Video thread

After some days of normal training at the beach, a weird 2 day 12-14kt wind down on the Pacific (here in Panama the conditions are usually like a pool). This is the third run on 2 days, happily surprised with the speeds. Now I can´t "unsee" that my left brace is exaggerated, basically a handbrake. Nothing massive going by what I see from the folks at SA and AUS but everything felt connectable, seemed like it was easy never going falling into the below 10-11Kph zone waiting for a wave. 

Full paddle with no music over after the 2 minute mini intro.

Great video sarzelopez. Exotic and new locations are fun to see. I love the intro driving the country roads. Awesome song. I did not want the music to end. Conditions not huge but you are holding good speeds. I noticed the rainbow partway through. Good work!

+1 on Sarzlopez and that consistent speed in those conditions.  

Fun conditions on the south shore Monday.  Oncoming catamaran wake at the end of the video was very noticeable. 
    


A little further down the line.   

Thanks LPB I really enjoyed both of those. I'm not qualified to give commentary but you look to be very efficient and getting plenty of push from the waves, only digging in the power when you have to. It looks to be very effective when you are matching wave direction first and then powering on (without overdoing it).
The conditions are mouth-watering with all those beautiful wave intersections to work with and the lighting is awesome to make these visible in your video. This helps it to be a good learning tool as it is actually apparent what you are anticipating and chasing.
Would it be fair to say that the wind waves and swell were fairly well matched in size if not speed? What was wind speed?

CrabStick wrote: Thanks LPB I really enjoyed both of those. I'm not qualified to give commentary Nor am I, but I'll do it anyway.  but you look to be very efficient and getting plenty of push from the waves, only digging in the power when you have to.  Thanks, I'm mainly trying not to fall out of the boat - then trying to be smooth.  It looks to be very effective when you are matching wave direction first and then powering on (without overdoing it).  Agree. 

My plan is to always have a 'green' wave pushing me along.  I strive to aim the boat across an 'orange' wave face.  It seldom happens, but I'll keep trying.  The south shore is ideal for experimenting - learning to turn the boat...  Most of what I'm doing in these videos is exploiting the glide of the 12 - not truly surfing smart and sprinting onto good orange waves (like Boyan).   I'm not stable enough in the 12, but it's crazy good fun.  I can surf a lot smarter (and faster) in the 8P.  Those strokes are not very powerful.  I'm sorta going thru the motions. It's keeping me in the bucket more than zooming like that boat wants to.  But I'll keep trying.                

The conditions are mouth-watering with all those beautiful wave intersections to work with and the lighting is awesome to make these visible in your video. This helps it to be a good learning tool as it is actually apparent what you are anticipating and chasing.  That's usually tough for most people to see.  Most people are too heavily focused on the bigger 'orange' swell train.  A little green bump ahead is also part of a windswell train.  It's tough to spot and the one pushing me is under the boat.  So, two trains of wave faces.  One is usually bigger than the other.  Timing the momentum so that the nose is always downhill is the goal.

In these videos, it's occasionally easier to see the greens pushing me onto an orange because I'm bouncing between two equally sized windswell trains.  Sort of like a ball bouncing between two walls.  That's not very common, but it sure is fun.  Most of the green ones pushing me are very subtle and hard to spot on a video. 

I use 'linear' view to prevent the gopro from flattening the waves out front.  It's a 'narrow' view, so that's the tradeoff.  With 'linear' the size of the waves is more consistent with reality.  Wide angle views are horrible for watching downwind.  Early gopros had no linear views, only fisheyes.  It was so bad that there was an aftermarket for linear lenses.  Fisheye lenses are great for selfies, but anything further than 20 feet ahead was flat as a pancake.      
           
Would it be fair to say that the wind waves and swell were fairly well matched in size if not speed?  Yes.  The south shore run has zero fetch.  The videos are 3 and 6 miles downrange -  not enough distance for  groundswells to develop.  It's all windswell.  Some days straight down the line, some onshore, some offshore...   

Here is a  pic of my depth.  About 60 feet, so a 5 second swell is just about to feel the bottom of the ocean.  I doubt the swell period in these videos is much more than a few seconds.  Charts like this on the north shore are valuable to me - especially in the winter.  The swell periods can get much longer and the reefs are happy to lend a hand if Mother Nature decides it's time to smash a few boats.   Ha ha.  I've been lucky, no smashed boats, but several leashes and a few stitches.  Minor stuff. 

That being said, two distinct trains are usually running (and they reform as they march along).  One goes out to sea (and carries further/longer).  The other one is going toward the shore.  It usually has steeper faces.  As they reform, speeds and sizes vary.  As a general rule, when the boat is aimed out to sea, the swell carries longer.  

What was wind speed?  No idea.  Strong enough to set up those conditions, but it often fades later in the run. 

Lots of great info there. Thank you.
I can't help wondering how much fun you'd have in a downwind tuned boat a bit more stable than the V12. Maybe a V9, Swordfish or V10 would hit the sweet spot, depending on conditions.
You've got the V12 sorted but your comments suggest a similar scenario to how I get on with my Spark S. I love the fit and the glide (and the challenge) but just don't have the ability to get the most out of it in all but the most groomed DW conditions. It requires pretty intense focus. Always faster and more fun in the Swordfish.

