Whitelion Windsurfing

Tomahawk Speed Weed Fin Project

2011-12-08T21:34:00.002+10:30

One of my most popular DIY articles - DIY Fin mould, was never finished because I sold the fin half way through the the setup stage. I plan to cover the topic in full as well as each of the stages leading up to making a mould for an original fin design. The range of fins I have been working on are Speed Weed Fins. They have a leading edge rake of 45 degrees and a thicker base similar to the new breed of stumpy speed fins.

Why a Speed Weed? Well since we don't have any local speed strips around Adelaide anymore we need to travel 5 hours to Lake George for a "fix". The Lake has weed beds that rise during the day creating perfect speed conditions, unless you start catching the weed on your fin.

My reasoning behind the design is as follows:

45 Degree Rake to shed floating weed as well as starting in weed beds.
Thick base to reduce fin depth and keep the centre of lift as far forward as possible.
Thick base to minimise twist and flex which are killers in weed fins for heavy sailors.
Leading edge set forward of base to keep the centre of lift as fas forward as possible.
9.5 Percent Chord/Thickness ratio for a good compromise between power and speed.
Notched trailing edge(on bigger fins) to maintain flow attachement at low speeds/high angles of attack.
Full Carbon Fibre body construction for minimum flex.
Glass Fibre leading edge for abrasion resistance.

I am no fin expert but I have done a lot of research and know what I want from the design. If the symmetrical design is successful I plan to make poth Port and Starboard Assymetrical speed weed versions in the smaller sizes.

The symmetrical range will be (Right to Left):
T30 30cm 400cm^2
T28 28cm 361cm^2
T26 26cm 323cm^2
T24 24cm 287cm^2
T22 22cm 253cm^2
T20 20cm 220cm^2
T18 18cm 188cm^2

Starboard Isonic 137 2012 Preview

2011-10-26T22:26:00.000+10:30

Fanatic Falcon 111 for Sale

2011-10-14T23:27:00.000+10:30

Now that my new Fanatic Falcon 113 has arrived I am selling my Falcon 111.

The board is in good condition except for a few scratches on the nose.

$1450 - Price includes a Pro Limit board bag and Select S10 39cm fin.

Email me at timhemer at gmail dot com

Fanatic Falcon 113 - First Session

2011-10-01T23:10:00.000+09:30

Here are some photos from my first session on the 113.

Words and video coming soon...

Fanatic Falcon 113 2012 Preview

2011-09-29T00:28:00.003+09:30

Here are some quick observations of the 113(2012) Vs the 111(2011)

The rails are boxier in the tail and the straps are closer to the rail meaning a more committed stance.
The tail around behind the back straps is more bulbous flowing into a flatter and slightly thinner working area between the front straps.
With a quick check of the bottom with a ruler it looks like there is a little more vee(than 2011) under the back foot as well as some tail rocker(2011 had none).
There are still the double concave in the nose but this washes out into a vee right up the front instead of a flat like the 2011 model.
The track recess appears much deeper but I think this is partly due to more volume in the shoulder of the rail.
The track recess also extends right to the nose reducing volume and lift and increasing stiffness.

RS Racing Evo IV

2011-09-06T23:27:00.001+09:30

RS Racing Evo IV and JP Slalom VIII

There are a few images floating around in cyberspace of the new RS Racing Evo IV. The most obvious change is the break from the Iconic Burnt Orange. The EvoIII started this move with a redder orange as well as blue and red printing on the body panels. The new design is reverting back to a higher aspect ratio and looser mid and lower leech. Smaller sizing is also changing and there is less choice in the way of dedicated speed sizes with 5.8 being the starting point. Perhaps some limited edition speed specials will be produced.

RS Racing Evo IV vs Evo III

The advertising graphic only represents the colour, material and reinforcement changes and does not hint towards the amount the aspect ratio is changing as the outlines are identical. There looks to be more reinforcing/opaque panels in the foot of the sail and less at the bottom of the leech above the clew.

RS Racing Evo IV Overlay

Fanatic Falcon 2012 Sizes

2011-08-16T18:38:00.000+09:30

The board bags on the 2012 Fanatic site show the sizing of the upcoming and yet to be released 2012 Fanatic Falcon range of slalom boards...

XS (245 x 57)
NewWave 69 / 76 / 83, FreeWave 75, NewWave Twin 72 / 79, Quad 75 / 81, all Falcon Speeds

S (247 x 62)
NewWave 91, NewWave Twin 86 / 93, Quad 87 / 94, FreeWave 85 / 95, Hawk 100, Falcon Slalom 89, Ray 100, Skate 89

M (249 x 66)
FreeWave 105 / 115, Skate 99 / 109, Shark 105, Hawk 110, Falcon Slalom 99

L (258 x 70)
Shark 120, Ripper 102, Ray 115, Falcon 113, Hawk 120, Ripper 120

XL (268 x 85)
Shark 135 / 150 / 165, Falcon 125 / 140 / 165, Ray 130 / 145, Hawk 135

Looks like;
>the 85 is now 89
>the 102 is now 99
>the 111 is now 113
>the 122 is now 125
>the 134 and 148 have been replaced by a 140.

Widths are anyones guess but based on the popularity of the 2011 shapes I am sure there will only be slight tweaks rather than wholesale changes.

JP Slalom VIII 2012 Sizes

2011-08-16T13:33:00.001+09:30

I always like to check out the JP board bag sizing for the coming year as it usually has models which have not been put on the website.

JP Slalom VIII Range
59
66
68
78
84

I am pretty sure there will be a smaller size also that is not added to the small board bag list:
http://www.jp-australia.com/2012/index.php?id=647

It appears the larger boards have been resized:
The 76 is now 78cm wide.
The 82 is now 84cm wide.

There have been other leaks on the web but this is on the official website;)

New JP Super Light Wind 2012

2011-08-16T13:17:00.002+09:30

JP have added a second size of SLW to complement the original 90cm design.

The 92cm SLW is like a scaled up X-cite Ride and is 16cm longer than the 90 and both come with a moulded 56cm carbon fin. The 92 also has an inboard strap option and 11L more flotation enhancing its appeal for begginers and intermediates.

The 92 is available in FWS and PRO construction, the 90 is available in PRO and GOLD construction.

JP Speed 2012

2011-08-07T21:20:00.003+09:30

JP have released the 2012 speed range with one upgraded design; the 49 is now a 50 and has been designed to complement the new wide base style of weed fin pioneered by C3. Looking at the plan the nose looks a little wider and spoon like reminiscent of the Carbon Art speed boards. It appears that the boards are no longer supplied with fins, it would be great if they came with a C3 Slingshot!

Fin Screw Tabs

2011-05-20T23:52:00.000+09:30

I had to make some washers for my fin screws tonight and thought I would make it easier to insert and remove them from the recessed holes on my boards with standard tuttle boxes. The holes are recessed about 25-30mm below deck level and are too small in diameter to get a finger either side of the screw head. By extending the rubber washer into a strip, two tabs are created allowing the screw to be placed perfectly. I dont know why I haven't done this before as most of the time when I need to get the screws out I have resorted to tipping the board upside down and shaking them out. You can sometimes guide the screw in and remove it on the tip of the screwdriver but this is hit and miss and magnetic tips don't work on 316 stainless.

Fin Screw Tabs - Easy insertion and extraction!

Cut strips out of 1.5mm Neoprene Rubber - 100mm x 17mm

Wad punch centre of strips with 3/16 punch

Hole wad removed.

Place the screw & washer into the strip and bring the tabs together.

Insert into recess, alight tabs with water flow;)

Tighten.

DIY - Fins - Power Box to Tuttle Head Conversion

2011-05-15T21:45:00.000+09:30

The conversion of a Power Box Head to Tuttle Head can be quite easy depending on the brand and head material used. I recently modified some Techtonics fins with PB heads to Tuttle for a friend. The fins were originally PB for use on older F2 Sputniks, they needed to be converted to Tuttle for use on JP Slaloms. .

The quickest and easiest conversion is when the position of the fin in the PB is to be carried over into the Tuttle Box. A Power Box head fits into a Tuttle mould with minimal modification to the front and rear face of the head. If the length and angle of the fin are to be modified in the conversion then there are a few more steps required. I used both methods as one of the fins was to remain a 40cm Tomcat, the other fin, a 32cm Falcon was shortened to 30cm.

To do a conversion you will need a Tuttle Head Mould, Epoxy Resin(cast urethanes can be used but the method described below suits laying up reinforcements) and various fillers. I will cover making a Tuttle Mould in another article. Wear a dust mast and use a vacuum cleaner whenever cutting composites.

Maintaining Geometry - Keeping the same length, rake and position.
Make a cardboard or thin plywood template of a Tuttle head(side). Make this as accurate as possible as you will be cutting fin heads to this shape. Place the template on the PB head with the tip of the leading edges aligned. The PB front face will be curved, the Tuttle will be straight. Mark the outline of the Tuttle Head using a marker or pencil and cut off the excess using a hack saw. It is better to take of a little more rather than less as filing is more time consuming that cutting. Smooth out the cut faces using a file and add a radius to match that on the Tuttle Head - about 5-6mm depending on who manufactured the reference fin. Sand the remaining faces of the PB head with coarse paper to key into the filler that will be laminated to it.

Shaped PB Head sitting in the Tuttle Mould.

Check the fit in the Tuttle mould, you want to have about a 1/4 of a millimetre to allow for a couple of layers of carbon or glass. Bring both sides of the mould together and again check there is a about a 1/4 of a mil down the one side. The mould pictured above can be used to cast standard and deep tuttle heads. In standard mode I have infill pieces in the mould.

Shortening the Fin in the Head Conversion
If the fin is to be shortened then there will be less or none of the original PB head left attached to the body of the shortened fin. In the case of the 32cm Falcon being shortened to 30cm there was about half of the head left. Since the bottom face of the PB head will not be flush with the Tuttle Head mould a pair of flushing plates will need to be made. This will be covered in a dedicated DIY article. If the fin is shortened more than 4cm then there will be none of the PB head remaining. In this case it is a standard tuttle re-box with more filler and flushing plates required. Tuttle Fin Re-Box S10

The Support Jig
The jig I use to support the fin is designed to swing down onto the bottom half of the mould. The setup is done before the layup so that the fin stays fixed in the desired position. I have tried many different methods which usually invlove laying up the mould, closing the mould, adding filler and then shoving the fin in. The fin support jig then needs to be attached and you sometimes find yourself fighting the position that the fin was inserted.at. This results in more unwanted movement of the reinforcement and airbubbles in the filler.

Fins that are cast with the tip above the mould(vertically) have the flexibility of several finishing options for the top face(face flush with the deck). The top face can be "floated" or moulded flat with a single or pair of flushing plates. The floating method involves simply filling the mould so the the top face self levels to flush with the top mould face. The advantages of this is that it is quick and there is minimum finishing required. The disadvantages are that bubbles can rise to the top surface leaving a textured porus surface depending on the materials used. Also, if even a small amount of resin leaks from the mould the top face will cure low and will need to be built back up. Flushing plates take more preperation but deliver a more consistant finish.

The support blocks are made by casting slotted pads from a tuttle fin placed in the mould. Tape off the fin in the areas that will be cast using several layers of masking tape. 3 areas are ideal, 2 at either end of the leading edge and 1 in between the front pads but placed on the trailing edge Find some wooden blocks that can be screwed to the hinged base plate, the bottoms must be nice and flat without any rock. I use a long block on the leading edge and a single one at the back combined with a sliding g-clamp to locate the fin securely. Use some polyester putty to cast a pad in the areas that the fin has been taped off. I will do a seperate article on creating a Fin Support Jig.

