For what it's worth: if you're having issues with boots getting stuck in the straps, the Drake Yulex straps are a good fix. They're slicker than the Dakine Primo straps I had been using, and you can set the MASSIVELY wide and tall. Even set below the max open setting I found them too large and was able to tighten them up and get it feeling perfect even with heavy sticky boots. Sailed twice this week and had zero issues with the straps to the point where I stopped easing the foot out before a turn as I knew I could do it, which was nice. They also have enough adjustment that I could get them feeling good on a bare foot as well, so am pleased with the straps.

Still no 25kts, even though I got out twice this week. Tues looked cranking wind when I got there, and I brought both the 125 RRD and the beatup 120l. Wanting to try both I rigged an 8.0 sail as it seemed like enough for the 135, and if the wind built I was going to use on the 120, which lists 8.0 as the max sail. Instead, the wind died out as soon as I hit the water, and I flopped around for an hour and a half, then had absolutely awesome breeze for 20mins before I had to leave. Every run was getting faster but never passed 22kts. Think I might have made it if I'd had more time, ah well! Never did try the 120l board.

Next day was supposed to drop all day so I got there early, rigged my 9.5 and 52cm fin, and then slogged about for two hours watching the windfoiler and a kitefoiler have fun. I actually made the most of it as I got a lot better at getting upwind with a big sail in sub planing conditions, really enjoyed taking breaks at the little point on the western shore of Silver, and saw many nice homes and several interesting ducks. 25kt beer remains safe from me.

Honestly if I could go back in time 2 years, there are a couple things I would have done to learn faster:
-Start on a longboard. The longboard is super easy to sail, and is a good fit for the light air around here. Plus I feel like you get the process for sheeting in the sail earlier than you do on a shortboard as you can sheet in fully upwind in subplaning.
-Take a vacation somewhere with wind. I have loved almost every day of sailing, but the ones with wind where you can plane almost all the time are the ones where you get better faster. Not saying the light air days haven't taught me a ton, but I've had maybe 7 really good wind days where I've been rigged right and had enough wind to plane at will.

Obviously want to 25kts this season if it works out, but rest of this season is all about turns, which are getting better, and rigging as big as I can just to get more time on the plane. The one place I feel slowest next to other sailors on the water is in lulls and connecting puffs, as lately I'm not much slower at peak speeds, but they carry the light stuff better. Hopefully next weeks forecast isn't permanent for 2023!

Nice, being able to buy Drake foot straps now easily. They come stock on Starboard equipment, but it was hard to to find spares.
Anyway for a good speed run you need to catch a nice long gust and to be positioned a good long distance upwind from the end point to have enough time to accumulate speed. Also the flatter the water surface-the faster you’ll go and safer because on this kind of downwind speed runs happen the worst crashes. You can get catapulted so brutally that you may end up facing your board on top or under your sail with twisted harness line. I almost drowned the first time this happened to me. The shock of the impact can disorient you and underwater is easy to panic. Still, going fast over the water has been one of the most exhilarating feeling I’ve ever had despite my top speed ever being just 35 mph on the GoPro which accuracy is debatable. At least I got a pictures. In this one I’m on my 110/6.5 board/sail combo but I don’t remember what the wind speeds have been for the day.

Ady wrote:
Hey Ady, you can't sell yourself short like that: 35mph/30kn is a lot faster than most especially on freeride kit. The only way to really go faster is on race/slalom kit. I've been riding a 118l Goya Proton and a 4-cam Simmer-something back in July for a few days and that truly has no speed limit! But man, an afternoon well powered on this kind of gear, and I needed some Tylenol and a day to recover!

Ha ha, indeed Greg! I dug out the picture you’re sent me from the day on Wolf when you lent me your gear. Remember? I almost beat my own record riding your kit ! Good memories!

Ady wrote: Indeed! Did you sail much this year? How come we didn't even meet? Need to change that in 2024! Or maybe there will be a "warm" day in Nov or Dec I could ride with you at Wolf!

I’m ashamed to admit, but I did ride only twice this year On top of that I skipped at least 2 maybe decent days like last Monday, just because it’s so much easier to sit at home and play video games /which have become quite addictive nowadays/. And there are other excuses as well, like Wolf is not the same anymore without the old crew and my financial woes force me to consider more carefully how far I’m driving yada yada yada…
I should really hope we can meet one day, it’s always fun riding with you!

Still hunting for speed, but finding some challenges this fall! Mostly chop and higher winds proving tough. Feel like I got better and big sails and flat water but the last week has been quite different.

Monday was amazing temps and wind, but I really made a lot of mistakes: rigged 7.5 which was WAY too much so couldn't sheet on, and got wiped out uphauling plus crushed my hand a bit, so went back in to rerig. Took a LONG time as I had to switch to a smaller used boom I'd never used, and then when I finally made it out it felt amazing for all of one run when the boom clips broke, collapsing the boom into the sail, which then took forever to sort out in the shallows and jury rig. At that point I had time for one run out and back so went full chat, but took it too close to shore and had a crash that literally had me spitting out sand and shells... oops. Bent a fin screw which I'd never done.

Wed tried foiling at Andrea, turns out pouring rain and 7kts isn't great for that, or anything!

Thurs was absolutely lovely at Silver, and I got there super early to use my smallest available sail as the wind was supposed to really come up. As it turns out I was super powered up on 6.5 (other sailors seemed to be 4.5-5.5). I had a nice time but really really couldn't go fast that day as I think I had too much sail (couldn't sheet on) too much fin (board wouldn't stay in the water) and too much chop (bouncing all over the place) Quite weird to be fully powered up but the board won't stay down. Was quite proud to spend 2.5hrs on the water as I feel like I got better at controlling power but really got worn out uphauling and bouncing around on the little wavelets up there.

