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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935
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 Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 8:19 am Post subject: |
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... unless one picks a board that works exceptionally well over any two-sq-meter range or larger and learns to sail comfortably overpowered and underpowered (I'm still working on that underpowered bit). But even then we've all seen virtually unanimous forecasts be off by more than 20 mph all day in both ways, and now that I'm often sailing from my Subaru rather than my motor home, that can bite. So far this season, the only time I didn't take a sail I really needed, a lighter bud said, "Take mine; it's all rigged and too big for me."
But, really ... One board? On a river where on any very windy day the wind normally ranges from 7.5 to 3.0 at different launches, the surface ranges from glassy to horrendous chop to BIG swell, and excellent boards can be had for less than the price of lunch, why would anyone want just one or two boards? Does anyone live in Paris or New Orleans and eat only at McDonald's? |
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cgoudie1
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2599
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove
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| Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 10:43 am Post subject: |
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I eat at Taco Bell in Hood River ;*) but I get your point, t'would be
like sailing at Stevenson all summer, even though you could sail the Hatchery, or Doug's, or The Wall.
I admit to currently having the following boards in SLC:
Angulo Sumo 155, RRD Twin Tip 115, Cross M 75
This covers me for 9.5 to 3.7, but I rarely carry more than 2 boards.
and in HR I have
RRD 76 (which is I think around 100 ltrs), Clubber Custom 80 ltrs
(recently retired), Open Ocean 79 (Brian's latest), Bailey 75, and a HiTech 8'2" (maybe 70 ltrs, maybe less). With one board retired and the Bailey used as a loaner, and for Board Cam video, I ride 3 boards,
and rarely carry more than 2. That gets me from 6.7 to 3.2, so 15MPH to
45MPH or so. I'm hoping the 79 Ltr OO will carry 5.2 to 3.7 (which would be my "bread and butter"), but so far I haven't tested it out with anything but a 4.7.
So yeh, I have 8 boards, but for Hood River sailing, 3 is plenty
-Craig
p.s. I'm pretty comfortable over powered, and reasonably competent
getting planed up underpowered.
| isobars wrote: | | ... unless one picks a board that works exceptionally well over any two-sq-meter range or larger and learns to sail comfortably overpowered and underpowered Does anyone live in Paris or New Orleans and eat only at McDonald's? |
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starfish
Joined: 14 Apr 1996
Posts: 202
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| Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Who said anything about driving? I never going any further west then swell city and no further east then Rowena. Yes we all know I have 5 boards and 2.9 to 5.2 sails in the van. I also work 50 hours a week and probably sailed 50 plus days. I am still a wind snob. |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935
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| Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 2:33 pm Post subject: |
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| cgoudie1 wrote: | | I'm hoping the 79 Ltr OO will carry 5.2 to 3.7 (which would be my "bread and butter"), but so far I haven't tested it out with anything but a 4.7. |
Brian has for decades argued and advertised that expecting a 2-meter range from a Gorge-sized board is folly. His boards were usually advertised to offer a 1.0 to 1.5 meter range, and independent testing agreed. Your 4.7 is near the middle of your target range, so it should be a valid range for you and it, especially since you often ride swell on a 3.7 in winds in which I couldn't plane on a 6.2. Other than that, I've found very few boards with only a 1 or 1.5 meter range. Even my 55 liter single-finned GA did better with my 180#; add four thrusters and 10 liters and ya got 2.8 to 5.5.
With experimentation, choosing one or two boards for one's total Gorge quiver is doable, but that's only if he sails in only one mode and rejects slalom conditions. I own five sizes of Maui Project Wave boards, and although their ranges overlap very significantly and they all sail and maneuver in a similar great fashion, each size has its pros, cons, and (very broad) ideal wind range. That lets me pick two or even one for most short trips and know I'll be close, but there's no feeling like having picked juuust the right one for any given session, especially as gusty and up'n'down as the last couple of seasons' winds have been and the length and both river and wind range of some of my sessions. I could cover all my Gorge sailing with my 76 and 96 liter MPs, but neither is ideal for the run-of-the-mill, vanilla, ho-hum, commonplace 20-30 mph day on the river.
1. Never leave wind to find wind.
2. Take all yer toys.
3. Minimalism is more for bragging rights than for optimal pleasure.
Oh, yeah ... IMO. But I LOVE IT when the only thing that ends my day on the water is total darkness and I'm still rigged just right, and neither one board nor two sails achieves that very often. |
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cgoudie1
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2599
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove
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| Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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I agree that a 2M sail range is pretty hard to design for, in
Gorge conditions. (2Ms is easy on a slalom board designed for slalom
conditions)
This is Brian's new 2015 outline, and it is wider and shorter than
his standard designs were for the last 20 years. I demoed it before
I bought it, and it was more comfortable than either the last Naish
Hybrid wave board, or the last Starboard Quad, I rode, in fact, it's
pretty much the same ride as my custom board, but with a little
more epoxy flavor. So, smooth enough in nasty chop, and really
surfy on swells. From the handeling characteristics with a 4.7, I'm
pretty sure it'll carry a 5.2 no problem, and you know I'll at least try
my 5.7 on it with a bigger fin. Will it work with a 3.7? We shall see,
but 3.7 to 5.2 is 1.5 meters.
It's 22.25"wide, by 7'9" long, and 79 Ltrs. Not your mother's OO,
but still somewhat conservative by modern board standards.
