I was near home doing a site visit at one of our locations over this way - so I decided to launch at WPB. The waves the surfers were riding were chest high on the sets. The tide was filling in so I wasn't hesitant to bolt together the Armstrong (same setup as Sunday - 95cm mast, HS1850 front foil, Chopped 300 rear stabilizer with a +1 shim on a 60cm fuselage). The wind was marginal - but just decided to go out anyways. Roland and Prayot also went out. Had to paddle out a ways to get to the wind line, but launched from Fenceline so the waves weren't breaking as bad as the other side.
We were out from 4:30 to 6pm. You can see the wind was on the lighter side, but I've always suspected the anemometer connected to this site is reading way further inland. There was decent wind on the outside.
This is the second time I've had this setup bolted on - the 95cm mast totally makes a difference in riding in choppy bumpy conditions. I am always trying to make sure I don't breach the tail - and before even with the 85cm mast, I would have popped the tail in conditions like today. This mast allowed the foils to stay submerged even when I was taking huge drops on the far outside waves.
The HS1850 was perfect for getting up quick - and for staying on foil during the transitions. But when up and riding, I was having a hard time keeping up with the waves and in managing the extra speed when dropping in from the top of the bigger waves. I jibed into a couple and got to lull the wing while riding regular footed. As the waves backed down (transiting over deeper channels) I had to quickly pulling in the wing and get going under wing power again. My max speed was 16.2 kt (18.6 mph). You can see from the blue-black distribution that I had some really long runs and several transitions while staying up on foil.
Using wind power to move around, you kinda forget to look how far out you are. I would make the long runs to make sure I was gaining ground. I was far enough upwind that I felt I could give up ground riding waves wherever they took me on the way in.
Riding at WPB is definitely more "wild" - a lot more to think about and manage compared to Hickam. This is likely to be the last time I wing for several days - the wind is forecasted to go pretty light (which is great for prone foiling). Hopefully when the trades fill back in, they will be strong enough to bolt on the HS1250 on this setup - with that front foil I should be able to move faster and still get up on foil fairly quickly.
As a note, Prayot came in down wind at a place where the shore break was stronger - he ended up wrapping his wing around a chunk of reef and one of the bladders popped. Roland was riding. but wasn't gaining ground (he won't ride weak side/heel side headed back in).
I had a great time and didn't wash in at Campgrounds!!!
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