Re: How DO you do it? (Bay chop vs. board size.)

From: Bryan \ (bo3b@rahul.net-DeleteThis)
Date: Thu Jun 15 1995 - 00:33:06 PDT

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Date: Thu, 15 Jun 1995 00:33:06 -0700
From: "Bryan \"Bo3b\" Johnson" <bo3b@rahul.net-DeleteThis>
Message-Id: <199506150733.AA08718@bolero.rahul.net-DeleteThis>
To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis
Subject: Re: How DO you do it?  (Bay chop vs. board size.)

'Bryan \"Bo3b\" Johnson says:'
> However, after demoing a Vivace 282 (9' 3", 107 L.) on the bay,
> I'm totally confused. I was hoping someone here can enlighten
> me. I had a ton of trouble crashing, every time I'd get up to speed.
> It was no trouble to keep upwind, easy to waterstart, but once I
> got into the footstraps and closed the gap, I'd get the familiar
> afterburners effect; and fairly shortly eat it after catching some
> unexpected air. (This was a 5.3 sail for a 150 lb me, which didn't
> feel overpowered; but like I said, I'm confused) Some really
> annoyingly scary crashes too, like having the board turn
> sideways in the air so that the downwind rail would catch
> full in the water, as I fall backwards with my bending ankle
> still caught in the straps. Dang I hated that.
>
> The question: Is a 105 L board too big for the bay? Corollary,
> do you more experienced honchos crush through the chop or
> do you steer around it?

I think you need to define for us what was causing you to crash. You
seem to be saying that you were launching off of swell. If yes, are
you saying that you don't have this problem on your regular board?
What board are you currently using? My only theory is that if it is a
long board, there is already so much weight in front that it is less
necessary to compensate with body/foot weight.

<<< Yep, the problem I have is that of launching off the swell, only
<<< I thought it was just chop out there, because it doesn't seem any
<<< bigger than about 1 or 2 feet. After the board gets fast though,
<<< it's hard to control, and my limited skills tend to get me airborne.
<<< My regular board is a big old Rumba, and I normally sail flat water
<<< only, so that I could get the straps down. The times I used the
<<< Rumba on the bay, I had the same problem at speed, only worse.
<<< (It's about 140 L, 10' 4")

Launching off of swell was one of the hardest problems for me to
overcome. But it turns out the solution is pretty trivial. You
transfer your weight to the front of the board at the moment you hit
the crest of a swell. This allows you to ride down the face on the
other side. If you put your weight onto the back of the board as you
hit the crest, you launch. As you get good at this, a casual observer
would not be able to detect your change in positioning, and it gives
the appearance of your effortlessly going over the swell.

<<< Aha! This is terribly helpful for me, as I thought maybe it
<<< wasn't equipment at all, but technique. Sounds like doing moguls
<<< on skis, where you offweight the skis as you go over, to avoid
<<< slamming into the bottoms, or launching off the tops.

If the swell is sufficiently steep, then you steer around it.
And, every now and then, if your speed is high enough, you launch
anyway. You just get good at landing those launches.

I appreciate that there are a lot of new skills for you to learn here:
riding down the back edge of a swell; landing a small launch without
spinning out; and steering around larger swells. Break it down into
pieces and work on each one separately. Once you pull it together the
sport becomes thrilling.

<<< So this is like long skis in moguls, with bigger boards? You have
<<< to be a better skier to do longer skis (better technique). Is it
<<< a fair analogy? Some people have talked about using boards as big
<<< as an Astro Rock; is it reasonable to conclude they just have great
<<< technique?

-- 
Thanks,
Will Estes              Internet: westes@usc.com-DeleteThis
U.S. Computer           Saratoga, CA  95070
<<<< Thanks, bo3b@rahul.net.-DeleteThis

Next message: Jim Paugh: "Re: How DO you do it? (Bay chop vs. board size.)"
Previous message: Will Estes: "Re: How DO you do it? (Bay chop vs. board size.)"
Maybe in reply to: Bryan \: "How DO you do it? (Bay chop vs. board size.)"
Next in thread: Jim Paugh: "Re: How DO you do it? (Bay chop vs. board size.)"
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