Result, report and photos now on www.storm-riders.com
Congratulations to young Sam Fawkes (AUS-21) on giving everyone a windsurfing lesson.
Last event (Heat8) 22-23mar08 at Hawks Nest, with final function of the year on Sunday night....see you there...
Not that I'm trying to cause an argument but is Formula easy? It looks like light winds and very stable boards should be pretty simple to use. Also, are people really much faster than each other or is like single class boat racing where tactics are the key thing?
Is Formula easy??
Simple answer is yes and no. If you can tack and gybe reasonably well, formula is pretty easy to pickup and (believe it or not) the gear is quite user-friendly and not so expensive as everyone (who doesn't race it) believes. If you want to win, you might not find it so simple as a lot of the top guys in the country have spent many years in the sport testing (and sometimes developing) gear and learning the different tactics through experience (there aren't any sailing books on high-speed FW tactics as yet) as well as having some international regatta experience.
In NSW there is a very mixed fleet. Everyone from people just learning, to regular guys who are just there to join in the fun up to the serious guys who train regularly and guys like myself who take it very seriously and compete internationally.
That being said, there is a very big range of speeds around the course compared to single class boat racing (especially in a one-design fleet). Firstly because of the different skill levels but also because Formula is a development class with new gear every season from a number of manufacturers and there is a small window for customisation of gear (fins, boom ends, masts etc) which means some guys who spend more time tuning go a lot faster than guys who don't. There isn't as much basic tactics going on as single class boat racing but Formula gets a bad wrap for having NO tactics - which is simply not true. The tactics are just faster and because the boards take a long time to get up to speed after a tack, they are more critical (I believe). The tactics used are a lot more to do with startline and positioning into the laylines then tacking on shifts etc (because of the slow tacking).
Having a variety of speeds in the fleet makes the racing in NSW so popular I believe, because no matter your level (from beginner to pro), you can find someone to match race.
Uphauling a big sail is crazy.
I don't even know how to do it (although, it might have something to do with me not owning an uphaul rope).
Waterstarting is the key. All you have to do is pop the tip of the sail out of the water and with such a massive sail area it literally drags you out of the water; even in 8 knots.
Granted, these wide luff sails fill up with water pretty quick so you want to make sure you're thinking about positioning yourself for the waterstart even as you're faceplanting into the water during your crash.
For those who persist with uphauling. I believe its a case of specific positioning of the sail into the wind to allow the best leverage from your body as you pull it up. Rather than pulling it up from anywhere and letting it spin you around to the correct direction. Its a slow and brutal process on an 11.8m compared to uphauling a 6.2m.
Being one of the beginner plebs on the circuit I tend to find all good when up and planing then it's pretty easy, once setup the equipment is well balanced and the wind range you can sail in is amazing (especially through the lulls). Were you can get punished is from bad technique when tacking and gybing, it can get pretty physical hauling that big sail about especially it falls in the water. I joined in the racing to improve my technique, I am having to re-think everything, it is taking a bit of time (could be because I'm an old fart) and I am beginning to see some gains now.
I do have confession in that I do like cross the the dark side (I sail lasers too
). I have to say that tactics are critical to both disciplines. For windsurfing its just a different slant from one design sailing with the priorities being biased towards keeping speed, hitting those lay lines accurate to reduce the number of tacks/gybes. One thing I do find annoying about most other one design sailors is their lack of knowledge, they still think that windsurfing is all about how much you can pump around the course!
I have to say the really good thing that NSW circuit is the FE+ series for the beginners. We all start at the same time, just do one less lap. It means that you do get a result and can spot the improvement's by moving up the result sheet.
As Chris says, get yer arse in gear and give it go! Easter weekend we will be up at Hawks Nest.
Peter
