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coachg



Joined: 10 Sep 2000
Posts: 3549

PostPosted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

bred2shred wrote:

EXACTLY! Why would anyone want to practice slogging?


First off, you have to define what you mean by slogging. Is it just mindless BAF slogging? Or is it working on core skills in light wind to improve your high wind sailing?

Coachg
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GURGLETROUSERS



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Posts: 2643

PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 5:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Slogging sinkers, and the necessity of projecting the image, has always been number 3 (or 4 in late developers) in the 7 ages of a windsurfer;s life. (Been there and lived through it.) But, contrary to normal opinion it does NOT demand a compulsion to dye your hair blonde and speak oodles of techno crap with a fake Australian accent! (Haven't been there, or done that.)

Fortunately, that stage does no lasting harm in normal people, and may even teach a few valuable 'tricks' to transfer to more sensible windsurfing when the 'ego urge' has subsided somewhat.

Then, the later stages can begin, though having only reached stage 5 (or perhaps stage 5.9) myself, I've no idea how it should pan out, except that longboards (full circle) will play an essential part in it.

Can't wait for the next 10 years, and the dawning of what it has all meant? (Or will it just be another cruel delusion?)
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NOVAAN



Joined: 28 Sep 1994
Posts: 1544

PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 12:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I spend the month of April in SPI. Where I stay the launch has a wind shadow
for 100 yards with a deep water channel that must be crossed before hitting the wind line. Often its 4.2 and 85 liter board outside. Its either swim or learn to float the smaller gear across. The channel has current that makes it alot harder to swim. At 170 lbs. it takes skill to get that setup across. I'm not saying if the wind is up the OP should stay inside and only work on lite wind skills. I just think the more time he spends on the smaller gear the sooner the 110 board will work for him in a wider range of conditions....
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PeconicPuffin



Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 1830

PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lots of good advice from Andy (Wind-NC) there.

When there's not enough wind to plane on your big board, that's a great time to put a smaller board in the water and work on your shlogging skills. Also your ability to uphaul smaller sinky boards (a skill you will want to have when you're far from shore on a sinker and the wind dies.) Once shlogging and uphauling is no problem, learn to pivot jibe and tack the thing.

You will be a better windsurfer for it.

In the photo I'm on a 77 liter board, weigh 170 lbs and I'm tacking. You can see that the board is well underwater. This is an extreme example, and I fall more than I stay dry in these circumstances, but it's still fun, and it's still possible to stay dry and go where you want to go. When the wind dies (or when there are big lulls) you can either not sail/wait in the water for wind, or you can make the best of it.



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GURGLETROUSERS



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Posts: 2643

PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 5:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A majority of windsurfers live and have to sail in lighter average wind areas for a majority of their time. Yet they are being advised, quote, 'When there's not enough wind to plane on your big board, that's a great time to put a smaller board in the water and work on your slogging skills.'

So forget taking out a bigger higher volume board for a decent floaty glide or chase about, seeking windier parts or a nice play about in gentle surf (or even something faster and more challenging such as a Div 2 board which some here admit to enjoying), and instead, spend your time trying to uphaul and plod about on a sinker! Because in some minds, THAT'S what windsurfing is now all about.

Talk about skewed logic. Sad!
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NOVAAN



Joined: 28 Sep 1994
Posts: 1544

PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 7:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most of us are saying that learning these lite wind skills will open up a wide venue of windsurfing sites and allow him to venture in other types of windsurfing besides B&F sailing. Everything he learns in the lite winds will make him a better windsurfer no matter where he sails. Besides a 110 liter board isn't exactly a sinker. Every body enjoys windsurfing in his own way. If long board "gliding" is what you enjoy then you should go for it. The OP got a smaller board because he wants to learn how to get into higher wind sailing.
In order to make the progression he need certain skills. Working on those skills in lite winds is the best way to learn them. This logic is not "skewed"
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GURGLETROUSERS



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Posts: 2643

PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 3:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was not advocating longboard use only. I clearly stated bigger higher volume board. That covers a range from 84 litres (as against 74 litres) upwards, to any bigger size. What I really meant was use a board which will float your weight, and is not a SINKER.

