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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 10:22 pm Post subject: |
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grayson wrote: | I put in some 60+ mile days this season |
On the good days we may put in well over 100 miles in a lake only 1 mile across. We just jibe more often.
I've often thought about long trips up and down these lakes (they're scores of miles long), but where the wind is across the lakes, it is too gusty and too full of holes due to canyons to seriously consider that. Here a long trip up or down the lake is a few miles.
Mike \m/ |
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grayson
Joined: 09 May 2003 Posts: 92 Location: Burlington, VT
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 12:00 am Post subject: |
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isobars wrote: | On the good days we may put in well over 100 miles in a lake only 1 mile across. We just jibe more often. |
I think that's getting right at the crux of the matter here.... It's actually much easier to rack up mileage like this on a shortboard BAFing around your launch: If the wind changes, you just sail in and re-rig, and you're back to planing the entire time. It's a whole different story when you're pushing 20 or 30 miles from your launch, beating upwind about half the time, where inevitably you'll be sailing through a wide variety of wind conditions without the luxury of changing gear.
I like both kinds of sailing. But it's the exploring far from home part that has me particularly enthralled of late. And it's there that I'm beginning to explore options for equipment. I'd been thinking if I could find a formula-style board, but with a bit more waterline and a centerboard for a little help when the wind dies, I might have the perfect tool for the job. Now I'm starting to think maybe something like the Exocet RS D2 that jlooby mentioned would be worth a close look. That thing looks totally wacky and very intriguing. Could use a cheater strap though. But seriously, I'd love to check one of those out if they start showing up next season. Might check out a more established "raceboard" design too if I get a chance, per suggestions from many of you. And I still won't rule out the RS:X (despite the general bad reviews from y'all and others) until I get a chance to sail it myself.
Anyway, if anybody has other suggestions I should consider, I'd love to hear 'em. Meantime, I'll keep exploring on what I have (maybe with a bigger fin) and looking for opportunities to check out other options. |
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jlooby
Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 69
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:33 am Post subject: |
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grayson wrote: | If the wind changes, you just sail in and re-rig, and you're back to planing the entire time. It's a whole different story when you're pushing 20 or 30 miles from your launch, beating upwind about half the time, where inevitably you'll be sailing through a wide variety of wind conditions without the luxury of changing gear.
I like both kinds of sailing. But it's the exploring far from home part that has me particularly enthralled of late. |
I totally understand. Getting miles from food, bathroom, dog, the right-sized sail and board, and inhabited land add much to the experience, including adrenaline and a sense of wonder and achievement. I've thought MANY times about launching from the downtown park 5 miles from my house and sailing up and down the North-South-SE stretch of the Columbia -- we'd have a 40-mile reach in the usual SW or W wind direction. What's kept me is that I'd rather mow my lawn with rusty toenail clippers than slog, and with the terrain around here -- buildings, small mountains, 1,000' cliffs, freeway bridges, etc. -- there would be a lot of slogging. Then there's the unknown depths upstream of the lake, where the river is a free-flowing non-navigable RIVER best run by jet boats through the vast, scenic, remote, wild, nuclear waste dump national monument dotted with big game along the shore ... in which yer on yer own if you break a fin on a rock midstream. Fortunately, the current would take you back to your dog in a few hours. If you ever come out to the Gorge you may be interested; it could be the highlight of your trip.
Back to your board ... are Formula boards, or any kind of race board, fun and/or comfortable to ride any distance, especially when slogging? I can't imagine spending all day on a board that's not a pleasure to ride in all conditions I'd face. My farthest ventures from Dog have been just 5-6 miles, but they were on sinker wave boards in plenty of wind, so the PROCESS was inherently fun. (The risk of being screwed by a giant sucking hole in the wind both added to and detracted from the fun.) I would not want to have been on a stubborn, or bouncy, or technical, or demanding board, especially with the same foot forward for hours.
Mike \m/ |
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tm00
Joined: 21 Jul 2000 Posts: 250 Location: Lake Champlain - NY
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:09 am Post subject: |
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Grayson
Saw in your one posting you did the trip from Burlington to the NY ferry. I have heard that in the "old" days their used to be an organized race from Burlington to Plattsburgh bay. Have you heard any rumors about that race?
tm00 (Plattsburgh) |
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swchandler
Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 10588
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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Both of those RS:X videos really showed just how lively the RS:X board can be in the right conditions. I was surprised at the speed and B&J air those guys were getting. Maybe during the upcoming London Olympics there will be some opportunities to show just how exciting Olympic windsurfing can be. |
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joe_windsurfer
Joined: 29 Jun 2008 Posts: 9
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grayson
Joined: 09 May 2003 Posts: 92 Location: Burlington, VT
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:04 pm Post subject: |
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Wow. Now THAT makes the RS:X look like a ton of fun! Any of you RS:X haters care to elaborate on what it is you don't like about it? I'm really am curious now. |
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GURGLETROUSERS
Joined: 30 Dec 2009 Posts: 2643
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 5:05 am Post subject: |
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Videos are deceptive. They were shot to show things at their best. Those boards were ideally powered. Had there also been a variety of other boards sailing alongside for comparison, it may have looked quite different! Watch the video of Anders sailing his 'old fashioned' racing longboard in the 80's, blasting and jumping over a rough sea, and marvel at that. It looked just as exciting.
People can only speak as they find.The Prodigy was a similar hybrid and I bought one under the delusion that it would do all my 'old' course race board could do, and more. It didn't. It sucked in sub planing (no glide) and it was very heavy, harsh and bouncy planing hard in chop. Half an hour on a locked in blast was an ankle snapper. To cap it all, I couldn't even use the paddle technique (too short) to get home in a calm. The Kona put things to rights again.
The R.S.X. was selected (some claim by pressure) as the Olympic board after trials, but the 'buzz' among many over here is that they got it wrong. Of course it CAN perform in the right conditions but, in racing, the Phantom is generally accepted as the board to beat, provided it holds together long enough to finish the season! (Fragility problems which Starboard now claim to have overcome, though, of course, they put it rather differently! 'The Phantom is now even MORE durable!!.')
I think that in any fair comparison trials, in a range of different conditions, the 'old' classic longboards are still fully competitive with most of todays offerings. Even the 'old' original Windsurfer is once again being made and offering a good account of itself! |
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jingebritsen
Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 3371
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