Winter surfing on 17. january ...

17. January could very well be one of those moody days. It was Friday and forecast was cloudy with rain and temperatures around 10 degrees Celsius. But there was also a relatively promising wind forecast - SE wind 10-15 knots. So I decided to take a day off from the office and drove to the coast (spot Seca) with my friend Matjaž. Forecast was ideal for my new equipment - the 7,8 Fluido T3 sail from Challenger and the Fanatic Shark 120L board. 

We arrived at the spot at around 9.30 AM and at first it did not look good. Sea was too calm and wind was - well it was blowing but not nearly enough for the 7,8. Since that is quite common situation with the SE wind in Seca we decided to set up the equipment and go in anyway. 

My first time rigging the Fluido T3

I have never rigged a sail with cambers. My old neil pryde does not count since it rigs much the same as any other nocam sail, so I had my doubts about it. But I got some really simple instructions from Tine Slabe and following them step by step did the job. The sail was set up in minutes. First look at it - well it looks great :-) 

We put on the wet-suite set up the bard with 43 cm free ride hyfly fin and went in ...

First time on the Fanatic Shark

Fanatic Shark seemed to me much bigger than the Syncro so I was really surprised when I tried first beach start. I stepped on it as if it were a 160l board ... I soon realized that the volume is really much the same as the syncros so I turned on the light feet mode. I had to ride a good 100m to get to the windy area of the bay and then the fun began.

Shark went on plane really fast. The foot straps were in just the right place - I slipped in and went ... it accelerated and gained really good speed. This board is darn fast but really a lot brings the sail to this joy ...

The new combination that brought a smile on my face

I had some problems with the turns in the beginning because I was not yet familiar with the board. It has a bit different volume distribution than Syncro ... but got over that. After a few rounds the wind picked up and I had a blast. Board was pinned to the water and I could pull the sail all the way down so it almost touched the water surface. I never could do that before. I was flying. Sail goes through gusts and lulls incredibly well. You don't even know they are there and all the time the sail feels really light and balanced. I was really impressed and it was my first time using the gear. Unfortunately at 1:00 PM we had to wrap it up. Went out of the watter, put gear in and on the car and went home – this part is really not so interesting, but to sum this day up - we had a blast :-)

 

Seca channel - where the wind blows from

Gear waiting for the good guys (we were also the only guys :-)

Low tide in Marina Julia

I was visiting Marina Julia during the weekend. Marina Julia is a great windsurfing spot when NE wind is blowing and when there is water of course ... 

http://www.kitesurfingmap.com/spot/marina-julia-bay

Low tide in Marina Julia

Some windsurfing Mobile Apps I use ...

• Adriatic Wind Forecast for Android
• Marine Wind Calculator
• Windguru
• Windsurfing Calculator
• Windsurf - mobile version of the magazine

Internet is a great source of information

I never had windsurfing lessons of any kind. When I was a kid there was one older kid windsurfing in the camp on island Cres in Croatia. I was always looking at him with interest and once he let me try it for an hour or so. He never explained to me how it is done, not even how to uphaul. I don't remember if I even once managed to get the sail out of the water, but I know I liked it a lot. I had a chance to surf a few more times during summer vacations. And that was it ... 

... Until a few years ago when my good friend got me interested in it. He is a really good windsurfer and we do most of the surfing together and he can always help me with an advice if I need it. But really, most information that I found was on the Internet. There are some great movies on YouTube and Internet sites with contents to learn from.

Some recommendations:

• Beginner to winner DVD by Jem Hall
  This is a great DVD. Some short clips can also be found on the Internet. I have downloaded them to my smart phone and took them with me ... 
• http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~wprinz/windsurfing/windindex.html
  Generally on Windsurfing for those who preferre reading to watching movies
• Carve Gybe Tuition with Neilson
  Short but very well done movie - 4 step Carve Jibe Lesson
• James' Blog
  Great guy. Lots of interesting information. Check his windsurf equipment calculator.
• http://www.windguru.cz/int/
  Check if wind is blowing in your direction ... there is also a mobile app available

Just got the new Challenger Sails Fluido T3 7.8 (2014)

...  I literally put it in the car a few minutes ago. Now I need to find some time to rig and trim the sail. 

My previous sail, the NP V6  had only 2 mini cams and was easy to rig. This sails with 3+ cams are a different thing. Correct trim of the sail gives you much better results. CHS are really good sails. Great price/value relationship. Their web pages however don't have much info compared to larger brands like NS, NP, Ezzy, etc. There is no info on how to rig the sails.