Laying up the head.
Using the Cardboard Tuttle Head Template cut out 4 layers of Carbon or Glass cloth, 2 for each side of the head. Use masking tape to cover the bottom face of the PB head and the adjoining foil surfaces. Wax the head mould halves and coat the inside the mould and the sanded PB head with neat epoxy resin. Layup the 2 layers of cloth in each half of the mould. Add talc, chopped carbon and a touch of carbon black to the neat resin to make the special sauce. Butter each side of the mould with enough filler to fill the head completely as well as sqeeze out through the part line. Swing the fin jig into place and spread the displaced filler over the fin head being sure not to create air bubbles. Place the other half of the mould in place and clamp the down tight. Allow to cure overnight.

The photos shown below are for the Falcon that was shortened by 2cm.

Carbon Cloth cut and mould waxed.

Talc & Chopped Carbon Fibres added to the epoxy resin.

2 Layers of CF Cloth layed into each mould half.

Mould closed with flushing plates in place.

Half of the Tuttle Mould Removed.

Flash and Masking Tape.

Flash Removed.

Barrel Nuts Fitted.

The finished 40cm Tomcat that didn't need flushing plates.

Both fins finished.
40cm Tomcat Left, 32cm Falcon shortened to 30cm Right.

Fanatic Falcon 111 Review (2011)

2011-04-30T23:18:00.000+09:30

I have now had a few sessions on my recently acquired Fanatic Falcon 111 so I thought it was time to share my thoughts and initial impressions. All sessions so far have been with a 7.8m Evo III but I have used two fins from Select - a 41cm S11 & 37 S10. Conditions have ranged from a gusty 12-17 knots and choppy water up to 30 knot days with both big chop and flat water sections. Locations were the fresh water Boggy Lake and salt water Lake George, both are located in South Australia. Test dummy is 110Kg and 193cm with over 20 years sailing experience.

Design
The first Falcon I ever owned was the 111 from 2006. Back then the design was quite a bit different; mono concave tail, double concave mid section and an overall length of 245cm. Over the past 5 years the concept has evolved into a well rounded racing and fast freeride machine.

Hull - The current design has a double concave in the nose and mid section that runs until 40cm from the tail and washes out into a spiral "power vee". There is no tail kick and the rails have a comfortable amount of tuck throughout.

Deck - The most noticible features on the deck are the modified volume distribution and the recessed mast track / deck concave. The larger volume from the front straps back allows a nice amount of deck roll which increases comfort levels and allows you to sail faster for longer. The rear straps are very clost to the tail and as a result the centre of your rear foot is directly over the leading edge of the fin. The stance width of 520mm(front strap second hole from the front, rear strap 3rd hole from the front) is quite a bit narrower than other brands are using and combined with the rear strap placement it allows a really connected ride on the fin and means you don't have to bend the back leg too much on deep speed runs.

Recessed Mast Track / Deck Concave

Hull Graphics - As with the other boards in the fanatic range, the falcon has been given a macke over in the graphics department. The hull is a combination of black base coat with airbrushed silver outline. The paint is then screen printed over creating the white fanatic logo pattern. You can feel a raised area on the edge of the screen printing but is does not seem to adversely affect water flow. A light rub with wet and dry would take the edge off but this may affect resale value. The paint and screen print both have a matte finish unlike some of the other boards in the fanatic range which also use gloss in combination with matte finishes. This suits a dedicated slalom board well.

Deck Graphics - The deck has the bi-axial carbon finished with a clear resin, the rails are silver and airbrushed to fade into the carbon deck. A full clear vinyl transfer with red and white screen printing is then applied with non-skid and pads applied over the top. Full vinyl deck graphics are pretty standard these days but an unpainted full carbon weave is uncommon. It shows that high performance materials are actually used rather than hiding cheap materials under full deck graphics. Care should be taken not to leave the deck(and hull) in direct sun on really hot days as delamination could occur if the laminate gets super hot.

Sailing
From the second you step onto the board you can feel the increased buoyancy in the tail. There is no problem with the nose sinking when off the plane as long as you have a little power in the sail to keep you moving slowly. In transitions you have to remember to be slightly tail biased but this is easy to get used to. The water flows well around the stern and the board un-sticks easily. Pumping the board onto the plane in marginal conditions is relatively easy and finding the right trim is intuitive. Just using leg pumping seems more easy than other slalom boards as the board "feels" very light in the water and doesn't need a really big fin to hold a straight course. The large amount of spiral vee certainly aid this directional ability and once up and planing give the board a very lively and maneuverable feel. Direction changes can be swiftly executed allowing for efficient negotiation through both confused chop and long snaking trough lines. If however you do have to go over steep chop head on the hull shows little sign of slowing and feels very efficient. In very steep chop it was easy to sheet out slightly to lift the nose while maintaining full board control.

The Falcons comfy stance is narrower than most slalom boards...

A 41cm S11 was used only on a marginal wind day so the full upwind potential could not be tested for figure-8 racing but even just powered you could point high with good speed. The main use I have for the board is GPS speedsailing and it fills this role perfectly. The board was very fast and easy to sail off the wind and it was really easy to keep the tail locked down and sailing flat. I found that the vee and slightly narrower tail minimised the rocking from side-to-side that you sometimes get on wider tail boards with sail power changes and harsh chop.

Gybing was easy to initiate and the rail held well in choppy conditions. The board seemed to prefer to be gybed with equal or slight rear foot bias depending on the entry speed and sail power available. No tacks were attempted as I rarely need this manoeuvre when speed sailing.

Short Gybe video playing with a boom tail mounted GoPro.

Construction
The hull utilises a basalt cloth which feels robust and combined with a bi-axial carbon deck the boards fells both light and stiff. This is a high performance board and should be treated as such, the deck will ding easily if impacted so take care.

Technical Data

Sessions
http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=user&val=74102&uid=1049
http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=user&val=74762&uid=1049
http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=user&val=74909&uid=1049
http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=user&val=74912&uid=1049

Action Video
Coming soon...

Lake George 10-4-2011

2011-04-23T10:16:00.000+09:30

I had a fun session down at Lake George near Beachport a few weeks ago. Here are some of the stills I took with my GoPro. I am still trying to edit the video footage I took.

Here is one of my favourite shots showing a nice arc to the gybe entry.

I went out on the 7.8 / 49 combo first - pushing the limits of the 49's range!

The JP 49 hitting WARP speed ;)

JP 49 / 7.8 gybe sequence below...

Falcon 111 / 7.8 gybe sequence below...

Baked Veneer Hull Repair

2011-04-18T21:55:00.002+09:30

I have purchased two timber veneered boards and built one and they all had problems with the veneer cracking. This was due to the veneer drying out and re-sealing was the remedy. I repaired a friends boards recently that was an extreme case. The board was accidently left in the sun(Australian sun - fry eggs on your car bonnet!) in a board bag hull upward for two weeks! He thought that the board would need to but cut up to fit in the garbage but when I took a look at it I thought it was salvageable. The saving grace was that the deck was not facing up. That would have meant a lot more work and a board

Here is how I undertook the repair.

The entire hull was covered in cracks that

sat up higher than the surrounding area.

The veneer is reinforced with fibreglass in areas such
as the fin box. These did not crack but the weave
appeared swollen and needed to be faired.

The rail has a fine weave glass for about 25mm from
the rail which is post moulded. This area may or
may not need fairing also.

Here is the hull after being sanded with120 grit(random orbital).
Be sure just to take of the highs, you dont want to go too
far into the veneer as it is only 0.9mm.

Here is another area after sanding with the120 grit, there are
finer cracks present. You want to sand until all of the
lows have been just touched by the paper.

Tape off the rail and tail area that is glass covered,
you only want to apply epoxy resin to areas of unsealed
veneer and gelcoat. Warm the room where the board
is located. Warm the resin to the recommended curing
temp using spot lights. When the both have warmed
apply a thin layer of resin and tipoff using a piece of foam
roller or rubber gloved hand. The board should be cooling
as the resin is applied to stop out gassing under the curing
resin. If the boar is cooling this will actually suck resin in,
which is a good thing in this case

More info on this step later....

The first layer of resin applied. Note the patch under the
gelcoat from the factory. Might have been a defect in
the veneer or a repair done and covered with a glass
patch before final painting .

Edge of the tail patch reinforcing the box lightly sanded
to blend with the veneer.

Detail of the first resin layer.
There will be some air bubbles and streaks where the
resin soaks into sanded areas of the veneer. Wash/sand
off the amine blush and apply with a second coat of resin.

Wash/sand off the amine blush and sand the second coat

being sure not to sand through to the veneer. Remove

the masking tape and fair out the edges that were masked off.

Detail of the sealed veneer.
The signs of a random orbital used at the factory.

Detail of some of the bigger cracks filled with resin and faired.

Finer resin filled cracks.

Paint the hull using acrylic primer and lightly sand.

Be sure to mask off the rails and deck to prevent
overspray contacting the deck.

Detail of the hull finish.

Fanatic Falcon 111 Gybe - Boom Tail GoPro

2011-04-15T13:26:00.002+09:30

On my recent trip to Lake George(near Beachport, South Australia) I captured a bunch of footage and tried some new(for me) mounting positions for my GoPro camera. I got plenty of the usual head cam footage as well as boom mounted near the mast. I had not tried the rear of the boom due to the need to change mounts in the water(and possibly lose a $330 camera) and the inconvenience with pressing record.

Lake george is waist deep in middle lake and reasonably flat so I had less chance of loosing the camera in a stack and had flatter water to gybe at the end of each run. This was the perfect opportunity to try mounting the camera on the tail of the boom. What really stood out was how much slower and less reactive the rig was in the gybe with the camera mounted at the rear. The camera is only a few hundread grams but it slowed down the rig flip remarkably as well as oversheeting on the entry to the gybe and trimming the sail when sailing a straight course. I was happy with the view as it showns the foot and hand work required as well as timing variations. I will mix the other footage together in a clip but for now here is the gybe with boom tail cam.

Tuttle Fin Re-box - S10

2011-04-14T23:16:00.003+09:30

I needed a Select S10 39 for my Falcon 111/Evo III 7.8 combo and since none were available in that size I had to re-box a bigger fin to make one. I had a 57 from a SLW that I sold which would be too big for my Falcon 134 and since I could buy the big fins I needed for this board the 57 had to get the chop.

S10 37 top, S10 57 bottom.

Marking out the 39cm on the 57cm fin.(+2cm)

20mm longer than the 37cm fin(plus a little extra ;-)

Measure twice - Cut once!

Ooooops

Select Elite Layup

Make flushing plates matching the foil profile.

Wax mould & plates.

Cut-out 2 layers of 200gsm plain weave

Carbon Cloth for each side of the fin head.

Mix Talc and chopped CF.

Add a touch of carbon black.

Layup each side of the mould.

Add special sauce and swing down fin jig.

Place top mould using dow pins and clamp shut.

Go to bed and allow resin to cure.

Resin cured, lever the mould halves apart.

Top half of mould removed, flushing plate still in place.

Flushing plate still in place.

Top flushing plate removed.
A few air bubbles, needed more filler!

Remove fin supports.

Apply pressure to fin tip to pop head from mould.

Head released.

Bottom mould with flushing plate.
Insert removed to make Deep Tuttle Heads.

Fin with jointline flash.

Flash Removed.

Pictures to come...

Drill holes for barrel nuts.

Drill clearance holes for screws.

Allow to cure for a few more days.

Sail!

Select Elite - What's inside...

2011-04-07T20:51:00.004+09:30

While cutting down a Select S10 from 57 to 39cm I was intrigued by the layup used. I use a full carbon skin on most of the fins I make(using a full carbon skin is easier to layup and looks cool), the Elite makes the most of carbons high modulus while minimising cost by not using it in the areas where it has less influence on flex and twist. There is also an outer layer of glass which will increase durability as carbon will wear down before glass fibre. It would be interesting to see if this layup is used for the entire foil length. I might try to peel back a few layers to see the type of weave used.

