Hit Hickam this afternoon - wanted to try out some downwind techniques in preparation for the race on Sunday. I used the Takuma RS 5.1, the 1210 and the 178 rear stabilizer.
The new board just keeps getting better and better with each use. Today I was able to get some dry tacks in (heel to toe), and even one toe to heel tack. I'm going to hold off on putting the footstraps on for a bit - I think being able to move freely over this smaller deck is better for now.
After a few runs on the inside, I headed out to Firsts. The waves had come down considerably - but I had a couple of fun ones (but not enough to push the thrill meter).
I headed in from Firsts and that's when I started working on my transitions. These are definitely more sensitive on this board - its narrower than the other two (bigger) boards so I need to use smaller movements and rely more on pressure. You can see the tacks on the bottom left side of the inside runs - the "V"s in stead of the loops.
The RS 5.1 worked really well in the wind today. I had contemplated setting up the 6.1 - I'm glad I didn't. The graph shows stronger winds that what I recall winging through.
Towards the end of the session, the wind stiffened up and I tried doing a downwinder through the harbor. Wings do not function well going dead downwind - especially the ones that were designed to rip upwind (like the OR Glide and the Reedin SWX). The Takuma RS does not pinch hard up that well (it can be coaxed into it, but it is not automatic - and if you go too far, it revolts), and because of that, it does go on a broad reach better than the high forward drive wings. This is what I was working on today.
I think I'll be riding regular foot the whole way, and I'll switch tacks as I need to in order to stay with the wind line. I'm not sure what will happen after Diamondhead - but I'll deal with that when I confront it (pump like heck???)
I ended the session with some speed runs - I got the 1210 up to 22.6mph - not too shabby.
W:72/F:61/S:17
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