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lake arenal / costa rica
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tstizzle



Joined: 05 Jul 2000
Posts: 242

PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 9:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

wind sounds strong again today.
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johnl



Joined: 05 Jun 1994
Posts: 1330
Location: Hood River OR

PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

coachg wrote:

Backwind sailing also will help your regular short board tack. If you go around early, 1 hour before 12:00, and immediately backwind the sail your tack will be much faster because the board never comes to a stop. If you wait until after 12:00 than the board comes to a stop & the nose starts to sink which slows down you exit. Going early & backwinding through the tack the nose doesn't sink so you exit much faster.

Coachg


I found a good test of your tacking skills is to see if you can plane into and out of one. It means entering the turn at full speed and quickly carving upwind, and then quickly moving to the other side (well before 12:00) and then trying to continue the carve while still on a plane. I've come real close one time. I may have to work on that again this summer.....
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tstizzle



Joined: 05 Jul 2000
Posts: 242

PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 9:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:


I found a good test of your tacking skills is to see if you can plane into and out of one.


are you saying i should be able to plane out of my tacks?!
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tstizzle



Joined: 05 Jul 2000
Posts: 242

PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:33 am    Post subject: windsurfing lake arenal - day 9 Reply with quote

day 9 (yesterday) report:

4.2 and sunny! sorry, no pics: camera wasn't charged...
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johnl



Joined: 05 Jun 1994
Posts: 1330
Location: Hood River OR

PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

tstizzle wrote:
Quote:


I found a good test of your tacking skills is to see if you can plane into and out of one.


are you saying i should be able to plane out of my tacks?!


I'm saying it can be done and would be a good goal. I can't say if you can. Smile Heck, I've only come real close once (never stopped moving, but lost the plane) but that was once..... But it means changing sides of the board real early......
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 1:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just jibe tighter; it'll get you upwind just fine until you master fully planing tacks.
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tstizzle



Joined: 05 Jul 2000
Posts: 242

PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

isobars wrote:
Just jibe tighter; it'll get you upwind just fine until you master fully planing tacks.


fair enough. only reason i've seen tacks that made more sense than the above was on the coast of california. wave sailing there sometime means the wave closes out on a rock. if you ride it to the end you have to be able to tack out of it.
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tstizzle



Joined: 05 Jul 2000
Posts: 242

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 1:07 am    Post subject: windsurfing lake arenal day 10 Reply with quote

.
day 10 has arrived. man, time goes fast on a windsurfing vacation!!

yesterday was another solid 4.2 weather day. rocked my world. and i now have hands the size of basketballs. and they bleed, kinda.

today, however, was slightly lighter with wonderfully filled-in 5.3 weather (with a couple of kitemares, hee-hee). it was smooth and verrrrry nice....

regretably, as i mentioned, the 'ol point-n-shoot went on the fritz so all i have is a couple of mellow pics from the afternoon. you'll just have to trust me: it was good out on the 'ol h2o today.

the forecast is for strong wind tomorrow through the weekend, so hopefully i will have more good stuff to report, including my first sail on the 2014 fanatic freewave (will take pics too). the 2014 freewaves accept either a single big fin or a smaller fin and two thrusters. from what i have been hearing, with the thrusters in midway, or perhaps a touch back from midway, will be a good test. everyone who has sailed it says that slightly back from the middle allow the board to carve more freely.

Dr. Professor Slacker, my friend here with me, thinks he has a solution for the camera so, with any luck, i might be able to make with the pics when the wind picks up again. will let you know...

for now, i can report i have been here for 10 days and sailed excellent conditions every day but one. i will do a summary at the end of my 14 days with a synopsis of the wind and conditions. but, for now, a couple of pics.

below, the beach. the current water level is low. in normal years (aka no global warming), the water level would be at the grass line in the upper section of this pic. none of the red clay-like soil would be showing. that's a lot of water missing.



lake arenal is a man-made lake some 3 kilometers across by 20 kilometers long. the country generates 70% of its electricity from the lake arenal hydro project. so this low water level is a BIG deal for costa rica. there is significant concern for what decreased water supply means not just for electric production but also agriculture in the liberia flatlands down below the lake. after all, they grow rice down there. and intel cools the machines that etch your computer chips with that water.

