evo 80l . some doubts

[unforgettable]

hello, sorry if I keep on talking on EVOs which have been recently and deeply covered but I have some doubt myself for the choice I have made. I am 1.90cm tall, 84 kilos ( naked) using the board on very much onshore mushy conditions (almost never I d say schlogging) on wind for 5.3 down to 4.2 sail size . ( kind of 23-35knots range) The other board I have a kode 112 which I have implemented with a 24cm tuttle fin.

I have bought the evo since I wanted to start "surfing waves" and although quite a rookie on it I can jibe tack bla bla quite well .

Whta I have found out recently on a 23knots very gusty ( up to 35) wind days in Sardinia, onshore confused chops ( anyhow "surfable" by locals) was the following. Either the board was to fast , way toooooo fast mainly when descending ( downwind then) a chop making the tight turn mission impossible ( read bad crashes) or going too slow as soon as the wind was a bit down therefore making the necessary upwind a difficult task . I can tack and jibe on it , I mean I do not have a problem with its size but >I have much of an issue with its behaviour on conditions described and a tad depressed.

At this point in spite of width considerations which have led me to buy the 58,5 evo board I have started thinking the following...ok, naked as I have said I am 84 kilos but I never surf naked :-))....wet suite, harness , rig , board-weight, well I am an 84 + 16 kilos = 100kilos weight on the board. The result is I guess that either I am in a very powered up condition or the board will need a very technical approach to be managed...in a word. Shouldn T I swap ( sorry guys I cant afford 3 boards) an 80 for a 90l, staying on shore with a camera when wind blows more than 35 knots and using a 90 for all the rest? Or is it all a question of "waiting and try and be patient"?

In spite of its huge width I can reasonably stretch down the use of the 112 kode with a 25 knots ( 5.3 sails) and a small fin on small waves . The board eats chops and stays down, turn a bit wide but favourably surprised me a lot for control different than flat conditions.....

[Ola_H]

Different boards (and board sizes) will help you with different things, but in your case I don't think the size of the board is the problem. After all, it is very very difficult to ride waves well in the type of onshore conditions you describe. The feel of too much speed to turn is very common. A very good sailor can also in onshore conditions handle te speed and still produce a tight turn and hit the lip, but in most cases the trick is to learn to control speed (and placement on the wave) just before entering the bottom turn. Try looking closely at the sailors at you spot who rides the wave the best and also at sailors that ride "reasonable". Regardless of what board they have, you'll notice that they take care to position themselves and control speed (although with a really good sailor it can be hard to notice since it is all in the flow of the move).

So, in this context, I think the EVO 80 is the perfect size for you and a very good board type or what you want to do. You just have to spend som more time getting a feel for the technique. Next time, try to look for a wave starting to build, slow down slightly and position yourself very high up on the wave. The next move will be alsomost twisting the board down the wave, ie pointing the nose downwind at teh same time you "drop in" down the face. Try imagining going very close to the wave instead in in a big long arc in front of it. When doing the drop in, place you rear hand very far back on the boom (its good to exaggerate this at first) and also bend your knees a lot. Try keeping some pressure on the mast foot by pointing your elbows down.

There are lots of technical details about how to handle the sail too, but I think the above points can be a good start. The main thing is thinking about how to SURF the board, not so much crank the sail.

When you get more comfy you can then starrt to approach this with more speed.

Try this out and then tell us if things are improving.

[unforgettable]

Chapeau Ola. I think you hit the nail and re-thinking on what you describe as factors of improvement I know that is what I mainly got wrong ..what can I say......thanx!!!! a lot.
claudio

[Ola_H]

Great. One more thing. Sooo much is in the head of the sailor. Really try to think of your self SURFING the board, driving/carving/twisting it down the wave and towards the lip.

(And try to get rid of mental images where you are dragged along by the sail, desperately trying to set the rail.)

[Ray Timm]

I weigh exactly the same as you do and recommend also that it is probably the perfect sized board for what you're trying to learn. I usually use my E80 as my big wave board with a 5.8 or a 5.3 and when the wind continues to build I switch to the smaller ones. That being said I can manage with a 4.7. In general I feel the E80 models from the last couple of years really sail easily and help reduce the learning curve for sailing waves.

[unforgettable]

thanx ola.you re a source of help. I am also "surprised" by what ray you re sayng...aaargh. you can use the 80 as the big wave board!! this means I really sucks! thanx Ray this mean it s better i go off at sea and start surfing.thank all for having clarifiedif it is not a board size problem i ll do the rest .