AndyR said..magillamelb said...Nozza said..
Hate to doubt you Stu, but I think you're doing that on assumption rather than evidence.
Spent 30 years odd on the Bay sailing 14' Skiffs against 19' (?) Sharpies.
Downwind, I don't think they were ever thinking "I wish we were shorter"
Nosedived a 14 so hard I left my wetsuit boots in the footloops, landed forward of the boat and first thought was "why are my feet cold?"
Came up under spinnaker, stuck to the water, had to dive down 3 times to try and clear the sails before I came up.
Got on the 'plate and wondered "Where is Helmy?'
He had fallen off early in the exercise and was way behind.
We did not consider wave period, length, or height, but a longer boat would have been better.
There has been too little downwinding of 16' or 17' boards on the Bay to draw any conclusions, and the waves I have seen out there won't differentiate by a foot.
Fully support what you are doing, but no evidence 14', 16' or 17' is any different.
Apart from as far as I have got, the bigger, and longer the board is, the more stable it is.
Rocker will also be more determinate than length if you are trying to fit in waves.
But the ongoing discussion is vital!
Nozza
Nice to hear Helmy left you to your own devices just before the **** hit the fan! I bet it was more than once too...
There is some evidence my theory is based on.
A couple of DJ's video's show people on 17'+ boards (of different brands) doing just what I've said. They get on a bump and almost straight away, they're headbutting the next one. DJ's video of PT on this Ace GT is a case in point. Check them out and see what you think?
I think DJ has echoed a similar view...
To avoid headbutting the bump in front and slowing down isn't it the idea to be getting that nose running up over it or to the side buy getting back enough on the board to lift, and the length and volume of the unlimited should be giving you enough speed to easily rider over it at speed and drop down onto the next bump in short bay stuff.
Also shouldn't be going straight down once picked up on the bump should be turning and aiming that nose/board on an angle that is going to keep you on that bump or group of bumps for longer aiming for the V in front.
I could be wrong but thats what i am doing on the 14 so the 17 should be the same theory and it works for me.
Exactly, use the bumps...don't let the bumps use you.
To elaborate on AndyR's first point it's about staying on the bump without ramming the wave in front until the one in front starts to die, then accelerate your board on it's runner and sprint over the bump in front - and repeat. There are times when your board will get away on you but if you are trimming right you normally can negotiate the board by crouching and doing a controlled pearl rather than walk backwards and risk overcompensating (offshore usually necessitates some footwork tho). It's all about you controlling the boards speed and not the swell.
This should be achievable without having to regularly dance all over the board in lake/bay DWers. If you have to dance too much, you are not reading the bumps properly.
A key note is that to maintain this mythical fixed foot position it is important to keep your glide speed to optimum, it makes it so much easier.
The big unlimiteds do travel faster the further back you stand through reduced wetted surface area etc. but this not necessarily the most efficient way to use them in small, short interval lake/bay DWers. The straighter swell lines of these dwers are also helpful.Get the big girls offshore with mixed larger swell and wind lines, and you will find they surf remarkably well from the rear of the board and you can link different swell lines without using the rudder.
And in keeping with the topic, narrower tails are less subject to rocking forward and aft allowing you to maintain your glide easier and hence manage the bumps better.
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