Aug 26 - Floras Lake

3777km

Langlois, OR, USA - Floras Lake

Sailworks NX 6.2, Goya Bolt 125, MFC R-44, wind: 5G20 knots

Weird wind day. The forecast and the 'ramp up to stable' portion of the wind today looked like a repeat of Thursday so I decided to rig the NX 6.2 just to see how it worked at the low end of being powered on the Bolt 125. Launched about 2:30 as the wind looked like it was starting to back off. Actually it was just starting to get very holey. I made a couple of runs and decided that big holes with winds at 5 knots and then gusting to 20 knots was not fun. Dave and Shannon (retired couple from California) also decided the same thing so we BSed for a while then called it a day.

Aug 25 - Floras Lake

3775km

Langlois, OR, USA - Floras Lake

Sailworks Retro 5.5, Goya Bolt 115, MFC KP-42, Wind: 15G25 knts

After the session yesterday, the sore muscles struggled today, and I always seemed to be a fraction of a second late for every maneuver... Launched at about 2:30 into fully powered, although gusty, conditions. The nice feature about non-cambered sails is that they depower easily, the not nice feature of non-cambered sails is that they can quickly depower in gusty/holey conditions. When I first launched the wind was nicely uniform across the lake but it got progressively more and more gusty/holey. For today's situation, I think I would have been stuggling with an overpowered situation if I had rigged the NX 6.2. Oh well. 

On the other hand, got some much needed exercise and was able to regain my confidence in being able to quickly jam my rear foot into the foot strap when getting up on a fully powered plane. This will make the reaches much more enjoyable not having to fight to get the back foot in the strap.

Aug 24 - Floras Lake

3764km

Langlois, OR, USA - Floras Lake

Sailwork NX 7.0, Goya Bolt 125, MFC KPR-44, Wind: 12 G 20 knot

Good to be back on the water. For a mellow afternoon of sailing, this was the correct kit for these wind conditions. Sailed off and on during the afternoon, launching about 1 PM and quiting when the wind temporarily backed off at 5 PM. Worked some on the timing of sail flips and correct placement of feet during the foot transition in jibes. Hit it correctly a few times, now need to become consistent. 

Enjoyed the stable power pocket of the Sailworks NX in the gusts and the feel of the Bolt 125 - very forgiving in the jibes regarding weight distribution and quick to pop up on a plan when a gust hit. Plenty floaty so if the wind completely stopped, I could still cruise back to shore. Last week, under the guidance of Taty Frans, I purchased my Bonaire low wind board from him, a 2017 iSonic 127. I am really curious to see how it compares to the Bolt since the bolt is 76 cm wide and the iSonic is 82. My requirement was I wanted a board that I could sail in 10-14 knots of wind with a 7.8 sail. I should have no (valid) excuses for not sailing once we return to Bonaire...