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

From: Jim Paugh (James.Paugh@Eng.Sun.COM-DeleteThis)
Date: Thu Jun 15 1995 - 07:12:05 PDT

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Date: Thu, 15 Jun 1995 07:12:05 -0700
From: James.Paugh@Eng.Sun.COM-DeleteThis (Jim Paugh)
Message-Id: <199506151412.HAA04734@jalama.Eng.Sun.COM-DeleteThis>
To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis
Subject: Re: How DO you do it?  (Bay chop vs. board size.)
Cc: bo3b@rahul.net-DeleteThis

> From: "Bryan \"Bo3b\" Johnson" <bo3b@rahul.net-DeleteThis>
> Last Sunday (11th) I went to Coyote point to check out the pro-clinic
> tour. It seemed very worthwhile to me, and the wind cooperated
> by blowing 25-30 mph from about 2 on.

[clip]

> 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?

Depends on the size of the sailor, but generally, YES! I am 6'8", 225lbs,
and only use my 9'2", 105L board on light days (under 20mph)!

> do you more experienced honchos crush through the chop or
> do you steer around it?

Steer around it, prejump it, whatever it takes to stay in control.

>
> Based on the discussion about boards here, I've gathered that
> it's possible to surf this size board in the bay, but that it's much
> harder than using something smaller.
>
> I've seen sailors going full speed in what appears to be a straight
> line. Is this possible because the board is smaller? I've been
> led to believe that smaller boards cut through the chop instead
> of jumping out, but if you're planing, aren't you by definition
> following the surface? Or is surfing the bay more like mogul
> skiing, where you go for a path of least resistance with steering?
> I've never been as far out as the channel, perhaps it gets smoother
> out there?

More like mogul skiing, and yes the channel is an entirely different
animal. Smoother, much more organized chop and swell.

To summarize, 25-30mph wind, 150lb sailor on a 5.3 and a 9'3"
Vivace... The only reason for a setup like that would be if you were
trying to blaze upwind on a close haul! For slalom/bump & jump sailing
in those conditions, you should have been on something more like an
8'6" board, with a 4.2 sail (if it was truely 25-30). Big equipment
gets out of control in high wind and big chop, and can be down right
dangerous. 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 caughtin the straps" kind of crashes are what broken feet
and ankles are made of. Last year, I went out on my 9'2" with a 5.7
sail in 25-30 mph wind (didn't have my smaller board), and ended up
breaking my foot in a crash. It took about 6 months to rehab. Anyway,
a smaller, less slalom oriented board will handle much better on a
windy day with big chop.

Keep demo'ng!

~Jim

Next message: Kirk Lindstrom: "Re: How DO you do it? (Bay chop vs. board size.)"
Previous message: Bryan \: "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.)"
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