Yesterday evening I completed my goal of getting 35knots this year. Every run was over 30 even in the low tide chop, then I changed down a board size to my Tabou Manta 54cm (74l). It was like wearing a comfy pair of shoes and I got on with it straight away. Far easier to use than I expected, easier than the Mistral SLRD 95l to be completely honest. It glides through the chop and is easy to get upwind with a small fin/big sail combination (too easy at some points that I went too far into the wind). What it did though was give me more runs over my PB than I expected. The first downwind run was 33.5knots, then a few more at 33, then one at 35! I got a little over excited at this point and couldnt get going again. Then I had a 34knot run which gave me my fastest 10secs and 500m.
All in all I learnt that I can compete against/train with some of the best speed sailors in the country and now get a respectable score. I think I could have got more yesterday as well if I had been a little more patient and not rushed onto the water at low tide. Today I am aching more in my arms and shoulders than I did after sailing 109nmi, but only managed 23nmi giving me a total of 957nmi. Hopefully I will get to 1000nmi in the next two sessions (maybe even tomorrow)
