Battle of the Yellow Boards

After work (and a surprise charity award created in my name that makes me feel honoured to be like my father having the "Fritz Spiess Award" named after him while he was still alive) I headed out for a late windsurf session.

The wind was quite strong from the south. After fixing some garden and grass covers on the island, I had a dilemma about what to rig? 20-28 knots is pretty solid but I'd just been out on the Tiga in gale with even stronger winds.

My next smallest board is my old Axxis 272. 95 litres and the last time I used it was a fail. But it seemed more consistent than that day in June when I had to swim home. So I took the 4.7 and the Axxis out to the point and launched from there. A couple of good runs with nice upwind ground. But the lulls were too long and I was quickly tiring of slogging with the board a foot or two underwater and my butt in the water to help maintain flotation.

At least the wind and water were warm at 16c. It was the first time since June that I was wearing the 3/2 full wetsuit and I did close the neck after a few Axxis waterstarts.

The Axxis was too small though for the lulls, and so I returned to the point and tied down the board and walked the sail back to the dock. I was going to launch on the foil, but decided to try the Techno that my son Phillip had enjoyed on a super windy day recently.

The Axxis is actually longer than the big Techno

The little Axxis 272

The big Techno

Leaving with 28 knot peaks

GPS Trail with upwind and downwind sections

Winds upon my return

Top speed on the Techno was actually a bit higher than the Axxis

I tacked the Techno up out of the harbour and then I was flying. Some nice long runs out toward Bigsby and then more tacking up the small craft channel to see if my friends were at their place. No one there but that was a good place to send a Spot message home to say that I was safe.

While I was sailing I was reflecting on the two boards. The Axxis was a wonderful board to windsurf on in places like Margarita where the wind was so strong and consistent. It was fast but a handful when I took it to the Gorge and did my first ever short board tacks. And I think it might be part of what contributed to the decline of windsurfing in the late 1990s. It was as if windsurfing wasn't fun if you weren't on a tiny board. But the reality of sailing the two back to back is that the relatively inexpensive Techno gets planing easier, has a similar top speed, is easier to jibe and tack AND IT CAN GET YOU HOME IF THE WIND DROPS. The wind didn't drop much so I could plane most of the session but it sure feels good on the Techno knowing that there's no massive swim required if the wind does die.

So I had some nice downwind runs on the Techno and then back to the Launch Pad after 1.5 hours and 2km. A nice little workout, and gonna save a bit for tomorrow which should be windy too.