Winging session this morning. Kalani, myself, Tim and Roland all piled in to Kalani's Sequoia. Four boards, seven foils, seven wings and support gear - but it all fit.
Wind was on the light side - which was fine with me as I wanted to get more time on the Takuma RS 6.1 wing and test the Kujira 1440 as a light wind combo.
Kalani set up his new Axis HPS 980. At first he went out with a 5.2 Ensis V2. He was able to get up on a couple of runs. When he came in to adjust his foil (shimming the rear stabilizer), I suggested he put up the 6.0. He was back out after a few minutes and was cruising around and jibing like he was before his illness. He even got in a small jump. He is using the board I built for him - I was a bit nervous if he would get it dialed in - as a shaper, you want the person you made the board for to really like it. Today he did (whew!).
The RS behaved much better today. After the first session with it I wasn't liking the backwinding that was happening as I tried to pinch upwind. Today with the lighter winds, this wing was a joy to use. Tons of low end power - like taking off in puffs that barely deform the water surface and sustained lift in almost nothing (which was actually 12mph). I think as long as the wind stays below 20 mph in the gusts, this will be the wing I use.
I tried to get in some toe-to-heel tacks in. Primarily leading with the wing, but I would come down from foil and the whole tack was not pretty. I'm now thinking I need to go in both with the wing and the foil at the same time.
The glide that I felt using the 1440 in the surf was right there under the wing. The 6.1 and the 1440 made this light wind session super fun.
Got some miles in today - over 14 on the first run.
Long stretches up on foil. Only came down when I botched the tack attempts. Surprising how fast the 1440 can go.
I took a break after an hour - the big RS is a very physical wing - I have sore muscles where I didn't when using the other wings. I hit a second session and got in another 8 miles.
Cool wing site with all the regulars!
W:37/F:43/S:14
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