Efficiency...

Had a short session on the lake today. No whitecaps in sight; at the end of the dock at Lakewood, I measured right around 8 knots. Took the 10.8 and my Finworks LT, and wouldn't you know it, with a bit of pumping, I popped onto a plane and was able to go upwind at a pretty good angle. There were a number of people who couldn't believe it (a bunch of dinghy racers and sailing instructors, who all have dabbled in windsurfing or maybe are even teaching it). When the wind picked up another knot or two (now you could actually spot the occasional whitecap if you looked upwind, especially since it was so sunny), the whole thing turned from being work to being downright fun.

I'm often told that Formula sailing isn't real windsurfing. But the amazing efficiency of the gear (and it's ready and very reasonably priced availability in gently used form) sure makes it a pretty compelling thing to do in those nice light summer thermals. Other than an 18' skiff or similarly technical (and expensive) performance boat, I can't think of anything that's faster or more exhilarating to sail in the kinds of conditions most of us get most of the time.

And that efficiency provides its own thrills - it's fast, fun, affordable. And no matter how far modern slalom gear has come (or modern freeride gear), none of it can provide that sensation of power in that little wind. Racing the stuff makes it even more fun - but just going out for a cruise is pretty sweet as well.

The picture was from last year at Squamish, in similar wind speeds (courtesy Gwen l'Hirondelle). Yes, if I raced in these kinds of conditions, I'd probably get a 12; but just to get planing and go upwind, the 10.8 is already pretty optimized. Yes, I like stand-up paddling. I also like longboard sailing on my Kona. And I can even see teh appeal of light air freestyle. But given that I like going fast, in light air, there's just no substitute for formula...

GorgeCup - June 20

After two super-windy GorgeCups with at times epic slalom, the forecast for Saturday was calling for more of the same; alas, the clouds had pushed inland a bit further than predicted, and the Event Site was right on the bubble, with some big gusts coming through, but also some larget holes over much of where the slalom course would have been. That made it an easy call for the RC to run formula.

The course was a short upwind to a port rounding, downwind to the start pin for another port rounding, a reach around the boat, an upwind to a second, more distant upwind mark (and another port rounding), and then a downwinder to the start pin and a reach to the boat to finish (the picture, courtesy of Scotia's camera being used by Rick on the boat, shows me and MacRae reaching for the finish. At this point, I'd say we were comfortably powered; things would get more entertaining later on.)

That course layout, along with a significant port bias to the line, limited tactical options. Pretty much the whole fleet started port (with that short upwind leg, even if there'd not been as much port favor, the extra tack was too much penalty to try anything else). There was plenty of space to lay the mark with one jibe, so again no incentive to try something different on the first downwinder, and the reach at the bottom was pretty much a drag race. Tactics, then, came into how to position at the bottom mark for the longer upwind leg - pinch off the rounding to take the inside line, or duck people above to foot for speed and gain clean air, then pinch up from there?

That calculation only really came into play when rounding in very close proximity. On the first heat, I found Chris Prior and Bruce ahead of me by about 50 yards at the mark, with Chris pinching and Bruce footing; having nowhere to go on port tack that would provice clear air, I tacked off - and the lighter air and lack of current on the inside cost me big time, so it became clear that wasn't really a viable option.

The only place to worry about tactics, then, came into play with the layline for the upper windward mark (as you were quite far out when you had to make the call, and there was a lot of current, so people tended to overstand the mark a bit), and then on the second downwind - as the inside had lighter breeze and some big holes, it was a matter of either jibing off pretty soon to stay with higher pressure (but battle the current a bit more) versus going to the inside for flat water, no opposing current due to the eddy, and just hope to either dodge the holes or perhaps get the golden header puff off the shore.

The first couple heats had some light spots; most of the fleet were on 9.9's or 9.1's, and Bruce was looking for power on his 9.1. Chris Prior took full advantage of that and took the first two heats from him, with me coming in 3rd; Bruce then went up to his 9.9 and took the remaining heat (with the exception of #5, where both he and Chris were OCS). Chris showed that he's definitely a force to be reckoned with, giving Bruce some very spirited competition throughout the day.

