WP Champs Pictures

I finally got some pictures from the 2011 Windpower Championships on Picasa. Will get a regatta report and some other end-of-year items posted shortly.

2011 Windpower Championship

Results!

A Fleet  |  Sport Fleet  |  Kona Fleet  |  O'Pen Bic

Phantom Raceboard in a Moderate Breeze

Plus: We got some wind over the Holiday weekend.
Minus: Had a family get together to attend.
Double Plus: Family event was at a lake house!

I sailed the Phantom Raceboard and Severne 9.5 in about 10-20 mph winds this afternoon. The board and sail handled the higher winds quite well. The Phantom initiates the jibes better than expected and the wide tail makes it easy to exit with speed. I added more batten tension to the sail the last few times out and that has helped add stability in the breeze. Need to raise my boom a bit next time out.

Got a few good photographs in while my wife was on the pier with the camera.

Enjoy,
Arden, EL-11

Phantom Raceboard in Moderate Breeze

Lechner A390

Well, it's the end of an era for me. Now that I have the Starboard Phantom and plan to compete mostly in the Raceboard Class, I sold my Lechner A390. I sailed this fantastic Div2 hull throughout 2006-2010, winning the MOWIND Series Championship five times in a row as well as the 2008 US Windsurfing Open Class National Championship.

I took a bunch of pictures of the A390 tonight, and posted them on Picasa along with some action shots through the years.

Lechner A390 Photo Album

Lechner A390

Severne ReflexII 11.0 on Lake Winnebago

I got my first ride on the new Severne ReflexII 11.0 on July 9 at Lake Winnebago. It has lots of pull on the low end and has a nice slippery feel at speed. Offshore south wind so very flat and not many big gusts to really try it out. It was also a nice day to get some more time on my double chicken strap installation.

Check out the pictures and the gps overlay. Lake Winnebago is quite large (about 30 miles long) except when you consider that Lake Michigan is about 40 miles to the east. It is very nice to have so many bodies of water to sail on around here.

Severne ReflexII 11.0 on Lake Winnebago

GPS Overview of Lake Winnebago

Double Chicken Strap Project Finished

It's been a busy month, but one of the projects I got finished was the Double Chicken Straps on my Starboard HWR formula board. Check out the pictures from the project:

Double Chicken Strap on Starboard HWR

Arden, EL-11

Door County Results

It's been a busy month, but I finally got the results posted for the Door County Breeze and a couple of pictures on the MOWIND report.

Final Scores:  A Fleet,  Sport Fleet,  Workshop

Day One at Door County

Day One leader Alex Monroe, US292

Wisconsin had strong winds Thrusday and Friday, blowing itself out for the start of racing on Saturday. We were for postponed for a few hours, but at least the weather was sunny and there is plenty to do in Ephraim. I personally went and got a fantastic Russian sandwich from the Second Story restaurant at the old post office down the street.

The lake breeze didn't fill in as we hoped but Steve and Ann on RC still made the wise call to send us out for some quick races despite the light winds. We got in three windward-leeward two-lap courses in quick succession. Alex Monroe paced the fleet with very quick upwind sailing and a nose for the wind. Andy Gratton and myself mixed up the rest of the top 3. Alex has two firsts and a second, I have a 2-3-2 for a score, and Andy had a 3-1-3.

Race 1 I was over early and happy to salvage a 2nd place.

Race 2 I lined up for a port start with the wind coming in hard from the left (westerly, the forecast lake breeze direction) only to have a competing puff come in from the launch shore (the right) and lift the starboard tackers. Andy and Alex were off like a shot and I had to work to get into 3rd position.

Race3 I had a good start and was able to get upwind quickly, just not as quick as Alex. I followed him around the course making ground downwind but losing ground upwind.

The new Phantom worked well in the lightwinds as did the Severne 9.5. Everything felt much better than the last light wind race I did (Saturday at Worthington). I just need to pay more attention to my starts...and get some upwind tips from Alex ;)


Door County cake at the event dinner

Racing was followed by a delicious supper right at the race sight. Jan and everyone always do a great job with that.

Later I watched the Fish Creek fireworks from the balcony of the Cookery while having some cherry pie.

More racing tomorrow...

Splashing the Star-Severne Raceboard

I took my first sail on the Starboard Phantom 380 and Severne Raceboard 9.5 today. There was barely any breeze, but the sail provided punch and the board had surprising glide for a planing bottom raceboard. The glide in this wind was similar to sailing my old Lechner A390 Div2 hull. I think the rocker development on this board is remarkable. It sits in the water very well and makes fantastic use of its waterline. The sail has a lot of depth at the boom, but key for lightwind and pumping is that it also has depth higher up the sail and a tight outline. I was very happy with how well it pumped, and how light it is.

