April 8. First day of the season!
South Beach, Sheboygan, WI. 2 kites, 1 windsurf. Air temp 50. Wind ESE 15-18 knots, gust at ~20 knots. Water temp 42. Conditions: small chop, + swell starting to form @ 1-2 feet. Little or no shorebreak.
Sailed SB AtomIQ 124 L + 7.5 Ezzy Cheetah. TOW 1:30h. Fun!

Nice! I sailed Greenwood in Evanston today. There were at least 4 other windsurfers out and one kiter. I sailed a 7.0 Ezzy Freeride and an 11'8" Exocet Windsup. Out of curiosity, Gregory, what size fine do you pair that 7.5 Cheetah with? (I usually use a 38 for my 7.0 Ezzy Freeride, but I tried a 44 today.)

Hi Chris,
I use a 40cm fin with the 7.5. It works great and almost never spinout with it. If I do it's because I'm tired or overpowered. On that board I'll use a 48cm with the 8.5 Lion and the 36cm with the 6.5 cheetah.
I wish there were more windsurfers in my area. One day, I'll have to drive down and sail with the chicago windsurfers for sure.

If you come down, let me know. Would be happy to sail with you. BTW, if you don't already know, the yearly Windsurfing Swap at Greenwood is on Sunday, May 21 at 10 a.m.

C.

April 16. Third session of the season.
Lake Winnebago, Taycheedah, WI. Launch in front of Wind Power. 4 kites, 2 Windsurfs. Air temp 68. Wind NW 22-26 knots, gust at ~33 knots. Water temp 50. Conditions: heavy chop / 2 foot waves.
Sailed Naish Starship 100 L + 5.7 & 5.0 Sailworks Revo. TOW 2:00h.

For a first time with the 100 L Starship, this wasn't a walk in the park! Heavy chop waves all over with gusts at +30 knots, the 5.0 Revo felt like a 12-cylinder engin!

The Starship is a huge improvement over the Atom 124 L in high wind heavy chop conditions. The board is a lot more nimble, turns without much efforts. It offers almost no resistance to get on a plane and makes the sail light in the hands. Waterstarts are fast and easy but the single center back footstrap setup was a bit odd since I got used to sail on the rails with the SB Atom. I was missing putting lateral pressure on the fin to lock the stance. I think I might install the fourth strap in double on the back for added comfort... The board is direct like a go-kart. It flies through the chop easy but in a rigid and less mannered way than the Atom. The Atom offers less control in the chop but it seems softer overall. A contributing factor might be the foot pads that are twice the thickness on the Atom versus the Starship, thus absorbing impacts a lot more.
I began the session with the Sailworks Revo 5.7 but after 20 Minutes the wind picked-up a couple of notches and it clearly became overpowered. My impression is that the 5.7 Revo feels as powerful and delivers as much traction as my 6.5 Ezzy Cheetah. The Revo delivers instantaneously without warning. The sail is on or off and nothing in between. No softness there: rapid and direct acceleration that's what I got. Same thing with the 5.0, When the wind started to go down towards the end of the day, the sail had a hard time pulling me through the lulls. If it doesn't move at least a little, the 100 L isn't capable of holding my 85kg + wetsuit/gear/rig: it sinks, period.
Overall, the session went a lot better than I thought It would. I got a few good runs and an impromptu and involuntary takeoff with a scary front door re-entry. ...kinda like half of a forward loop. This was enough to make me swim for my beanie.

Here are a few pics. They never do justice to depict the conditions: the kites on the grass had to be weighted down as they were "walking" the lawn on their own!

Ady wrote:

April 23. Fourth session of the season. (A week old and no sailing pics but anyway...)
Lake Michigan, Sheboygan, WI. Launch South Beach near Blue Harbor Resort. 5 kites, 1 Windsurfs. Air temp 46. Steady NE wind 18-22 knots, gust 24 knots. Water temp 44 (my guess). Conditions: long 2' swell, minimal chop / flat along south pier.
Sailed Starboard AtomIQ 124 L + 6.5 Ezzy Cheetah. TOW 90 min.
Great session. The wind had just turned from the West to NE so limited shore break and flat water sailing along the south pier. Except for the cold air and water temp, this was perfect.







Ady, I will let you know ahead of time next time I plan on heading out. I could also travel one day and join somewhere north side of Chocago.

April 23 session. A few pics From Linda, a local photographer: 1-linda-mcalpine.pixels.com/

Love this one! So dynamic, awesome colors and background too.

Good sailing on Saturday. Quick Vid for the fun of it!

You are a fine detective! Yes, I rigged and sailed the 7.5 earlie that dayr. The wind was 16-18. Then closer to shore, the wind came down as it shifted more North (Wind shadow) so I decided to rig the 8.5 Lion so I didn't had to cork around for the first 100 yards especially as there was 1 to 2 foot shore break. The amazing thing about the Lion3 is that it has more range than the Cheetah to my opinion. The 2 cambers are giving it very stable shape ready to power up in an instant. When overpowered the sail release better than the Cheetah. It is surprisingly easy to gybe and by far my favorite sail. If the Lion3 was available in 7.0, I would be tempted to buy it and sell the 7.5 and 6.5 Cheetah.

This week looks pretty good in my area:

Tuesday 16
Winnebago SW 18-20kn, 3-8pm, cloud/sun, 25c
Sheboygan SE 13-16kn, 9-2pm, cloud/rain, 10c
Sheboygan SSE 15-20kn, 3-5pm, rain, 13c

Wednesday 17
Winnebago SSE 18-25kn, 4-7pm, cloud/sun, 23c
Sheboygan S 13-15kn, 4-8pm, cloud, 11c

Thursday 18
Winnebago W 16-20kn, 9am-2pm, cloud/sun, 16c
Winnebago NW 12-16kn, 2-4pm, cloud, 14c

Friday 19
Sheboygan NE 14-17kn, 8am-7pm, Sun, 8c

Sunday 21
Winnebago W 13-15kn, 1-5pm, rain, 11c

I'll probably be sailing on lake Winnebago Tuesday - more likely towards the end of the day 4:30-ish or sooner. 2 possible launch: Deadwood point on the east shore. Or the Launch in front of Windpower, whichever has the best wind exposure and a few people sailing.
Winnebago water temp is already in the lower 60s while Lake Michigan is still mid 40s. Air temp is also much warmer inland. The choice is easy.