Select S10 Foil Section

Windsurfing Heart Rate

2011-04-03T22:26:00.005+09:30

I recently started wearing a heart rate monitor as I have always been interested in how intense a workout you get from various sporting activities. The primary use for my heart rate monitor(garmin 310XT) in my twice a week ride to and from work. I live in the hills and work on the plains and so it only takes me 25 minutes to get to work. Getting home is another story, it takes 50-60 minutes with the last 25 up the hill that I live on. I like this part of the ride best as it is a real mental game - do I push harder or keep a little in the tank for later. It is amazing how when you take the same route all the time you can tell if you are the slightest bit sick or went to bed too late(or got woken up by the baby more than usual). Riding to work I push a little to keep between 130 and 140 BPM(beats per minute). On the ride home I keep in the same range until I hit the hills, then I go to 150-160 BPM. I rarely go above 160 as I am reasonably fit and usually stay in the saddle. I can stand near the top of the hill in a higher gear and use a more anaerobic style to keep at 160 with more quad burn and dont mind this at all.

I have found that the cycling has been great for my knees as being tall, they have always been a bit loose and rattley. If I have been for a ride the ligaments and muscles support my knee joint much better. I have been holding off having an arthroscapy for torn and floating cartilage for as long as possible. Cycling is also excellent cross training for windsurfing. I never get any quad burn going on speed runs, nautical miles or hours.

One of the main features I wanted when shopping for heart rate monitors was that I wanted a waterproof, not water resistant unit. I wanted to be able to take the unit windsurfing!. The 310XT is a sealed waterproof unit that is charged from to external terminals on the back of the body. The unit also has an inbuilt GPS receiver but cannot be used for uploading as the interval is variable. Data is transferred via a wireless usb stick so there are no openings that have to be sealed each time you charge or retreive data.

Garmin 310Xt with Wireless USB receiver.

Charging Terminals.

The first time I took out the unit was a shocker, I ended up swimming most of the time(heart rate is not able to be transmitted while under water). The second session was more successful. I haven't used the monitor since as I always get my wetsuit and vest on and realise I need to put the sensor belt around my chest. I need to remember next time! The session I wore the unit was 15-20 knots with moderate chop and I mainly reached back and forth with the odd 10s of the wind. I transferred the data to the garmin training center software which shows a map of your tracks with a speed and heart rate graph. I found that I had peaks of 163 BPM and the end or during powered upwind legs on the way back from squirts off the wind. I also had high rates shortly after the gybe when pumping to maintain planing. These results were due to the anaerobic nature of the sailing at the time.

Anaerobic sailing:

Upwind when powered to over-powered.
Holding your breath, or erratic breathing during a gybe.
Pumping to get on or hold the board on the plane.

Garmin Training Center Software. Click to see animation.

My average heart rate for the session of 1 hours and 38 minutes was 143BPM and the calories burnt 1274. Average speed was 34.2 km/h and max was 61.1km/h. Sailing is similar to interval training and varying the heart rate is good for improving fitness.

I want to gather more data on this subject with a wide variety of conditions and equipment. It will be good to record the calories burnt with different types of sailing and comparing them to the figures I get with other activities.

Falcon Speed 45 & 51

2011-04-01T23:58:00.002+10:30

The new Fanatic Falcon speeds are online and look like they have some very nice go-fast features. There is a 51cm wide (65L - 230cm) and 45cm wide(54L - 228cm) board to complement the 85 which can be used as a light wind speed board.

Falcon Speed 45 (courtesy of the Fanatic Website)

Other features include...

- Extra Deep Deck Recess for Rig Stability
- S-Shape Volume Flow
- All New Feet Grab Rail Shape for Max Foot Comfort
- 70° Pintail for Clean Water Release/Reduced Drag Area
- V into Double Concave Speed Control Bottom
- Slight Tail Rocker for Maximum Free Speed Experience
- CAD Designed Speed Curves
- Straight Outlines

Check it out on the Fanatic Website HERE

Dakhla Festival 2011

2011-03-31T21:39:00.001+10:30

New Toys - Fanatic Falcon 111 & 134

2011-03-28T23:22:00.002+10:30

After many years of building my own boards I bought 2 Fanatic Falcons in 2006 - the 91 & 111. I found that the mono-concave tail didn't suit my weight and/or technique. The boards would spinout without warning and I moved on thinking that I was too heavy or powerful for the design. I really liked the lively feel and early planing of the boards and have always admired Fanatics commitment to quality in construction and design innovation. I have since had Starboards('07 121 & 94 iSonics) and JP's(Slalom IV 72, 104 & 134, Slalom V 92, Slalom VI 92 & 112).
With other brands now using cheaper construction methods without reducing their prices I am keen to have another go. After many hours on the Fanatic Forum I decided on a pair of Falcons, the l21 and 101. When I did a ring around I found that all of the stock in Australia was pretty much sold so with a wait until June on those sizes I went for my second option of a few demo boards, the 134 & 111.

Looking at all my session stats for the last few years my most used combos are a 68-69cm & 58-61cm boards and sails 6.7 to 7.8m. Combine this with my reduced TOW at the moment and my main abjective is to get out and sail in almost anything when I get a few hours to myself. The 134 seems to be pretty fast for its size but still an early planer so this will get a lot of use in the gusty winter winds. I wouldn't mind having a crack at my Big Board PB on an 84cm JP of 34.13. The 111 will be used with 7.8 & 6.2 Evo III's. I am trying a minimum quiver/ maximum range concept this year and hope that this is successful.

I hope to take a lot more measurements and do my own personal review of the 134 and 111(and any other falcons I might get ;).

Fanatic Falcon 134 & 111

Fanatic Falcon 111

Fanatic Falcon 134

Select S10 Vs S11 - Preview

2011-03-17T23:19:00.005+10:30

My new Select S10 & S11 fins arrived the other day and I am waiting for some wind to put them through their paces. The S11 is promoted as a more powerful and upwind orientated fin when compared to the S10. It is my inderstanding that the smaller S11's(Slam 25-39) are very similar in shape to the S07 and the Larger S11's (Race 41-61) are a completely new shape. The chord mid-line rake of the S10 & 11 are very similar and since the S11 has a larger area in the tip the leading edge is slightly more vertical.

The fins pictured are a 37cm S10 and 41cm S11.

The most noticeable differences in the plan view is obviously the tip area but when you look at the thickness the S11 is MUCH thicker in the tip. I will get the verniers out when I get the chance and compare the thickness ratios down each fin. Looking at the fin selector charts it looks like you can use a size smaller in S11 compared to S10 for the same drive amount of drive. It will be interesting to see how the different sizes compare across and downwind.

Similar mid-chord rake.

Tip area - S10 front, S11 back.

Tip thickness - S10 top, S11 bottom.

I took a few measurements of the fins at the base and tip(before the sweep on the leading edge).

S10

Base - Chord 103.7 - Thickness 9.8 - Thickness/Chord 9.5%

Tip - Chord 53.6 - Thickness 5.3 - Thickness/Chord 9.9%

S11

Base - Chord 108.4 - Thickness 9.3 - Thickness/Chord 8.6%

Tip - Chord 61.3 - Thickness 6.9 - Thickness/Chord 11.3%!!!

So both fins have a Thickness/Cord ratio that increases towards the tip but the S11increases by 2.7% compared to the S10's 0.4%!. This gives me the impression the fin will generate more lift from increased flex at the base and blocked twist at the tip with the thicker section.

JP Super Light Wind

2011-02-09T16:46:00.001+10:30

I took a bit of a gamble this year when choosing my light wind board and went for the new concept from JP which is the love child of a formula and large slalom board. I have used 80cm+ slalom boards for light winds in the past and found that even at 130+ litres they sat a little low in the water for my weight at sub-planing speeds. In 7-12 knots I use a 9.5m sail, combine this with 110kg body weight, harness, wetsuit etc and the surplus volume you thought you had soon gets taken up. There were also a few occasions that I thought there was enough pull in the sail put I just couldn't unstick the board and plane. The JP Super Light Wind (SLW) on paper corrects some of those shortcomings of a big slalom board for a heavyweight sailor, but would the board perform as intended?

Design

The width of the SLW is smack bang in the middle of a Formula(100cm) and XL Slalom Board(~80cm). The deck has the now standard(on jp performance flatwater boards) Race Deck but the pads are thicker in the heel area(white pad) than the slalom boards. This providing a little more softness in chop and also tones down the effect of the race deck. The tail planing width is 700mm providing ample leverage over fins into the low 60cm range. There is no tail rocker, a rocker flat of 700mm and a nose lift of 206mm. The rail shape and tuck is very similar to my Slalom VI 68.

Sailing

Getting into the straps isn't too hard once planing but may still take some getting used to if you are normally sailing smaller less racy boards. Once up and planing the ride is VERY stable. To some it may not be engaging enough but it really does allow you to just relax and enjoy the sensation of effortless planing. I tested the board with the Select S10 57(as recommended by Rik!) and this may have something to do with the boards excellent behaviour. I think the standard Slalom III 56 would work well for lighter sailors or bigger sailors fully powered on a 7.5m sail but I have not yet had the conditions to try it out. Gybing is easy but the fact that you are often sailing so fast compared to wind strength often means that you either get backwinded or have no drive after the rig flip. I am sure there are better approaches and timings that would set you up for a planing exit but this would take a little time to get dialled

Construction

The JP website states that the Pro Edition is constructed from Biax Carbon. This is NOT the case. The deck and hull are timber veneer and there may be carbon reinforement. This is the same construction that is used on the hi wind slalom models, not the light wind ones. The board feels solid and this may indeed increase durability for the target market of light wind performance freeride however, it does make the board feel less responsive and a little heavy. One thing is for sure, the website should be updated to reflect the true construction used. The construction feels very comfortable over chop but is a little slower as a result of it sticking a little in the troughs.

Overall

I think that the JP SLW delivers on its statement that "...this board simply widens the wind range where it is possible to get planing and have heaps of fun. It plans as early as Formula boards (which have been purely developed for racing and to go straight up and downwind) but it is a lot more fun."

If you are focused on SPEED in light winds then an XL slalom board is probably the go. You may not be planing as much as the SLW in "real world" light wind that can have big holes as compared to a race where it will be scratched if lulls are less than the minimum wind speed.

Video

New Toy - Fanatic Freewave 115

2011-01-30T13:00:00.000+10:30

I have just received my new B & J board, the 115 Freewave. The build quality is out of this world and as a result I will be a little cautious whe trying new moves. As well as the standard 29cm G10 fin I have purchased a Select 33 B & J for use with the bigger sail and for more POP! I will start with the straps outboard until I am able to do more aerial tricks, then move em in for more control.

Tail Cam Test Run

2010-10-19T17:26:00.001+10:30

At the Onboard Beachport weekend I finally had the chance to get some footage from a the ‘Tail Cam’ I have been working on. I first made the mount in January and tried it out on my mountain bike. I have since made improvements to its stability and safety but there is still a long way to go until I am 100% happy. Here is a short edit of some of the footage from the Sunday( 10-18 knot day) at Lake George. Unfortunately the lens slowly fogged up so the results should be better in summer.

Will to Win - Neil Pryde 40th Anniversary Book

2010-09-14T13:28:00.000+09:30

Neil Pryde have released a limited run of hardcover books celebrating the companys 40th anniversary. The book covers the history, the people & the sports of this iconic windsurfing brand. Part business book, part corporate history, part celebration, part biography, part sports narrative it is sure to interest anyone who has followed the sport for many years as well as those newbies wanting to know how windsurfing has shaped up to what it is today. I ordered my copy last night and look forward to seeing some of the old never before seen shots and stories.

Board Quiver 2011

2010-09-02T23:22:00.001+09:30

For 2011 I am trying to cover as many conditions and types of sailing as I can with 4 or 5 boards.

