Dec 8 - Lac Bay

4004km

Lac Bay, Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean

GA 7.1 Vapor (30" lines), 2015 iSonic 107, Drake carbon slalom 40 cm  Wind: 16-17 knots. Launched around 4 PM

Got a little bit of a late start heading to the bay then had some technical hicups in rigging the Vapor which resulted in a very late launch. Fortunately, Eron Etmon saw I was struggling and graciously offered some insights which solved my issues. Even though I watched Taty rig the sail yesterday, I didn't quite have the proper downhaul setup and kept having cam issues. Even though the Neil Pryde and GA Vapors rig similarly, there are some 'minor' differences that caused me issues. Hopefully I'm now good to go for the next time. Eventually, I would have gotten there, but Eron pointed out a visual aid for the amount of mast bend, as viewed through the luff sleeve, which should make it easy to get the appropriate downhaul on the sail for popping on the cambers without it being too difficult and without them immediately popping off again - Thank You Eron.

After being chastised yesterday by Roo, my goal was to 'get low'. Easier said than done, but the attempt was made, especially in the choppier water. This pushed my comfort zone as I was bouncing around a lot more, but on the other hand, I didn't feel nearly as close to getting launched, so a reasonable tradeoff. How much lower did I get? Who knows, I didn't stumble into anyone's camera frame today , but it felt noticably lower. Of note is that three of my 10 sec average runs were in the choppiest sections of the bay where I was working the hardest to 'stay low'.

Of course, all that focus and hard work is not without rewards... like having Amado and Eron blow past me... oh well . I'm thinking that in a 'handicapped' competition, the scoring would be done by multiplying your speeds by your age and ranking that score .

All in all, a good day. Lots of sun, good chats with Aron and a brief interaction with Amado over why he was mounting TWO sets of very different lenght harness lines on his boom - his response: foiling .

Observation about the GA Vapor sail: Immediate impression - I like it! Sail pocket is very stable and the sail seems like it has a lot more low-end pulling power than the NP EVO6 7.0. Certainly the last two days, I had no issues getting on a plane in 16 knot winds on the iSonic 107.

Oh, and one other point to note: I passed the 4,000 km distance mark today...

Roo commented:

Progress, that's what I like to hear. Once you get used to being low man on the (totem) pole it will get easier. Just crank the sail over the top of you and lean back, feels awkward initially but you'll get there. Browny points for giving it a try. I still think you are using way to big a fin for your size. I'd take a 35 on that combo and see if it works for you.

I commented:

I have been mentally used to being the low man (in this sport) for a long time, emotionally, I still struggle, as you note. Sailing in the rental area helps my perspective as well .

OK, little by little. I have a 36 cm fin - if conditions are similar tomorrow, it gets plugged in first.

Windxtasy commented:

congratulations on passing the 4000 km Barton!

I commented:
Thank you Anita!