The forecasts were calling for nuking winds everywhere. Decided to mix it up for Saturday - headed over to Kailua. The problem with Kailua on the weekends is the parking - if you want close parking, you have to hit the dawn patrol. The problem with the dawn patrol at Kailua is the wind usually doesn't fill in until the clouds burn off - and that's not at dawn.
With the marginal winds, I initially pumped up the 6.0 - however I was using the new electric pumps and the strut bladder ended up popping. I had the setting on 7psi, but now I know to dial it down a bit. I manually pumped up the 5.2. I bolted on the HS1850 and the Nico 15" rear stabilizer.
It's a good sign when a flock of Iwa come gliding through!
Despite the up and down wind, I got in 12.7 nm and hit a top speed of 15.9 kt (probably dropping down one of the waves).
The take away for me from this session is technique to get up on foil is huge. Where I normally would have leaned heavy on the 6.0, I could get going with the 5.2
Roland and Prayot showed up as I was leaving. Pumping really takes it out of my left forearm.
I had come in once to adjust the foil position. I was feeling a little bit of back foot pressure. After pushing the mast up just a hair, the setup was well balanced. The 15" rear stabilizer has the same lift profile as the 232, but way less drag.
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