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This day didn't look too promising at first, but I went to Grassy anyway, because John emailed me that he was heading there. When I got there, it was surprisingly windy. Not honking, but there was wind. However, it was from a Northerly direction, and we decided to go to Bird.
We got to Bird and it looked like it was RIPPING. I thought 5.4, maybe 6.6. However, it was deceiving, because of a lot of foam on the water and the direction. I was told that it was barely 6.6. I decided I would take my 6.6 and the bigger Seatrend with the "small" 15.5 inch Curtis Weed. It was about half and half. I was planing about half the time and slogging about half the time. Not too bad, in my opinion.
I'm getting more familiar with the Seatrend, and I really am starting to like it. I can use the proper fin for it, which makes a big difference. I can really hike out and the board just RIPS. I mean, it flies. It's pretty easy to control at high speeds, too. The straps are way out on the rails, but that makes steering surprisely easy.
Now that I'm starting to figure out the Seatrend, I'm staring to realize the shortcomings of the Screamer, and why I have trouble with it periodically. The main problems with the Screamer is the mast track is too far forward. The draft of the sail is in a good spot, but the board was made when older style sails with further aft drafts were common. Now, to get the draft far enough back, I have to rake the sail so far aft that it wants to drag in my wake -- a problem I've been having for a long time but am just now figuring out. The bigger problem is that my biggest fin for the board is only 12.5 inches, about 1.5 to 2 inches too small. I really need a bigger fin, but I can't decide whether to buy a new fin or save and buy a new/used board with better mast track placement and a Tuttle box, so I can share fins with the Seatrend.
Tough choices.
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