I hope to use these 4 boards with the following sails:
JP Super Lightwind - RSS MkIII 9.5 & RSR EvoIII 7.8
JP Slalom VI 68 - RSR EvoIII 7.8 & RSR EvoII 7.0
JP Speed 49 - RSR EvoII 7.0, RSR5.8 & RSR 5.0
Fanatic Freewave 115 - NP Excess 6.4 & 5.4

There are a few gaps there such as a 90L slalom but without our faster/flatter spots of the past I hope to spend a heap of time on the 68/7.8 combo again. I'm not sure how well the SLW will work with 7.8 but hopefuly it is as good as on the Slalom IV84 when it is gusty. I am keeping the 49 for the occasional trip to Sandy and some possible new SA speed locations I want to try out. I have always had a soft spot for the Fanatic freewave and decided to get on this year. I made the mistake of thinking I had to get a board smaller than my slalom so that I didn't "double-up". The JP 102 FSW didn't plane as early as I had liked for my weight and I had read in forum posts that the 112 actually felt a lot smaller than the quoted volume so the FW115 was the one to go for. I also like the graphics a lot more!

The Onboard Beachport X-perience

2010-09-01T23:16:00.000+09:30

The Onboard Beachport X-perience is on this October Long Weekend with something for everyone! There will be Wavesailing & SUP Expression Sessions in the surf and Speed & Racing on Lake George. The event is Sponsored by Onboard and will be run on the 2nd, 3rd & 4th of October 2010 with the 3rd day Freesailing/Paddling.

The format is simple:
Wavesailing expression Saturday and Sunday when and where the conditions suit at Beachport (Possibly Robe) with a riders vote determining the event winners!

SUP Freesurf when the conditions best suit with an expression session to select the top 4 surfers to battle it out in a final. Race on Sunday.

Speed Sailing (and Racing depending on conditions) on Lake George Saturday and Sunday with GPS results determining the speed winner!

Event Schedule: Wave & SUP @ Surf Beach
SATURDAY:
11:00am Conditions brief, Wavesail & SUP,
1:00pm BBQ Lunch and Drinks thanks to Onboard.
5:00pm Close of day. Dinner at the Beachport Hotel.
SUNDAY:
9:30am Conditions Brief, Wavesail & SUP.
12:30pm BBQ Lunch and Drinks thanks to Onboard.
5:00pm Close of Competition.
7:00pm Presentation at the Beachport Hotel and Dinner.
MONDAY:
Free Sailing / SUP day, More Coopers etc....

Event Schedule: Speed & Racing @ The Lake George Spit
SATURDAY:
11:00am Conditions brief, Speed & Racing .
1:00pm BBQ Lunch and Drinks thanks to Onboard
5:00pm Close of day. Dinner at the Beachport Hotel.
SUNDAY:
9:30am Conditions Brief, Speed & Racing
12:30pm BBQ Lunch and Drinks thanks to Onboard.
5:00pm Close of Competition,
7:00pm Presentation at the Spit or Beachport Hotel and Dinner.
MONDAY:
Free Sailing

The Onboard Beachport X-perience is free however we encourage sailors to sign up as members of Windurfing SA (or Victoria).

Come down and have an awesome weekend!

For Details on the Wave & SUP contact Pete at Onboard (08) 82943866
For Details on the Speed & Racing contact Tim on 0400 887 054

Last Session @ the Clayton Channel

2010-08-13T13:11:00.000+09:30

I edited this clip about a year ago but didn't get around to posting it. The wind was light and gusty from the north, great for long reaches but you had to gybe before the big lulls. The water was nice and flat and will be greatly missed by the local speedsailors.

JP Slalom Evolution

2010-08-08T00:08:00.003+09:30

The JP Slalom's have evolved into a range of world cup dominating shapes, but where did it all start?

The first range of dedicated slalom shapes was released in 2005. There were 3 sizes and they were a little different to other boards on the market with their square tails and compact outlines. Below is a brief summary of what developments and changes have been made throughout the Slalom's 6 years of evolution.

The Evolution of the JP Slalom Range!
(if the graph does your head in - read the specs below!)

Slalom I

94L - 235cm x 60cm - 5.3Kg

114L - 238cm x 70cm - 6.1Kg
134L - 238cm x 80cm - 6.8Kg

Slalom is becoming popular once again after being almost killed by un-friendly slalom boards of the late 90's.

Shape:
Short & wide - no unnecessary weight up front.

Channel bottom as used on most JP boards.
Straight & parallel rail towards the tail for straight line stability.

Slalom II

84L - 232cm x 55cm - 5.0Kg

94L - 234cm x 60cm - 5.3Kg

114L - 234cm x 70cm - 6.1Kg

134L - 238cm x 80cm - 6.8Kg

With the PWA Racing Format changed to Slalom 42 the range is increased to 4 boards.
There is no figure 8 slalom, only downwind.
Colour schemes now incorporate the now standard yellow & black.
Micah joins the JP team and bases his decision on testing the near final prototypes.

Shape:

Thinned out and flatter deck from mast track to nose to create a spoiler effect.

Optimised rail shape for increased comfort.

Slightly reduced tail width for a looser ride.

Tail cutouts with bigger openings for increased control & jibing.

Channel bottom is maintained.

Slalom III

69L - 240cm x 53cm - 5.0Kg
89L - 240cm x 59cm - 5.3Kg
109L - 240cm x 69cm - 6.1Kg
119L - 240cm x 79cm - 6.8Kg

The Chnnel Bottom is dropped in favour of a cleaner more traditional botom shape.
A range of 8 G10 slalom fins is released the complement the board range in 28, 30, 32, 34, 38, 42, 48 & 52cm sizes.

Shape:

Slightly longer shapes, especially in the smaller sizes.

All 4 boards have thinned volumes in the nose and center.

Rails thinner with reduced radius.

New constant radius deck shape around the strap area.

Straps slightly closer to centerline with more outline curve between the straps.

New smaller size(69L) is also a speed board option.

Tail cutouts modified on each size, smaller boards have smaller or no cutout.

Slalom IV

54 x 240cm - 70L - 4.9kg!!!
60 x 240cm - 84L - 5.3kg
68 x 240cm - 104L - 6.1kg
76 x 240cm - 114L - 6.6kg
84 x 240cm - 134L - 7.2kg

The range is now specified in board widths rather than volume.

Pro edition in Biax Carbon with silver limited finish.

GPS testing shows an average speed increase of 5km/h over the MkIII.

A fifth board is added to the range so that every rider can find the perfect match.

Shape:

Bottom curves adjusted for each size of board.

Tail cutouts adjusted to suit the requirements of each size.

Slalom V
54 x 236cm - 72L - 4.9kg!!!
60 x 238cm - 92L - 5.6kg
68 x 238cm - 112L - 6.3kg
76 x 238cm - 122L - 6.8kg
82 x 238cm - 132L - 7.1kg

Slalom is changed to 63- 6 sails and 3 boards have to be registered at the start of the racing season. Construction has been modified with a timber hull & carbon deck providing a softer feel in harsh chop. Antoine joins JP and continues his Slalom domination on boards developed by Werner & Micah.

Shape:
The mid sized boards have added volume, a lot of which is in the rails.

Slalom VI
56 x 235cm - 81L - 5.4kg

59 x 235cm - 92L - 5.8kg

65 x 235cm - 101L - 6.3kg
68 x 235cm - 112L - 6.5kg
76 x 235cm - 121L - 6.7kg
82 x 235cm - 132L - 7.2kg

The range of boards is increased to 6 with a new concept of 3 boards for lighter sailors & 3 for heavier sailors.
The smaller boards now feature a timber deck also and high speed comfort increases.
This is at the expense of a slight increase in weight.

Shape:
Smaller sizes now have a double concave running into a flat vee in the tail.
Larger sizes have a constant flat vee throughout.
Outline straightened between the straps and tail widened for a more parallel stance.
New race deck for increased comfort and control at speed.
Deck pads are increased in thickness.

Slalom IV Range

Slalom V 92

Slalom VI 92

Totally Wild Windsurfing

2010-07-02T22:27:00.000+09:30

The Onboard crew made an appearance on national TV this morning on Totally Wild.

Totally Wild is a kids show that screens at 8am and so I usually miss it, and I did on this occasion also. The filming was done late last year and I took the day off on a shocking forecast but still got planing for the camera when the wind picked up to 8-10 knots. I make an appearance at 2:10 & 4:25 on my 9.5 RS Slalom. I had given up on the show ever screening...

It was a great opportunity to promote our sport of windsurfing!

New Cub in the Pack

2010-06-10T00:37:00.000+09:30

I can't believe I have a daughter!

I have a Son and 3 Nephews in the family and so we were all blown away when Isla arrived on Monday @ 1:14 pm. I haven't been on the water for 2 Months! My Wife has been so sick and our first arrived early so I have been on standby for an early arrival. Isla loves the water like her Father and Brother!

Neil Pryde High Performance Road Bikes

2010-05-21T12:42:00.000+09:30

Neil Pryde are set to release a range of High Performance Road Bikes. No pictures available yet but I want one! Here is the press releaase from the Pryde Group Site:

NeilPryde, the flagship brand within the Pryde Group and the world’s leading Windsurfing Sail and Rig supplier announces the introduction of NeilPryde branded high performance road bicycles planned for launch in the second half of 2010.

The new product line will capitalise on the company’s reputation for cutting edge high performance equipment manufactured in carbon composite materials.

Neil Pryde, founder of the Pryde Group commented on the move:

“A high proportion of the NeilPryde customer base share our passion for cycling and we are confident that our customers will appreciate the performance and elegant engineering in the NeilPryde Bikes.”

The design of the bicycles is a collaboration with BMW Group DesignworksUSA.

The Pryde Group plans the launch of the high-end carbon fibre road bikes mid 2010 with product sold direct to consumers via the Internet and through a select dealer network in key markets. The program will be fully supported by professional consultants and after-sales service.

New Toy - JP 102 FSW

2010-05-15T21:24:00.003+09:30

Picked up my new JP 102 Freestyle Wave during the week after selling my JP 92 Slalom. It was a hard decision and if I could afford the luxury I would have kept both boards. With our SA speed spots gone and a another baby on the way I am hoping this will be the answer to getting my sailing fix after work on the local coast when the summer seabreezes kick in.

I am going to use it with the 6.4 & 5.4 Excess with the option of putting the RSR 7m on it occasionaly. I am really looking forward to mixing it up a bit as I am getting a little tired of the 1 dimensional sailing I have been doing for the last few years.
I wasn't sure about the boards colour scheme when it was first released but I have to say it is really growing on my. I went for the bombproof FWS construction as I want something a little softer in the chop and from landing big airs.

RS:Racing Evo III

2010-05-13T21:26:00.002+09:30

Robert Stroj Interview (NeilPryde Design) care of the NP Website.

RS:RACING EVOIII and the Integrated Compact Clew

Q. Some of the top NeilPryde Team Riders will be racing on the EVOIII this season. Why?

As with any very new development it’s always a challenge to get all the little details 100% right and it took a longer time to finalize the design than was originally planned. We wanted to make sure that there was plenty of testing before the sail gets introduced to the market.

For those reasons we decided to have only our international team register and use the new RS:RACING EVOIII sails during the 2010 racing season so that we can introduce fully tested sails to the market later this year.

Q. Will there be a difference in the EVOIII sails introduced to the market later in the year from the ones the Team Riders are using now?

The sails introduced to the market will be the same designs as used by the team during the season, but will be introduced in new colors and different graphics.

This is a very similar concept to the current EVOII Limited Edition sails which are exactly the same designs as the regular 2009 EVOII sails, just with new graphics and colors.

Q. What is new with this sail design?

With this sail we introduce the Integrated Compact Clew where, in comparison to the current Dynamic Compact Clew, we have eliminated the cutout at the clew and connected the foot area with the leech by closing the sail behind the boom end.

I have been thinking about this clew concept since my time at ART. After the introduction of the Compact Clew that came out on the RS5 at the end of 2004 I was hoping to be able to take this concept one step further and use all the advantages of the Compact Clew without having to compromise the outline of the sail.

Q. How does it work and what are the advantages?

The real advantage of this concept is that there is a tension connection between the foot edge and lower leech. This helps to keep the foot of the sail from blowing out in gusts and also makes the whole leech twist, harmonically, getting even more out of the advantages already associated with the regular Compact Clew.

