July 3 - HR Waterfront Park - PB 2 Sec

Hood Waterfront Park, Hood River, The Gorge, OR, US

Sailworks Retro 5.5, Goya Bolt 95L, MFC KP-RC 360 fin Wind: 17 14G25

My new toy (Goya Bolt 95) is sweet. Handles nicely, jibes more like a wave board than a slalom/race board and is pretty quick as well :) . Made one jibe but even I can feel the potential for easy jibing.

Windxtasy commented: 

Whoo Hoo Barton! Cracked the 30 knots barrier. That is a real milestone. I found it took ages to get past 30 knots, now I can do it anytime there is sufficient wind (water state permitting). Sounds like that new board is a keeper!

Roo Commented:

Well done Barton, you were grinning like a kid at Christmas after you got off the water having cracked your 30 knot cherry. I'd better watch my back from now on as you'll be hunting me down!

I commented:

Thanks Anita. Yup, the Goya Bolt 95L is definitely a keeper. Fun to ride, quick, and from my first feeble attempts, easy to jibe - pretty much everything I need. Also, since the deck is concave around the mast base, the flotation is moved back under the foot straps (just like the iSonic 90) so when caught in a wind lull, this board is actually easier to sail than the Magic Ride 104 liter.

Roo, your back is safe for quite a while yet. :)  The 'hunting down' I'll be doing is asking for advice :)  - such as, on my last run when I got hit by the gust (that you saw coming and knew I was toast), as I recall, I leaned back into the wind more, which obviously didn't work. What should I have done? Note: turning upwind was not an option at the time as I was too focused on the downwind track and didn't see the gust coming. i guess what I'm really asking is how to react when it is too late to do the sane thing and head upwind.  Thanks.

Oh, FYI, the GW-52 and GPSLogit/Alcatel Pixie were about 0.1 knot different for the 2 sec average with the GW-52 reading lower (I posted the GW-52 numbers).

Morts commented:
Well done Barton! Like you I'd got frustratingly close to the 30 knot mark but hadn't cracked it until yesterday & I think your doing it in chop as well which is even more impressive. Feels good to finally see the 3 :) 

I commented:
Thanks Jeremy! Congratulations to you too! Yes, the Gorge (even the Waterfront Park) has chop - makes it exciting blasting over the back sides of the chop on a broad reach. I think that is why Roo likes it here - it would be too boring for him if it was flat water all the time :). For us mortals, it definitely keeps the adrenaline flowing...

Roo commented:
When the gust comes harden up your front leg and drive the power through the board and keep sheeted in. The board will accelerate and stay flat on the water so you will get a burst of speed. Leaning back lifts the board and the fin tends to let go. Weight forward, which is counter intuitive and drive the power into speed. As you correctly surmised that's why I love the gusty choppy Gorge, when you get it right it gets the juices flowing! Great work team, nice start to the month. Great to see PBs from Barton for peak and Chris for distance. Great way to celebrate the Independence day weekend.

Peter commented:
Congrats on the PBs, Barton and Chris! 30 knots is a big step.  I'm sure you'll keep getting faster with Roo's advice so close, Barton! 

I commented:
Roo, you described exactly what happend to me :). It is that burst of speed I'll have to deal with mentally :).

Roo commented:
Now you're over the 30 hump Barton you'll turn into a gust buster. You'll be hunting them down and sailing all over the river looking for them like I do, that's why my tracks are all over the place. It will become instinctive driving through your front foot, next up a 30 knot 5x10 average.....yeehah!

Slippery commented:
Well done Barton on cracking 30kts and keep on asking questions and getting Roo to post the answers on GPSTC. We can all learn.

I commented:
Thank you John! 

On Saturday they held local slalom races. The course was through the area that I typically sail so I would be on shore during the races. I learned a lot from Roo about tactics, not that I will ever be racing. Fun stuff.

Boro commented:
Nice one Barton! Keep it coming!