My main objection to the quoted advice was in the later part, i.e. 'Also your ability to uphaul smaller SINKY boards. (a skill you will want to have when you are FAR FROM SHORE ON A SINKER when the wind dies.'

Is the poster, really saying that anybody learning should be taking a SINKER far from shore on a day when the wind could easily die, then being able, by some weird skill, to uphaul it and wobble safely back half submerged, after the wind has gone? (A sinker, by definition cannot support a persons weight, and cannot be sailed at all without wind.)

The norm, over here nowadays, is always to use a bigger board in tricky conditions ( gusty offshore winds for example) 94 litres, where once we struggled on 74 litres. It is a nonsense to claim that only a small sinker type board can teach a person how to really cope. Staying in control on a bigger floatier board in adverse conditions is every bit as much an acquired skill, especially in surf.

Performance is not far inferior to a smaller board anyway. (a good 94 litre board with a smaller rig works perfectly well when it's challenging going. and is safer.) Most certainly, if it can float you, you won't end up stranded, FAR OUT TO SEA!!
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Wind-NC.com



Joined: 30 May 2007
Posts: 980
Location: Formerly Cape Hatteras, now Burlington, VT!

PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 8:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's how I look at the situation:

Anyone who is fairly new and starting to progress will be slowly going down in board size. Every time you make a jump, even from 220 liters down to 160, there is an adjustment period. The best way to shorten the adjustment period is to get out there and practice on the new, smaller gear.

Once you get down to that 100 ish liter volume, real, validated fears of not being able to get home can set in with new sailors. 110 liters is a small board, tough to uphaul for newbees, tough to schlog around on. Folks with lots of experience maybe have forgotten that phase of their career. So then, if fear creeps in, there will be days that are perfectly suited to the smaller board, but the user won't take it out because maybe they're afraid of getting stranded on it if the wind dies.

The best way to quell that fear is to go out in marginal conditions on purpose, and practice getting where you want to go in less than ideal conditions. Perhaps a light onshore wind day in a big open sandy bay, warm weather and sunshine. Figure out the quirks when you're mentally prepared to deal with it all. Then in the future, if you're out there and the wind tanks, it isn't a "trial by fire" situation- you already know what to do and how to handle your equipment, since you practiced.

Obviously there are better equipment choices for the bulk of 10-12 knot days, but giving up an hour or two of properly rigged sailing towards a little bit of practicing on inappropriate gear will make the rare really windy days all the more enjoyable. No one is telling anyone to sell their big boards and only sail sinkers. Just take a bit of time to practice sailing the new small board. Then go back to the more appropriate gear.

The same is true with basically any "core skill" like waterstarting, for example. Take a bit of time out to practice, and a whole new world gets opened up to you. Schlogging is a skill, just like waterstarting.


On a side note, I fully agree with GURGLE about sailing bigger boards with smaller sails.

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NOVAAN



Joined: 28 Sep 1994
Posts: 1544

PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nicely stated...
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NOVAAN



Joined: 28 Sep 1994
Posts: 1544

PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 11:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

By the way, at my age I don't own a board I can't up haul or easily slog around if the wind dies. I rarely sail anywhere that my 85 liter board and a 4.2 is to big. On the other end my 112 RRD and a 6.5 Cheetah is my lite wind gear. My local lake is lite most of the time but not to gusty. Its the kind of spot that if you can't get a 6.5 going, the 7.5 or 8.0's don't seem much better.
That and the tuning range of modern sails is amazing. That said, 3 guys are getting on foils. At first I thought not me. As these guys progressed the more I thought maybe. By the end of the season, the foil guys were flying around on small sails and very lite wind. Now I can't wait to get one. For me ( just my opinion) A guy that started windsurfing in 1982, been thru the whole progression of the sport, I'm going back to a 30 lb. long board with a huge heavy sail to go windsurfing in 10 to 12 mph winds. Foiling on the other hand looks to replace a lot of my golfing days...
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