That's the size, in meters-squared, of the windsurfing sail I got to use today. I almost didn't get to go, since I was real busy at work, but there was a window at 4:30 and I went for it.
The conditions were grey, rainy skies and 20-25 knots from the east-northeast, which is straight onshore. Normally it's tough to launch in onshore conditions, but the jetty on the south side of Fort Pierce inlet has a lateral projection that blocks a lot of the wave action until you get out past it.
(Check out this iWindsurf graph from nearby Jensen Beach.)
Former Olympic windsurfer Mike Gebhardt was there, launching huge airs and carving up the outside waves on his kiteboard. Some of the other local kite hotshots were there, too, like Ray Leroy my instructor, Andy the German dude, and Crazy Doug Smith who was wearing a Santa hat. It's cool to have buddies to ride with, even if the sport they're doing is a little different.
Anyway, back to the 4.7. It was the perfect size, and I'm really stoked with how suited it is to being the "next size down" from my 5.5. Any bigger and it would be hard to tell which sail to use. Any smaller and it would still be underpowered when the 5.5 was overpowered. I also like the soft-but-stable feel of it, typical of the Ezzy brand, which is pretty cool for a 10-year old sail that someone gave away for free. An added bonus is that the "sweet spot" for placing the harness lines on the boom is exactly the same for the 4.7 as for the 5.5, so I don't have to adjust the lines.
3 comments:
I always thought 4.2 was the answer to everything.
Yah, right, eh? The computer in Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy just missed the decimal point.
4.7, is the best size ever, in the history of windsurfing.
Post a Comment