post, ignore this.

It will definitely be a floater for you, as my 92L quad is for me, if only just, and I'm 80kg bone-dry.
Whether it will be easy enough to up-haul in a bit of chop or not is another question.
As you spend more time on the water, your water-starts will get better and better, until you can pop up in a gnat's fart worth of wind.
The trick to a really light wind start is to keep your weight low and focus on getting it over the board quickly.
I hang like a monkey on the boom until I'm balanced and can then stand.
You are right not to worry about the money. The gear will last for ages, and does not cost you anything when you go out. You can sail for 10 hrs on a weekend for the price of a few bucks in fuel and nothing more.
The smiles are priceless

the 93L single fin thruster quads have arrived - we better write names on them so they don't accidentally get it mixed up lying on the beach

i find it's 93l claim is a bit over what it actually feels like when standing still or uphauling. i think its more like the mid or upper 80s - taking the thrusters out makes it quite a bit more zippy and earlier planing

p.s - i have this terrific pair of nose protectors

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Haircut said...

the 93L single fin thruster quads have arrived - we better write names on them so they don't accidentally get it mixed up lying on the beach

i find it's 93l claim is a bit over what it actually feels like when standing still or uphauling. i think its more like the mid or upper 80s - taking the thrusters out makes it quite a bit more zippy and earlier planing

Ah well, I'm just going to have to lose a bit more weight then.

Here is another option for looking after the nose of your board if you are like me and still experience the odd catapult.

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Haircut said...

the 93L single fin thruster quads have arrived - we better write names on them so they don't accidentally get it mixed up lying on the beach

i find it's 93l claim is a bit over what it actually feels like when standing still or uphauling. i think its more like the mid or upper 80s - taking the thrusters out makes it quite a bit more zippy and earlier planing

Who has the other one ? Do we get our own reality show ??

You have to buy the single fin as a seperate item if you want it with the pro edition. Hey HC is that the board i saw you out on about 5 or 6 weeks ago that you said was fast but loose feeling. In your opinion is it worth buying the extra fin or is the thruster set up ok and grippy enough if it was the board you were riding. I might be interested in that now 2 piece nose protector to put on for a little while just for piece of mind. I haven't catapulted for a little while now (touch wood) but if i do it would be nice to know it's there. The last couple of times i did catapult i realised that if you sheet on as your going down, well forward, that the rig will fly down wind further and miss the nose of the board. Maybe it was just luck but it seems to work.

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qldnacra said...

You have to buy the single fin as a seperate item if you want it with the pro edition. Hey HC is that the board i saw you out on about 5 or 6 weeks ago that you said was fast but loose feeling. In your opinion is it worth buying the extra fin or is the thruster set up ok and grippy enough if it was the board you were riding.

Multi-fins always have a looser feel than singles, and you need a gentler touch on the back foot, but they crank up wind well and the SFT's are pretty quick in thruster mode.
The shorter fins buy you space in shallow water too, which can make a huge difference at times. Lots of shallow water at the GC, at all spots we sail.

Ken - that'll make nacra, mal, yourself and i

Nacra - yeah that was it. i've stuck a typical swept back wave 21cm 2008 g10 JP fin in mine. Using it as a single fin, it seems to be better turning than the supplied freestyle-esque looking fin. Even with the thrusters you will still get the occasional spinout but you will notice how well it grips if you gybe tightly. it will be fun for u when its honking wind

they're a hard ride compared to the dedicated freestyle as u feel most of the bumps, and they're noticeably heavier. u can see where the paint is missing that in the cloth weave there is more yellow between the black, so i figure there must be more glass than carbon, where the dedicated freestyle and slalom stuff is more carbon than glass

sound about right?

been quite fun in the right winds

OK now I'm confused.
I traded the FS cos I find it too harsh in choppy conditions, being very flat, but the SFT has a double concave, which would make it much smoother.

yeah, personally for me it is a harder ride

i wonder if there is a difference between the fs wood u got and fs carbon kevlar i got? weight wise the boards were similar

gotta say i also found the 2011 single thruster really harsh and just slow in chop, at least compared to the 98 jp freestyle which is probably one of the plusher freestyle boards in chop (overly plush imo).