why need an 85 lbs board -- now I know...

[baskinT]

What a May 5th Swap Saturday it has been! Started bright and early at the Swap gathering. Picked up a 4.7 m2 used Neil Pryde Zone sail which seemed to be in good shape, a 400 cm mast, Chinook triple-clamp Slalom (161-210cm) boom, Dakine adjustable harness lines, uphaul line which now allows me to rig two sails. These are in preparation for a road trip for two weeks to the Hood River, OR come this July 20th. Already got the tent spot reserved at the Marryhill State Camp, but more on that later. I would like to post that separately.

Let's continue with yesterday. Got out again on Ramsey Cnty beach around 2 PM. The winds seemed to dying down, but wait like three minutes, it was coming back up. Rain - clouds, a total mix bag. Checking with Jerry, Scott and others, decided to rig the 5.9 m2 Neil Pryde Excess with the Mistral Syncro 115 lbs board. Got out by 2:15 PM. Very slow going for about an hour. Kiters were also going back and forth, but nothing major was happening. Then it came...

Great sailing for about 45 minutes to an hour. Perfect conditions for the rig and board that I had out. Tried couple of jibes, being rusty mostly landed on the water, but felt great. Then the winds came down again. Got out by 4:30, and mingled at the beach.

With the thoughts of rigging the 7.7 m2 Saber with 160 lbs Mistral Explosion, the winds literally exploded. Immediately got out with the already rigged 5.9 m2 sail, and 115 lbs board, I had great runs for 15 - 20 minutes. Then it happened. Gusts up to 35, Diego and one other guy were on the water. Diego was doing great runs on his 114 liter board, and 5.7 m2 sail, similar to what I had. But it got gusty, he switched to an 85 lbs board. And I did not have the choice. Geff was on his 5.3 m2 sail, he downgraded to a 4.7 with and 85 lbs board. They all had a blast until wore out. Jerry and I watched them from the water. Diego was being overpowered at times and ended strong with a spectacular crash at the end. Jerry, Chris, and I watched a kiter, Joe, getting air upto 20 feet or more, dipped in three times in the water with a geronimo like fall. Awesome. All having fun.

Anyway, to keep the long story short, I am now feeling the need of an 85 lbs board. My 115 lbs Sycnro which I thought was enough got so bouncy at one time I hit a wave, lost the balance while pulling the sail with, hit the board with my knee. It hurt, but no hard done. When it gets this choppy, you need something small. Of course, no uphauling, so better wear a PFD, or a be a great swimmer and a good kick to waterstart. Also practice those in the water knee high jibes. That is something that I haven't tasted, but looking forward to this summer. More thoughts and advice are welcome.

Thanks and happy sailing. Today could be a repeat of tomorrow. Heading out to Ramsey in several hours.

Baskin

[JRN]

If you're going to the Gorge, the place is stuffed with gear! I'd rent a few, see what you like, check the local shops,swaps and classifieds. That is a good size out there and you should have lots to choose from. You're going to love it out there! JN

[freejoshua7]

Baskin I can't believe you stole that 4.7 right from under my nose. I could have used it today. I showed up at Calhoun at 10ish, by 10:30 it was going off. I had a 6.7 Saber rigged, got blown off the water. Rigged to 5.7, pulled it tight and went back out on my 111. I managed, got the biggest air of my life. That's a great feeling. But I was totally overpowered the rest of the morning til the wind backed off around 1.

I took a small break around 11:45, secured my rig pretty well. I was standing about 50 feet from my board, and I saw something on the water. I couldn't wrap my mind around what I was seeing, a wall of smoke blowing all the way across the lake. Instincts took over and I dashed to my rig, cause it would have blown away. And this is how I remember it, a fifty gallon oil drum used as a garbage can was behind my board, as I dove for my gear the heavy steel lid blew off the drum and took flight like a flying saucer. I remember it barely missing my head as I was midway to the ground. It probably wasn't as close as I remembered it, but it was defintely near death. That gust was measured at 46 in the parking lot, I'm guessing it was quite a bit stronger at the shore.

I think an 85 liter board may be in my near future as well.

[smallcar-windsurfer]

That was big wind at Calhoun. Glad I waited till after 1pm and 6.0m was just fine when the gusts came in for a while. I wish I had a board just a little smaller then 152L

[baskinT]

Hard to describe power of the wind on Sunday between 11 AM and 1 PM on Sunday at the Ramsey County beach. Trash cans were blowing all over the place. Could not even chase it. I came in around 11 AM. Steve was out, on his 85 lbs board with his 4.2 m2 Excess . He was riding pretty good. Then it kicked in more. Having the mentioned gear early in this post, I was not going to rig, I had too big. Sometime after my neighbor Dan showed up, highly stoked up and happy, rigged his 4.5 with a 95 lbs board. He had a few rides too, but the board was getting to be a little big. He had to leave early too, but left with a big smile, I thought.

Was out there measuring wind and talking to fellow boarders. It turns out that my gauge is not picking up the gusts as it should, I had the max at 34 mph, but it sure felt a lot more. Lone behold, another gauge measured a gust of 58.1 mph. It was really kicking out there.

Scott arrived, pretty stoked as well. He offered his 80 lbs the "Gorge" board since he will be riding on his 70 lbs board. My smallest sail is now 4.7 but it was a nod big. I cranked the downhaul and outhaul as much as I could. Solid rigging. Mike, Kevin, Dave, Steve, and several others were out there riding those gusty winds with sails 4.2 or less.

Having never ridden an 80 lbs board with a small sail, I had some serious learning ahead of me. I was able to get two or three rides, but the board handling was much different. Struggled with the boom height, then harness length, short board nose-sinking, I was figuring it out piece by piece while getting beat up by the wind. Half hour or more into it, with the wind gaining even more strength, and the fear of damaging Scott's board, decided to come off. Good experience and some confidence builder! Thanks, Scott for letting me use your board.

After 1 PM, it came down to 15 mph or less for a few hours, then picked up again. I put in the 115 lbs Syncro with 4.7 sail, but it turned out to be not enough sail. Got out, watched other riders. It was a very mix bag until 3:30 PM, then it came up back to 25 mph or more.

Jim came out and rigged his 6.5 m2 with 110 lbs board. He was doing well at first, but I think he got overpowered too. Pete came in and was about get in with 6.6 m2 sail as I was about to leave. Don't know how he did. Just staying at the beach it felt like we are getting a beating. Talking to others, this is how it is at "Gorge", so I am glad to see and experience these conditions. There is quite a bit of learning to do with small gear, in my case.

Josh, you could have gotten the 4.2 m2 sail there too. I was not aware of these sails until I talked to Steve outside. He said a guy named Ricki just exchanged a bunch of sails. Met him outside too. It looked like you got some good deals too. Loved the deal on the boom. I had to pay the full price on my Chinook slalom (161-210).

I think I will pick more gear at the Gorge. So looking forward to that. Meantime will see what goes on locally.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their experience. An amazing weekend overall! See you out there.