Slalom Sparring and Prototype Fins - 60 Days of Summer Day 16

With just a week until the final Maui slalom race of the season the action at the beach is hotting up. Everyone seems really motivated to do well next weekend and it had led to some great training opportunities as racers jostle for position on the water. Confidence is so important during these super charged testosterone full races and that knowing that you can out pace or out turn your fellow competitors is vital if you are going to succeed on race day.


I am starting to meet a few of the racers at the beach who seem to be at Kanaha every afternoon and it has been really useful to get some input from equipment set up to advice on starting. I remember my first few events on the UK national circuit in the 90’s and how intimidated I felt, that cannot have helped my performance so it is great to feel a little more at home amongst the racers here. Tonight I set up some sparring with a fellow competitor who has his own buoy. Rounding a mark on your own is one thing but when you add other sailors into the mix the perfect laydown slalom gybe may not, okay probably isn’t the best policy and you have to adapt to the situation FAST before you either bounce out and fall and/or get hit by someone else. I almost don’t want to write this but I seem to be developing a habit of falling when the person in front of me falls, not sure why but that is certainly the time to attack rather than falter. After several rounds of sparring I was really pleased, I had plenty of speed and managed to cut inside at the mark and come out with some speed. We were running really short legs to get as many competitive corners in. We were both using GPS tracking and it was great to be able to compare. At first I was running 26-27 knots but as the wind picked up my speeds increased to 27-29 knots. At the end of the session we had a good chat about the good and bad and agreed to meet up to practice starts – I now have a timer so need to get used to using it and the starting procedure.

I am pleased to see less dark colours on the turns today = better speed maintained! Best 100m run today was 29.035 knots with a top end of 29.605 knots.  

I was set to test a 32cm prototype race fin today but that almost didn’t happen when I realised that I didn’t have a set of screws that fit – they were all too long. Luckily after searching my box of bits I just about managed to find enough washers (about an inch think on each screw!) to fit it snugly into the box. (My session was almost halted again when I broke my downhaul rope and had just enough left for a double run through the pully rather than a tripple, it was rather hard to get the desired tension, note to self - get some spare line!) For the last couple of days I have felt the need for more grip and this new fin certainly gave me that, it was really smooth and I felt in more control. I think that this will be perfect for 6.6m and lighter wind 6.0m weather but, I think that I might need a 30cm when I am over powered on the 6.0m and a 34cm or 36cm for the 7.3m.

The 32cm prototype felt smooth and fast, it was great to have more control and better grip. I look foward to getting my hands on some other sizes.

I also have a some 16cm Twins to test out, they have plenty of flex so I am confident that they will have plenty of slide. I have my fingers and toes crossed for some waves so that I can try them out and report back.

On arriving back at the ranch I still wanted to push myself a little further and again donned my running shoes, to be honest maybe I should have rested but I am always keen to see when the max is and I came pretty close to finding it today as I totally blew out half way through my run, eventually I got home but totally shattered. This is where I must pay tribute to Powerbars which proved an excellent way to help speed up my recovery. I think that it is time for some rest and the latest episode of Friday Night Lights!

I have been really pleased with the Powerbars I bought the other day, these seem to really help in the recovery phase and I will certainly be buying some more.

Pic of the day - Paia Bay

This is one of my favourite beaches in Hawaii, whether you want a swim in the summer, to relax in the sun or a surf in the winter this is so often the perfect place to be.

Sailing record = 100% (15/15)

More to follow…

Slalom 102 - 60 Days of Summer Day 15

I believe that I completed the Slalom 101 course yesterday with a Merit and today it was time to face new challenges offered by the Slalom 102 syllabus! With a little over a week until the Neil Pryde State Championships today was time to step up the training on and off the water. While I know that my technique will be rather rusty come race day I want to ensure that my fitness is top notch. I know that it is a grueling day of racing with 8 races to complete (4 in my division and 4 in age category) and the fitter I am the more consistent my pace will be. For those of you who have been following this blog for a while it will not come as a surprise that I feel that fitness will be one of my strengths because I (almost) obsessively train year round in the gym, on the road and in the pool; my GPS device has become one of my training partners and measures of success.

The first part of my training today was scheduled to be a long bike ride; Liz and I rode 26km including a long stint into the wind and then straight up Haleakala; tough but, great fun. We arrived home rather tired but both managed a sprint to the finish, Liz not happy with 26km carried on to Kanaha and back to make it 33km - nice work before breakfast!

Time for some food, rest and rehydration. During my break I went to collect the new prototype Black Project Fins that I will be testing in the coming days and weeks, they look amazing but more of that in tomorrow’s post.

My on water training today would focus on the turns as this is an area that I definitely need to improve and I wanted to try out the 6.6m and AA combo. There was a buoy set up at Kanaha on the inside which provided a perfect target and with a few others with the same idea often there were others at the mark which created some competition. I was less powered today and the turns were far more successful although I always seemed to fall when the sailor in front of me crashed, not sure why that was! My GPS is providing me with important feedback; my runs today were slower than yesterday in the 27-29 knot range but this was expected as I was working on a figure 8 course today and I was less powered. The 27cm Speed fin was definitely too small today and the new 32cm Race prototype will hopefully change things (the prototypes were being photographed today and were not available for on water testing).