We only have 2 dealers, Epic and Kai.  We have a few Fenn paddlers, but they are in Elite S boats.  I've never seen a Swordfish.  Outrigger is king here. Ski is very fringe. 

Personally, If I could get another ski, I'd try Kai's Flex.  It's about the same dimensions as a 10.  At my skill level, the 9 is probably the better call.

LaPerouseBay wrote:  I'm not stable enough in the 12, but it's crazy good fun.  I can surf a lot smarter (and faster) in the 8P.  Those strokes are not very powerful.  I'm sorta going thru the motions. It's keeping me in the bucket more than zooming like that boat wants to.  But I'll keep trying.

Hmmm, just a couple of months ago you wrote "IMO, the V12 2nd generation is indeed "super stable" in downwind conditions." What changed?
Or is it that the V12 is super stable when you keep your balance and becomes unstable when you loose it?

The one thing I have to say is that the V12 has changed the way I surfski, especially the way I balance. It's all in my body and the paddle, fuhget the surfski, let it dance however it wants to dance. I was in what looks like very similar conditions yesterday and several times the V12 just bounced around like crazy while going down one of these wave intersections, yet I was just fine and had a blast. I'm sure I would have fallen out in my 550 'cause I would have relied on some boat stability and when it bounces and spins out like crazy that ends in a swim. Fun stuff, the tricky part is to stay in safe conditions...

Glad you are enjoying your 12. 

I can't paddle the g2 12 in challenging, side on conditions.  Downwinding it on the north shore is a waste of time.  I'm not strong  enough or skilled enough to guide the boat across a tough line.

South shore? no problem.  The windier the better.  I can't remember the last time I tipped over.  I've pulled a leg out and used it as an ama a few times - but that boat just refuses to go over.  It's not because I'm a good paddler - I'm not.  It's because it's a stable boat.  I only paddle it in groomed, downwind conditions and avoid challenging angles.  It is a very predictable boat downwind.  

That's what I alluded to in my commentary.  I'm not paddling the 12 like an expert.  I'm exploiting the glide of the boat and avoiding the paths a strong paddler would choose.  Any good paddler can see  that on the video.  It's probably painful for them to watch...  When I watch those videos I sometime tell myself "I shoulda gone right"  then I remember, "oh yeah, I cant."           

I stand by my statement that the 12 is a stable boat.  Any ski is going to have a few caveats.

I may post a video tomorrow, as a follow up to the previous 2.  We did Maliko the day before - with east and north groundswells.   I was in 100 feet of water vs 50 and you can see 'em.  The paths I choose are the same as the south shore, but the timing is different due to the windswells and groundswells behaving so differently.  Winter is here...     

Here's the video of last Sunday.  North and East swells running.  It was the first north swell Maliko for me this winter.  I played it very safe.  I shoulda turned left sooner, but it wasn't too bad, the left in to the harbor entrance wasn't too severe.  Just like the south shore, those rights seem to carry farther.    

Today was an East swell only, so we shot across the reef.  Super fun. 

Here's a neat section of yesterday's run.  East swell, nice tide, zooming the reef is super fun.  Depth changes from 75 to 25 feet in this clip.
The 8P is so fun, no drama.  

Early paddle from yesterday, at Veracruz, the cayuco training grounds. This is the most common route in Panama, 3.5 km to the "poop island" and back. 

I launched from our watersports academy they have Sups, locally made V1s, and a V6. Most of us come from a Cayuco Racing background. 

Almost got beaned by a stick fish tonight.  



They grow 'em big here.  

Whoa! You need some serious armor!!!

Yep, those are the kinda fish we don't like to see.  We get bonked with flying fish regularly, but they are harmless.  Needle fish are bad news.  I'm glad he hit the boat with his body.    Very uncommon for me to see them.  That's the second one in ten years.  First one was a six incher.  He broke his snout off in the nose of my oc-1.  Went thru both sides of the boat, up near the very tip.  
Didn't seem like much when it happened, but looking at a pic of those things makes me want to see to it that my affairs are in order...   

sarzelopez,
Any chance the local V1 maker has a name, website, facebook page?  I've been trying to get V1's here in the states but its really hard due to the shipping costs from Tahiti.

Hello kwolfe, 
 
Well the original club V1s were built by a guy that does fiberglass work on lanchas and small boats, they have the correct shape but heavy as hell. 

@istmooutrigger in Instagram or at istmooutrigger.com is Chris Heurbsch, his OC1s are next level, 20lbs and super stiff/strong. He is currently building the club a V6 and its looking sweet. I guess he could most certainly make the V1. I believed he had something to do with building the original one which then the club copied. He also has lots of contacts and info regarding the shipping. 100% recommended. 

The other option would be @ikapaddles on IG I understand he is about to start producing the lighters V1s. 

I attached some pics of Chris'es boats. 

Weaving thru gates.  So fun.