but that meant nothing to this kiter dude who can sail in an inch or two of water. lucky dogs:



here is his buddy launching at the tip of the "peninsula" (this is an area of land that has appeared from the lake bottom due to the lower lake level this year):



a shot i took of the same peninsula, which i thought was kinda nice:



and yet another from the side of the same peninsula:



my fave:



yes, i know, they're not of windsailors insulting the sky with their fins. but i did my best with limited camera resources. with any luck my professor friend can get the camera working tomorrow.

the forecast is for big wind the next few days. i leave saturday, so i truly hope that is correct.

will let you know...
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DanWeiss



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Posts: 2296
Location: Connecticut, USA

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 12:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great info and pictures!!! I lived in Costa Rica as a baby and visited as a young boy, and have wanted to return. Maybe this stuff will get my wife enthused.

Re the planing tack, I honestly don't think its possible to literally, continuously plane from one tack to the other for a few reasons, in no particular order.

1. Form drag pushing backward the entire rig, you and the board throughout most of the tack.

2. A planing board is so at about four degrees of board angle, with most of the board in front of the bow wave. Technically this means that ALL the weight of our body, rig and board is supported by hydrodynamic force, but we are not planing when ANY part of our mass is supported by hydrostatic force a.k.a. buoyancy. Stepping forward, even if never directly in front of the mast, transfers your body weight toward the bow, in front of the bow wave. This pushes the rocker down and pushes the bow wave forward, greatly slowing the board just when the only forward incidence is inertia (sail depowered and the fin having no resistance to convert its torque into forward drive).

3. Obviously, staying on a plane certainly doesn't require as much energy as getting on a plane, but it does require a certain amount of forward motion. I'd guess that most every board falls of plane at about 10 knots of forward speed. I've sailed with world class racers at elite regattas, as have many of you. I've never seen them actually plane through the tack, where the board clearly is planing. I've practiced hours to be able to do it and, while we all get close, there is a point where we rely in the board's volume to keep us moving forward. For the best, it can be momentarily, but it always occurs.

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johnl



Joined: 05 Jun 1994
Posts: 1330
Location: Hood River OR

PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DanWeiss wrote:

Re the planing tack, I honestly don't think its possible to literally, continuously plane from one tack to the other for a few reasons, in no particular order.

1. Form drag pushing backward the entire rig, you and the board throughout most of the tack.

2. A planing board is so at about four degrees of board angle, with most of the board in front of the bow wave. Technically this means that ALL the weight of our body, rig and board is supported by hydrodynamic force, but we are not planing when ANY part of our mass is supported by hydrostatic force a.k.a. buoyancy. Stepping forward, even if never directly in front of the mast, transfers your body weight toward the bow, in front of the bow wave. This pushes the rocker down and pushes the bow wave forward, greatly slowing the board just when the only forward incidence is inertia (sail depowered and the fin having no resistance to convert its torque into forward drive).

3. Obviously, staying on a plane certainly doesn't require as much energy as getting on a plane, but it does require a certain amount of forward motion. I'd guess that most every board falls of plane at about 10 knots of forward speed. I've sailed with world class racers at elite regattas, as have many of you. I've never seen them actually plane through the tack, where the board clearly is planing. I've practiced hours to be able to do it and, while we all get close, there is a point where we rely in the board's volume to keep us moving forward. For the best, it can be momentarily, but it always occurs.


Since I came VERY close to completing one I completely disagree. But you are using "elite racers" as an example which I wouldn't expect to plane through one. BUT try a freestyle board and a smaller sail. You might change your mind.....

As to a tight jibe being as good as a tack, this is was spoken by somebody who can't do a shortboard tack. In a jibe no matter how tight you lose some ground. A tack is just the opposite. You gain anywhere from 5 to 20 feet of upwind ground. Do the math. Ground gained beats ground lost anytime UNLESS you are really good at making tight jibes completely on a plane ALL the time.

This is true ESPECIALLY when we are talking about trying to get upwind in a strong flood tide such as the delta. Comparing this to an easterly in the gorge it just ain't the same thing. I don't even have to think about tacking there.....
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