I am getting more used to using the GPS and software and it is providing some great feedback, every flat water sailor should get one!

I was exhausted when I got home but I wanted to push myself a little more and powered down and Gatorade and some water; changed into my running kit and strapped my GPS to my wrist, I was ready to set off down the bike path to Kanaha once more. It was tough but with the wind on my back the first 3.5km wasn’t too bad although when I turned and had to run into the 20mph wind my legs really started to feel it, but with the help of a few good tracks on my iPod I completed the 7km course in 39min. I am not sure that I know a descriptive word to describe how I felt but all I could do was lie flat on my back for a while on our living room floor. Another Gatorade and a Powerbar later I did feel rather more human once more. Training for today was complete and that felt good!

Two Weeks – When I started the project I set out to motivate myself and others, see how much action I could get and have a ton of fun. In the last 2 weeks I have windsurfed everyday, hiked, surfed watched the sunset, ran, swam, biked and had a great deal of FUN. I have pushed myself to do new things and have been encouraged by the number of visitors to the blog on a daily basis. As we enter the 3rd week it is time to step it up a gear so watch out for some interesting posts in the coming week and please keep reading and remember to spread the word as your feedback is extremely motivating.

Facebook Advert – I teach Economics and Business Studies so as a marketing experiment I decided to create Facebook ad for the project, let me know if you see it and be sure to click through. These could be a great way for you to promote your business? I set a $2 a day budget and left it run for 7 days and paid 17 cents per 1,000 impressions. It took about 10 minutes to set up.

This could be a great way for you to target your customers.

Pic of the day

I talk a lot about Kanaha Park in my posts so thought that it would be a good idea to include a pic that I took one early morning a couple of weeks back.

Click to enlarge.

What’s up next? With the forecast for it to be flat and windy on the North Shore I expect that there will be some more slalom training tomorrow and I am keen to test the new 32cm fin but I also want to get out on my wave board and test the new 16cm twin fins, maybe I will be able to do both but I’ll have to wait to see what feedback my body gives me after today’s effort! A south swell is expected to arrive over the weekend and I would love to loose the sail for a few hours.

Sailing record = 100% (14/14)

More to follow...

60: Day 10 – Destroyed

Twin Falls - The first part of today’s post is related in many ways to yesterday’s and I must have a little bit of a rant about the state of Twin Falls. I took our visiting friends there this morning, I thought that it would be fun to swim in the pools and get a few waterfall jumps in. I haven’t been there for a couple of years and while I knew that it had changed what presented itself this morning was nothing short of disgusting. Who has let one of Maui most natural beauties turn into a trodden down zoo of people?

During my visit this morning I saw at least 3 tour guides each with 20 or so paying customers and hundreds of tourists milling about, I do not exaggerate there was a 100+ cars parked and an estimated 250-300 people in the area. The pools and trails were so packed it was no way relaxing and in no way how Hawaii should be, one particular tour had people lined up ready to jump off one of the upper falls and it appears that somebody (I am guess the tour guides) has cleared some vegetation and rocks so that it is easier to jump.

A rare moment with noboddy in the pool!

I have been going to Twin Falls for 15 years and in the past there may have been 4 cars max, it was beautiful, it was relaxing, it was great to get out into the forest and be surrounded by natural Hawaiian beauty, now it is horrible, a mess and something should be done about it. I am not sure what the solution is but, unless something changes you might as well tarmac it and make it like the Iao Valley, so to sum up and finish my rant I declare Twin Falls an ENVIRONMENTAL disaster and urge you not to visit and speak up if you agree with me.

Summer Waves - We were treated to some trade swell today with waves between waste and head high at Ho’okipa, the variable wind meant that the crowds were kept to a minimum at times and while it was a little light on the top turn it was great to get some rides in. I was using the Starboard again today and was pleased with it on the waves although still concerned about the thin pads and I am going to try some other boards. I had a great fun session with friends today and hope we get some more action tomorrow! Still keeping a firm hold of the 100% sailing record since returning back to the island and it looks like the wind is forecast to keep coming.

I love the sense of movement in this shot

I included this pic becuase it shows the waves that we had today, I had left the camera shooting my mistake so this shot is just down to luck.

Would be good with a bigger wave.

I just love the colours and lighting of this one, again another one that should not have been.

GoPro Update - I am having some fogging issues, my friend Dave tells me that RainX on the outside and goggle anti-fog should do the trick so I will get that sorted in the morning. I did a boom mount and got some fun pics before my lens misted up. Hoping for more waves tomorrow and I think that I will use the headcam and record some video.

GPS - I have had some great runs and bike rides in the last 10 days and what is particularly great is seeing GPS tracks of the North Shore rather than of all the tracks from Bahrain which I have done so many times recently. Today I had a fun 7km run to Kanaha and back during early morning, I was so happy in my surroundings that I couldn’t stop myself singing along to my iPod, hope nobody heard me!

I really enjoyed my run this morning from our house to Kanaha and back along the bike path.

More to follow…