In addition, there is the benefit of a cleaner sail outline, when compared to the Dynamic Compact Clew, and therefore better aerodynamics as it is not necessary to have a clew cutout.

In comparison to regular sails with a clew on the back edge of the profile the EVOIII has all the benefits common with the Dynamic Compact Clew: improved lower leech twist and much reduced draft movement due to the lower leech ability to create reflex behind the boom which releases excessive power and effectively locks the draft forward.

After long development (since May 2009) we ended up designing a very simple and precise sliding rail system for sail closure behind the boom. It works similar to a zip but is much stronger and incorporates a batten to support this area as well as evenly distributing the high load coming from the clew grommet.

With this system being very new we decided, like previously mentioned, to ensure it is fully tested prior to introducing new sails to the market.

DIY - Booms - Shortening an X9 Boom!

2010-04-04T22:20:00.000+09:30

I bought an X9 260 boom CHEAP(bargain of the century) as we do not have any formula sailors in my area. My biggest sail is a 9.5 RSS MkIII with a boom length of 238/240 so I wanted to cut down the 260 to suit. The next "standard" x9 down is the 225 but this would mean 15cm of extension - I wanted it as stiff as possible with minimum extension but with a little flexibility for fine adjustment. I have a 180 and 200 X9 also and checked the lengths of the large diameter end of the boom(that sleeves the tail) and found the 180 & 200 are from the same tooling and the 225 & 260 are from the same tooling( as far as the start of the larger dimater goes). Or to put it another way the 200 has about 80cm of tail tube( and can be cut down to the 180) and the 260 has 100cm (and can be cut down to 225). I decided that a 230 would be best and everything went well. I would not recommend doing it if resale value is a high priority(as it is no longer standard) but if you want a customised boom to suit your particular quiver of sails that you will keep forever then it is a good option. Measure twice and cut once!

I will add some words to the slides when I get the chance...

DIY - Fins - Making a Mould - Step 1

2010-03-22T22:28:00.000+10:30

There are many reasons why you may want to mould your own fins - you may want to save money, to make a shorter copy of a favourite fin or improve the performance of a fin in certain conditions. In my case I want to experiment with Twist, Flex & Fin Rake. By making a durable mould many fins (10+) can be made with little or no damage to the mould itself. If you are wanting to make 1-3 fins, there is a quicker and cheaper method I will cover in DIY – Fins – Making a fin Mould – Quick Mould.

If you have a range of fins from the same family use the longest to make the mould from. I am making the mould using a Select 39cm SL7. These are great fins and 39 is the biggest you can buy.

Materials and Equipment

You will need and Epoxy System(resin & hardener) for making fins and this same system can be used to make a durable mould. By adding fillers such as Talc, Carbon Black and Aluminium powder you can make a variety of gelcoats, putties and fillers that can do just about anything related to fins and moulds. I buy 500ml PP(polypropylene) cups from a health food shop to use for mixing the resin and fillers together. They are cheap and can be re-used if not damaged and are the perfect size for the resin quantities required.

To mix the resin and work with the filler you will need to make some spatulas. Power hack saw (& plain hack saw) blades work well as they are thin and stiff and can be ground easily with a variety of fillets on the tip for mixing and filleting. You will need to grind the teeth off of the cutting edge to make cleaning easier.

The powersaw blades are also great for making a blending stick, stick sand paper of different grades to each side using double sided tape and you have a flexible sanding or blending stick. These are handy for doing board repairs when you have to sand down filler flush with the surface of the board.

For making the mould you will need some scraps of MDF of melamine coated chipboard. I prefer the melamine as you dont need to seal the surface and therefore save time when building the mould. MDF will allow a finer edge when cut with a jigsaw.

Plastic putty or Car Bog is required when setting up the fin on parting plane. To clean-up the putty put some metho in a detergent squeeze bottle and label it!. Another useful tool is a scraper or chiseled end on the filleting tool or spatula to use for shaping and cleaning of partially cured(green) bog.

Here is the first stage of making the fin mould...

DIY - Heel Crack & Dent Repair

2010-02-28T23:17:00.005+10:30

Heel dents or cracks are much less common these days with the advent of foot pads on all boards. In the old days(before pads were standard) it was obvious if a crack had started. These days you may not even know you have them until you see water dripping from the bottom edge of the pad. On slalom boards they usually only occur on the back foot heel area.

The last board I made had some cracks appear. It was not because the layup was too light, it was just sailed a lot in chop. I have lots of offcuts of the materials used in board manufacture so I could keep the repair light. If you dont have access to these you could fill the foam region with polyurethane foam but some have a lower than required density and can crush more easily than the eps core.

I use the West Systems 105 epoxy. You can buy a pump pack that dispenses the exact ratio of resin and hardener to take the guess work out of mixing the correct ratio.

Here is how I went about repairing the damage.

Step 1

Remove the pads with minimum damage. This can usually be started from a curved or pointed corner. If the pad starts to tear you may need to slice the area that is not peeling with a sharp blade to help it along. If the dent or crack only affects a small area under the pad you may only need to peel the local area of pad away.

Now that you have cleared the pad away from the affected are proceed the press the deck around the crack or dent to identify where it has softened. Mark with a pencil the border of the affected area. This is the area you wil be removing as the material is damaged and needs replacing. With a sharp chisel you should be able to carefully shave the laminate away. Work from the pencil line in and try to angle the cuts so that the laminate on the edge will have a large bonding area.

The pvc sandwich foam should now be exposed. I then use a dremel tool to grind away all of the damaged pvc and eps core foam in a smooth concave shape.

Step 2

With some tracing paper copy the outline of the pvc foam and transfer the shape on to a cardboard template. Cutout the template and copy it in pvc foam.

Do the same again only this time copy the eps foam outline onto a piece of eps foam.

Cut out each of the pieces of foam to the outline with a snap off knife. Now you need to sand the eps foam so that it neatly fills the void in the eps. It is not a problem if you go too far, it is a problem if it sits high though as this will be reducing the amount of pvc foam you can apply. Now with the eps sitting in place do the same with the pvc foam and fill the void. You do not need to get the top of the foam sitting below the skin as we will sand this down after the foams are cast into place. Use 6mm foam as you will have to sand it down to blend with the board. If you use 3mm you don't have as much freedom and the fit of the foam cutouts needs to be more exact.

Use the pvc foam template to cut out 2 layers of 6oz glass cloth.

Step 3

Mix up some resing with microbaloons to a cream consistency, that is with minimum sag. Butter up the polystyrene block and the hole it is going to fill. Place the block in the hole and push it in so that it is level or just below the line of the existing eps foam. Now spread the excess filler (that is squeezing out around the block) over the top of the block and the edge of the pvc foam.

Pre-wet the glass patches with pure resin and place them on the block making sure that the edges of the glass finish on the pvc.

Now butter up the back of the pvc blocks and push them into place just enough so that filler is squeezed out evenly beneath the block. Tape the block into place starting from the center and working out with vertical strips. Leave the resin to cure overnight.

Step 4

Once the resin has cured remove the tape and fair the foam with the body of the board. Work with a block and coarse paper of about 40 grit until nearly flush and then go down to 80 grit. A surform is the best tool to use if you can get your hands on one.

With the foam flushed off cut out a glass patch slightly bigger in size than the outline of the pvc foam. Cut out about 6 patches or so for heal repairs with each patch slightly larger than the last to feather the edge of the final laminate. Mask of the area outside of the largest patch to stop resin running over the board.

Mix up some resin and a small amount of microbaloons to butter up the pvc before laying up the patches. Allow to cure and then sand back smooth in preperation for a final primer and topcoat. If the layup has low points that wont be filled by paint fill them with microbaloons and sand flush.
Paint the repair with primer and then top coat to match the colour of the board. Polish to blend the top coat and re-apply the pads(and non-skid if required) using contact adhesive such as selly's quik grip.

JP Slalom VI 92

2010-02-08T13:08:00.009+10:30

After much anticipation my new "real world" speed board has arrived - the JP Slalom VI 92. I previously had the Slalom V 92 which was a good board that planed early and gybed like a dream but I just felt that is didn't have quite the top end off the wind that I was looking for.

Design
The new board is 1 cm narrower than the V at 59 so this was a good start. There is a nice double convave that runs until 50cm from the tail and washes out into a panel vee. What suprised me is that there is 1.5mm of tail kick, this combined with the overall width might reduce the early planing capability a bit but the wider 41cm tail probably negates it. Once up and planing though the board feels looser and softer over harsh chop than the V. First time into the straps the wedge under the toes is really noticible and care needs to be taken not to over-commit to an upright stance. I found that it was easier to hook in when traveling a little faster and when the body was more out-board rather than hooking in too early when the body is more upright. This is because the toes have to point a little more upward when placing them in the strap and is only a problem on lazy hooked in starts. The ride is also softer with 5mm pads, I think the old ones were about 3mm.

Sailing
I have only had 1 session so far on the board but will add to this section when I have more TOW. Initial feel is that the board will need a little more than the 31 cm fin I was using with a 7m when conditions are choppy. I found that the board got a little rolly and even though the nose didn't really lift a little more tail lift would help the ride. I am getting a 34 Venom and hope this will suit the 7m EvoII when well powered up. I have a JP Sallom III 36 for gustier days and to also try out the 7.8 RS Slalom on lighter days. I feel that the board will take the 7.8 slalom easily as it is quite a light yet powerful sail.

Construction
The 59 has a timber deck and hull which gives it a more robust and slightly heavier feel. Last years 92 had a timber hull and carbon deck and even then you could feel the veneer dampening the ride and softening the feel of the board through chop compared to the full carbon slalom IV's. The veneer is just visible through the silver paint and is well sealed from drying out, a problem that some of the more "visible" veneered boards have. It does feel heavier than the V but I think the robust feel is more of an advantage. I have heard that the bigger boards are still full carbon but am unsure of when the transition in construction occurs.

Video

Reconditioned HMR S66

2010-01-14T23:00:00.002+10:30

I have finally finished repairing the last board I made, a 66cm slalom board in timber veneer with CF tail cutouts. There was some water in the board from heel cracks caused by sailing 1000's of km in Boggy Lake chop. I wanted the core to dry out as much as possible and have had it sitting in the roof of my shed for a year ( I also had a JP68 to sail as well...). Here is the finished result.

I wanted to hide a bit more of the timber veneer on the deck and went for the primer with the timber just peeking through. Non skid is always a problem to source, I can't get hold of the re-dek system that I have used in the past. I tried a spray on non-skid product that some guys are using on SUP boards but is just too fine and is really meant for tiles on steps and slippery areas. In the end I went for the old sugar deck on epoxy which will yellow a bit with age but provides extreme non skid grip.

DIY Enclosed Trailer

2010-01-08T13:47:00.006+10:30

After years of loading and unloading station wagons enough was enough. I needed an enclosed trailer so that I could simply hitch up and head of for some TOW. I looked at what was available on the market and nothing really suited my needs which were...

Take all of my gear each time I go sailing.
Fit everything inside rather than the boards being on top racks.
Allow the possibility to sleep inside.
Have a low drag body for minimal fuel consumption.
Have the same track as my sedan.
Not sit too high above the roof line of my sedan.
Have a long drawbar for towing stability and ease of reversing.
Transport building materials when doing jobs around the house.

Here are some shots of construction and the finished product.

I have a lot of experience in composites and have made 10 or so boards so building a trailer was the way to go. After looking at several different fabrication type construction methods such as steel and aluminium I decided I would use a similar contruction to that used in wooden boats. This method was also different to anything I have seen(in trailers) so I wanted to give it a try. An outer shell would be glued to a wooden framework that was to form a self supporting structure that would be bolted to a welded steel chassis. This was going to be more labour intensive but would give me the seamless result I was after.

I started sketching and modelling forms that were aerodynamic, utilised the materials strong points and maximised internal storage volume. I also added a few features such as "frenching" the tail lights and pumping the guards. I will post each stage of the build process seperately. The stages are...

