Forums > Windsurfing   Gps and Speed talk

measuring gybe speeds (alphas)

Reply
Created by grumplestiltskin > 9 months ago, 24 Apr 2009
grumplestiltskin
WA, 2331 posts
24 Apr 2009 6:05PM
Thumbs Up

Was reading the "clippings" in the old photos thread
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=50329&whichpage=1
and there was mention of some equipment to measure gybe speed
invented by some guy called Lindsay Mannix.

Wonder if its worth looking into...Anything to improve my gybing

nebbian
WA, 6277 posts
24 Apr 2009 7:44PM
Thumbs Up

Practice, practice, for lessons don't be late.
Then you'll windsurf till you're eighty eight.

Hmm yeah I wondered about that. It would have to be some form of beam that when it gets broken starts a counter. Maybe have the two ends of the beam as some form of 'gate' arrangement. So you have to go through the gate, around a buoy, then back through the gate I was thinking...

Instant readouts would be handy, instead of our current GPS system where you wonder for the entire drive home if you were within 50m...

oldie
VIC, 356 posts
2 May 2009 1:58AM
Thumbs Up

A keen blaster sez to me that he can beat a carve gybe overall time by a sort of backwinding crash gybe. He was very light and got great acceleration back to full planing.
Not to have to come back upwind after losing station was the basis of his claim.
What would a gps reveal about such a manoover?

Ian K
WA, 4169 posts
2 May 2009 6:39AM
Thumbs Up

Is it possible to do a planing tack?

Checked out www.continentseven, none listed. But I reckon if one of those freestylers put their mind to it it could be done. They are prepared to fall in 1000 times to learn a new trick - something that doesn't appeal to the average alpha racer.

And the alphas would look like alphas, maybe 30 knots? Non-fin and all.

Roar
NSW, 471 posts
2 May 2009 10:28AM
Thumbs Up

Interestingly enuf when i uesd to ride my speed needle it was easier to use duck gybe as it keeps the speed up a lot better the whole way round as you pull under the sail and go straight into a powered up position rather than having to sheet the sail in.

much easier to keep the board on the plane the whole way round. of course the negative side was the crashes when you mess up were spectacular. :)

Crash gybes didnt really work on speed boards since as soon as you dropped off the plane they would sink and it was a pain in the butt pulling it back up.

oldie
VIC, 356 posts
2 May 2009 4:19PM
Thumbs Up

Coming back with an even broader reach must be tempting .
I once read of a fast tack involving a "sort of reverse laydown" from a very early jump across, but it "ALMOST kept on planing"



Subscribe
Reply

Forums > Windsurfing   Gps and Speed talk


"measuring gybe speeds (alphas)" started by grumplestiltskin