Oct 21

Bonaire Lac Bay. Sailworks Retro 6.5, JP MR118, Ride 40 fin, Wind 18 kts

Good workout. Jibes becoming a little smoother.

Oct 20

Bonaire Lac Bay. Sailworks Retro 6.5, JP MR118, Ride 40, Wind: 14-17 kts

Good workout today. Finally crept through the 25 knot barrier. There was a snorkeler out in the middle of the bay - very difficult to see - made life interesting 'cause he kept moving around. 

Getting more comfortable letting the board be 'really twitchy' in the chop as I try for more speed. Only one 'over the handlebars' today.

Oct 16

Bonaire Lac Bay. Sailworks Retro 6.5, JP MR 118, Ride 40 fin: Wind 14 kts

Wind was light, did one long 'sucker run' into the mangroves and then got to slog all the way back. Was about to quit when the late afternoon 'wind bump' finally arrived. Was a short session but felt good.

Oct 15

Bonaire Lac Bay: Sailworks Retro 6.5, JP MR 118, JP Ride 40 cm, Wind: 15-16 kts

Did the tuning check Roo suggested - only change was to move the front straps back as far as they would go (about 1 cm change). Everything else was pretty much already dialed in. I have difficulty believing the 1 cm change made the difference I experienced today, but hey, whatever works! The board felt great and for the first time the Retro 6.5  sail felt really comfortable and I could finally close the gap. Was fully powered but not overpowered. 

Made one excursion downwind to see if Adam needed assistance - he elected to drift further downwind and take out on the west shore.

Oct 14 - link to Roo's Rigging tips

Bonaire Lac Bay. Sailworks Bravo 6.5, JP MR 118, Fin: 40 cm Ride, wind: 15 - 17 knts

Another short session. Trying to be 'more responsible' and get some projects accomplished before playing. Unfortunately the wind died shortly after I arrived.

Tried out a couple of different wind 'angle of attacks' in the north shallow area - got improved speeds. Tried 'pointing harder' in the south section, also works but the chop will make this difficult when the wind comes up. The north area will work well until the freestylers show up January to April and want their practice area back....

I commented:

Roo, glad you finally got some wind so you could christen the new board! You clearly like the board, or it likes you. Got some good numbers for the first time out, many of them in your 'top five' list.

My gear should have been delivered to the freight forwarder in Miami today. 2.5 - 3 more weeks before I get to try them out. I'm hoping my numbers will improve.

Roo commented:

Hopefully I will get the little weapon lit up tomorrow...good easterlies forecast so game on. I'll be dissapointed if I dont hear 35 on the speedchat. It's one of the later type Speed 55 with a thinned out tail, got some new fins to try out with it as well.

Your new gear should add a few knots to your speed, the trick will be getting it all balanced and comfortable. This article I wrote a few years ago should help you set it up the first time out: http://www.speedsurfingblog.com/2010/01/how-to-do-basic-tuning.html

I commented:

Thanks for pointer to the article. I'll go over my present gear tomorrow and dial it in. This will be good training for the new gear.

I'll try to up my game tomorrow so I don't drag down your numbers too badly.

Oct 13

Bonaire Lac Bay. Sailworks Bravo 6.5, JP MR 118, 40 cm fin, 13-15 kts.

Got late start, misjudged windspeed so rigged too small. Did some slogging… quit early

Oct 12

Bonaire Lac Bay, Sailworks Bravo 6.5, JP MR 118 and Hi-Tech 8'4" SVF Gorge board, Fins: 32 cm and 40 cm

Great workout again. Worked on jibing. Rode the Hi-Tech for a short time. Speed was about the same but felt really weird being on a board half the width of the Magic Ride and 1/2 a foot longer. It did slice through the chop better...

Met Bert and Jeff, part-time on Bonaire from the Netherlands. They were on slalom boards and Gaastra 6.5 race sails - I could sort-of keep up. Looking forward to the arrival of my Starboard ISonic 90 and Neil Pryde EVO sails the end of October...

Oct 10

Bonaire Lac Bay. Sailworks Retro 7.5, JP MR118, fin: Ride 40 cm, wind 16 knts

A good workout day, good for BAFing, nothing spectacular.

Oct 8

Bonaire Lac Bay, Sailworks Bravo 6.5, JP MR118, 40 cm JP Ride fin, Wind: 16-18

Another great day of consistent (non-gusty) winds... Good day BaFing. Worked on jibes, got incremental improvements.

Oct 6

Bonaire: Sailworks Race 5.6, JP MR118, Fin: 32 cm MFC Liquid Pro 320 , Wind 17-20

Rigged for 21+ but wind backed off after I finished rigging. Still a good session, just required a little pumping to get going sometimes.

Oct 5 - PB Distance

Bonaire Lac Bay, Sailworks Bravo 6.5, JP Magic Ride Pro 118, 40 cm fin, wind: 15-19 knots

Good workout, good session, starting to get into shape...

Oct 4

Bonaire Lac Bay: Sailworks Retro 7.5, JP MagicRide Pro 118, 40 cm, Wind: 10-13 knots.

Lazy day on Bonaire. So lazy Mr. Wind didn't bother to show up - he sent his slacker newphew Breeze Jr. 10-13 knots. Got a couple of planing runs across the bay but mostly slogging.