Drove the little one off to see a friend and the wife was going for a walk. Hey, it's a little cooler than yesterday and windier. Perhaps I can try the football field ? Winds hit 12 knots and more from the WNW. Put the 6-oh on the epoxy mast and used the pi winter sailboard # 3.14. Too many lulls in the wind and the angle was not good for the field. Still spring ski conditions. Tried board #2 which is now angled at 20 degrees. It felt like it could go, but it was too much work and looked like a train passed through in terms of tracks.
Put the Gaastra Flow 3X 7-oh on board pi and it went better.
Gave the session a 6 out of 10. OK. Was still out over one hour and tired after. Almost did a full tack.
Lesson: Need a better field than that. Next session - if it happens this winter - Near Mirabel !!!
Hey, my good friend Dolores went to Quebec City over the weekend and saw windsurfers doin' it on fields just near Québec !! COOL
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Trial Run on the Football Field - SUN 27MAR2011
Drove the little one off to see a friend and the wife was going for a walk. Hey, it's a little cooler than yesterday and windier. Perhaps I can try the football field ? Winds hit 12 knots and more from the WNW. Put the 6-oh on the epoxy mast and used the pi winter sailboard # 3.14. Too many lulls in the wind and the angle was not good for the field. Still spring ski conditions. Tried board #2 which is now angled at 20 degrees. It felt like it could go, but it was too much work and looked like a train passed through in terms of tracks.
Put the Gaastra Flow 3X 7-oh on board pi and it went better.
Gave the session a 6 out of 10. OK. Was still out over one hour and tired after. Almost did a full tack.
Lesson: Need a better field than that. Next session - if it happens this winter - Near Mirabel !!!
Hey, my good friend Dolores went to Quebec City over the weekend and saw windsurfers doin' it on fields just near Québec !! COOL
Put the Gaastra Flow 3X 7-oh on board pi and it went better.
Gave the session a 6 out of 10. OK. Was still out over one hour and tired after. Almost did a full tack.
Lesson: Need a better field than that. Next session - if it happens this winter - Near Mirabel !!!
Hey, my good friend Dolores went to Quebec City over the weekend and saw windsurfers doin' it on fields just near Québec !! COOL
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Going round with pi/board #3.14 - SAT 26MAR2011
Saturday, sunny and winds steady out of the west at 8 to 10 knots - gusts went over 20. Went to the sod farm near Terrebonne with the two(2) slight modifications on board #3.14 - written about in last post - mast-base back a bit and back of skis tilted in slightly. The snow was crusty with about two(2) inches of soft stuff on top - spring ski conditions. Rigged the Gaastra Flow 3X 7.0 on the 490 - on the other side of the fence this time. All in all, I had to give this session a nine out of ten. Was actually able to do three quarter 3/4 tacks. Forget the downwind gybes cuz I wouda run into the fence. I am not much of a gyber in any case. Only fell about four times and none serious. The angle in the back helped a lot and feels like the third ski kept things smooth up front. Need to do more tests in deeper snow. As I was right beside hi-way 25, people were constantly honkin' as they drove by - too cold to wave :-) Just as I was considering to end the two(2) hour session, a fellow yelled out. He seemed to be the proprietor and asked me NOT to ski on the grass of the sod farm. Stated that he had tried signs, butt people take em down and snowmobile on the sod anyways. "The sign said long haired freaky people need not apply..." Guess that was my last run there :-( He said it was okay to go on the other side of the highway. Will check out near Mirabel areoport instead - have heard the kiters go on the fields of snow there. That's about the same distance from my home.
