Chris wrote: Yes it is. Even better as it’s 10 minutes away from home!

Monday May 7: keeping all the gears pack in the car offers the advantage of being ready to hit the water at the slightest opportunity. Today was exactly that. At the office at 2:30 the wind was blowing 13kn, by 3:30 15kn and by 4:00 I was out the door! 10 minutes later on the beach rigging and the session turned out to be awesome: SE 15kn gusting 18kn. I rigged a bit big but outhauled the 8.5 Lion to the max and took the new 125 Bolt for a ride. Small chop, no shorebreak, water temp probably close to 48-50 and air temp in the mid-60s, perfect! I just wish there was another Windsurf to play with!

Looks like a good combo, Greg. When your Bolt 125 gets overpowered with the 7.0 race you'll be ready to drop down to your Starship 115 with a 5.7 five batten wave sail. The reduced tail width, reduced fin size, more rocker, and V will help you stick to the water when the conditions warrant.

I change the name to "Sheboygan South Beach" and moved the marker on the Launches page. Left menu under Lake Michigan.

Yes Reid, exactly. I just need the right conditions to spend more time with the Starship and build a passionate connection! I also was wondering how different it would feel to ride a 115 Starship at 9kg versus a 115 Goya One 7kg in a single fin setup? More or less v, rocker, concave, rails? Faster to plane, more agile/turn, straight line stability/speed, etc.

Regarding Sheboygan launch, I’ll do a short post with all 4 launches with pictures and all. They are all great but each for different conditions. That way you’ll have everything if you feel you want to update the launch page throughly for this location.

Saturday May 12. Quick session in Sheboygan South Beach. NE 11-14kn, about 48 degrees. Started promising with a steady14kn and nice little white caps, but that was just to tease: as soon as ready to go, the wind dropped quickly to a 11-12kn. Clearly the 7.0 was too small so finally a few back and forth with the 8.5 was the right choice. For sure, the Falcon lightwind and the big 9.4 V8 would have been better but no...
This wasn’t a memorable session but what to do on a Saturday morning anyway?

Tuesday May 15. Sheboygan South Beach. NE 15-18 gusting 20kn, about 55 degrees, sunny. I had a 3-hour hole in my schedule during lunch and the conditions were just right. 4-6 kiteboarders, no windsurfers. I finally sailed the Ezzy Lion 7.0 in good conditions. Great sail, easy to tune, powered, stable, predictable. The wind was going a little up and down (mostly up!). I set the downhaul to medium and fine tuned the power with the outhaul. Perfect workout!

Thursday, May 17. NNE 20-25kn Gust 28-30kn. Launch north of Sheboygan South Beach. Small shore break, nice but compact swell out in the open. The south jetty protects from swell for a part so after 2-3 tacks I am sailing along it and have the best of both world: flat water for 2/3 of the jetty’s length and waves/swell further out.

First session of the day from 9 to 11. I rigged the 5.7 but near the hotel on the beach there’s a slight wind shadow and I didn't get the full wind strength there, so I ended up rigging a bit oversized especially in the gusts. Manageable but a handful. Going out in these conditions almost alone (there was one kite out) was a bit intimidating at first. But the Starship and Revo combo was just great and confidence built-in quick!

After a while on the water and a failed jibe, the incident happened: the downhaul line snapped and the board took off on a wave while I remained puzzled with the rig still in my hands. The good is that it happened not far way from shore but the the bad is that the board was rapidly heading for the rocks. I tossed the rig and swim for the board that already had traveled 50 yards on its own. Finally got to it before the rocks and by the time I was back on the beach the sail had sunken under the shore break, nowhere to be seen. I went back into the drink to try to find it where I left it but the current was strong and no luck. Now, in hindsight I should have returned to the sail right away after retrieving the board, keep a hand on both and slowly let myself drift towards the short in the shallows. But no! Anyhow, I folded and went back to work without the rig. Then an hour later, a kiteboarder friend called saying someone had retrieved it as it washed ashore 250 yards down from where it all started. I went back to pick it up a few hours later. No Brocken mast or boom and the sail was in great shape except for the silkscreened Revolution logo that got a bit roughed up by the sand that got everywhere. I always tape the mast joint and I'm glad I did it!

