this is a video from the last time I sailed with herby, it's a shame I didn't get there a bit earlier , herby was sailed out by the time I got there and his smallest sail was a 5/8 , if I had of known I could have rigged a smaller sail so he could join me
there's only a small amount of footage as the battery died , the green arrows didn't line up for LG this year so hopefully next year, I put this video together for boombuster, hey Glynn you had to drive past sanctuary point to get to primbee
Dam I was a bit confused were it was I rang Herb a few times to see where he was but got no answer looks good maybe next time.
Glynn i'm sorry I should have given you my mobile n/o with my PM, herby was down at mallacoota so would have been out of reception at times ,sanctuary point is one of the best user friendly places to sail in nsw, and can be sailed in most directions , we have guys making the trip from the illawarra ,Sydney and the act on a good predicted wind , the n/east is usually 5knts stronger than Sydney and the southerlies 5knts less
primbee is a great spot in a westerly but not the best in a n/east,
BONOMONATOR a great sailor from Victoria (pit crew) did an interesting post on jervis bay and worth a read www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Gps/Lake-George-Speed-Sessions-2014/?page=6
sorry I missed you this time around but if the green arrows line up for burrum ill be there
nice work Keef got me all exited cant wait to get back on the water ;-)
hawhar hes back onya LEO, we can start getting westerlies from next month
mike I never thought about it but I couldn't imagine doing it any other way with these small fins, I find I need to load the fin up first then the front foot
When I took these shots I was on full zoom and having trouble holding camera still. Keefe was really slicing up Sanctuary Point!!!
thanks for the photos herby , the 6.2 sail wasn't working the best with the 400 mast, and I left my box of fins at home so the only one I had was a 17cm, so it was a bit hard to get some grip and lift, FNQ is a long trip so I dought you'll be doing it again, if you do you have my n/o, it will be great to catch up again
I'm lucky too have this spot in my own back yard , the older I get the harder it is to cope with these race sails in the chop,( water starting e,c,t)
Keef, Sammy lent his 5.8 at Sandy point in 2010, almost drowned me, I won't go near one now.
mike I have always used low volume boards and freeride sails before the gps challenge, and my jibe success rate was 90% in chop, now with the locked in powered cambered sails my jibe rate is 50% in chop,I find the bigger volume of the ca55 more forgiving with the bigger sails and running a rdm on my smaller sails from 4.6 to 5.8 with my smaller boards ,
arky & Alex are trying to convert me to freestyle but at my age I don't think so, I will be looking for some new user friendly fast sails for next summer at sanctuary point ,
^^^
I think this is a common issue for many GPS and slalom sailors who use fully cambered race sails. I have a 7.8 Loft Racing Blade and while I love the locked in power and stability over a large wind range, its other characteristics (compared to non cambered sails) like higher weight, slow rotation and difficulty to water start make it more challenging to sail. I now always sail with a life vest (which is probably a good change) to assist with water starting and apply lubricant to the ends of the cams to assist with rotation.
My 7.0 and 6.4 sails are Naish Bullets freerace sails which are made from light weight scrim and have 3 camber inducers (compared to 4 on the Loft) and are a reasonable compromise. Maybe I'd been better off getting the Switch Blade in the 7.8 rather than the Racing Blade.
One of our better slalom and GPS sailors on Morton Bay has changed to Severne's Overdrive sail rather than the Reflex 5 for the same reason. Another experienced slalom sailor and shop owner has gone from fully cambered to non cambered sails
I stepped up to a race sail, Loft 6.8 Blade because of the GPSTC, great sail but had a few dramas trying to water start in the ocean in light winds, just rooted me. Drifted away from Green Island once till I found some reef to stand on. When the Blade wore out I went for the Switchblade, easier all round and I haven't notice any real difference in speed. Last year in Burrum I was no way near as fast as the good guys but I was doing alright against lots of race sails, I think the faster guys would have been faster than me no matter what sail I had. I don't care what brand, I still think most guys would be better off not using a race sail unless they're racing for cattle stations
I leave on the 19th for LG, I have to be down that way anyway so will spend a few days to week, fingers crossed someone will be around, there's some wind and the waters not too shallow for my smallest fin, a 27 Delta Speed which I hope will be ok with the weed, time will tell.
fireie I sailed GI a few years back and it was a great place to sail except I hit the reef and smashed the back of the fin box in my ca55 the fin was a 30cm venom recently I have been experimenting with fins mainly 50 to 47deg rake , the fins are mainly 18cm with various cord lengths and profile thicknesses , the biggest fin I have is a 22cm with about a 26cm chord and I use it with my 7.2 n/prsr and light wind custom
after using these fins in decent chop at sanctuary point I have often thought they would be great for sailing places like GI where the tide drops at a fast rate and there's a chance of hitting the reef, probably the best advantage of weed fins is the impact isn't any where near a bad as a upright fin , I have hit various objects with a thud and kept sailing where a slalom fin would have thrown you over the handlebars
probably a bit off the track on this thread but if you can get the chance to borrow beg or steal something like a mxr 47deg , these fins have incredible lift for a weed fin and are very forgiving , you will find your board sitting a bit flatter in the water incisionaly and not as lively until your sailing off the fin, unlike slalom fins where you need almost a different fin for each sail , you only need two , three at the most
after saying that have a great sail at LG and sorry I wont be making it this year , well not unless theres a few green arrows for 3 or 4 days
Thanks for your input Keef, nice effort and appreciated
I did the same to my first CA58 at Green, the old story one more run, been some carnage on that reef
As I said thanks for the advise, I'm picking up a new pensioner cottage on wheels in Melbourne, which has been delayed and which gives me some time before hand so why not go to LG Because I'll only have a few days to a week to play with I won't worry too much about gear, fingers crossed there will be some wind and the 58, delta and the 5.8 or 6.8 will do this time. If not no worries, I'll be back with plenty of time on my hands
Firie, I was out Monday with a 29cm weedy, no problems at all, there is still more water here now than when we arrived late January last year. It's still too deep to be at it's best.
There's wind forecast for next week but we're not stopping for it. It won't be from the ideal direction (SE), so is likely to be a bit gusty.
Hopefully when you arrive the level will be close to ideal, (still deep enough for a 27) and you get some good SEers.
firie keep an eye on the green arrows at primbee (Wollongong) when your heading north, if you can make it let me know and ill throw some speed gear in the van for you , I have a couple of vids up on vimeo if you want to check them out, enjoy your granny flat on wheels and hope you get a few PB's