Discovered a new windsurfing spot in north croatia

Back in october I went to Croatia island Krk again with a friend of mine. We actually wanted to go to Punat, but as we were getting closer, the winds were picking up more and more. When we got to the spot winds were too strong for the equipment we had with us or. had at all for that matter. It was for 3,7 m2 sails.

After some waiting and feeling sorry for ourselves there was suddenly a rumor around about going to another spot on the other side of the island where it could be better. Apparently when there are very strong winds - too strong to windsurf in Punat they can be just right in a little village of Klimno.

Since we had no idea where it was we were following a guy who is sort of a local, and after reaching the spot, after some 20 minutes or so, we found little windsurfing heaven on earth. :-)

At first it didn't even seem that there was any wind, but this guy assured us that it was. And in a few minutes we really saw someone on the water - cutting a strait white line. There were only three of us there at the beginning. Later one some more people came but it all looks like Klimno is not really known between windsurfers in that region - there was also a hint from our 'guide' - not to talk about Klimno around to much. I guess they would like to keep it that way. :-)

Anyway ... I rode my knew old JP Freerace 118 in combination with BuggFins freerace/slalom fin 37,5 cm. I decided for the smaller fin and larger sail Challenger sails Fluido T3 7,8. It was a good combination. I did a few hours with the setup and recorded the session with the GPS and the sports-tracker app.

Max speed was over 45 km/h which is I guess ok for me and the big sail :)

http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/gregorpi/56350dcee4b05c3147aa57d7

Sports Tracker Session at Klimno

My first ride with Challanger Sails Fluido T3 6.6m2

After a long time there was finally a good wind-forecast for north Adriatic region. NE wind at Krk / Punat region was promising winds well over 20 knots. Saturday was the day. 

We, my girlfriend (also my camera girl :-)) and me have departed from Ljubljana somewhere before 6.00 AM. The highway to island Krk was opened recently so the ride wasn't that long. We were there before 9.00 AM which includes mandatory coffee break.

When we got there the wind was really great. On the water were mostly sails around 5m2. I really wanted to test my new Fluido T3 6.6, the smaller brother of the 7.8 which proved to be a splendid sail. So I set it up. 

This was the configuration:

• Mast:  Rushwind Strike SDM 430cm 85% Carbon CC
  this is an older mast model I managed to get last year. It was new and I got it really cheap.

• Mast extension:  North Sails Power XT (short) - yeah I bought me one :DI had one few years ago - sold it just to find out that I miss the option of easy and exact trimming.

• My good old Amex Core Monocoque Aluminum boom ...

I prepared my Fanatic Hawk 93 board with 31 cm fin ....

... and chickened out ... ha ha

I was watching guys on water which boiled at moments and decided that just maybe 6.6. sail is pushing it a bit. So I assembled quickly the Challenger Sails Konda 4,7 sail and went in. It was a good decision. I had some nice rides with it. It has been a while since I rode such small sail ... and it felt like a toy. After some time the wind had receded and I was just wading in the water with the 4,7. Now it was time to change to bigger sail :D ...

I just changed the sails quickly and went back in. Although the sail was a 6.6 I could handle it well when the wind picked up at 20-30 knots again. I had to really hang in there, pull it down as much as possible and then I was flying. 

While the sail was OK I had some problems with the board. It was way too agile. I was riding a 93l board with a free move 31 cm fin and free race/slalom sail. The problem was obviously in the fin. The hawk is known to have slalom capabilities but with this fin it was more of a free move board. Unfortunately I didn't have a slalom or free race fin in this size. I was riding this setup for the rest of the day. It was some workout. I felt every muscle and felt great at the same time :-)

This was the end of one great surfing day. 

Unfortunately not much later it started to rain so we decided to go home instead of doing some sightseeing. And the trip home turned out to be a travel of 6 hours due to traffic congestions on the highway and border crossing but ... that is another story ...

P.S.: And yes, later I will post a movie that my girlfrend took :)

How does BUGFINS Freerace fin compare to the original Fanatic Shark Fin?

It is not totally fair to compare the original fanatic shark fin with this since one is freeride and other is freerace shape, so I'll just share my observations. 

On land

As I have mentioned the Freerace fin from Bugfins is a carbon fin. It is superlight, much narrower but still stiff enough. The Bugfins Freerace fin is 41 cm long and has rake of 10 degrees. Nice strait shape. Nice smooth finish with visible carbon fibers.

On the water - Shark with freerace character!

BUGFINS freerace fin enables me to get on plane faster than with the original fanatic shark fin. I could get on plane also in marginal wind conditions where I normally wouldn’t manage to get planing. It is incredibly fast. My Fanatic Shark 120 has become quite a freerace board with this fin. I could easily compete with other surfers on the water that were riding freerace and even slalom boards. 

In optimal conditions I had virtually no spin outs. I could feel the bubble forming before the actual spin out happened and had time to release the pressure, go a bit downwind and avoid the spin out. 

When over powered there were less spinout as well (I was riding only the Challenger sails Fluido T3 7,8 sail with three cambers). 

Upwind performance is also superior to the fanatic shark freeride fin. It is slightly less maneuverable compared to sharks freeride shape but still enables me to turn tight enough.

I recommend BUGFINS :)

All in all I am really satisfied with the freerace fin from BUGFINS and can recommend it with no restrictions. I think you can get them also online. If you are from Slovenia or somewhere close it is best to contact Rajko. I think he has some test fins that you can try before you buy them.

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 :)