A Year (Windsurfing) en Provence: Just before the storm

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Just before the storm

I managed to get calls done and made it out to the Launch Pad for the end of the predicted west wind. It was 17c and blowing 14 with 18 knot max gusts. I was almost tempted to foil, but thought I should give the Fanatic Ray 122 a second try for the year. I'd recently put some glue on the small crack from May. I headed out with the 7.0 NP V8 and couldn't quite get planing. So I switched for the 9.0 NP V8 which was the right call for the wind. The water was the clearest I think I've ever seen it, but the temperature has dropped suddenly to 16c.

Wow I'd forgotten how heavy that 9.0 is on a small 122 litre board. I had a hard time tacking it, and even on my first jibes I'd forget how heavy it is and have to pull it back out of the water. And I didn't have enough downhaul, so it was quite hard to hold onto with my back hand. After fixing the downhaul, and also tightening the footstraps (which hadn't been used since spring when I needed booties) it started feeling more comfortable.

The big sail really pulls like a train to get you going. The seat harness helps my back with a big sail like that too. But it was a ton of work. My calves will be sore tomorrow. I couldn't make much upwind ground. I can't believe I used a sail that big for hours at a time on the HIHO races. Or that I was able to work upwind reaches.

Post session posing between thunder cells

Nice West wind and 17c.

View from the west - hard to make upwind ground.

11.75 km in 56 minutes. Max speed 41.5 km/h

Thunder cells coming in from the NW

Rain squalls

I'm ok missing that gusty wind and thunder

Brief NW winds

Another cell

Wind and weather seem to bring out the snakes

After the thunderstorms and brief rain passed through, I headed out for a foil. With the light NP 6.5 V6 it was a much more comfortable and Zen like experience cruising slowly as the sun set. I think I definitely prefer wind foiling over wind surfing in moderate winds.