The two of them were spot-on in their starts for most of the heats; Chris had amazing angle, while Bruce had his usual good angle paired with really good speed. I got myself stuck in the wrong place on the line several times, having to foot off for clear air and as a result missing out on the inside of the lift on port tack. That usually resulted in the two of them rounding windward first, and from there it was a parade to the end. Through the day, I found that I had good speed and, when I had things together, good angle upwind. My starts were not so great, so that's the next thing to work on.

After four heats, the breeze was definitely coming up a bit. We took a bit of a break, with Darren contemplating switching to slalom. There was a lot of pressure coming up the river - but by the time he had to make the call, there were still a bunch of holes on the course. Darren therefore made the only possible call, which was to stick with Formula; sure, the puffs were getting pretty massive, but running slalom at that point would have resulted in pretty inconsistent racing.

At the start of heat 5, however, the breeze definitely picked up a bit. Unfortunately, I ended up getting lifted out of the water on the first beat when I hit some stray chop just as a big gust came in. The crash that followed must have caused quite a splash; it took me a while to get out from under my gear and get myself sorted - at that point, there was no one left behind me, and it took me the whole race to claw my way back up to fifth (which, due to Bruce and Chris having been over early, turned to 3rd).

The breeze kept building for heat 6, and for #7, things were going positively ballistic. I stayed with Bruce and Chris throughout the course, and at the bottom mark, I was able to shoot out to leeward of them, footing off for clear air. Bruce was up and ahead; Chris was pinching on the inside but losing speed in the steep chop, and I had a clean lane below Bruce with good speed. Next time I looked back, Chris actually tacked off to look for smoother water inside. Usually, that would be a really bad idea; by now, though, it had gotten windy enough that the swell in the channel was getting really lumpy. I was having a pretty challenging time keeping things together and attempting to keep the foils working. Bruce, having switched back to his 9.1 a couple heats back, was clearly enjoying the easier handling of the smaller sail. When I tacked at the layline, things got really entertaining; spray was flying everywhere, and I ended up going sideways a fair bit. Chris made it to the mark at about the same time as I did, but I had the benefit of being fully up to speed going around the mark while he was pinching, so I got by him and was able to pull away a bit on the downwind, finishing that heat second behind Bruce (a nice end ot the day's racing after all 3rds).

Normally, going to the inside should have cost Chris big time, but as crazy as things got out in the channel, it was the probably the smart thing to do and almost worked out for him. If I had bobbled my tack, or had I not been able to hold it together after one of those spinouts on the long hairy starboard tack across the channel, he would have been long gone. The conditions out there on the last race sure made me feel good about investing a bunch of gym time into crosstraining, as it was pretty much a matter of grunting through it at that point.

Special shout-out to Ben and Fiona, youngest sailors of the day. Both of them finished all but the last heat (and #5 and 6 were getting pretty furry already); quite an accomplishment to get big formula boards around the course in those conditions when you're that small. Here's a picture (again, courtesy of Scotia and Rick) that puts things in perspective a bit on the size issue:

I got to do a little slalom sailing afterwards, which was nice. Given how tuckered I was after racing (especially those last few heats), and how windy it had gotten by this time (I was way maxed on my 7.1; a 6.2 and a smaller board would have been a much better fit), it ended up being a short session, but definitely some good practice ahead of Nationals next month. Interestingly, when I ran the course on my slalom gear, I found that my angles weren't that far off. Sure, upwind I was going a bit lower, and it might have required an additional tack to make the uppwer windward mark. Downwind, though, I was definitely going faster, and as long as I stayed in the breeze, at about the same angles (oh, and it was really fun rather than character-building). Food for thought for next month's Blowout.

