Now becoming a habit, I sneak out of this office for an extended lunch "hour" and head somewhere windy. Today was Winnebago - again. For some reason, Lake Michigan has been less than predictable with SSE wind lately. Maybe the water is still too warm and affects surface winds, who knows?...
This time the spot was Deadwood Point on the southeast shore. 5 windsurfers on the water. Wind was gusty and probably over 24kn at times and lulls as low as about 14kn. So I rigged a 5.7 and mainly sailed the 124L and a little the 100L. I just wish the 100L was a 110 or 115. The extra buoyancy would let me cork around while waiting for a gust. At 100L in fresh water and with my weight, my only option is to be patient till I can waterstart... Anyhow, the session was short and good and no one asked for me at work, ha!

Yeah, the new straps setup on the Starship is much safer and comfortable. I have a safer range of lateral motion inside the straps (being spaced one extra hole apart) and no longer feel stuck for good in-there. So this is all good now. But I'm so accustomed to sail outboard that sailing in-board requires some getting-used to. Next occasion, I'll try to set it outboard and see the difference...

I sailed with Jacob at that same spot (I think he was there when I busted my knee earlier this year) and indeed he is a powerhouse on shortboards. ...Younger, more athletic, obviously more skillful and maybe a bit lighter makes a difference. I saw a few of his vids on-line and you can really see he is working the rig and board in a very dynamic way. Very impressive.

Yes, coming in and off the straps and wrestling a sinker + rig in the lulls are just way too tiring and frankly not that fun. As I'm mostly a weekend/evening windsurfer, I don't always get to take advantage of all the suitable conditions for this board. I sailed 100L in Bonaire earlier in the year and that didn't seemed to be such a workout then. Consistent wind, flat and 84 degree water, and waist-height depth clearly present a lower level of difficulty compared to our Midwest conditions. I also noticed that in Sheboygan, there's a wind shadow for about 50 to 100 yards off the shore, so passing the swell and shore break under-powered is a huge workout and gusty-Winnebago has most of the time too much lulls to make this a fun option... I need to loose weight or get 10 more litters to take advantage of what I have here at my level.

Comparing the 124L and the 100L yesterday, I have to say that when powered, the 100L is a much more manageable and easy board to sail in +20kn in chop and swell. The 124L felt was going to flip on me at any moment... and it almost did at a few occasions.
For sure, using the right gear for the right conditions is half the battle.

If I find someone willing to give me a decent price for my like-new 2017 100L Starship, I might say good-bye and get something in the 110-115L range instead. Got to think this through a bit more...

SAT. OCT. 07, 2017:
Big South wind day. I went just a stone-throw away from my home on North Beach in Sheboygan. Wind was anywhere between 14 and 30kn. North Beach is a bit protected by the jetty from the direct hit from the Lake Michigan waves so the shore-break is organized and predictable but the windshadow for a 150 yards out requires a bit of a floaty board. So I went with my trusted Atom124L and I rigged a 7.5! Yes, big sail but I wasn't going to sail there for ever and wanted to squeeze a short but fast session. I pulled on that sail as much as it seemed reasonable and off I went. Alternatively underpowered and excessively overpower. I could have rigged any sail sizes and they would have all been wrong anyway. The swell was impressive: In the lowest part, the horizon disappeared until I came up the wave again. It had to be 5 to 6 feet deep. The fun part was the return runs down the swell. Also, about 20 surfers had joined to catch a few 3'-4' waves at "the Elbow".

SUN. OCT. 08, 2017:
Today was sunny and warm except Lake Michigan that has dropped to a bone-chilling 53 degrees! This time I sailed the Falcon Lightwind with the giant NP 9.4 V8. Unexpected SE wind came up and culminated at around 3pm: 13kn to 15kn fairly constant. It has to be one of the best session I had with that kit this year. The usual local Kite crowed showed up. Chasing kites, chat and beer on the beach made for a perfect 'summer" day.

Friday, Oct. 20
An other unexpected SE afternoon on South Beach in Sheb. Great 90 minute session with a few kites. 124L and 8.5. Water has not warmed up but that session was a warm-up for what was about to come the following day!

