What a day...

The forecast was a little tricky today: 50% chanche that we would have wind. Arrived ard 11:30 and there were already 3 x 7.8m² sails ready to go. It seemed to me that the wind was really light, but didn't want to rig my 8.5 because if the big guys could get their 7.8 planing, then I could definetely do as well.

Started with the Falcon 113 + 7.8 and could only plane 3 runs (max 45 kmph)... Waited a while and decided to rig my 8.5 (freerace sail) + F113 + S10 43. With this one i could at least go up an down in 10-12 kts After a while (some of the guys left the scene already because of the lack of wind) the wind seemed to pick up a bit and did a  50 run with the 8.5. Because of the profile of the sail, it's very hard to sail overpowered, so changed again with the 7.8  But now i took my Falcon 85 + Caspar 31 !! Woooow, what a combo !! Did more then 100 km on this set in 20-25 kts wind. Those Racing Blades have an enormous range !! Normally i take always 1m smaller then the big boys, today i sailed the whole day with the same sail size. Even upwind the 7.8 is working great with the Falcon 85. Can't imagine doing that on my old Falcon 80. 

Off course 7m² would be more efficient and i could even use my Falcon 51 + 6.3 easily today !! In fact i  have proven that I can go from 7.8 direct to  6.3. Really love the light feeling and response with the RDM mast. Must be a personal best for me with 7.8m² (AVG and max). I am a happy man !!

The Caspar 31 is maybe 1-2 cm too short: Never had spinout, but board never came loose. 

Did the last hour all alone. The wind turned almost completely square, so decided to do some alpha's. Definetely not bad at all with a 7.8 !! It's even a PR on alpha tout court. But I must admit that i never went 100% for a nice alpha. But maybe I should try to do so in the future. Who knows what I can achieve with a much smaller sail?

Very happy about my performance today. Couldn't stop but after 115km decided to go back as I had to de-rig 2 sets and sunset was coming fast. While rolling my yellow MS Titan 8.5 I saw alot of blood spots on the sail. Only then I realised that my 2 hands were bleeding... My baby skin needs some rest now !!

The day began with marginal weather but ended with a nice 20-25 kts all alone along the dam. Knowing the length of the dam (<700m) you know I did some gybes today ;-) Three of them > 44

It wasn't cold at all today. What a difference with some days ago. Didn't need gloves and just a single wetsuit was enough.

Already did some nice sessions this year. Hope to have a 30-35 kts wind session soon, just to see if I still have some speedy blood running through my veins.