Friday, July 31, 2009

Weekend Downwinding Forecast

The wind won't be as good as today, but it should be good enough. We'll meet at the Gazebo on Saturday at 12:30.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Monday's Downwinder

Monday night I hit the highest speed I've ever run in the strong wind we had. On one runner, I was on the tail and angled just perfect in the pocket zooming.

Not much on video though. I need to find some better camera angles.

I think these videos help me with ideas for my next board build.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Sunday's Downwinder

Sunday turned out better than Saturday. More runners and longer, faster glides. The video turned out boring, so no video upload today.

The beach at the gazebo was again closed due to sharks. We launched from the house instead.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Today's Downwinder

The meet time for Sunday's downwinder is 12:30 at the gazebo. Although we'll not actually start from that spot tomorrow. That beach was closed today due to sharks. We can't launch there tomorrow because I'm a wanted man and don't want to be seen there tomorrow. Anyone who comes tomorrow will get to hear the inside story of todays adventure.

Very Cool

Saturday Morning Session

Swell is almost gone, but it is still fun out there. Sunrise session.

Jacky






Craig, Brad's partner at Surf House.


Brad






Friday, July 24, 2009

Weekend Downwinding Forecast

The forecast is good for Saturday and Sunday, with Sunday having the slight edge in wind direction and strength. Plus Sunday gives my knee an extra day of heeling. So we'll plan on being at the gazebo on Sunday at 12:30 to make a run.

BIG Friday

I surfed from 6-7am this morning, then snapped a few photos and rushed off to work.
The lighting was poor, so forgive the quality.








hehe

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Forecast Swell is Showing!

I tested the knee by taking a few waves tonight. I can't watch with swell here. I played through the pain. Knee feels stable surfing. But getting rag dolled doesn't feel very good. That hurts the knee. We'll see how it feels tomorrow.

Jacky in front of the house today.







Sunday, July 19, 2009

Afternoon Session





Hanging at the House

Jacky surfing at home. Me crippled on the beach.



Neighborhood kid Jack, trying Jacky's board. He's 10 years old.


The Hobie Crew were out surfing. They're from the neighborhood next to ours.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Best Looking Board Ever?

This beautiful paint job just arrived this week at the Surf House.






The Surf House is not open yet, but I'll bet you could track down the boys and buy this Sub Vector before somebody else snags it. I heard C4 is out of many models until late August. I guess the economic slump hasn't hit the SUP market.

Saturday Morning

BA, no where to go


CB1


Z man


CB1 decided not to take Z out


BA


No surfing for me. My knee is hurting real bad.

Saturday Downwinder CANCELLED

My knee is hurting so bad, I can barely walk this morning. Jacky has family in town, so she can't go either.

Friday, July 17, 2009

25-30 mph wind at my back tonight

I used Jacky's board. It's narrow, with a pointy tail. It didn't feel fast to me today. I think being more wobbly on the her board might actually hurt my planing. How can you plane consistently when you have moments of wild side to side wobble?

Anyone else think it might be better to go wider and more stable, so you plane more consistently?

It wasn't as good as other days I've run. I kept running into the wave in front of me and killing my plane. I just could not avoid the next wave. They were steep, so I couldn't climb it and I could not steer to the side tonight.

Here is the video. My knee is very sore tonight.

My speed average was 6 mph.

Weekend Downwinding Forecast

The downwinder is ON for Saturday.

Meet time is 12:30 at the gazebo.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

A Bad-Ass Sub Vector

8'0 Custom

Wouldn't we all like to demo this baby!




Jacky's board was machine cut yesterday. It might get scrubbed today.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Cabrinha Joins the Bandwagon

Message to Kitesurfers: Stopping fighting it, come to the dark side.

Cabrinha has! hehe



Tuesday, July 14, 2009

SUP Cup Video

The video finally surfaces!



The race start....

Monday, July 13, 2009

Fin Analysis

It's time to take a closer look into why the Controller Quads feel so different from the Vector II 450s.

There were some surprising hidden differences.


Vector II 450s with heavy cant and asymmetric fronts. Nothing hidden here.


The matching 375 rear fins that come with Vector II 450 sets. Heavy cant matching the fronts and symmetric foils. Nothing unusaul here.



Controller Quad Fronts. Asymmetric foils, but reduced cant


Controller rears. NO cant AND Asymmetric foils

198 Racers in the Maui Downwinder Sunday

Downwinding is getting HUGE.

Photos here.
http://tracydudley.com/Surf/Maliko_Race/index.html

Results here.
http://www.pacificsportevents.com/Races/Nash%20Maui%20Paddleboard/2009/Overall_09.htm

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Sub Vector Fins

Yesterday I swapped Sub Vectors with CB1 while surfing the inlet. CB1 had these Vector IIs installed. My Sub Vector had the Controllers installed.

I caught a juicy chest high wave on CB1s board. I laid hard into the bottom turn and Vector IIs twitched several times. It reminded me of the feel when a windsurf fin twitches as it wants to spin out, but doesn't quite fully let go.

Hands down, the Controllers blow away the Vector IIs. I have no idea why they don't cut it on our SUPs, but they work great on my Stretch 6'3". Maybe SUPs place way more load on the fins and we need the stiffer fiberglass construction. Maybe its the more aggressive tow-in foil the Controllers run at the rear that allow it to handle higher loads.

Controller Quads below

Sunday Downwinder

The wind was blowing 20 mph by 12:30 this afternoon, so we rushed to drop the truck and made a downwind run before any storms messed with the wind. We probably should have waited until 3 pm because it blew a lot harder later and no storms developed today.

We had fun, even if only blowing 20. Jacky was fast today. I could not catch her. The best I could do was just keeping up.

We swapped boards so I could test the speed difference. Jacky's board is fastest.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Weekend Downwinding Forecast

Saturday looks bad. Sunday there is a slight chance. The forecast is not solid enough to say the downwinder is on for Sunday. I suggest anyone wanting to make a run Sunday, call me Sunday morning to discuss the prospects of making a run. I'll be reachable after our morning surf session. The cell number is shown in my profile.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Big Night

These are the small ones. I was too busy surfing when it was bigger.

All surfing in front of the house tonight. 3rd fun night this week!


Oops














Where is she?