Going round with pi/board #3.14 - SAT 26MAR2011
Saturday, sunny and winds steady out of the west at 8 to 10 knots - gusts went over 20. Went to the sod farm near Terrebonne with the two(2) slight modifications on board #3.14 - written about in last post - mast-base back a bit and back of skis tilted in slightly. The snow was crusty with about two(2) inches of soft stuff on top - spring ski conditions. Rigged the Gaastra Flow 3X 7.0 on the 490 - on the other side of the fence this time. All in all, I had to give this session a nine out of ten. Was actually able to do three quarter 3/4 tacks. Forget the downwind gybes cuz I wouda run into the fence. I am not much of a gyber in any case. Only fell about four times and none serious. The angle in the back helped a lot and feels like the third ski kept things smooth up front. Need to do more tests in deeper snow. As I was right beside hi-way 25, people were constantly honkin' as they drove by - too cold to wave :-) Just as I was considering to end the two(2) hour session, a fellow yelled out. He seemed to be the proprietor and asked me NOT to ski on the grass of the sod farm. Stated that he had tried signs, butt people take em down and snowmobile on the sod anyways. "The sign said long haired freaky people need not apply..." Guess that was my last run there :-( He said it was okay to go on the other side of the highway. Will check out near Mirabel areoport instead - have heard the kiters go on the fields of snow there. That's about the same distance from my home.
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Test Run of Board #3.14 - TUE 22MAR2011
In case you forgot, I re-configured winter sailboard #1. It is the third/3rd configuration, but using board #1 and thus I call it board #3.14. May also have something to do with the fact that I like pie :-) Basically the skis are flat and a third ski was added in the middle as a stabilizer. (see photo on 12MAR2011 entry)
The weather is unpredictable and we had some nor-westerlies this afternoon. When I got home at around 17h00 they were still going strong and were predicted to go for another hour. Packed my stuff and went. The big question of course is where to go. The river and lakes are finished - half ice and half water - no good for summer OR winter windsurfing. Perhaps the golf course in Terrebonne - nope, too narrow. How about beside the propeller plane aeroport - nope, that will never fly - pardon the pun. Okay, back to the sod farm just off the 25 and north of Terrebonne. Winds were still steady and still under 10 knots. Rigged the MS Pursuit 8.5 and struggled to get it over the fence without punching a hole in it - next time rig it on the other side. Winds were good and the board showed potential. Every time I got going, the back slipped and the front pointed upwind - obviously stalling everything. Believe they call this "spin out" in windsurfing and is usually a factor of using too small a fin ...So, the centre ski is NOT acting as a stabilizer as hoped. After a half an hour of some decent exercise, unrigged on the other side of the fence and went home. Still home before 19h00 - LIFE IS GOOD.
So, what to do about the slippage ? At first I considered a fin and then I took some balance point measurements. Before I put anything INTO the snow, I will try some balancing acts. On a windsurfer one puts the mastbase somewhere around the 135 cm mark from the back. This usually closely coincides with the balance point. On board #3.14 it seems the balance point is about 6.5 inches back. That's about 16 cm and quite a chunk. Before doing the crazy snow-fin thing I will move the mast back about 3 inches. After that re-evaluate. Let us hope I get another try at it this winter !!
Now I feel like a dummy. Just found an article in Popular Mechanics from 1987 where they used 3 skis and the outside skis were angled in just as board #1 was originally !!! Also, the central ski is further back. Popular Mechanics article I will continue to do experiments before angling the outside skis. The ride before spin out was very good and showed potential...On snow I am NOT looking for the most efficient speed or maneuvering machine. That's for the ice - at least for speed. Just want to be able to go straight with the wind on the snow and as I said board # 3.14 showed potential... (Am now considering angling IN just the back connection to the skis !!)
Ten minutes of work and the two(2) modifications are done - ready for next test !! Moved mast-base back about 1.5 inches and back attachment is less than 10 degrees sloped in. And as always thinkin about the next mod - do I really need that third/3rd ski ?? Will test as is first !! Looks like Friday, Saturday AND Sunday look promising - too bad i'm getting my first haircut Friday - 8 months after I shaved my head and beard for cancer...
