The trades came back today!!!
I was at Hickam by 1100 and I was in the water at 1130. Arvin was already out. It had been a little bit since I have been winging, so I wanted to shake of the rust.
For today's agenda, I ended up running through several pieces of equipment. I wanted to continue testing the North Mode Pro and also try out the Naish Hover Compact LE.
I ended up getting in three separate runs to get the equipment swapped out.
Good wind (FINALLY)!!!!
My first run was with the Eagle 1090/DW210, No.25 and the North Mode Pro 6.8 - the wind would gust up to a pretty good clip, but this wing was totally manageable.
Another thing I noticed about this wing - I really don't pump it, I just let it build speed and I pump the board/foil. I think my tendons will appreciate that. This wing is also fast - probably the fastest I've used to date. It's pretty flat and only has a little dihedral - should be good for racing. All of these things have been advertised by North - I'm just seeing that its all true.
Once up on foil, I made sure to run through one of each transition (H-T Tack, T-H Tack, both Jibes) before heading out to Firsts. The waves were pretty weak - but every now and then there was a good set that would roll through.
Not a bad top speed considering I had a 1090 cm2 foil bolted on.
I came in and swapped out the wing. The stronger winds had filled in and even though the Mode Pro could handle the gusts, I didn't want to strain anything (especially my tendons and ligaments).
This session was pretty darn good. I did catch a few waves as the tide was dropping. I did drift over a bit - and I figured I'd try catching a few waves at Seconds - I just didn't want to get stuck over there (lucky for me I didn't).
This was my longest run and I spent a lot of time out at Firsts. Jim, Jesse, Harris, Arvin and a few others were all out - starved wingers taking in the new wind...
Nearly the same wind and not as fast while using the smaller wing.
And lastly I setup the Naish.
I should have also pumped up the SW2 5.2 (but I was lazy and didn't).
I ended up drifting for most of this session. The wind wasn't pressurizing the SW2 4.7.
I was able to get up on foil a few times - and I also didn't have to swim in (but it got pretty worrisome for a bit).
Looking at the foil -board setup after getting back in, I noticed the foil was pitched down as the mast track boxes had a lot of tail rocker (and the Eagle is designed to ride flat).
I'll have to try this again with the base shimmed. As far as the board, it wasn't any more difficult to ride than the other short sinker boards I've tried using. I'm just going to have to keep dialing it in...
This is just the beginning of the wind for this week!!!!
W:105/F:99/S:54
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