Hopefully there will be some breeze this weekend so that I can try it out in planing conditions as well.

I sailed off of the Village Beach in Elkhart Lake, WI - my home waters. Check out how clear the water is in the attached photo album.

Feel free to Contact Me if you have any questions about this gear. I think it is going to be a great all around setup for course racing, especially in the Raceboard Class.

Splashing Star-Severne Raceboard

Arden, EL-11

Phantom Maiden Voyage

Here we go...

2011 Worthington Scores

Complete scores are available HERE.

Click HERE for the MOWIND regatta report.

Jeff Hegwer's Handmade Trophies

Check out the handmade trophy that Jeff Hegwer created for the event. I think he has been doing this since 2003. Very unique. He even made me a SUP paddle a few years ago that is gorgeous. I'll try posting some more pictures of his trophies from previous years when I get a chance.

For now, I found this article online:
http://www.globegazette.com/news/local/article_9640075a-c3b9-11df-b195-001cc4c002e0.html

Jeff, great job by you and your team with every aspect of the event this weekend. Keep it up!

Arden, EL-11

Worthington Wrap Up

Day 2 featured shifty and gusty 5-15 mph winds. Sailors needed to balance their tactics between capitalizing on opportune shifts/gusts while staying cautious about not over-committing to one side of the course.

The course for the day was a 2-lap "P" course, basically a box with a set of jibes on the way down the outside leg. There were a lot of lead changes and position scrambles in each race, especially on the long upwind from the lee mark to the windward mark at the start of the second lap.

Andy Gratton did the best job of navigating the winds today and won the regatta title. Adam Anderson contiued his strong sailing for second place. I managed to do better than yesterday but still couldn't keep pace with Andy and Adam. But I did sail well enough to get into third place.

I will post complete results once I receive them.

Next up is Door County Breeze over the 4th of July weekend.

Arden, EL-11

Worthington Update 1

We will be starting Day 2 racing at Worthington soon. Looks like about 10mph winds on the course. I'm hoping for better results than yesterday.

Alex Monroe (3rd and 1st place finishes Saturday), Adam Anderson (1st and 3rd) and Andy Gratton (two 2nd's) are tied for the lead. I have a DNF in race 1 as my cams popped off my mast on the third leg. Didn't have enough downhaul tension as I was trying to create a deep pocket for the light winds. Race 2 I got 4th position after chasing Andy Gratton all the way around the course only to have Alex steamroll past on the last leg...he was on such a roll he even caught and passed Andy. Adam also caught me on the last leg as I had gone left on the last beat (trying to get lucky to catch Andy and Alex so I split tacks) and Adam went right.

The Saturday races were exciting even though the wind was very light. You had to stay on your toes to keep in the better wind, avoid holes, and respond to the shifts. Lots of positions exchanged throughout both of the races.

Headed to Worthington

I'm about to hit the road for Worthington this weekend. As I did my "walk around" of the trailer and gear before leaving I noticed some high wear on the tires and decided to get them changed before the 800 mile round trip. Good thing Fleet Farm is right down the road from my house. Should still make it to Worthington by midnight.

Double chicken strap

"Double chicken" straps are popular these days on formula boards, but my Starboard HWR doesn't have them. It came with a standard single chicken strap on the centerline of the board. So, I decided to install inserts for a double chicken setup, but first I built the adapter pictured above in order to help figure out placement before I permanently installed new inserts.

I finally got a chance to sail with the adapter this afternoon and it went pretty well. It was a bit windy for trying out the adapter since I didn't want to push it too hard, but at least it was pretty flat. SW wind about 15-25 mph.

From this session I think I want the straps about 1" farther back and maybe 1/2" to 1" farther outboard. I will set the adapter up like that the next time I take it out. One more time with the adapter should be enough to decide where to put the new inserts.

Arden, EL-11

Mega Cat Mega Speed

Mega Speed is a bit tongue in cheek, but I am proud of some of the speeds I recorded while racing the Mega Cat in gusty 15-20 knot winds last Sunday. It was only my third time ever on the board but all my years sailing imco made it pretty easy to get back onto a planing longboard after almost a decade away from them.

The course for Sunday at the Dam Jam was a 2 lap figure 8. I attached a picture of my gps track from one of the races. During these races I got to a top speed of 25.4 knots and had a best alpha-500 jibe at 17.4 knots. The Mega Cat jibed incredibly well and it was very nice for carrying speed through the turn.