The weather is unpredictable and we had some nor-westerlies this afternoon. When I got home at around 17h00 they were still going strong and were predicted to go for another hour. Packed my stuff and went. The big question of course is where to go. The river and lakes are finished - half ice and half water - no good for summer OR winter windsurfing. Perhaps the golf course in Terrebonne - nope, too narrow. How about beside the propeller plane aeroport - nope, that will never fly - pardon the pun. Okay, back to the sod farm just off the 25 and north of Terrebonne. Winds were still steady and still under 10 knots. Rigged the MS Pursuit 8.5 and struggled to get it over the fence without punching a hole in it - next time rig it on the other side. Winds were good and the board showed potential. Every time I got going, the back slipped and the front pointed upwind - obviously stalling everything. Believe they call this "spin out" in windsurfing and is usually a factor of using too small a fin ...So, the centre ski is NOT acting as a stabilizer as hoped. After a half an hour of some decent exercise, unrigged on the other side of the fence and went home. Still home before 19h00 - LIFE IS GOOD.
So, what to do about the slippage ? At first I considered a fin and then I took some balance point measurements. Before I put anything INTO the snow, I will try some balancing acts. On a windsurfer one puts the mastbase somewhere around the 135 cm mark from the back. This usually closely coincides with the balance point. On board #3.14 it seems the balance point is about 6.5 inches back. That's about 16 cm and quite a chunk. Before doing the crazy snow-fin thing I will move the mast back about 3 inches. After that re-evaluate. Let us hope I get another try at it this winter !!
Now I feel like a dummy. Just found an article in Popular Mechanics from 1987 where they used 3 skis and the outside skis were angled in just as board #1 was originally !!! Also, the central ski is further back. Popular Mechanics article I will continue to do experiments before angling the outside skis. The ride before spin out was very good and showed potential...On snow I am NOT looking for the most efficient speed or maneuvering machine. That's for the ice - at least for speed. Just want to be able to go straight with the wind on the snow and as I said board # 3.14 showed potential... (Am now considering angling IN just the back connection to the skis !!)
Ten minutes of work and the two(2) modifications are done - ready for next test !! Moved mast-base back about 1.5 inches and back attachment is less than 10 degrees sloped in. And as always thinkin about the next mod - do I really need that third/3rd ski ?? Will test as is first !! Looks like Friday, Saturday AND Sunday look promising - too bad i'm getting my first haircut Friday - 8 months after I shaved my head and beard for cancer...
Test Run of Board #3.14 - TUE 22MAR2011
In case you forgot, I re-configured winter sailboard #1. It is the third/3rd configuration, but using board #1 and thus I call it board #3.14. May also have something to do with the fact that I like pie :-) Basically the skis are flat and a third ski was added in the middle as a stabilizer. (see photo on 12MAR2011 entry)
The weather is unpredictable and we had some nor-westerlies this afternoon. When I got home at around 17h00 they were still going strong and were predicted to go for another hour. Packed my stuff and went. The big question of course is where to go. The river and lakes are finished - half ice and half water - no good for summer OR winter windsurfing. Perhaps the golf course in Terrebonne - nope, too narrow. How about beside the propeller plane aeroport - nope, that will never fly - pardon the pun. Okay, back to the sod farm just off the 25 and north of Terrebonne. Winds were still steady and still under 10 knots. Rigged the MS Pursuit 8.5 and struggled to get it over the fence without punching a hole in it - next time rig it on the other side. Winds were good and the board showed potential. Every time I got going, the back slipped and the front pointed upwind - obviously stalling everything. Believe they call this "spin out" in windsurfing and is usually a factor of using too small a fin ...So, the centre ski is NOT acting as a stabilizer as hoped. After a half an hour of some decent exercise, unrigged on the other side of the fence and went home. Still home before 19h00 - LIFE IS GOOD.
So, what to do about the slippage ? At first I considered a fin and then I took some balance point measurements. Before I put anything INTO the snow, I will try some balancing acts. On a windsurfer one puts the mastbase somewhere around the 135 cm mark from the back. This usually closely coincides with the balance point. On board #3.14 it seems the balance point is about 6.5 inches back. That's about 16 cm and quite a chunk. Before doing the crazy snow-fin thing I will move the mast back about 3 inches. After that re-evaluate. Let us hope I get another try at it this winter !!
