Holidays

Hi Blogosphere, back after a trip to the south of France (massive cold snap, and the interesting experience of piloting a left-hand drive car in snow and ice down narrow country roads with all of those wild rural French drivers; not to mention being attacked by a massive bloody sanglier after being stuck somewhere up an icy mountain road in the dark...). Anyway, that's another story. It was such as contrast to get home here to Melbourne, Australia where the temperature was 25C (rather than -8C); to be able to wear shorts and a tshirt again, and to be able to go sailboarding- currently without the need to wear a wetsuit.

Speaking of sailboarding. Shown here is the rig that I'll initially be using on the longboard (thanks Jack for the 'loan'). Severne Code Red 8.3m^2; Hypersonic 75% 490cm mast; Chinook Triple Course boom; Pro Limit 45cm Ext. It's a big change from the 5.7m2 sail that I've previously been using. The Severne has so much more power plus flexibility to handle a wide range of wind speeds. I was out sailing yesterday on my old Tiga 325 with the new rig- in 12-15 knts, what a buzz!

Since returning from our holiday, I've commenced working again on the sailboard construction bench. So this is the build that you have to have before doing the real build- the sailboard itself.
In this regard, I've been thinking a little more about how best to cover the foam core. After sailing at Elwood yesterday, I was able to get a close up look at a Phantom 380, and boy does it look fragile. A beautiful board, but clearly (in my opinion), longetivity has been traided off against lightness, and I guess, speed. This issue was nicely summarised on the Longboard Windsurfing Journal and it really suggests that a pure carbon fibre skin may not be the way to go with these boards, unless that is, you have oodles of cash to spend on replacing your board each year. Given this, I'm thinking that a composite kevlar/carbon fibre skin may be the way to go. I'd be happy to lose a few kg to ensure that the combined sailor/windsurfer weight remains within competitive bounds. Guess it's time to buy those ceramic shears...

Martin