I bought the sail from Tine Slabe who is a CHS representative for Slovenia and also a CHS Team member and he offered to show me how it is done properly. Well, that beats internet guidelines any time :)

And another movie ...

This movie is part of my previous post ...

Long time no hear ...

Hi! Well I'm obviously not the most up to date blogger as there has been a while since my last post. Well I'll try to catch up.

This autumn was incredibly nice weather wise. There has been wind almost every weekend, so we did a lot of windsurfing (not a lot of filming though). I started to learn to jibe and had my share of falls ... and unfortunately my share of hammers :(

My Mistral Syncro Pro 115 (2008), which is BTW my first short board that I bought after I sold my Tabou Coolrider 160, took some pretty heavy beating. It is carbon model. Very light (6,8 kg) and very fragile. I paid more than 200 EUR for repairs this year which is a lot if you consider the price of 400 EUR that I paid for the used board almost mint condition. Mistral Syncro PRO 115 is by all tests a superb freecarve board. It is extremely maneuverable with original fin and planes well but it is a bit complicated to progress from a 160l board if you are not persistent.

 
Tabou Coolrider 160

 
Mistral Syncro PRO 115

This summer I was windsurfing at Peljesac in Croatia and one day there was a really strong wind averaging around 20knt with gusts over 40knt (keep in mind that I'm lets say an intermediate sailor). I went out with 5m sail and my Syncro. This was the smallest I had. Needless to say ... I was all over :D but am proud of myself that I dared to surf in such conditions. Well after that experience I again studied internet, blogs, etc. to find out what was happening to me at the sea. I found out that I would have to buy a smaller board and obviously a smaller sail. All the other guys were riding boards of 90L or less with sails from 4,5 to 5,0. (syncro has 120L real volume).

So when I got home I started to look for a smaller board. I found a new FanaticHawk 93L model 2008. It was a great deal. Then I had to wait for good forecast to test it out. It wasn't until November that I had a chance to do so. It was a SE wind and we went to Seča a great spot for SE. The wind looked really strong. I don't have the feeling yet to assess the strength just by looking at the sea especially if the wind is blowing from the shore and there are no waves. Usually I ask for advice someone who looks more experienced.

I assembled Challenger Konda 4,7 and Hawk 93 with a 31cm fin and went in. When I first did the water start it was like standing on a small log :D. The board was really sinking while I was trying to surf out to where the stronger wind seemed to be. I was struggling and finally went to plane. It was a stretch of maybe 300m and then I sank again  ...  turned around ... picture me tacking a 93L board for the first time ... picture me swimming :D ... water start ... went back ... swam last few 10m and went out. I needed a larger setup.

So, I assembled 5,8 Challenger Liquido and took Syncro for a spin with 36 cm fin. Again I was all over ... overpowered ... wrestling, not surfing ... the board seemed to want to just flip over ... ??? 

After a few rides I was tired and wanted to just get out. I was thinking of how I have nothing between the 4,7 and 5,8 ... and what should I do. I could change the fin but that won't solve it. Then I remembered what Marko, a guy that serviced my syncro said to me when we discussed the Hawk I bought. He said: "Hawk is a great board, and you will not have to change the sails so fast when the wind picks up!" This was a revelation for me! I took the Hawk that waited for me outside and the 5,8 Liquido and went in again ... suddenly everything was so easy, well except for the tacking part :) There was no more board lifting, almost no spinouts and I had such immense fun. So If you can water start don't be afraid to try a board that is smaller than you might think you can handle. You'll be surprised.

To return to my hammering the syncro ... three weeks ago I did my last abuse of the board ... and after spending 50 EUR on repairs decided that I’ll sell it and buy something more durable until I learn how to jibe properly. I decided to buy a used Fanatic Shark 120L board 2013. It looks as new and is waiting for its chance. Adding to my quiver also another Challenger Fluido T3 7,8m2 which is a 3 cam free race sail. This will substitute my Neil Pryde V6 7,5 (2005) that I bought used a few seasons back and is practically falling apart although it looked perfect to me when I first bought it. If I knew all the thing I know today I would know that the mono film is at its end and that I will damage the cambers if using the wrong mast, etc ... My way of gaining experience was not the cheapest way, but more on that in my next post. I just hope it won't take me that much to write it.