Thanks to Scotia for organizing another flawless event. It sure would be nice if we could turnout up a bit; some of the usual suspects have been absent this season (yes, we know who you are, and we're planning interventions...) Some nice pictures taken off the boat by Rick during the first few heats (when things were still very civilized...): http://gallery.me.com/scotia#100059&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=54

More slalom action

Another Gorge Cup, and more slalom racing (full disclosure, the picture is actually from the last Gorge Cup; since it was pretty much the same cast of characters and all the same gear, that didn't seem entirely inappropriate...).

Conditions yesterday were challenging -there was a lot of breeze, but it was frontal, not thermal, so there were some really furry gusts, but also some big holes to deal with. Bruce dominated, except for one heat (where it looked so windy that he took his 6.2 and tiny, 75l (?) slalom board and did really with his blazing speed and g-force jibes until he hit a hole, at which point he did the hula with the water reaching up to his belly button - hey, fat boards rule!).

I was on the Exocet 71 with my Sailworks 7.1, and that combo feels really good. It's got great glided through the holdes, can be pushed upwind, but still has very much competitive speed on the super-powered reaches.

MacRae and I had some really spirited battles for second place; I got him in the the end by something like a point. He once again sailed a very consistent set of heats, with really solid starts, good speed, and very reliable jibing. Jay put in a solid day as well. And then there was Sam Bauer, who just moved up to a more modern slalom board from his ancient Mistral - and got a bunch of top 5 finishes. I'll take full credit for that (as it's my Exocet 67 from last year he's riding now) ;)

The course was a bit modified from the usual box slalom, de-emphasizing the upwind leg a bit and making it possible to pretty much hit the mark on that, so there was less need for layline tactics on where to tack. This might be a good compromise for Nationals, as the out-of-towners usually aren't used to the upwind component, but a pure downwind slalom often turns into a bit of a follow-the-leader parade. The course felt a bit squished this way, but part of that was the way it had to be laid out to work with the oscillations in the breeze (yep, it was frontal for sure...). With a more reliable thermal, Darren should be able to stretch it out a bit more.

All in all, another great race day - we got in seven heats (and timed it just right - I sailed a bit after the last heat, and at that time it got flukey - there was still huge gusts, but the holes were now becoming pretty permanent on the inside marks). Racing conditions were a bit tough and character building; perhaps that's why the turnout was a bit low (or maybe those folks just went east instead - things were apparently classically Gorge nuclear out there). Seems that with the new, bigger slalom gear, those kinds of conditions can still be really fun to race (it just adds an element of challenge to the equation instead of making it frustrating, as it did in the days of narrow sinky boards and not-as-rangy sails).

Again a good junior contingent; Alex and Jay had a spirited battle (this time, Jay took it), Alyson finished EVERY heat (right on!), and Fiona came to race for the first time ever, negotiating the full course for the first two heats on her Starsurfer and a 2.5 before having to rush off for a soccer game (she actually stayed out at the boat after finishing the first heat, ready to go again).

Pictures and results probably pretty soon at http://vmgevents.com/gc/index.htm - Scotia again pulled off flawless organization, and Darren ran a tight series of heats. For all of you still on the fence about coming for Nationals in July - it's going to be awesome!

Gorge Cup - race report

5/27 upate: Pictures, courtesy Michael Hildreth - Nice shot of a start (Bruce below me, MacRae above me), and a great study of what a jibe looks like when done too tentatively (notice weight too far back, sail not aggressively enough sheeted in).

First Gorge Cup of the season on Saturday, 24 May - and wouldn't you know, despite the fact that it was not only a race day but also a holiday weekend, it actually blew! We had 9 heats of very powered up slalom, with some pretty furry gusts.

After having been way late to the start in heat 1, I clawed my way back up to 3rd after Bruce (on form, as usual) and MacRae, who set the tone for his performance that day by being on it at the start and executing flawlessly throughout the race. 