Saturday, Oct. 21
I spent the hole day at the beach! SSE. Started at 11am with a 7.5 on the 124L which became rapidly too big. By noon, I switched to a 6.5 still on the floaty. Swell and shorebreak started to be big. Wind picked-up a few notches - don't really know - at least 20kn gusting 25-ish. It became more gusty but it filled up nicely near shore. Switched to the 100L still with the 6.5. The parking was full: There was 2 other windsurfer and at least 14-16 kites on the water. No traffic control but no damage or drama. The swell/waves at times had to be 6-7 feet with pretty steep faces. If I didn't care busting my left knee, my right elbow or my left shoulder again, I would have tried to push the board up high in the air on one of those waves. This looked perfect for jumps: Sideshore wind and almost onshore waves. Experienced wave riders would have probably took advantage of that with gusto! I got a few crazy runs down the waves at full speed without much control and scared the sh*# out of me. Fun. The end of the session wasn't too glorious though: Wind picked up a few more knots and got me totally overpowered, This time the 6.5 was too much and I couldn't go downwind anymore. Running out of juice, I landed upwind wherever I could, I ended up pushing the kit downwind in the shorebreak towards where I started. No arms, no legs, no nothing, but happy! No pics this time cause I got lazy and didn't hookup the camera.

For sure!
Every aspects of this sport is awesome!

I hear you! But slogging isn't a problem. It is my resilience and physical ability, not my patience (I think!).
So yes, the 100L can go. No desperation though: If I don't sell it, then I'll keep it! I would be living in Bonaire, that 100L (or even smaller) would be my to-go board everyday!

But I thought about this: Despite all my efforts, I'm not going to be 170lb like I was in my 30s. With my 185-190ish pounds and current - yet improving - skill level, a 100L boards is just too much work for a wet-suited windsurfer in gusty, underpowered, shorebreak, cold fresh water, inconsistent Sheboygan conditions. Also, once planing, an extra 10-15L won't adversely affect the ride, what does is the width of a board. As long as I trade for one with a narrow aspect ratio (less than 67-68cm), chop or swell should be no problem. In addition, the comfort of being able to slog in unfavorable situations without loosing tones of energy fighting the kit and the elements seems awfully appealing to me.

Your suggestion with the SB Kode is one I was looking at. I'm also looking at the 2018 Goya One 116L (Thruster + Inboard/outboard straps config). Sounds too big? Purposefully so: I can see a benefit of going out on the water as low as 17-18 knots on a 116L/7-ish sail and leaving the SB AtomIQ in the car! I like that idea!

Here I am, the season is barely coming to an end and I'm day-dreaming:
- Fanatic Falcon Lightwind: Love this thing, powered or not, maybe with a foil next year?!
- SB Futura 127L: Long reaches at full tilt and locked riding on the rails, mmm nice!
- Goya One 116L: Non-intimidating solution for higher wind and waves in less than optimal conditions.
Sails? 9.4 Cambered NP V8, 8.5 and 7.0 cambered Ezzy Lion, + 6.4, 5.5, 5.0 5-batten Ezzy Zeta

Stubby = oversized kite board. Totally. Hey, how about a windsurf board that doesn't require to jibe or transition? A symmetrical stubby with a set of 4 or 5 retractable mini fins on both sides?!

I was looking into this summer's raw GoPro footage that I hadn't seen yet and discovered a few moments of precarious situations. This was on August 8 I think. My smaller board had unrepared dings and I took a chance sailing the 159L Falcon Lightwind and the 7.5 Cheetah in 5 feet swell on a 16-18kn NE day.

Didn't recalled I was "flying" with the Falcon...



Tried to regain control but crashed anyway.



Back foot dragged out by a piece of chop. What happens next?

Gregory wrote:

Following with my earlier conversation regarding the 100 L Starship: That's it, the 100 L is out and the 115 L version is in. The guys at Big Winds are just amazing and agreed to swap the board. Total cost for me is shipping. I am very grateful and amazed at their customer service: Eddy, thank you!

This was the right move: I will be able to sail the 115 a lot more, leave the 124L in the car in anything above 17-18kn, and enjoy better control in chop and swell with the 115 reasonable 65cm width (compared to the 81cm for the 124L AtomIQ!). Looking forward to try it in the next year.

On the picture, the difference doesn't look like much: an additional 3 cm in width and 5cm in length for the 115L. The biggest difference is the thickness; this is where most of the additional 15L are. Stock MFC wave fin grew to 34cm. Sail range: 4.5 - 7.5. And the sweet bamboo deck!

Another number that's handy to know is the tail width(30 cm up from the tail).

Reid Fillman wrote:
Tail width: 42cm