Design
Chassis
Body Frame
Skin
Finishing

Gear for Sale - 10-11-09

2009-11-10T21:16:00.003+10:30

1 X5 Boom Head $50 (new)$30 (used)
2 Hydrodynamix Boom Head $50 (new)
3 North Pro Comp Boom Head $50 (used)
4 NP carbon boom tail 2002 $125 (pinless, new)
5 X6 Carbon Tail $70 (new)
6 North Pro Comp Tail $40 (used)
7 Pryde Harness Lines 24" $15 (used)
8 Maui Sails Harness Lines:18", 20", 22" $20 ea (all new)
9 20-24" Adjustables $30 (new)

10 HPL Tail Pins $15 (new)

11 X5 Boom Tail Pins $15 ea (new)

12 Z mast cups $5 (both sizes - new)

13 NP Roof Rack Pads $25/pair, 2 for $40 (new, rrp$50)

14 NP Deck Plates $5 (new)

15 Mast Base Pins $5 ea (new, have lots)
16 RDM/SDM 30cm extension $50 (new)

17 NP uxt extension 48cm $30 (used)

18 Sunshine extension 48cm $15 (used - needs twin pin base)

JP Slalom VI

2009-11-04T13:07:00.007+10:30

The JP Slalom VI range has just been made public after lots of leaks in forums around the world!

Check it out here on the JP website:

http://www.jp-australia.com/2010/index.php?id=462

The range has increased from 5 to 6 boards with an innovative rider weight/height based sizing system:

Smaller sailors:56 - 65 - 76 wide boards

Bigger sailors:59 - 68 - 82 wide boards

There is mention of the bigger boards having a vee hull up front and the smaller designs having double concaves up front but it is unclear whether the range for bigger sailors all have vee and the smaller sailors all have double concave.

If the ranges are designed differently it may make it harder for the go fast weekend sailor who wants a 2 board combo to choose! I was considering the 82-65 combo but think I will go the 59 and keep my Slalom IV84.

Some changes of note are:

The small slalom in the range is a little bigger - from 54cm/72L up to 56cm/81L
The 92L slalom in the range is a little narrower - from 60cm down to 59cm but with a wider tail. I would have thought that it could still take a 7.8 but now only the ideal sail sizes are shown in the board data. The ideal sail range has gone from 6.2-7m on the slalom V to 5.5 to 7.0m on the slalom VI.
Toe wedges are included as part of the board. This will be great when maxed but I hope it doesn't cause problems banking the front foot in the gybe and then removing the foot from the strap in the transition.
All tail widths are wider increasing their fin carrying capacity and directional stability.

DIY - Batten Repair

2009-10-22T22:30:00.003+10:30

Here is a simple Do-It-Yourself repair of a glass or carbon tube / rod batten.

The most common area(I have found) for batten damage & breakage is the join between the middle and tail tube rods on the cross batten. This joint is under enormous load when sailing & when rotating the sail(on water or land). Another common cause of damage is when carrying the sail and you happen to catch the end of the cross batten overhanging the clew on something solid.

A break in the batten is easy to spot with the sail rigged. There will be a kink in the batten that is usually a smooth transition (with a small step) between the batten tubes. The degree of the break can vary from a crack in the batten which appears as only a small kink in the sail profile right up to a full break where the batten halves flex easily and a sharp kink in the profile can be seen. It is possible to sail with a cracked batten but more damage can possibly occur by doing so and the draft will move around more than usual.

Batten Construction

Tube rod battens are usually constructed in 3 parts:

The first part of the batten is a solid pultruded fibreglass rod that is about 8.4mm in diameter. The sides(windward and leeward) are tapered towards the tip that is inserted into the camber inducer. This allows the leading edge of the sail to have a nice progressive curve towards the tip.
The second part of the batten is the middle tube rod. This is a pultruded fibreglass tube that is lighter and stiffer than a fibreglass rod of the same geometry. It has an outer diameter of 10.4mm(1mm wall) and fits neatly over the solid batten tip. This area of the foil still has some shape but is much stiffer than the tapered area of the batten tip.
The third part of the batten is the tail tube rod. This is also a pultruded fibreglass(or carbon) tube that is stiffer again than the middle tube as it is 12.75mm in diameter and a slightly thicker wall. This part of the batten forms the trailing edge of the profile and helps to lock the draft and deepest part of the profile forward in the sail.

Each of these batten section are glued and pinned together. The joint is then reinforced with fibreglass tape and covered with a head shrink plastic coating to smooth the layup while wet. The heat shrink also reduces the wearing on the inside of the batten pocket and protects hands from fibreglass splinters. It pays to remove your camber battens once in a while to check for cracking of the heat shrink as this is a sure sign that the fibreglass reinforcement has fractured beneath. If this has occured and the batten joint seems to be ok, remove the heatshrink and fibreglass tape with a chisel and re-apply some more glass tape with epoxy. See the final stages of the repair below for details on applying the tape.

Below is an exploded view of the standard tube rod joint(between the middle and tail tube)

Inspecting the Damage

To repair the batten we first need to inspect what type of damage has occured. As mentioned above if the heat shrink is cracked and you can see the fibreglass reinforcement has fractured(white furry looking cracks) then at the very least the glass will need to be re-applied. The batten might be completely broken and once removed from the pocket it may only be held together by a web of heatshrink. In either case the heatshrink needs to be removed and the batten prepaired for the repair.

Peel the heat shrink off after scoring it lightly with a sharp knife. Be sure not to damage the section of the batten that in not reinforced.
Remove the fibreglass with a chisel. With the batten placed genly in a vice(with a rag protecting the batten from the jaws) guide the chisel by placing the underside on the carbon tube and the cutting edge towards the glass reinforcement. Gently remove the glass in narrow strips being sure not to damage the end of the larger tube. The stainless steel joint pins will now be visible.
Flex the smaller rod lightly to see firstly if there is movement and the joint seperates from the large tail tube, and secondly if there are any cracks that open under load. If neither of these occur will not need to remove the pins in step 4 . Place some tape around the middle batten and butt it up to the edge of the tail batten to show how far the tube is sleeved. Place a ring of tape on the end of the tail batten(but not over the pins) and draw a line on both pieces of tape on the top along the centreline to show the way the rods should be aligned when the pins are removed.
Removed the joint pins by knocking them out with the point of a small nail or a pin punch. The pins will still need to be removed if the middle batten tip is broken and is sitting inside the tail tube because we need to place a rod down the centre that spans the joint.

Repairing the Joint
The cheapest and easiest way to repair the break is by placing a small piece of rod batten inside of the joint. Pryde wave sails use rod battens constructed from the same material as the tapered tip on the tube rod battens. This means they are great to use for the repair and your local shop may have one that they can spare, if not a piece of one.
Cut a piece of rod 70mm long and lightly sand the outside to remove any release agend that may be left from the manufacturing process. Add a 1mm chamfer to both ends to aid insertion and to allow glue stay on the contact surfaces. Check that the rod fits easily into the end of the middle tube rod. If the rod is too tight or doesn't fit keep sanding the outside in even strokes until it does.

With everything sanded to fit you can start gluing the components together in stages. Use 5 minute araldite(epoxy adhesive) and glue the rod inside the middle tube rod, leaving the ends flush. Once the adhesive has cured, drill out the pin holes through the inner rod using the outer rod holes to guide the drill. Check that the joint pins fit in the drilled holes.

Now glue the middle tube to the tail tube rod using the tape & markings to correctly align the pin holes. Re-fit the pins before the adhesive has cured and allow it to set.
Once the adhesive has cured it is time to reinforce the joint. The easiest and cleanest reinforcement to use is glass tape(20mm) or ribbon but if you have worked with composites before plain weave carbon or glass cloth will do. The advantage of the tape is the ease of which it can be wound and its thickness varied. It is also easier to get a high glass content as excess resin is forced out in the winding motion.
Lightly sand the rod 40mm either side of the joint and mix up a small batch of epoxy resin. You will need a small brush (or spatula if proficient) and some electrical tape. If possible leave the glass tape on the roll in case you need more during the wetting out process. If you don't have the glass on a roll you can wind it around a piece of dowel and have a handle making it easier to put tension on the tape. You will need 30cm or so per repair and it is handy to have some spare in case you have to repair another batten.
Start by wetting out the first 10cm of tape. Wind the tape onto the middle rod end of the join with the dowel or centre of the roll on the opposite side of the tape to the batten. This allows you to keep tension on the roll. Wind the tape onto itself until you feel it gripping and then proceed to wind towards the join wetting the tape out as you go. Overlap by about a half tape width so that you have 2 layers of glass minimum over the joint. You might want to wind the tape around the middle rod just as it meets the tail rod to reduce the step up to the larger rod. Continue winding over the join until you reach the other end of the sanded area. Cut the glass of at a point which is still dry and wrap it around the batten with the brush to wet out.
With the electrical tape(preferably black) attach it to the batten just before the area you started winding the tape and proceed to wrap it over the glass tape with a small amount of pressure to remove and trapped air and excess resin. Finish the tape past the wetout glass tape and allow it to cure for 24 hrs. Dont worry about the excess resin sitting on the tape as this will crack off when the tape is removed.

When the resin has cured remove the tape and if there are any lumps lightly sand them out. It is a good idea to wrap the join in electrical tape again to protect the batten pocket from damage due to wear over time. Your batten is repaired and you are good to go. You can use the above method to replace broken batten sections with new ones if you can get your hands on the right diameter glass or carbon pultrusion. This would maintain the exact batten curve but is obviously a more expensive option.

Glascraft Goodies

2009-10-20T12:49:00.003+10:30

I along with others had fun at the recent Glascraft Auction. There was a lot of Maui Sails gear as well as some Pryde stuff left over from when they were the state agents. I picked up a few bargains as did others. Some even had a choice of colours to match their existing sails!

Here are some spares & replacements for sale:

NP carbon boom tail 2002 $125 (pinless, new)
X6 Carbon Tail $70 (new)
X6 28mm Carbon Tail $40 (suits NP160 & down, used)
X5 Boom Head $50 (new)
X5 Boom Head $30 (used)
X5 Boom Tail Pins $10 ea (new)
North Pro Comp Boom Head $50 (used)
North Pro Comp Tail $40 (used)
RDM/SDM 30cm extension $50 (new)
Mast Base Pins $5 ea (new, have lots)
Maui Sails Harness Lines:
18", 20", 22" $20 ea (all new)
20-24" Adjustables $30 (new)
Maui Sails Boom Tail Pins $10 ea (new)
NP Roof Rack Pads $25/pair, 2 for $40 (new, rrp$50)

Note: The X5 head can be used to repair an X6/X3 boom in sizes 180 & up.
The X6 Carbon Tail can be used on an x3 boom also!

Gear for Sale - 26-9-09

2009-09-26T13:08:00.004+09:30

I have more gear for sale:

JP Slalom IV 84 - $1300 - Excellent Condition(on right)

Carbon Art SP44 - $1250 - Good Condition

Neil Pryde RS Racing (2007) 6.7m - $550 - Good Condition

Neil Pryde RS Racing (2007) 5.0m - $650 - Excellent Condition

Select SL7 - 27cm - 2008 - $120

Neil Pryde X3 UXT 28 - $45 each

North Sails base (offset~15mm) - $50

Will allow longer range than mast track!

Gun Sails Downhaul Winch - $30

Garmin GPS 72 - $150

Includes Data/Power cable

Home Again

2009-09-11T13:41:00.003+09:30

I am relieved to be home at last after my corrective heart procedure. The PFO(hole or flap that usually seals over after birth) was successfully fitted with an occluder that will completely grow over with tissue within a few months. This might just give me a chance to finish off a few movie edits, repair some gear and add to my blog some of the DIY articled I have promised.

Here are pre and post release images of the device sitting in the hole with the delivery cable.

Thankyou to everyone for their best wishes, I look forward to seeing you on the water.