In heat 2, I managed to be on the line with speed at the gun, following Bruce through the first three jibes. He was on a smaller board, so I was hoping to maybe get by him on the upwind leg - but just before I got to the offset mark at the bottom of the course, I had one of those wipe-outs where everything happens so fast, you don't even know what happened. All I know is that I got sent, and that in the process I hit my left thigh on something - hard. It hurt like hell water starting, and when I got on the board, my leg just sort of buckled, so I went in and sat out the rest of that heat with an icepack stuffed under my wetsuit leg.

I got back out there for heat 3, and while the adrenaline (and icing between heats) kept the pain at bay, my leg was awfully weak, which didn't serve too well in overpowered reaching, making my way through the chop to the start, or jibing. The racing was still fun, and at times it was even reasonably tight. MacRae continued to have a stellar day, taking two heats from Bruce (he joked later that he'll just retire now that he'd such a golden day;  my take is that this is the result of lots of practice and his great, go-for-it attitude) and placing second in the others (except for another bullet in the last race, which Bruce sat out). The recipe was always the same - he was right there at the start, had good speed down the straights, made solid jibes all day long. Way to go, MacRae!

I ended up with a bunch of 3rds and a fourth, plus a couple deeper finishes (usually following a bad start or a fall). Interesting note on gear choices - it looks like most guys have upsized a bit. Jay is running an iSonic 111; I'm on my Exo 71 (118l); MacRae is still using his three-year-old 105l F2 (and he's clearly tuned up on it). Bruce was going for a smaller board for a few of the heats (two of which he lost to MacRae) but also experimenting running his 6.2 on a bigger board.

So yes, the bigger boards can be a handful in the big puffs, but they sure come in handy on the short upwind, or when tacking after that leg, and they don't seem to carry too much of a speed penalty. And while they don't jibe as tightly and quickly, they make up for that with faster acceleration out of the jibes, especially on the inside if the breeze lightens up a bit. At the time, I kept thinking that maybe I would have been better off on something smaller than a 71cm board and a 7.1, but on the drive home it finally struck me that - duh - I was working on 1 1/2 legs, so no wonder that things seemed a bit out of control.

I'm pretty stoked with how the day went, and two days later, I'm actually walking almost normally again (and might be completely pain-free if I hadn't decided to go sailing today - but hey, it's Memorial Day, and it was breezy and sunny...). Great way to start the season - lots of breeze, a well-organized event (Scotia really has this down to a science - Nationals this year will be awesome!), a well-laid course and tight start sequences (way to go Darren - again, Nationals should be great), and a ton of racing taking full advantage of the conditions. Strong performances from the juniors (Alex and Jay were seriously pushing some of the seasoned racers; Alison did a great job getting into slalom, and Ben was inspiring in his tenacity), added to the happy picture.

Results (and maybe even pictures - Michael Hildreth was out on the point with a _very_ big lens) soon at the VMG site.

Off to do some racing

After light Easterlies last weekend led to cancellation of our season opener, it looks like we might have better luck today. This morning, there are bright skies and a good breeze in Hood River, and the forecast looks promising - perhaps even slalom potential. Should be a good time!

Dialing in the slalom stuff

That s&^t-eating grin on my face to the right (as captured by Shawn Davis)  pretty much says it all - I'm pretty happy with my slalom gear this year. I got my new Exo 71 just before my trip to the Bay Area, where it got put to good use on both the 7.1 and the 6.0, and since coming home, I've been able to sail it with the new 8.2 a couple times.

