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Love it when you guys show up, Eric, as you always bring some good wind! And I think the Sharks were ruling the lake on Sunday!!
Of course, I didn’t get there until shortly before 11:00, but I thought everyone left prematurely as it was still blowing in the 20s when I left at 5:00. Admittedly, it did drop a touch and after I took a break at 2:00, I traded the 87L for 101L.
Big challenge for me for the day was that I was using my Hot Sails QU4D 5.2 for the first time. It’s much different than my Freaks, but I got it wanting to see what it’s like. Much shorter mast and longer boom than Freaks, matching meter-for-meter. I guess that’s great for rotationals, but at 62 I’m not inclined to go for those anymore. Actually, I think I stopped trying at around 52 (having broken the nose of my board at least twice)! The C0E is in a much different place on the QU4D than on a Freak, so the setup is much different. And the QU4D is really stable (4 battens), but in a quite different way than a Freak. Not sure if I’ll stick with the QU4D or not, though it’s a very nice sail. I’ve now ridden the KS3, KSS, QU4D and Super Freak Maui Edition. I think my fave is the SFME, but I’ve only ridden each one one time. So not enough testing.
Highlight of the day for me was that the inside waves were really wonderful. Don’t know if it was the waves setting up that way, or changes in my riding, but the rides were really long! Usually, I get 2-3 off-the-lip / cutback combos on a wave, and then drop back onto the next wave for another 2-3, and maybe a 3rd wave for a last 2-3 before the waves have petered out. It’s more riding a set than a single wave. But yesterday, I was linking 5-6, maybe more turns on a single wave. It was wonderful! I hope we get another day in the mid-20s or higher, so we get conditions to set up the nice waves again. I think it might be the way they are, and that it just takes more aggressive dropping in after the off-the-lip. I was diving well down the face, past the bottom of the trough before initiating my cutbacks. You might say it’s “less” aggressive in terms of waiting to attack the wave, but it generates a LOT of speed and when you’re aiming straight for the rip-rap on shore and getting very close in to shore, so it feels really aggressive!
One thing I keep telling myself I want to work on is getting from the top turn onto the opposite tack in a clew-first switchfoot position, but I keep forgetting once I get out there. For sure, that’s a super challenging position to get into, but it looks cool and really helps extend the ride by keeping closer to the critical section as it develops. Unfortunately, we don’t get enough days to work on new moves. 🙁
Hopefully we’ll get another session next weekend, as I’ll be away the next 2-1/2 weeks (one of them on the OBX!).
Enjoyed riding with Scott and Suan, both of whom I don’t think I’ve sailed with this year. Suan was busting some really nice jumps!
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Always LOVE your reports Geoff. That new sail sounds good. I got a little video footage from Sunday, and I’m pretty sure that you are in it towards the end of the video. The video quality is a little ‘shaky’ because I couldn’t get the camera out of the wind, plus I’m using a digital lens zoomed in to the max. But hopefully you still enjoy it. Here is the link https://www.ericthebige.net/october-6.html
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Nice video. My jibe wasn’t the best, but not too bad and at least it wasn’t one of the falls! Can’t say that I’m sailing very well so far, but with a week in the OBX coming, maybe I can get dialed-in.
Found on the Hot Sails Maui website that, despite what’s printed on the sail (370 mast), it works better with a 400. I didn’t agree with the boom outhaul settings, either, so I’m hoping for another 5.2 day to experiment some more with settings. I was adjusting everything on Sunday…boom height, outhaul, harness lines, fin choice, even mast base position! The QU4D is just really different from my Freaks, so I’d like to get a few more days with it to see if I want to keep it or go with the Super Freak Maui Edition (which are much better for waves than a Freak Classic, at least based on my time with my new 5.8).
Not that it helps my wave riding, but the QU4D was used once to win a heat at the Aloha Classic, and that was it. I got a great deal on it as a virtually new 2nd-hand sail. So I guess we have pretty good evidence that…if I’m in the water, it’s not the sail’s fault!
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I thought your jibe was pretty damn good given that, at the time I was recording, the wind was blowing over 30mph and you were on a 5.2m. Good job managing the power to complete the jibe.
Very interesting about the sail and settings. I’ve been riding mostly Ezzy’s since the beginning, so I can’t really discuss comparisons between brands very well. But I will say that the Ezzy sails do not rig the way the manufacturer says either. I have to add 4-6cm of extension to get the sail to downhaul properly. I thought I was doing something wrong for years, but other sailors have the same experience. I LOVE Ezzy sails, so it’s no big deal….but just interesting that you also don’t agree with your sail manufacturers settings.
I just looked at the specs on the QU4D…it is really short like you said…wow. Does it feel like the COE is higher or lower? It’s shorter, but there is more fabric in the top half. They have the bottom batten going directly out to the clew like the newer Goya’s. Does it pull more on the back hand? Just curious. Thanks for the report above.
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Well, deep on the inside, it’s not blowing as strong as it is out on the lake. But it’s flukey, because the wind lifts off the water as it gets close to shore, which makes the jibing tricky. I believe it was Brad who told me that kiters can use that, as a little bit of an updraft close in. The pluses of going inshore that far is that the waves are best. The minuses are that if you don’t rig big you can get stuck schlogging down in there and spend 20-30 minutes getting out, so you have to go much bigger than you would for out on the lake. That said, the four of us who launched on the east side were all on 5.2 – 5.3. I’m 77 kg.
Most HSM sails are correctly marked, but apparently not this one. It’s marked 171±1 on the sail, but the website says 174. If it’s really 174, then I was either 175 or 177 (didn’t check, just pulled it out until I “liked”it). If 175, then 174 is pretty close…but points off for not marking the sail correctly!! Also, Jeff Henderson said that the “marketing guy” wanted the 5.2 to be pushed as rigging on a 370 so that it would take one mast for all the QU4Ds from 5.2 down, but that the sail performs much better on a 400.
One nice thing about HSM is that they’re straight shooters, and the forum remains a polite and useful adjunct to having their gear. I had pretty much become an Ezzy guy in the late 1990s and 2000s, because they’re great sails, but about 12 years ago switched over to Freaks just for the colors. Nowadays they paint the monofilm, so it’s not as drab as it used to be. Still, nothing is as colorful as a Freak. Main reason for getting the QU4D, KS3 (Kauli Seadi 3) and KSS (Kauli Seadi Spiderlok) was that forum users raved about them. The sails I got were all used, but like 9/10 condition. Am not sure if I will stick with these or replace them all with Super Freak Maui Editions (SFME). One sweet thing about Freaks is that they’re silent, none of the crackling sound of monofilm sails.
My interest in the QU4D was that it’s reputed to be stable when jumping, and some like it as a wave sail. It’s much shorter in luff and boom than a Freak, which has a more traditional outline. I wouldn’t say the CoE feels higher, though I think it’s a little aft compared to the SFME. I like the forward CoE on the SFME and KSS/KS3, because it helps get vertical on the wave face. They’re much different from my classic Freaks, and the QU4D seems in-between. With the forward CoE, brilliant colors and silence of a SFME, I suspect I’ll end up with a quiver of all SFMEs. Maybe keep the KS3 (4.0) because I get so few 4.0 days it’s not worth spending a lot of money on sails that size.
I’ll post separately on back handedness of sails, to start a thread on tuning.
Anyone can ride any of my rigs if you want to try them. HSM sails are all built like a brick __, so I’m not really worried about damaging them.
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