Now I feel like a dummy. Just found an article in Popular Mechanics from 1987 where they used 3 skis and the outside skis were angled in just as board #1 was originally !!! Also, the central ski is further back. Popular Mechanics article I will continue to do experiments before angling the outside skis. The ride before spin out was very good and showed potential...On snow I am NOT looking for the most efficient speed or maneuvering machine. That's for the ice - at least for speed. Just want to be able to go straight with the wind on the snow and as I said board # 3.14 showed potential... (Am now considering angling IN just the back connection to the skis !!)
Ten minutes of work and the two(2) modifications are done - ready for next test !! Moved mast-base back about 1.5 inches and back attachment is less than 10 degrees sloped in. And as always thinkin about the next mod - do I really need that third/3rd ski ?? Will test as is first !! Looks like Friday, Saturday AND Sunday look promising - too bad i'm getting my first haircut Friday - 8 months after I shaved my head and beard for cancer...
The weather is unpredictable and we had some nor-westerlies this afternoon. When I got home at around 17h00 they were still going strong and were predicted to go for another hour. Packed my stuff and went. The big question of course is where to go. The river and lakes are finished - half ice and half water - no good for summer OR winter windsurfing. Perhaps the golf course in Terrebonne - nope, too narrow. How about beside the propeller plane aeroport - nope, that will never fly - pardon the pun. Okay, back to the sod farm just off the 25 and north of Terrebonne. Winds were still steady and still under 10 knots. Rigged the MS Pursuit 8.5 and struggled to get it over the fence without punching a hole in it - next time rig it on the other side. Winds were good and the board showed potential. Every time I got going, the back slipped and the front pointed upwind - obviously stalling everything. Believe they call this "spin out" in windsurfing and is usually a factor of using too small a fin ...So, the centre ski is NOT acting as a stabilizer as hoped. After a half an hour of some decent exercise, unrigged on the other side of the fence and went home. Still home before 19h00 - LIFE IS GOOD.
So, what to do about the slippage ? At first I considered a fin and then I took some balance point measurements. Before I put anything INTO the snow, I will try some balancing acts. On a windsurfer one puts the mastbase somewhere around the 135 cm mark from the back. This usually closely coincides with the balance point. On board #3.14 it seems the balance point is about 6.5 inches back. That's about 16 cm and quite a chunk. Before doing the crazy snow-fin thing I will move the mast back about 3 inches. After that re-evaluate. Let us hope I get another try at it this winter !!
Now I feel like a dummy. Just found an article in Popular Mechanics from 1987 where they used 3 skis and the outside skis were angled in just as board #1 was originally !!! Also, the central ski is further back. Popular Mechanics article I will continue to do experiments before angling the outside skis. The ride before spin out was very good and showed potential...On snow I am NOT looking for the most efficient speed or maneuvering machine. That's for the ice - at least for speed. Just want to be able to go straight with the wind on the snow and as I said board # 3.14 showed potential... (Am now considering angling IN just the back connection to the skis !!)
Ten minutes of work and the two(2) modifications are done - ready for next test !! Moved mast-base back about 1.5 inches and back attachment is less than 10 degrees sloped in. And as always thinkin about the next mod - do I really need that third/3rd ski ?? Will test as is first !! Looks like Friday, Saturday AND Sunday look promising - too bad i'm getting my first haircut Friday - 8 months after I shaved my head and beard for cancer...
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Sunday 20MAR2011
I guess that's it for winter sailboarding. The ice on the local river is melting and so is the snow. Another 10 cm of snow are called for this week, butt winds seem to only be good during the snowstorm :-( Oh well, guess all I can look forward to is windsurf on water soon !! Jim Douglass is already out on the water in Massachusetts with NO gloves. See the connection to his blog on "my blog list".
The other good news is, flowers will be blooming soon. The Easter cacti have started already !!
The other good news is, flowers will be blooming soon. The Easter cacti have started already !!
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