Some observations:

• The board is almost stupid rangey - 8.2 feels really comfortable, and I'm sure it can easily pull off a 9.0. And it's really tuneable - when sailing it with the 8.2, the biggest fin I had at hand was a 42 (very sweet Finworks slalom fin - keep your eyes peeled for more on these soon). That's a bit small, but just moving the base forward an inch put everything into very nice balance. The board shines in 7.1 conditions - chop is eaten alive, and you can just keep on pushing. It's everything that I loved about the 67, but even more point and shoot.
• The new 7.1  Sailworks NXsl is sweet. The previous 7.2 was an amazing sail. The 7.1 takes that to a higher level. It's still got the same range, but even better control at the high end, and more potential to juice it up for when it gets a little lighter. It's definitely an evolution on the 7.2, not a radical departure - and that refinement really shows. This is my go-to slalom size (last year, I raced all slalom on my 7.2), and I'm really stoked about this one. I'm surprised by how tuneable things are on the downhaul - the sail doesn't get all draggy if you let out a 1/2" of DH - it just powers up more. Lessons learned from the Hucker, I guess. And when you flatten it out for high end, it gets super slippery - but remains pumpable out of the jibes.
• The 8.2 NXsl is remarkable. I've had a ton of fun on it in pretty marginal conditions, but when the wind picks up a bit, it doesn't feel that big. It's got the same happy demeanor as the 7.1, just in a bit bigger. This is a great companion for the new breed of bigger slalom boards. I was a bit surprised that I actually found some speeds around 32 knots in my track log - not bad for an 8.2 and a 71 liter board in open water, I'd say (especially since I wasn't really doing speed runs - this was just letting it fly off the breeze a bit on the way back in). This sail, together with the 118 liter Exo, is fully raceable in conditions that, if on formula, would still see me on my 10.8. 

This Saturday is the first Gorge Cup - or maybe I should say, this Saturday might be the first Gorge Cup, as the current forecast is for light Easterlies. Hopefully, that will change (fronts move fast this time of year). Cross your fingers for raceable conditions.

Battle at sea...

The St. Francis Yacht Club and the hardy racers of the Bay Area fleet never cancel racing. It just doesn't happen. At the 07 Nationals, we raced the final two heats in conditions that caused the race director to issue stern warnings to people, as well as send competitors in against their will when they were floundering at the start line. But they don't cancel racing.

Make that they very rarely cancel racing. Last night's Friday night race didn't happen. It was blowing somewhere around 30, with a vicious ebb throwing up some pretty big voodoo chop, and when John Craig (said race director) asked the assembled (and fully rigged) crowed of racers whether they wanted to race in this, only one hand (Jean's) went half-way up.

Instead, I got to test just what the upper limit of my Exo 71 is. The board did remarkably well in overpowered 6.0 with a  34 (a 36 would have made for better jibes - that is a pretty wide tail on that board, after all). With that much range, Exocet isn't doing itself any favors - people just won't be going out and buying multiple boards if each of them has that much range. Good for the consumer, I guess (and so, in the long run, good for Exocet). Lots of fun was had as most of the guys took out their slalom or freeride stuff. Much tailwalking and hilarity ensued, along with white-knuckle maching reaches through the troughs (usually ended by some stray piece of chope throwing up a ramp where there hadn't been one a second before - gotta love Crissy on an ebb...)

The pictures don't do the day justice, as it was pretty tame on the inside 200 yards or so, which pretty much exhausts the effective range of my little camera.  For a reality check - David Wells (blue Aerotech) was on a 5.7 and an 84l freeride board; Jean (red Aerotech) was on a 5.0 and a 78l wave board. It was windy...

Today's CalCup will be in Berkely - lots of wind expected for that. After that, it's time to drive home.

That's more like it!

And just like that, the heat wave is over, the marine layer has reasserted itself with a vengeance, and after a long day of pretty interesting sessions on database performance tuning, I got to play with my new slalom toys.  Crissy was showing off its normal self, with voodoo chop caused by a nice strong ebb going out against some pretty stiff breeze. 

I got to try my new Exocet WSl 71 (yep, another black machine) and my new Sailworks NXsl 7.1. Normally, I try to only dial in one piece of new gear at a time, but since I couldn't bring my old board with me for lack of space in the car, there was no alternative. The 71, however, behaved just like the 67 - I set straps the straps in the middle position, put the base at 135cm, put in my 40cm Finworks, and the board felt like an old friend from the first reach. Jibing is as friendly and transparent as the 67, but with better speed throughout the turn (bigger boards are nice that way).

