Bouncing through chop

[StillSailin]

Isobars: Appreciate the recommends on the board and shape. Wondering if you have any recommends on sailing technique (likely just keep the flows until they fall apart) that would reduce bounce. Thanks

[isobars]

[StillSailin]

Isobars: Yes!! I'd like you to post ANY TIPS you have for managing the chop. Use as many word as you want!

Westender thanks for the suggestions--hiking out makes sense--riding the fin is likely something I usually do--by that I mean pushing hard on back foot but pulling toes up on front.

kmf suggested smaller fin and slo down. At Stevenson I needed all of the 6.5 to get going, and it was nicely powered but bouncy, at the Event site 4.2 was overpowered and I really should have taken the time to put more downhaul in. My Bad

?? One says ride the fin, the other put on smaller fin??

Hey 500 words guy, hope you will cut me a little slack! You others Thanks

[westender]

When I say ride the fin, I mean, you are so powered up and going so fast, the board barely touches the water. Back in the day I bought a AHD from Ken the Barber that had a True Ames fin. It would FLY Over the chop like magic.

You also angle the board a little so the wind gets underneath and helps hold the board above the water. Hydroplanes and tunnel hull racing boats use the air compression underneath the hull to lift the hull above the water to eliminate drag and smooth the ride. Similar principal on a Windboard. At least for me. YMMV.

[isobars]

Event Site? Flows? 4.2 + 85 liters? All recipes for getting pounded in chop. Add strong current, maybe bottom changes like sandbars, crowds, gusty spring winds, modern wider boards, etc. and your dentist and orthopedic surgeon will love ya.

Pick your site. The Event Site, Celilo, Rowena, Stephenson (especially the south side in easterlies), Vantage, etc., don't cut it. I’ll NEVER understand why some locals sail only at Celilo.

Eschew flat rockers. If you need more speed out of your wave board, rig bigger, grow a pair, trust your board, sheet in, and blow by most ordinary slalomheads when it gets really bumpy. Skill, confidence in your gear and yourself, a good scalpel (something that cuts and slashes cleanly through the chopswell at high speed), horsepower, and armor allow great speeds in rough water.

Bend zee knees, weight your harness, and let the board choose its nose up/down attitude over the chop without your legs mashing down on the tail.

Move your mastfoot and fins in their slots. Experiment.

Pick your path through the chop. Learn to slash just to achieve that, rather than blindly sailing lock’n’load fashion and trying to bash the chop out of your way. We can finesse and caress most of the terrain even at high speed if we use suitable gear and skill. That's not amenable with hiking out and cruising on just the fin, however.

Less volume, shorter or non-existent flat rocker sections, narrow/thin tails (some of my board tails are too thin to accommodate a Chinook A-box), smaller fins, extra padding at least under your heels, plenty of vee, concaves, narrower midsections, willingness to slog (or jump in and wait out the worst lulls; I sit on my boards sometimes if the water’s cold) … all mitigate chop.

Soak up the chop with knee flex, or stiffen up and jump. Air is smoother than water.

Big boards (90 liters? 85?) + many Gorge conditions + significant wind + gusts + speed = rough ride. Certainly there are exceptions, but the ones I found don’t maneuver like I want at speed in chop.

Get upwind or way downwind of crowds. Sail early and late (DAMN, but I miss Dawn Patrol in the corridor. What a pleasure it was to avoid crowdchop, but it’s now very rare.)

Slow down.

Naaaah. That’s like driving a Corvette or Miata 60 mph and getting your doors blown off by a Winnebago driving to the shore on a windy day.

Or, really, slow down and work on other skills if all the above fails. I’m having fun learning how to sail in strong but holey frontal winds on my strapless, oversized, but highly maneuverable dancing pig of a windSUP. Its slower speed even when planing surely smooths out the chop despite its 30 inch width.

471 words.

[westender]

I found this picture. The board is above the water.

[windoggi]

You're just the awesomest iso.

[StillSailin]

Thanks guys!! Good info. Am now stoked!! Nice Pic BTW. Later

[johnl]

Wow, I'm surprised at some of the stuff I read here..

4.2 and an 85 liter board is a GOOD match (assuming you weigh between 160 and 190 pounds, beyond that I don't know). I sailed for YEARS on a Fanatic Freewave 86l board with a 4.2 sail. It was DA BOMB! Now I substitute a Realwind 80 but still match it up with a 4.2 sail. SMALLER than 4.2 and you are on your own. I would be getting on a smaller board.

The event site/Waterfront park sailing area has changed in the last 2 years. IF you remember there was once a dam on the White Salmon river (notice the bridge on the Washington side). It's gone. So all the crap on the bottom of the river came down the river and set up camp right outside the bridge. This created a sand bar (if you call it sand) in the river. Where it was once 30+' deep it is now 0 feet deep. This changed the flow of the columbia river. I have found the swell to be pretty lame below the bridge and the cross chop has increased. Now SOME of this cross chop is caused by kiters and windsurfers. If you don't believe me, try being one of the first ones out and notice how nice the water is until your "friends" come out. Then it gets chopped up. But in the Event site area, a lot of it is the new flow of the Columbia river. If you trust your skills and the wind, head upwind to Wells Island and play there. Or go up farther and sail the area between the Hatch and Wells Island. Actually forget I said that. Leave that area to me and my friends.....

Personally I had a BLAST when it was blowing hard last week (Thursday?) on an 80l Realwind and a 4.2 hucker. Hammer down and rip.

Things that can go wrong in the chop.....

1. Slowing down. This slams you into the chop. Better to hammer down and fly over the top of the chop. However some skill and comfort going that fast in chop is needed. Something to work on... Also note, I am talking about chop, not swell. Apples and oranges....

2. Sail stability. If you slam into the chop, this can cause you to "slightly depower your sail" which then powers back up hard and rip you into the next chop. Over and over. Not a fun cycle. I LOVE sails that depower instantly for playing around in freestyle, but prefer a sail with a stable draft for ripping in chop..... (hence the addition of two hucker's to my quiver).

[isobars]