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!

July 2 - HR Waterfront Park - PB 2 Sec, 5x10

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

Sailworks Retro 5.5, JP Magic Ride 104, 38 cm fin wind: 20 15G25 Knots

Been a long time since I've felt comfortable sailing (i.e. since I left Bonaire in May) - today hopefully starts a new chapter in Gorge sailing for me. For the first time since I stopped sailing the Gorge in the late 1990's, I felt comfortable and in control - maybe because today the wind was much steadier... Whatever, it felt good. Made a couple of jibes on swell faces (very nice feeling) and of course blew the rest. Stopped for a rest and was planning to finally start adding some km to my sessions here  and then the wind died. As a result of having a good day and no wind in the afternoon, I was FORCED, FORCED I TELL YOU, to walk up to Big Winds and get a new board. :) . Anxious to try out the Goya Bolt 95 liter Free Race with at 36 cm MFC KP-360 slalom fin. Happy New Toy Day to Me!!

Roo, of course, was cranking. 

Roo commented:

5 jelly beans and 2 PBs, way to go Barton. You deserve a new board for that effort. Glad you are getting to grips with the Gorge...30 isn't far off now! Great job.

I commented:

Thanks Roo. You are a big factor in making it happen with all the equipment tuning and advice you have so graciously provided. Yes, I was surprised to see the PBs as I had pretty much stopped looking at the GW-52 display except for the distance number. The one run felt fast - anxious to see if the Goya Bolt allows me to mentally as well as physically get past 30 knots in the chop... Wind forecast looks like it might be possible :)

Windxtacy commented:

Congratulations, Barton!

WazzaYotta commented:

Nice pb's Barton....congrats!

I commented:

Thank you Anita and Wazza. Not great numbers compared to most in GPSTC but slowly improving.

Here is the new toy. The shape reminds me a lot of my iSonic 90 that I have in Bonaire. I've been told that the Goya bolt jibes much easier than an iSonic, guess I'll find out :)

June 30 - HR Waterfront Park

Hood River Waterfront Park, Hood River, OR, US

Sailworks Retro 5.5, Magic Ride 104, 36cm fin. Wind: 18 (12G28) knots WSW

Gusty conditions. Made some jibes.

Roo was screaming around the river, as usual :)

June 28 - HR Waterfront Park

Hood River Waterfront Park, Hood River, OR.
Naish Chopper M, JP FW77. Wind: 18G32
Attempted to sail the FW77, very sinky and twitchy. Made two runs but blew the jibes. The runs were not very stable – basically only partly in control. After the runs discovered the latch had popped on the Alcatel phone and it was half submerged in water. Tried to dry it out but it eventually died. Roo told me that the next generation of Alcatel phones Alcatel OneTouch Pixie Pulsar is a better phone now (4G and better GPS) and can be purchased for $20 at Walmart (StraightTalk Wireless). Phones can not be unlocked but who cares – they work great for GPSLogit and MP3 players.

June 24 - HR Waterfront Park

Waterfront Park, Hood River, OR, US

Sailworks Retro 6.5, Magic Ride 104, Wind: 16 12G20 and fading off

Light wind all day. A slight pickup about 3:45, enough to sucker me out for a couple of runs before it died.

June 23 - HR Waterfront Park

Waterfront Park, Hood River, OR, US

Sailworks Retro 6.5, Magic Ride 104, 36cm fin. Wind:21 17G25 knots

Better. Feeling more comfortable. Made some jibes on both tacks. Still out of shape so need to do more strength execises on days when not sailing. Sail felt comfortable fully powered due to tuning assistance from Roo.

June 22 - HR Waterfront Park

Waterfront Park, Hood River, Or

Sailworks Retro 5.5, Magic Ride 104 Wind: 14G22 knots

Wind backed off shortly after I hit the water. Kept thinking it would pick back up as forecast - should have just rigged the 6.5 and been done with it. Stalling and dithering got me an afternoon on the beach.

More good sail tuning tips from Roo.

June 8 - HR Waterfront Park

Hood River Waterfront Park, Hood River, OR, US

Sailworks Retro 5.5, JP Magic Ride 104, 36 cm fin Wind: 22 (15 G 30) knots

Better. Starting to feel more comfortable.

June 7 - HR Waterfront Park

Hood River Waterfront Park, Hood River, OR, US

Naish Chopper M (4.7 equiv), JP Magic Ride 104, 36 cm fin. Wind: 22 G 30 when rigging, slowly dropped for the rest of the afternoon.

Pft!  Expected somewhat of a repeat of yesterday although a tad lighter. Got a couple of runs initially, although underdone even then. Played the waiting game hoping the wind would pick up as anticipated - lost that bet bigtime. At least made the three jibes I attempted...

Roo was cranking, as usual

June 6 - HR Waterfront Park

Hood River Waterfront Park, Hood River, OR, US

Naish Chopper L & M (5.2 and 4.7 equivalents), JP MagicRide 104, 36 cm Ride fin. Wind: 22 Gusting 30 knots

Good wind for Roo and sailable for me (on the Chopper M). Been three weeks since last sailing session and feel like I'm starting my learning from zero level again. Finally made a jibe. Water has warmed up to 62F so getting wet is now tolerable for me.

Watching Roo was fascinating as he cranked out run after run at high speeds in the chop. I now have unrealistic (for me) inspirational goals to strive for...