At times, the combo should clearly have been too large, as it got pretty darn furry, but giving the sail a bit more downhaul and moving the boom down an inch made things manageable. Lining up with the guys, it seemed that the large board did not incur a speed penalty in the heavy stuff - and the way it glides through holes and accelerates out of the turns bodes well for the upcoming slalom season. The 7.1 is a nice refinement from last year's sail - it's got a bit more shape down low and is way more pumpable - but when you're lit, it just goes into low-drag mode and keeps going faster.  I'm psyched - I don't get nearly enough time to tweak my slalom setup, given that I don't get to sail slalom much at home, so having gear that's this plug and play is a real blessing. If you're looking for new slalom kit,  you should take a good look at Sailworks and Exocet - it's working for me. 

At one point, I took a short break and shot some pictures; unfortunately, the haze and flying sand/spray on shore made it pretty hard to capture anything exciting. It was fun sailing with David, Steve, Jean, as well as Royce and Robert. Glad to see there's a bit of a slalom scene at Crissy - the spot is so perfect for it (if you don't mind getting your fillings rattled on port...)

Tomorrow's another day of cramming my head full of information, hopefully followed by a quick session with the Berkeley crowd. Then it's on to Friday Night racing at the St. Francis, the Calcup on Saturday, and then the long drive home.

SF heat wave

I'm getting to indulge in the geek's dream this week, attending the MySQL conference in Santa Clara - which just so happens to be conveniently located in the Bay Area, home to some of the most reliably windy conditions anywhere on the US Mainland, as well as what has to be one of the most competitive local racing fleets anywhere. Of course, the Bay Area is having a bit of a heat wave right now, so when I rolled into town on Sunday, Crissy Field looked more like a Mediterranean beach than its usual wind-battered, fog-covered, self. The Bay, meanwhile, was far from displaying the usual voodoo chop, and thousands of people were roasting in the sun as temps reached the high 80's.

Today, after a long day of tutorials on data warehousing in the morning and scale-out/scale-up of transaction systems in the afternoon (yes, Karryn, I took copious notes...), I escaped the Silicon Valley heat sink and made it to Crissy Field. At that point, a wee bit of sea breeze was starting to build, and a lone kite racer got some rides. Soheil was there as well, and we both rigged 10.8's.

It took a bit of slogging, but I finally found a patch of breeze and a rip that went against the massive flood to get me towards the South Tower; Soheil went in to wait for a bit more breeze (hey, he gets to sail here every day if he wants to, so his sense of urgency is probably a little less than mine...). I was rewarded for the slogging and the pumping with a glorious sunset session close to the Bridge - nice steady sea breeze, glassy water, not a whitecap in sight, and tons of porpoises feeding on the rip lines. After 45 minutes of bliss, the breeze started to fade, so I started the journey back.

I got to shore just in time before the breeze died totally; Soheil (who had come back out when the breeze filled in a wee bit) actually had to paddle back the last 100m or so. Forecast for tomorrow is for more of the same (but a bit stronger), with the marine layer coming back on Wednesday, which should produce some solid breeze. I hope that comes true, as I've got a brand new Exocet WSl71 to dial in, along with a new set of Sailworks slalom sails.

For Sale - Spring 2009

The new season is starting, and here's your chance to get a great deal on some well-maintained, high-performance gear. Check out details at http://g-42.com/FS_Spring2009.html and take a look at the slideshow. Besides what's advertised, I also have a bunch of smaller items - from adjustable outhaul setups (for those of you who like cam cleat setups rather than the super smooth Sailworks system), miscellaneous extensions, etc. Can deliver in the greater Pac NW (Seattle, Vancouver, Gorge), am planning a trip to the Bay Area in mid April - so you might not even have to worry about shipping (which can, however, also be arranged).

If the recession's got you down, this may be just the stimulus you need to kick the season off in style without breaking the bank.