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| Laser 28 - Excellent example of this great design Hamble le rice |
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| Rossiter Pintail Mortagne sur Gironde, near Bordeaux |
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Lost Mojo.. |
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yellowwelly 
Really should get out more 
Joined: 24 May 13 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2003 |
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 Topic: Lost Mojo..Posted: 25 Jan 14 at 10:36pm |
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The secret to good ironing is the application of water, patience and precision.
So in many ways it not too dissimilar from sailing dinghies... except when there's no wind, when it's clearly much more fun... and can be combined with windsurfing, which is infinitely superior in every respect:  Edited by yellowwelly - 25 Jan 14 at 10:37pm |
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Do Different
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Joined: 26 Jan 12 Location: North Online Status: Offline Posts: 1312 |
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Posted: 26 Jan 14 at 12:05pm |
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Well, now watched the start windsurfing videos on that website and I commend your choice of Phantom variant, so long as they all come with that blue sea, white sand and board short n rash vest weather I reckon you're onto a winner regards mojo
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JimC
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Joined: 17 May 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Online Posts: 6662 |
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Posted: 26 Jan 14 at 12:29pm |
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yellowwelly
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Joined: 24 May 13 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2003 |
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Posted: 26 Jan 14 at 12:58pm |
Funny that... Even a Laser or a beach cat can be pretty Mojo-tastic in 'marketing weather'... A new addition to the Forum Wind Scale??? Cherubs... One of those classes which lead and others follow, occasionally 
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AlexM
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Joined: 10 Jan 06 Online Status: Offline Posts: 857 |
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Posted: 26 Jan 14 at 2:12pm |
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Lost Mojo.....
It's here 
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Blue One
Far too distracted from work 
Joined: 09 Nov 13 Online Status: Offline Posts: 317 |
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Posted: 26 Jan 14 at 4:34pm |
 Laughed so much last night, I nearly spilt my wine. Edited by Blue One - 26 Jan 14 at 5:22pm |
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yellowwelly
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Joined: 24 May 13 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2003 |
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Posted: 27 Jan 14 at 10:12am |
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I laughed too, in part because I don't think I've ever been negative about the Solo- quite the contrary, as one of only two singlehanded fleet racing options in these here parts, I think it's worth every penny over and above the sailing experience from a Laser. But that's a personal choice, and somewhat a personal financial decision. But I do think that at a touch shy of 100kg, it's unrealistic to expect to be competitive in it, especially inland in prevailing light wind conditions that I tended to sail it in. Given the alternative is spreadsheet sailing against maybe 2 or 3 other boats that might turn out (anything from a Dart 15, 49er and an RS Tera), I still think it's the only viable option for sitting down sailing left for me around here.
I also laughed because in the late 70's and early 80's my club had a fleet of over 50 Finns racing. They would obviously be a far better option for heavyweight sailing, but sadly through 'progress' or something else entirely, they've all disappeared. In fact the last one went last year. That chap is now sailing a Solo- quite well too, to the windward mark at least. Ironic... I still view the Finn as the pinnacle of singlehanded dinghy racing, and the coverage from last year's games proved the Finn to be just a relevant today as it was in the 50's. It was without question the best racing showcase we could have had and it was enough to make me want to get a dinghy again last time around when allure of windsurfing was gaining serious traction on my limited sailing time. I finally laughed at the 'rubbishy plank' comment. Although I acknowledge it's in jest. That rubbishy plank is the product of evolution and market demand. This year that board was launched to try a redress the balance of lightweight rider advantage. I don't think it's marketing itself as a panacea cure to physical difference, the way some phoney equalised performance system and lead weights might try to in dinghies, but it does give a little to help with the lack of acceleration a heavyweight sailor will have off the line in lighter conditions. The rest will be down to board handling, tactics and speed... for which is has plenty, ChrisC's (RS100s) brother clocked over 30 knots on one of these, ratified by the GPS Speed Sailing Association before any of you call bullsh*t. It's also available off the shelf, now, this week. I could make Wednesday night racing in it had the seasons been different. No waiting around for it to be developed and tested, only to find you're sailing the beta product with the wrinkles still needing ironing out... what a nice way to treat the early adopters? There's none of the infuriation as the PY gets set, adjusted, moaned, criticised etc. It races scratch against any other raceboard in the 9.5, 8.5 or Ultimate box class rule set. Straight in to an established infrastructure of proper racing- no 'new class' b**locks to overcome. No incumbent class to be replaced (and thus defensive and partisan in attitude towards modest improvements). You can even race against one on your kid's Techno board- more the merrier, and if you beat it on one, big kudos to you. There are local opens- one day opens - apparently the London Windsurfing Association actually realise that its members might have other things to do at the weekend beside go sailing. And then there's the British Slalom Association, who run a freeride fleet (amateur/weekend sailor) at most of its events to encourage a mix of spectator / participant activity for the semi-pros & pros on their very high end race gear. These rubbishy planks are known to be a bit of weapon when it's lighter winds for those events, as exemplified at the National Watersports Festival when longboards older than me were up there in the top 10. They weren't there because of some arbitrary handicap system either, they were there because their sailors sailed fastest. So there's options- plenty of them, for proper racing, you know where the person who crosses the line first is the winner and everyone else scores in line. It's rather reminiscent of the sport I grew up with and in the better breezes, what I've enjoyed lately. Sailing in Oppies, Lasers, 420s- even Larks and Laser IIs at uni, where we made it a team game for added fun. It's nice to know how well you are doing on the water is actually reflected in the recorded history on the results sheet. Even in the Solo at least the racing was honest- if frustrating at the heavy end of the weight range. I know you shouldn't take handicap racing too seriously, but really it has somewhat lost its point in the no man's land it now lingers. As I said on that 4000 thread, maybe it really would be better off as a group competitive activity- a bit like a Spin Class or a freeride race first across the line, maybe in looser categories of similar type classes - after all at our club participation was far greater when the races weren't even timed. The atmosphere at the National Watersports Festival puts those sombre sail juice series events to shame... even when there was no wind. I put that down to everyone actually racing each other- with a good attitude and spirit, not game planing around the spreadsheet, or racing nothing but the stopwatch in the frozen hand of the race officer. Anyway, I don't expect you hardcore spreadsheet sailors to get why giving this a go is actually appealing. It's not just the lack of a rudder or a fixed mast rake, there's all that other wonderful stuff you guys seem to love so much too.... statistics, politics, annual returns, local numbers, gerrymandering lasers, statistics, personal handicaps, pursuit races sailed in different conditions, damned lies, lipstick boats, national numbers, biased courses, penalised new designs, great lake schemes, national databases, committee for this, complex race officership, failed uploads, a committee for that, a bandit here, -10 for the MPS one design there, oh joy... the list goes on. Fortunately for the average build, the Laser and Solo is still an option for proper racing around here, and given more time travel to better forecasts and less distraction when even this dog could have his day in a solid F5 locally. They are still the way forward and for the life of me do not think I have whinged about either of them, those two classes, for a very long time. Quite the contrary, the growth of the Laser fleet is the one thing that has stopped our club hitting the skids, and at least creates some semblance of proper racing when 20 of them line up on a Sunday morning...
Edited by yellowwelly - 27 Jan 14 at 12:39pm |
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Blue One
Far too distracted from work
Joined: 09 Nov 13 Online Status: Offline Posts: 317 |
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Posted: 27 Jan 14 at 10:51am |
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good luck with the 'plank'
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rb_stretch
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Joined: 23 Aug 10 Online Status: Offline Posts: 742 |
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Posted: 27 Jan 14 at 4:03pm |
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I was once a plank owner myself (in the days when planks were raced in the circuit), I'm not sure that they planed any earlier. At least not in a fun way, because you could power them up more with their greater lateral resistance, but then it just feels like hard work because you are always fighting the, apparent wind being too big, problem. On a shorter board your own kinetics get you up earlier and in my experience you can glide longer in the lulls. They just feel more alive.
Anyway, my guess is that the current long boards will be just as dependent on wind conditions as other boards and that means more dependent than dinghies. If you want the thrill in light winds, then kitesurfing is probably a better bet. Of course I could be wrong because I stopped windsurfing over a decade ago and maybe kit has taken a massive efficiency step... |
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yellowwelly
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Joined: 24 May 13 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2003 |
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Posted: 27 Jan 14 at 4:09pm |
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I think you'd find if it is blowing dogs of chains then the short boards come out and the focus changes somewhat from course racing to more slalom blasting. That kind of suits me to be honest... why hang on to a 9.5m rig when you could be out on the perfect combination just blatting about, jumping waves etc - 105L and 6.4 in my case. (really it is a magic mojo moment if the wind is stable enough to carry it- about a F5... )
I'll wait and see how/when/where the transition point is... I'd say a longboard is good for up to 20 knots, then you're wasting a good sesh by course-racing an oversized plank.... as a general rule of thumb, if there's dinghies out there and the majority are upright, it probably longboard weather- especially inland.
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