New S Boom Profile

2009-08-18T21:32:00.004+09:30

Neil Pryde have release a new range of booms for 2010 with many new features including an S profile in the arms.

"The clock has long been ticking for conventional boom design, and that’s because the performance has been held hostage by simple physics. It’s simpler eally; as wind pressure increases, a straight or convex boom effectively becomes shorter as it bends in response to increasing sail load, making the sail fuller, less efficient and harder to manage.(Ask your forearms, they’ve been putting up with it for years). Everybody make way for the new convention; the ‘S’ profile boom. The unique shape commands the sail to retain its shape and length whatever the breeze, providing a more stable andpredictable delivery, and more useable power. The ‘S’ profile is standard this season acrossthe entire NeilPryde range, so everyone can get their hands on it."

I am sure that this will help when loaded up on a slalom course with high apparent wind but I kinda like the boom arms giving way slightly and giving the sail more depth when going deep off the wind, a bit of natural nos. I am told it is only 10mm or so that the boom varies from a conventional profile and with the new race and slalom sails requiring more outhaul and clearance from the boom this should not compromise tuning. However the boom may touch more sail on older sails when bagged such as the RSR. I am looking forward to checking them out when they arrive in the shops.

The X9 feature new

box section tails that

increse in width in the

larger boom sizes.

Grundys 8 Aug 2009

2009-08-08T21:54:00.004+09:30

Well I have finally had a decent session at Grundys(Goolwa - Clayton channel) and feel that I have a taste of what this strip has to offer. I rigged big with a NM PB the focus of the day. It is such an effort to get gear to the waters edge that I did not have the motivation to rig my 6.2 which may have helped the team with a better peak and 10s average. I already had 3 boards and 2 sails out there as the initial forecast was predicting 15-20. We ended up scoring 15-25 early with with winds increasing to 20-30 later with occasional 35 knot gusts.

I also improved my alpha 500 as it was perfect in the top corner with plenty of wind and flattish water. I have since checked the track and found a 26.56 at 51 metres, I might have to see if other software calculates the track within the 50m radius! Unfortunately I ran out of card space on my headcam and would have liked to have mixed a video of the alpha track and video footage, maybe next time.

I analysed my NM and have learnt a lot, I pulled up a little early and also hit a few lulls through the run which I cant do much about. I think if we get another day with a similar direction and more consistent wind 37+ will be easily achieved.

Today I spent 10 hours trying to find the best way to incorporate a speed readout from the gps data in a head cam video. I can get it to play as a subtitle but embedding the subtitle for further editing it the hard part. Most software keeps it as an option for DVD playback. I had a bit of fun putting the 2D projection down the side.

JP Speed Boards

2009-08-03T13:29:00.006+09:30

The much anticipated JP Speed boards have finally been released to the public. I have had a 49 on order for a while and hope to receive the beast at the start of September. Apparently Antoine is going to use the range of speed boards in Karpathos, they include a 54(73L), 49(65L) & 45(53L) an come with a G10 fin(28, 26 & 24 cm). MVM has already been sailing them so there will be a number of JP/Pryde combos around. I hope to use it as a step down from the JP60 with predominantly 7 .0& 6.2. Watch this space for more info in the coming weeks...

See the range in more detail on the JP site:
http://www.jp-australia.com/2010/index.php?id=409

Here is an interview with Antoine as a flash file:

http://jpaus01.web.cdx.at/video/medium/speed_640x360_1600kbps.flv

Gear for Sale 09-07

2009-07-29T14:13:00.006+09:30

I have more gear for sale:

JP Slalom IV 68 - $1390 - Excellent Condition

Carbon Art SP44 - $1290 - Good Condition

Neil Pryde RS Racing (2007) 7.8m - $690 - Excellent Condition

Neil Pryde RS Racing (2007) 6.7m - $590 - Good Condition

Neil Pryde RS Racing (2007) 5.0m - $690 - Excellent Condition

Ka Koncept 2006 9.0m - $300 - Good Condition

NP 520 Race Pro 100% Carbon mast to suit $200

6 months on...

2009-06-27T21:41:00.006+09:30

It is six months since I had a stroke on Christmas day and although most of the feeling has returned to my right side I still have the occasional "bad day". Most bad days are compounded by having to work in man made environments in front of a pc. After six months of tests the probable cause appears to be a hole in my heart that showed up in an echo. This hole allows small clots to short cut a path to the brain rather than being filtered by the lungs. I will be on asprin daily for the rest of my life. The best therapy I find is time outside with my wife and 2 year old and of course windsurfing.

My hope for the next six months is for my health to keep on improving and my level of strength and fitness to increase. I am currently 110kg(which is great for speed sailing) and hope to get down to 105kg which will suit my new focus of slalom and marathon racing. There are 5 events in the pipeline for this summer and since we will be losing a lot of our speed locations in the lower lakes(flow restricters will be utilised to raise the lower lakes to pre-drought levels) I am really excited about the buzz of racing and the burn of marathons. It is less a case of the lucky gust and more a case of best man wins! I still love speed sailing but I dont want it to headline my sailing menu as much as it has in the past, I want to taste a few more dishes!

Light Wind Cruiser - JP Slalom IV 134

2009-06-10T00:13:00.003+09:30

I had a light wind cruise on the JP Slalom IV 134 at Goolwa on Monday(8/6/09) in about 10-15 knots. Man I love this board, it is just so much fun in light breeze and is the only floater I have. The other great thing is that I could be out on the 7.8 with either the 92 or 104 with the wind dropping out - whack in this baby and you are going again in a few minutes, no 15+ minutes to rig another sail. Also gybes like a smaller board with relatively thin rails and stays or hovers above the water if it does pick up again.
I also tried the new Select Proslam 47 for the first time, and although I wasn't powered it showed nice speed off of the wind(~30) and still held a reasonable angle heading back upwind. I look forward to more time on this big gear with some slalom & marathon events that are in the pipeline.

I also caught a bit of footage tailing Carl & Joe. At least the water is flat when it is this light...
I looked at the camera after the run and noticed condensation inside the housing and thought the video would not turn out at all. In the end it is slightly blurred but still shows the action.

Gear for Sale

2009-05-30T13:04:00.005+09:30

I have the following gear for sale:

Select SL7 - 27cm - 2008 - $120

Neil Pryde X3 UXT 28 - $45 each

North Sails base (offset~15mm) - $50

Will allow longer range than mast track!

Gun Sails Downhaul Winch - $30

Garmin GPS 72 - $150

Includes Data/Power cable

Video Camera - GoPro Hero Wide

2009-05-24T15:00:00.006+09:30

First impressions...
I can remember seeing some photos of this camera as a wrist mount a few years ago and thought it was a bit of a toy - a tiny little box that was not as stylish as others on the market but when I looked into it further I realised that it was so compact that it could not be any other shape!

The GoPro Hero Wide is powered by 2xAAA batteries which take up the whole rear of the camera, as with most cameras it is best to use Lithium(3hrs) or NiMH(2hrs). There is some onboard memory(16Mb) but it is definately best to put a 2Gb card in straight away. It can shoot TV resolution(512x384) video and 5Mp stills with a range of auto shoot options such as a burst of 3 shots or continuous shooting every 2 or 5 seconds.

Special attention has been paid to the point of sale presentation, the camera packaging is a fabricated clear acrylic box which provides a full view of the camera and its housing. It is rare that this attention to detail is shown in packaging design these days.

Operation

The camera is extremely easy to operate and navigate through each of the different shooting modes. I did however take my helmet of before a run just to make sure that it was recording(red flashing light). The camera beeps when you manually shoot stills and record which can be heard inside the helmet if there is not too much background noise. There is also an invert shooting option so that the camera can be mounted upside down. I have not tried this yet but imagine it would be good when mounted under the rear of the boom arm.

Housing
The housing is shock and waterproof and has a robust rear seal that is rated to 30m. Check out the AAA battery in the foreground! This thing is tiny and as a result you dont even realise you are using it.

What you get...

With the standard kit you get the camera and housing, a stick on flat mount and a USB/RCA combo cable. I chose this kit as I wanted to stick the camera to the helmet and did not need the helmet head strap mount. This would be suited to cycling or vented helmets that you didn't want to stick a mount on.

Roll Bar Mount Kit.
For the boom shots I mounted the housing directly to the bar clamp, this allowed the camera to shoot down the tube that it was mounted on. This worked well mounted on the boom grip adjacent to the head as the camera is pointed in the centre of the action around the sailors chest. I took some still photos after putting the camera on the tail of the boom and will try this the next time I sail. I think the other linkage pieces will be required so that the camera can sit beside the boom and centre closer to the mast base.

Grab Bag Mount Kit
You get 2 curved and 2 flat 3M stick on mounts. The curved mount is well suited to helmet mounting - make sure you get the position right as the 3M adhesive won't give you a second chance. You also get 2 Horizontal Surface Quick-Release Buckles, a Vertical Surface J-Hook Buckle and a spare Thumb Knob with Nut and Bolt.

Helmet Mount.
I chose to mount the camera slightly forward of centre so that it sat a little lower. The mass of the camera and the wind resistance was minor and didn't affect what I was doing whatsoever. Also, with it slightly forward you can duck your head when you flip the sail in the water and the back of the helmet takes any contact instead of the camera. With the camera off this also means that the mount will not damage the sail doing the same.

Boom Mount

Mounting on the front of the boom you don't even notice the camera. I am not sure if it would hamper the rig flip as I was speed sailing on the day I used it and didn't even gybe.

Rear Boom Mount
Mounting on the rear of the boom grip or the tail you can get another interesting perspective. The wind was blowing in the back yard and I had to point the camera into the sun. The wide angle lens will still capture the full sailor even this close.

Conclusion
This camera is one of the best investments I have made! I can re-live the sessions and show others what I "get up to". I would even consider getting a second to shoot 2 views at once or the standard model to shoot others over greater distances.

I purchased the GoPro Hero Wide and the mounting accessories from Adventure Cams HQ.
They had the best prices I could find and also included a Windows Movie Maker tutorial DVD and a handy Spudz Lens Cleaning Kit. The delivery was promt and everything was well covered in bubble wrap. They are also Australian(WA) so you are supporting local business.

JP/Pryde 1st & 2nd - 2009 PWA Ulsan World Cup

2009-05-24T13:21:00.005+09:30

JP/Pryde riders Antoine Albeau & Micah Buzianis have finished First and Second in the Slalom at the world cup event in Ulsan Korea. Both are still not 100% physically, so this is a true reflection of their talent and confirmation that the JP Slalom Gen V boards and the Pryde Racing Evo II's are damn fast & easily controlled.

See the event writeup here:
http://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=1487&tx_ttnews[backPid]=29&cHash=9723b18c65

Sandy Point 16 May 2009

2009-05-18T23:41:00.010+09:30

Although I didn't have the session I had hoped for I was happy with the footage I captured on my new camera. I had a play with helmet and boom mounts and have a lot more ideas on interesting angles.

Here is a quick low resolution edit of some of the footage. I will do a full review of this fantastic camera shortly.

The GoPro Hero Wide is available from Adventure Cams HQ
http://www.adventurecamshq.com.au/shop/product_info.php?cPath=50_71&products_id=57

P.S. my boom isn't really that squeaky, it is the sound of my hand moving on the boom grip!

Micah's foot injury

2009-05-11T13:24:00.003+09:30

Micah's foot injury seems to be healing well and he has had several sessions putting it through its paces...

"Saturday 5-9-09 The foot felt great this morning, this is relative to how it was feeling this week, I think the sail was very good for it. The sorest spot was the ankle not the break site so this is a good thing. The wind was a bit lighter today so I think another session will help even more, I certainly need the water time with only three days till I leave for Korea. Once at the beach I went with the JP 68 and my RSRacing EVOII 7.0 again. It was more like 7.8 weather but this was exactly what I needed another day of mellow sailing. The water was a bit flatter as well so it was again much easier on my foot, if we can get this flat of water in Korea I could be ok."