I will say that it is most helpful to have your main board have a
broad range, and if you can find it or have it made, it goes without
saying that it will reduce your board quiver necessities.
-Craig
p.s. I'm still trying to get my buddy to cough up his 8'2" glass Bonzer,
but he just wants to hang it on his wall in the playroom as art .....
personally, I perfer ridable art ;*)
| isobars wrote: | | cgoudie1 wrote: | | I'm hoping the 79 Ltr OO will carry 5.2 to 3.7 (which would be my "bread and butter"), but so far I haven't tested it out with anything but a 4.7. |
Brian has for decades argued and advertised that expecting a 2-meter range from a Gorge-sized board is folly. His boards were usually advertised to offer a 1.0 to 1.5 meter range, and independent testing agreed. Your 4.7 is near the middle of your target range, so it should be a valid range for you and it, especially since you often ride swell on a 3.7 in winds in which I couldn't plane on a 6.2. Other than that, I've found very few boards with only a 1 or 1.5 meter range. Even my 55 liter single-finned GA did better with my 180#; add four thrusters and 10 liters and ya got 2.8 to 5.5.
. |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935
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| Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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| cgoudie1 wrote: | | I'm still trying to get my buddy to cough up his 8'2" glass Bonzer, but he just wants to hang it on his wall in the playroom as art ... |
I definitely earmark my best-looking board for a wall or ceiling after I have to stop WSing, and the California GAs are often among the most beautiful boards I've ever seen. But if you just want one to sail, a) the 8-2 is big and thus relatively heavy, b) all the smaller ones from 7-6 to 8-0 (about 65 liters) work great from 2.8 through 5.2 (even at your weight IIRC), and c) I've bought several Bonzers for $10 to $35 in excellent condition at swap meets.
HOWEVER ... the advantages of Bonzers are not relevant to your sailing as represented in your videos or by your descriptions. Their advantage is precision control and tracking when maneuvering very tightly at high speeds under full power. Anyone who doesn't spin out or bounce out when doing anything he wants to do will not benefit from them until he starts expanding what he wants to do to the point that good fins won't track sufficiently. It's much like the Miatas and Stingrays and Lexuses I often pass in my Winnebago as they clog the highways; Their owners don't NEED them or use their capabilities, they just WANT them or like sitting in them. Nothing wrong with that, but their superior performance is not being tapped. And small sinkers are not very smile-inducing underpowered; their owners are getting their downsides without tapping their upsides. |
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noshuzbluz
Joined: 18 May 2000
Posts: 791
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| Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2014 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | This is Brian's new 2015 outline, and it is wider and shorter than
his standard designs were for the last 20 years. I demoed it before
I bought it, and it was more comfortable than either the last Naish
Hybrid wave board, or the last Starboard Quad, I rode, in fact, it's
pretty much the same ride as my custom board, but with a little
more epoxy flavor. So, smooth enough in nasty chop, and really
surfy on swells. From the handeling characteristics with a 4.7, I'm
pretty sure it'll carry a 5.2 no problem, and you know I'll at least try
my 5.7 on it with a bigger fin. Will it work with a 3.7? We shall see,
but 3.7 to 5.2 is 1.5 meters.
It's 22.25"wide, by 7'9" long, and 79 Ltrs. Not your mother's OO,
but still somewhat conservative by modern board standards.
I will say that it is most helpful to have your main board have a
broad range, and if you can find it or have it made, it goes without
saying that it will reduce your board quiver necessities.
-Craig |
We'll be detailing the new line up with the winter website update!
_________________
The Time a Person Spends Windsurfing is not Deducted from their Lifespan...
http://www.openocean.com |
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whitevan01
Joined: 29 Jun 2007
Posts: 607
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| Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2014 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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| isobars wrote: | | It's much like the Miatas....... |
or, perhaps they are on the way to an autox or track day, as I often am when I am driving my Miata, and not the wsing van. just sayin'. |
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kmf
Joined: 02 Apr 2001
Posts: 503
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 12:23 am Post subject: |
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Ahhh, I wondered who purchased that new 79 OOcean. I demoed it over a couple of days at Rowena using a 4.2and a 3.8 Sailworks revo's and really liked the board. It started to get a bit bouncy on a powered up 3.8, but ya know how Rowena is. I weigh in at 160. Nice board. Light too.
I wis.h he would keep a couple of demo's around, it would help his business out I would think....
KMF |
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cgoudie1
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2599
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove
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| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:40 am Post subject: |
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I'm pleased to "hear" of your experience with the 3.8, because I hope
to ride the thing into 3.7 conditions, and I weigh in 20lbs heavier than you
so it should be about right.
When I was in the shop 2 weeks ago, Brian was putting the foot straps on
another new blue demo which looked like the smaller version, so go give
that a whirl, should be good for 3.7 conditions.
My apologies to the OP as we seem to have veered off the original topic
somewhat, although he was looking fro Gorge board advise, and this is some.
-Craig
| kmf wrote: | Ahhh, I wondered who purchased that new 79 OOcean. I demoed it over a couple of days at Rowena using a 4.2and a 3.8 Sailworks revo's and really liked the board. It started to get a bit bouncy on a powered up 3.8, but ya know how Rowena is. I weigh in at 160. Nice board. Light too.
I wish he would keep a couple of demo's around, it would help his business out I would think....
KMF |
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