Next week looks nice again so going to try out that beatup 120l board I have as a couple people have suggested the 85cm wide board might be not the best for chop and higher winds. Feeling a bit pessimistic about hitting 25kts but I am having the best fall, kind of reminds me of 2021 with warm days and learning a lot on the water.

Ady, hope you made it to Wolf Monday, it was a nice day out.

So still no 25kts but have still had a really nice fall. Hit 23.4kts with a 9.5m and 52cm fin which was pretty awesome especially as it was pretty light air. I actually go faster on my 8.5 and 9.5 days than on the 6.5 days, probably mostly just lack of experience with higher wind.

Had the PERFECT day last week at Wolf, where it was solid 7.0 conditions but Wolf-flat, and I had a carbon 41cm fin from a guy I know from work, and a new 7.0 Lion to try. Everything was perfect except for me, and I left my harness at work by mistake... Made lemonade isntead and spent an hour and a half just working on waterstarts and blasting off the beach to do a gybe, then coming back in and starting over. The fin and Lion felt good even without being able to hook in and I think if I'd been better prepared that might ahve been a 25kt day as I did 18 just hanging on. I got deeper on beach starts, cracked exactly one out of 23 waterstart attempts (my second one, lol) but did get better even if it wasn't how I intended. Two more days this week that look promising, so we'll see what we do!

The real reason I wanted to get on here was to share a trick for gear organizing: I've had 3 different bags to carry all the paraphenalia for sailing, but just picked up a bag that means all my hardware, fins, bases, extensions, camera gear and tools go in one place, and it was pretty cheap to boot. It's an ice fishing tackle bag, and it fits up to my really really big weed fins, which none of the windsurf fin bags would do. $40 too, which ain't bad! The only downside is a lot of this stuff used to go in a bag that fit my harness too, which is why it was resting comfortably at the shop when I needed it. D'oh!

Thanks for the bag tip.
And it is nice to see your enthousiasme and excitement going through your windsurfing journey. Good on you! Keep it going!

Little update, still progressing s l o w l y but was able to sail in the most breeze yet and try a new toy. Picked up a Goya Bolt 117 last fall and got to use it on Monday at Silver. I thought the wind was anywhere from 12-24kts but the buddy I was sailing with had notes from a nearby station that said 20-40 so guessing it was somewhere in there.

Last fall I felt like my adored RRD 135 was not so great in chop, so that's why I got the Bolt. It's 16cm narrower, which seemed like a big jump. Having tried it out now, I can say the things that I was concerned about (uphauling, tacking) were really no problem at all. I fell a bit more than normal but it's not like it was unsailable at 69cm wide. The surprising problem was that it was way harder to get planing, although my sail selection and tuning may have had something to do with that, it took a lot big bearaway to get on a plane and I feel like technique is more important than on the wide board. The good news is that once planing it was AMAZING in terms of control and comfort. Last fall I sailed in almost as much wind and had an awful time, couldn't get up to speed as I felt like I was bouncing around on the chop and hitting every wave sideways. The narrow board is a lot easier. It's harder to waterstart and beachstart though, as it seems to slide out from under me when trying to pop up, but I think that actually might help me learn it better as it seems like the big board spoiled me a bit as it's more stable side-to-side in the water.

Also, first time ever I used a 5.0 sail and the lightness and handling were really nice. Unfortunately it doesn't love my mast (Retro 5.0 on an Ezzy 430) very well and the top was dead flat with the battens being well behind the mast, while the bottom was slack in the luff sleeve with the battens ahead of the mast. Honestly didn't feel that bad on the water but a couple more experienced sailors didn't like the look on land. If anyone wants a used once 5.0 Retro in Chicago Bears colors let me know! I'll probably replace it with an Ezzy but given as how this was the first time in 2.5yrs it's even been close to needed I'm not rushing. If I could do it again I would have used my 5.8, but when we rigged me and another sailor both chose 5.0, people that showed up later were 5.5-6.5 I think and seemed better powered even with higher body weights.

Congratulations on the awesome new board! It’s a pity being let down by such incompatible sail-mast combo, what do you plan on replacing the Retro with? If you go the Ezzy route something like a Lion would be a good match for the board I believe. Cambered would be preferable for the crazy wind fluctuations on small lakes like Silver and Andrea I also believe. Just my humble opinion.
I kinda wish now I went the speed route myself like Greg, but back in the day when I was collecting my equipment I still had the ambition to learn some of the very basic non jumping freestyle tricks like 360 etc and do a bit waves on Lake Michigan when conditions allow, hence the 2 freewave kits that I assembled starting from the 5.7/103 and down. Unfortunately Covid happened and I had to switch jobs, so I lost the flexibility that I had in my old job. With the 2 fixed days off available to me now the quality time on the water I can afford is very limited and when luck strikes I kinda just want now to have a max adrenaline fueled fun which for most folk means speed, speed, speed and as little as possible frustration from constant crashing in freezing water while trying to practice new stuff. And then I want to go home and take pictures of my speed achievements, post them on WI and brag about it until everyone gets sick of me
Anyway I hope my yapping helps you make the right choice /if there is such/.

Hey you need to get out to Evanston before the beaches open to give your new kit a try. On S And SSW winds we are all launching at Lee St, plenty of us there on the warm S days we've been having (11 days so far Feb and March), street parking for 50 cents an hour, easy side shore launch and flat water on those directions. Super safe, you have downwind safety shore at least a half a mile continuous to Northwestern. Test your rig size and upwind capability just past break wall, and if all OK, just go for it. Always feels light at beach, rig 7.0 for crib reading 18-22, 6.0 for 22-26, might want to pass if windier. Went winging with crib gusts past 40 kts, that was a bit nuts.