March 29 - Lac Bay

4,352 km

Lac Bay, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

2018 GA Phantom, 2017 iSonic 127, Drake 44  Wind: 13-15 knots

Today was sail test day for me: Tuesday I briefly sailed my 2017 Vapor 7.9, today was the 2018 Phantom 7.8 . The most immediately noticeable difference between the two sails is that the cams on the Phantom will actually rotate without Herculean pressure on them :). They rotate very easily. Big Plus Phantom. As Taty has been telling me for some time now, the Phantoms are more comfortable/easier to sail so I will sail longer with less effort. Plus Phantom.

I did one intentional waterstart and one waterstart caused by hitting some floating seaweed. In both cases, even with marginally light wind, the sail was easy to manipulate and get oriented for waterstarting. In both cases it took a while to waterstart due to the light winds. Because of the narrower luff sleeve compared to the Vapor, the Phantom was easier to clear in preparation for waterstarting. Additionally, because the cams rotate easily, I was actually able to get them to rotate while I was in the water. I found it impossible to do this with the Vapor. Another big Plus Phantom. 

Speed: essentially the same results between the Vapor and Phantom given the margin of error on wind speed measurements.

Bottomline: Winner for me - Phantom. 

Everything that GA-sails said about the Phantom rang true for me, especially compared to the Vapors. I'm glad Taty pushed me to switch sails. I'm now looking forward to more time on the water and more fun on the water. Interestingly (to me anyway) is that when Taty is not slalom training, his preference is to sail the Phantoms because they are more comfortable to sail (hard core racer v. GT cruiser with both having close to the same top end ).

Below is a picture of my upgraded lightwind kit (2018 GA Phantom 7.8, 2017 iSonic 127):

March 27 - Lac Bay

4,352 km

Lac Bay, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

2017 GA Vapor 7.9, 2017 iSonic 127, Drake 44  Wind: 12-14 knots

Wind was hovering around 12 most of the afternoon. When I finally looked like there might be a wind bump, I rigged. Got in about 20 minutes (or less) before it faded back again.

I think this was the first decent test of the 127/Vapor 7.9 combo. Actualy felt pretty good. Was nice and stable. Biggest problem for me is getting the 127 to turn. Will take some more practice. 

Anyway, got in a sample session on the Vapor 7.9 so I can compare it with the Phantom 7.8 that I am testing tomorrow...

March 25 - Lac Bay

4,334 km

Lac Bay, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

2017 GA-Sails Vapor 7.9, 2017 iSonic 127 Ultra, Drake Carbon Race 44   Wind: 12 G 14

Had a couple of decent runs before the winds backed off. Shin splint pain mostly gone. Will have to spend more time on the 127 to get used to jibing this super-wide board. That said, for these light winds it worked well.

Later in the afternoon, made the bad decision to try it again, even though the wind was less than 13 knots. Struggled to make it to the sand bar. Made the second mistake of attempting to beach start from the sand bar and fell in. Third mistake was thinking I could waterstart - not enough wind to waterstart but enough to drag me away from the sandbar. Spent the next 30 minutes or so drifting across the bay to mangroves on the west side. Did not attempt to uphaul the heavy 7.9 sail because I didn't want to screw up my back. Just before I made landfall on the west side, the wind picked up a little and I was able to waterstart. Sailed to the north mangrove area and then back to the launch site. 

Given this experience, and previous discussions with Taty, I talked with Alexander, who had mentioned he wanted a better sail, and sold him the 7.9 Vapor. Taty has been pushing me to switch to GA Phantom sails (detuned Vapors with 3 Cams) because they are lighter in weight and easier to sail. May give up some top end speed potential which I will never realize anyway. So, swallowed my ego and will be going to the 'Granny Sails' in the Fall. Taty and I agreed that I will get 2018 7.9, 7.1, and 6.4 Phantoms. I still have the NP EVO 5 5.8 and the Sailworks Retro 5.5 for the few stronger wind days on Bonaire. The three Vapor sails were in my quiver about four months - a record for the shortest time I have had a set of sails.

March 22 - Lac Bay

4,328 km

Lac Bay, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

2014 Sailworks Retro 6.5, 1985 Hi-Tech 9' Carbon Slalom, Wind: 20 knots

Back on the water with tentative steps after a week of being hobbled with shin splints. Some shin pain still but a good rest after each single back and forth run was enough to allow a future run. I think I'm now on the healing side of this latest medical issue. 

Felt good to be back on the water! The Hi-Tech isn't fast compared to present slalom gear but it is a comfortable ride when your legs hurt . Actually had one of my better jibes of the year today. Unfortunately, swung a little wide and KA72 decided I missed the exit gate... Don't care. It felt GREAT . Good enough to get me back out on the water to try again.

Still lots of floating seaweed in the water. Will definitely be bringing a batch of weed/speed fins back from Oregon in the Fall.

March 11 - Lac Bay

4, 321 km

Lac Bay, Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands

1990 Sailworks Cam 1+1 4.6, 1990 Hi-Tech 8'9" Rounded Pintail, Wind: 25 G 35 knots

Not your typical  Bonaire windsurfing day - windwise. Initially rigged the Retro 5.5 with extra downhaul and plugged it into my favorite Gorge Board, a 1988 Hi-Tech 8'3" rounded pintail. Unfortunately, I was a) fully to overpowered and b) too fat. During my peak windsurfing days I weighed about 140 lbs. I'm now getting close to 180 lbs. Those additional 40 lbs turned what was a 'sinker' board into a submarine. Had to acknowledge defeat and retry. Having recently sailed the 8'9", I knew it could keep me above water once it had a little forward motion. Rigged down to the 4.6 since it was gusty and I was already tired just from attempting to sail the 8'3". First observation on the 4.6 is that it is incredibly light compared to my new sails (maybe half the weight). Also, the cams rotated SO easily. If Sailworks made this sail today, it would be my entire quiver. Being a 27 year old sail, I figured all the mylar panels would blow out so I stayed in the shallow, rental area. I don't like this area because of the disorganized chop created by all the sailors, but figured that if the panels blew, it would be a lot easier getting back to the car.

Because of the number of sailors on the water, some moving, some not, beam reaches were about all that was possible so speeds were low, but given the conditions the sailing was surprisingly comfortable and fun. The 4.6 gave me good power but only a couple of times did I feel fully powered. May have to try my old Sailworks Race 5.1 tomorrow. Did do a couple of 'sort of' broad reaches and picked up slightly more respectable speeds. Not having been on the water for over two weeks, I was again greeted by my old friends, Mr. and Mrs. Leg Foot-Cramp. Hopefully they will be no-shows for tomorrow.