Read the full report on Micah's site: http://www.micahbuzianis.com/2009/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69&Itemid=79

Micah Buzianis Interview

2009-05-05T20:33:00.010+09:30

Hi Micah,
Thanks for taking time out to answer some questions.

What are your aspirations for 2009 (sailing & life)?
World title all the way, I was feeling very in tune and lined up for a good run this year but now with my broken foot I am not sure how soon I will be back. I was supposed to be in Austria right now for the first race of the season but I am not back on the water yet, hopefully this week and then I will be ready for Korea. In life I just want to be the best father and person I can be! I would of course love to win the lottery but since Hawaii doesn't have one I don't think that is going to be in the cards.

Do your family ever come with you on tour?
They have come with me a few times but now the kids are old enough to need their own airline tickets and with the price of flights now I can't really afford them to come all over with me. I really wish I could because it would be great to have them along, there seems to be a lot of down time on the road and it would be nice to spend it with them.

What is your most used gear combo(sail, board & fin) on maui?
I would say for racing my Neil Pryde 7.0 RSRacing EvoII, JP GenV 60 Slalom board and a 36cm JP production fin(yes production fin these fins rock and I do use them to race on!) For waves it is my JP Real World Wave 82, Neil Pryde Alpha 5.4 and a Maui Ultra Wave fin.

What is your most used gear combo on tour?
This is a hard one since we see so many different types of conditions, I get a lot of time on all my gear. I would say from 7.8 and up is the most used stuff.

What boards and sails will you be registering for the 2009 racing season?
Well since I am not going to Austria I have a little more time to keep this a secret.......Not really I have pretty much known for a while what I was going to register, JP GenV 60, 68 and 82, and Neil Pryde RSRacingEvoII 5.5, 6.2, 7.0, 7.8, 8.6, 9.5.

I know a large percentage of your time is spent on R & D, on what component would you spend the most time conducting on-the-water testing? It is pretty close to equal on all components, but since I live in Maui and Neil Pryde R & D is focused here I would say it is on the rig, sail and mast first then booms, battens, bases all that stuff. This is one thing I really like about Neil Pryde they spend a lot of time on R & D and not just the development of the sail designs but the progression of all the components as well as making sure the durability is there as well.

Are the JP slalom boards optimised for the RSR/RSS sails or are there some compromises made to make them work equally as well with other brands? Do you try to test other sails with the boards?
I haven't done any testing on the boards with different sails. I am focused on making the fastest and easiest to ride boards for all, I know there will be some differences when they are used with other boards but I think they are overall very easy to sail and get used to. They will first and foremost work best on the JP for sure but with small tweaks in fins and different mast and footstrap positions any one will be happy with them.

Some of the more common terms used to describe fin and board performance are slippery, directional, balanced etc., are there other terms you commonly use to describe performance when talking with Werner?
No regular ones that I can think of, slippery is for sure the most used as we are always looking for more speed.

How developed are your senses after having so much testing experience - can you tell when a board has 1mm more vee or a 5cm longer planing flat?
I think I have pretty good senses on how a board or sail should feel, whether or not I could tell this small of a difference I am not sure. If it were faster or slower I am sure I could tell this quite quickly but I am not sure I could always tell what the change was.

I always wonder how the way a board performs is communicated, do you use a benchmark, say last years board and say how the board you are testing differs in speed, acceleration & control or is it more of a case of you like the overall feel of a board better than another?
For racing it is always side by side testing, if we are trying to make a new generation of slalom boards then we will start testing against the current production boards or if there is another brand out there that is going really well we will get this board and do some testing against this as well. But we will always go against what we have and know currently.

Do you use GPS for testing, I remember the Slalom IV were quoted as being 2 knots faster overall than the Slalom III?
I do use a GPS while testing race gear. It is more for just a reference than to give any definitive answers.

Have you ever been interested in entering any speed comps or are you too busy with your current schedule of racing, R&D and family commitments?
I would like to do some speed but I am so focused on all of the above that I don't have the time or resources to do it properly, I would only do it to win and if I can't prepare properly then I would rather put that energy into my priorities.

Have you done any R&D on the JP speed boards that are in the pipeline or is that Antoine's department?
This is all AA's department, I got to see the boards at the photo shoot here on Maui last month but since I was on the couch the whole time I didn't get a chance to try them. They looked very good though, I am sure there are going to be some fast times on these, they are developed by the fastest windsurfer on the planet.

I noticed you do not have a fin manufacturer on your sponsor list, what are you using at the moment or is that top secret?
I am using whatever is going the fastest, I have some of everything right now.

Thanks again for your time Micah and best of luck with your recovery and the 09 season!

Cheers
Tim

Micah's Site: http://www.micahbuzianis.com/2009/index.php

DIY - Fins

2009-05-02T13:03:00.008+09:30

There are many reasons why you may want to mould your own fins - you may want to save money, to make a shorter copy of a favourite fin or improve the performance of a fin in certain conditions.

I chose to make my own fins when I copied a Flow 66 back in 1998. It came with both an upright and swept fin and I wanted the same versatility so I copied them using a quick method that only took a few hours. I also wanted to use a Tuttle Box instead of the Power Box that was used on the mistral, so I also had to cast a new head. I also fabricated my own fin box which is still going strong today.

I will break down each of these steps into their own DIY articles as follows:

DIY – Fins – 1 Step Lay-up Process

DIY – Fins – 2 Step Lay-up Process

DIY – Fins – Making a fin Mould – Quick Mould

DIY – Fins – Making a fin Mould – Production Mould

DIY – Fins – Making a Fin Base Mould

DIY – Fins – Moulding a Fin Base

DIY – Fins – Making a Fin Box Mould

DIY – Fins – Making a Fin Box

DIY – Fins – Designing & Making a Fin Plug (original)

DIY – Fins – Making a G10 Fin

DIY – Fins – Making a Fin Copying Machine (pantograph)

I hope to do these articles in the coming weeks(& months!), watch this space.

JP Slalom Boys

2009-04-26T21:30:00.004+09:30

From the JP Website:

Antoine Albeau, FRA 192, and Micah Buzianis, USA 34, went to South Africa to test the first generation of slalom boards for next year. Werner Gnigler just finished a set of prototypes and tried out a few additional new shape details.

Check out the Boardseeker interview here:

http://www.boardseekermag.com/mini_features/slalom/cape-town-jp-test-centre-103.html

Select Caspar - First Impressions...

2009-04-26T14:07:00.007+09:30

Well I had my first session on the Select Caspar 27 & 25 yesterday and I have got to say that I am very impressed. I arrived at the Goolwa channel to see other sailors on mainly 5.5 to 6.2m sails. The forecast was for winds increasing to 30-40 as they swung from WNW to W to SW. It was already quite square(SW) and small squalls had been hitting during the morning. I ventured to the bank with the CA44, RSR6.7 and the Caspar 27 and waited for one to hit. The guys downwind on the bank were waiting also but I was in the upwind "Box Seat". After a few minutes I saw one touch down, some of the guys went too early, I held back until I could see it hitting the start of the course and off I went.

I didn't need to pinch to the start of the run as the gust had a little more west in it - Perfect. I hit the run and the fin felt perfectly balanced, just enough lift but slippery. I was trying to evaluate the fin more than getting a good run and hugged the bank for most of the run, near the end I bore away slightly and hit 42.55. Many runs followed but the wind was more SW and we had to bear away into the channel. Runs were short and rounding up intense as the chop was about 45cm and about 1m apart. You were right on the tail of the board with the foot of the sail hitting the chop. The fin did not spin out once and sailed upwind very well.

On that first run I got the feeling that the fin just wanted a deeper angle and had a limitless top end. It was very predictable and I wished the wind had stayed W for longer runs to really see what I could get the fin to reach.

I look forward to the next session on the Caspar, in deeper conditions.

GPSSS Ranking for the day:
http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/?mnu=forum&forum=2&val=12282
GPSSS Session Details:
http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/?mnu=user&val=43104&uid=1049

See Caspar's interview on Eric's speedsurfing BLOG:
http://www.speedsurfingblog.com/2009/04/interview-caspar-verhaagen.html

Sessions - The best of 08

2009-04-14T12:41:00.009+09:30

With the Autumn doldrums upon us I thought I would post my favourite sessions from 08.

15/9/08

We got the forecast 20-35 knots but the course was quite square(~100 degrees)

I had some trouble getting comfortable initially but kept on creeping higher. Beat my PB peak many times over and had a 43.82 10 sec. Its days like these that make to no-fires bearable. Chris.D was flying on his *boards and looked in control from the outset & Sam was also flying and got a few PB's also.

The photos below were taken by Kevin Page(thanks again Kevin!) from the opposite bank.

Me on a downwinder, I think this was just after I got lifted and was regaining control hence the board trim;)

Heading back upwind 1

Heading back upwind 2 - note the bommies in the foreground we usually shred our feet and fin tips on.

Heading back upwind 3

Sam downwind

Sam from a distance.

http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=user&val=37477&uid=1049

18/12/08
My other favourite session was when I had a go at the 1 hour and got a PB(25.55). I was the only one out and it was after my Grandmothers funeral. I will have to post the track to GPSSS as it hasn't been added to the top 10!

http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/?mnu=user&smnu=sessions&uid=1049&StartRow=5

Caspar vs SL7

2009-04-10T22:15:00.010+09:30

I received my first pair of Caspar fins yesterday, a 25 and 27. The finish is very impressive in 09, the body has a light sanding in the direction of flow and the leading and trailing edges are finished nicely.

Comparing the 27cm Caspar with the 27cm SL7 the Caspar has a shorter chord length at the base and a little more rake. The Caspar foil shape also has more volume nearer to the trailing edge and almost a lump as it narrows into the last quarter of the foil profile. It is much more subtle than in the other dedicated assymetrical speed fins that I have seen.

The outlines below are the SL7 in orange and the Caspar in grey.

I took some quick measurements of the two foils.

SL7

Base chord length - 91.5mm
Base chord width - 8.3mm
Base chord AR - .091
Wide Point - 35%

Caspar

Base chord length - 85.3mm
Base chord width - 8.3mm
Base chord AR - .097
Wide Point - 42.5%

The Caspar wide point moves back slightly down the length of the fin to 48% and the chord AR(Aspect Ratio) drops to .089. The SL7 maintains the chord AR and wide point measurement down the length of the fin.

I am looking forward to testing these babies on my CA44. I anticipate the 27 will work well with the 6.7 RSR and the 25 with the 6.2 Slalom MkIII I have on the way, and possibly my 5m RSR on tighter courses. I also hope to get sizes either side of these 2 once I have had a chance to fully test them.

Boards I have made.

2009-04-09T11:00:00.024+09:30

Here are some of the boards I have made over the years. I will give more detailed info on the build steps of the more recent boards soon...

Board 1 - "The Dominator" (1993)

Board 2 - "Exile" (1994)

Board 3 - "HMR 290" (1995)

Board 4 - "HMR Speed" (1996)

Board 5 - "Flow 66" (1998)

Board 6 - "Hyper 111" (2004)

Board 7 - "S66" (2005)

Ape Index

2009-04-05T22:16:00.005+09:30

I remember reading an article years ago on Ape Index - calculated by dividing armspan by height. It is usually around 1 but a positive ape index is considered benoficial for sports such as rock climbing, swimming and windsurfing (speed and slalom). Most people know height (and weight) can be an advantage(for holding down more sail area) but it is less of an advantage if you cannot get outboard to take full advantage of your assets. You can use long lines but unless you can get your shoulders outboard you are not maximising your righting moment. My arm span is 198cm and my height is 193cm so my ape index is 198/193 or 1.026. I have heard it desribed as +5 (span 5cm more than height). Measure you arm span and work out yours, it may be of interest when you are tuning equipment and technique.

Welcome to my Blog

2009-03-20T17:12:00.004+10:30

Inspired by some great blog pages I have decided to take the jump myself. I hope to do some articles on DIY windsurfing equipment such as boards and fins as well as info on speedsailing in South Australia.