Today's Session/Ramblings

The forecast showed today as being mediocre so it was quite lucky for us insiders to get some wind at all today.  Was planning to leave the house when Jack left as we both planned to arrive early so I could install an AO system on his boom (yay someone else finally decided to get one!/read my old post here about it).  Turns out he showed up at Cabrillo at 11am!  I had to rush and pack all my gear to get to the beach.  Ended up arriving around 12:40pm; took longer than expected due to the traffic around the 405/22 ramp as the 22 has been shutdown in that area.

By the time I arrived, Marcos was already there paddle boarding with his wife.  Was expecting more folks to be there as it is a saturday but as Jack says, I guess we are the dedicated ones!..or crazy.  I managed to get the AO on Jack's Maui Sails Carbon boom within half an hour.  Luckily I learned what to do and what not to when I installed my own which took a few days to fine tune.  Even though I have never personally used the Maui Sails Carbon boom, I believe this boom is one of the finest booms on the market.

Double pin locking system

The construction seems solid and for its size diameter it is quite light if not lighter than my Chinook Pro-1.  I also like how Maui Sails includes a AO with the boom but whether or not that warrants the "extra" cost of the boom, around $1000 for the size Jack was using, that's up to you.  I always hear from folks on iWindsurf and Seabreeze that the boom head is one of the finest but I myself can't figure out why.  I know it requires very minimal tightness to get a good clamp but I still don't like the "flexible" lever/mast cover or whatever its called.  Just seems like it could wear down.  Also after using my Pro-1 for awhile I must say I like this "new school" boom outline.  It definitely makes the boom shaka(during a gybe) a lot easier.  Maybe Maui Sails will introduce a boom with that outline in the future.  Those would probably be the only 2 complaints I have about the boom.

Today's wind graph.  Green is average, blue is gust, and red doesn't exist...

Now onto the actual sailing, Jack and I managed to get in about a good hour and half of sailing in 14-20mph winds.  Wasn't consistent and had bunch of lulls but I managed to get going thru them on my AHD SL1 95/7.4 KA Koyote.  Jack seemed to do well too on his Starboard Futura 144/8.8 HSM Speed Demon.  It eventually got decently strong/consistent for maybe a good 20 minutes. Good enough to where Jack was able to go out on his 125L SL1.  This would probably be the 5th time I've gotten to use the SL1 and now have a pretty good feel for the board.  I am still very impressed with the comfort of this board.

AHD SL1 95 "Jaeger"

For a slalom board, I feel in complete control and not near death when at high speeds.  A bit similar in feel to the Tabou Manta 61.  It was also the first day that I got a chance to "compare" the boards speed to the other sailors.  This is where I am very VERY happy with the performance of the board.  Upwind performance is definitely a whole lot better than the Tabou Rocket and Hifly Free but downwind is where it really shines.  The board just wants to keep accelerating to what seems to be an infinite top speed.  The only thing stopping me from finding this top speed is me!  Maybe with a few more days of use and some confidence I'll be able discover it's top speed.  I would say the only person I had difficulties keeping up with is Jack but I am convinced he somehow has attached a propeller to his board....

On a side note, Marco's new Tabou Rocket 125? LTD definitely seems to be a top performer.  My only complaint with my Rocket 105 STD was its acceleration.  That doesn't seem to be a problem with the LTD version.  Marcos was definitely flying with his rocket today!  Just proves to me once again the Rocket is easily one of, if not, the best freeride/freerace boards available today.

Well I'm off for the night folks.  The sailing + awesome dinner at Souplantation with Vivian has left me knackered.

Till Next Time!
-Kevin