Here's a link to my gps results at the speedsurfing site:
http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=user&val=78764&uid=2116

Arden, EL-11

Day 2 at Dam Jam

We had another fantastic day of racing at Dam Jam, running four slalom races on a figure 8 course. Winds were about 15-25+ through the morning and the skippers meeting but diminished a bit and got more gusty as the wind veered south as racing approached.

I rigged a 7.5 to go on my isonic121 and put on a big fin to help with the lulls. The first race started during the largest lull we saw all day so I schlogged for the first leg but finally got going at the jibe mark. The puff was short lived because I was back to schlogging for most of the second leg as well. 3rd leg (of 4) the wind finally filled in a bit so I was able to make up some ground especially by working through the lulls to stay on a plane until the next puff. Managed to pull put a 3rd place I think.

To deal with the large lulls on the course and shifting wind conditions I decided to grab the Mega Cat longboard for the next race. I didn't make the change-over quick enough and ended up a bit late for the start. I got caught up with the fleet on leg two, but ended up losing time again when I fell off the board while trying to adjust the mast position...more familiarity with the board will help avoid this. I think I finished in the middle of the pack.

The next two races I was able to get my act together and be ready on time. It was fun sailing the longboard all powered up through the slalom course. Pulled off two bullets and was able to wrap up the regatta title.

Arden, EL-11

Inside Command Central

The main post for the race committee is a large Iowa State themed bus. I got to visit the inside of this party bus.

End of Day 1 at Dam Jam

Done with racing today. More tomorrow. Pic of Mike Fox with my brother, Adam.

We did 3 races after lunch. I was late for the start of R4 but clawed back to get within a couple of feet of Don to finish 2nd. R5 I fell on the inside jibe while in a comfortable lead - doh - and Adam capitalized on it to take the win with me in 2nd again.

Last race, R6, most the fleet went to the right but Peter Hartwhich went towards the launch on the left and murdered us upwind. He ran away with the win after that. My Dad, Wayne, rounded the top mark in 2nd by going left early with Peter but faded through the rest of the course. Adam and I split tacks on the last upwind with him getting the better of it, finishing 2nd with me feet behind in 3rd.

I think I am in first place right now and Adam and Don are probably 2 and 3 in some order and Robin and Peter are probably 4 and 5.

Arden, EL-11

First Day at the Dam Jam

We woke up to rain at the Dam Jam, but that went away by 9:30 and then the sun came out and the wind filled in. We did three races this morning in about 10-15 mph winds. I felt pretty good on the Mega Cat and won the first race with some room to spare but had to eke out races 2 & 3 as Robin and Don were right in there.

Kona fleet made it's debut for MOWIND and had 9 racers. Nice tight racing in that fleet. Looks like fun.

We came in to break for lunch and are headed back out soon. I attached some pictures of the launch, command central, and some of the sailors.

Arden, EL-11

2011 Race Year has Started

The 2011 MOWIND Race Series has started. I was the Race Committee for the Walleye Wagatta in Fond du Lac this weekend. Check out the regatta report on the MOWIND web site.

This coming weekend I am headed to Des Moines, IA (Saylorville Lake) for the annual Dam Jam regatta. This will be the first regatta I will race in this year so I am looking forward to it. I am borrowing an old Fanatic Mega Cat from Kevin at Windpower Windsurfing right now, and had a chance to sail it for the first time this afternoon. It went pretty well but it was a good idea to sail it before the race. It could use some touch-up on the nonskid near the middle of the board so that I don't slip around as much. It was also good to get used to way the mast track and centerboard work. It will be fun to sail a raceboard this weekend especially since Adam will also be on one too. He picked up a Superlight2 a few weeks ago and used it for the first time at Walleye last weekend.

Here are some pictures of the Mega Cat and Adam's Superlight2.

Superlight2 on top of the Mega Cat. Notice the thicker nose of the Cat and thicker tail on the Superlight2

I fixed up the Cat on the right. The one on the left needs some repairs to the deck so went back in the Windpower shed for now.

Lots of longboards...

The Mega Cat has some vee ahead of the centerboard and more rocker than the Superlight2. This picture is from before we put in the new gasket on the Superlight2. Adam said the new gasket worked well this weekend. You can get new material for repairing a worn out gasket at Windpower.

The Mega Cat centerboard alongside Superlight2 centerboard (black) and original Superlight centerboard (white)

All for now.

- Arden