Second session of the day from 5 to 6:30pm. Wind was still strong and more gusty than in the morning. This time I rigged the 5.0 and got another great time. I had left quite a bit of strength in the water in the morning and putting on a cold and wet wetsuit on in 54 degree temp, chilled me to the bones. I never really recovered enough heat to keep my hands warm under the open palm mitts and I ended up shortening the session. Enough happening in one day, right?










And here goes the board and the sail...

I've made some progress with my carve jibes, in particular on the starboard side. This time, with pretty gusty wind and a sail slightly oversized for the conditions, I was happy to have a couple of somehow "OK" planning jibes. The part that gets me is the exit. I flip the sail faster than before but I’m not yet completely committed and don’t sheet in fast enough. Got to work next on a cleaner exit!

Way to go, Greg. You're looking good on your Starship 115. That was a day to test it. Glad you're OK after your downhaul broke and your gear too.

It was rippin' out there.

Sheboygan Breakwater




Like Ady, I also recommend the Marlow Formuline "Outlasts every other line", for downhaul and outhaul. It seems to not absorb as much water and the weave is tighter for less places for sand to get into.

isthmussailboards.com/marlow-formuline-3-8mm-ft.html

Thanks for the suggestion with the lines. I actually had a few yards of the Formuline available at home that I purchased last year at Isthmus. So why didn’t I replaced the old lines over the winter instead of just waiting till they break? Why?! Anyhow, lesson learned. One thing to note though: the amount of downhaul tension the Sailworks Revo requires compared to my Ezzy Sails is just crazy! No wonder the line broke under the Revo.

Yep! I’m starting to like the 115 Starship. It’s fast of course but also easy to keep under control. I really like how nimble and responsive it is to change direction in the chop/swell. And again, the added buoyancy of its 115 liters doesn’t feel a handicap for my 190lb! That’s a keeper!

Ady wrote:
Well, That's what I have and its not that hard to adjust and rig either or. But I guess I'm more of an Ezzy-guy! I tend to prefer sails with a more progressive power ramp up and deeper profiles I guess.

Wednesday May 23. Went out for an hour after work. There was a slight SE 11-13kn. I got the Bolt to plane with the 2-cam 8.5 with a bit of help and some light pumping. Then I wanted to experiment: What if the 9.4 NP V8 could offer better performances while sailing the 125 Goya Bolt in light wind conditions. And no! The V8 is so much harder to pump and heavier compared to the Ezzy Lion 8.5, that I think I've reached the point of diminishing return. Clearly the 125 Bolt isn't at its best when carrying the 9.4 V8 even if the Bolt sail range says 9.0 max. Getting the board to take off with the V8 isn't fun and didn't deliver significantly more power to stay moving.
So, end of experiment, and the 9.4 V8 will remain exclusively dedicated to the 159 Falcon.

Friday May 25. I took the afternoon off and I was right! Wind was off shore at noon and turned SE by 1pm at 13-16kn. That was Falcon + 9.4 territory. Then things got better with 18-20kn. I switched to the Bolt and the 8.5. For some strange reason that wasn’t too big... The wind line was 100-150 yards away though and the floaty boards and large sails were just perfect. Got a good 3 hours on the water. I’m broken but happy!

Sunday May 27. What happened in Sheb? Kiteboarders were at the beach for a SE that never materialized close to shore. So guess who was on the water while the Kites were watching? Not a great sailing day but fun for an hour or so when the wind reached SE at 11-13kn. The large 9.4 did the trick but the wind line was 200-300 yards out.
In the meantime below, the coolest way to go Kiteboarding!