5.0 Proto being made this week for the boys to test (come on wind) I have ideas for a "Luderitz special" which we will make soon.
Hi Russ
Yeah entries closed on first of march but they reckon they will squeeze me in for the first 2 weeks I'm waiting for confirmation.... :-)
Select to expand quotetony wyn said..
Hey martin are u doing a 5.4 or 5.6 for us big guys?? :-)
6.2m Tony. Muscle Up!! 
Daffy or Tony
Any chance of one glory run down the trench on an old gun...
That would be worth a $200 donation from me. It would also put a whole new aspect on the adventure..
Cheers Russ
Select to expand quoteTASSIEROCKS said..
Daffy or Tony
Any chance of one glory run down the trench on an old gun...
That would be worth a $200 donation from me. It would also put a whole new aspect on the adventure..
Cheers Russ
Hmmm, I like the idea in Theory. It would be great to take Mals 1988 French Canal winning board to the new canal and give it a run!
Fly in the ointment is the cost of getting it there. At the moment excess baggage costs @ $60/kilo are outrageous. 
But.....maybe.........
Hi all,
it's official. I'll be joining Jaques, Dafffy and Spotty on this awesome trip! Now for some serioius saving and planing... Thanks to Mr Lockwood for getting me on board with Mistral!! I've ordered some of those superfast speed boards.. Now to just sell my F2's...
Stay tuned
Heads up! It's worth keeping an eye on the Sandy Point forecasts for next weekend 1st and 2nd June. There could be opportunity for some serious speed training for Luderitz!!
There is quite a lot of variation between weather models at the moment, but certainly worth watching and the tides will be pretty right.
This is a very unpredictable one. I wouldn't be driving many hours from interstate on the current forecasts. 
All the models disagree by a large amount. Just have to look at the GFS model which is what Windguru is based on. 24 hours ago the forecast was EPIC! Now it is nothing! Some of the other models still look promising though.
These smallish low pressure cells are notoriously difficult for even the most sophisticated models to predict.
As is always the case, conditions for Saturday should be pretty clear by......well......Saturday morning!!
It looks like nice sailing conditions for Sunday now that the forecasts have started to agree. Mid to high twenties and WSW to SW on Sunday and low tide around 1pm. Looks like a bit of training is in order.
Andrew. I saw your fins for L?deritz.You know my rake 30?fin in 22cm. 22cm made with Thomas D?blin 50 knots topspeed. Last year in L?deritz,got
R?ttcher from Namibia from Christian Bornemann a fin in 20cm from my rake 30? fins. Topspeed was 49,81knots. The most try now for L?deritz
the 18cm. I worked last year 17 18 19 20 for L?deritz. Only in 100% carbon. 18cm should be the fin. There my fins are doubleasymm. for
tour and retour through the diagonal concaves, came I not on the idea to work a asymm.profil for L?deritz than the concaves and the cut out.
D?blin brought the idea, I worked a mould for a 22cm fin. She is leewards good 2mm thinner and she is 2-3 knots faster. She is tested from
Christian Bornemann in Gruissan and other places. Wolfgang
Hi Wolfgang.
I know your Duo Rake 30, 22cm very well! I used that very same fin last year when I set a world best 1 hour at Lake George (26-01-2012) of 28.8 knots.
I like that fin a LOT and also the 25cm and 28cm versions of the same fin!
For Luderitz I did not really consider it, only because I think it would be far too big for me there. Remember I am very small for a speed sailor at 177cm and 74 KG. A similar fin in 16-17cm would probably work for me though! I would certainly like to try one like that.
Best regards, Andrew
For Andrew: R?ttcher made with the 20cm fin 49,81 knots max. in L?deritz. I worked for Patrick D. 17 18 19 and 20cm Rake 30?.
Now I worked a 22cm for one way in L?deritz. Asymm.profil ,how all the other asymm.fins,but with my concaves und cut out. She is 2-3 knots
faster. Bornemann and Fuchs said that she is very good. Patrick D. tried no fin from my fins last year. That can I not forget. Now I hope that
Thomas D?blin is fast. Wolfgang
Hi Andrew,
It's been a snowy old time over here, stuck indoors, perfect time for 'Dept-of-useless-Information' research.
Re your fin dilemma.
It struck me that everybody seemed to do very similar speeds last year at Luderitz.
I checked the GPSSS data and......
Pilote / peak 2 sec / Max 10 sec / Fin
Albeau / 54.14 / 53.14 / GasOil 18
Bordes / 53.71 / 52.10 / GasOil 20
Bringdal / 53.59 / 51.99 / GasOil 19
Ditthelm / 53.53 / 52.22 / GasOil 20
Van de Noord / 53.47 / 52.48 / MXR 16
Dunkerbeck / 53.37 / 52.37 / MXR 16
I'd say that's pretty close to everybody going the same speed.
Not surprising since they all basically used the same fin.
Just as the tyre determines the speed in MotoGP (all other things being equal) it appears that the fin determines the speed in this type of sailing.
I'm interested to see if sailors take 'different' fins this year.
'Different' may be fast and they know what these other fins are going to do.
How fast is a KA Assy and how fast is Wolfgangs stuff?
All the best with your trip, we'll be watching with great interest.
Interesting stats!
What interests me is that AA did his second fastest run on a MXR 17 (very close to his best run), before he crashed and damaged it. There was not another one available so he switched to the Gasoil.
The Lessacher fins are obviously capable of very high speeds as seen by proven 50 knots peaks.
They are also very safe. Not prone to spinout over chop. Very important for rider confidence.
Wolfgang's new single assy sounds interesting. What a shame Patrick did not test any of the smaller ones last year.
The KA assy fins are also proven to 50 peaks at Sandy Point by both Chris L. and Spotty, and Tony went within a whisker of 50 as well. They are also a VERY safe fin. The fin I have the most confidence in for sure (so far). It felt good at 47 knot peaks for me but I think it is probably a little bit big for me aiming for 50 knots. I would love a 18cm version of it but doubt that is possible. The Gasoil is very tempting as it can be ordered in smaller sizes and custom rakes.
Ultimately, I think wind strength and angle are the limiting factors, assuming everyone could handle more wind, and the rougher water that inevitably comes with it! Maybe that's what we see in these stats. Of course there is always the possibility that the dreaded 'cavitation wall' has been reached! 
Also, there are a lot of very large lads there using quite small fins! I wonder if I need something even smaller
I don't think it is the fins that are the limiting factor (see Vestas sail rocket) but more the basic total power/drag combo of a windsurfer/board arrangement.
The drag of the fin would be say 18 newtons , less than than the drag of the board, less than the drag of the sail and less than drag of the the sailor. It is important but only a small part of the equation.
The the leverage of the rider is the limiting factor. The the basic human form is the same for every one. Bigger riders have more leverage but also more drag, however the the leverage increase is by the cubed (volumne/weight) whereas drag increases by the square (cross sectional area) so big helps. Small people like Thorpe gets around this equation by wearing 20kg of lead but it pails into insignificance compared to the leverage of something like SailRocket or YellowPages.
Select to expand quoteyoyo said..
I don't think it is the fins that are the limiting factor (see Vestas sail rocket)
thats not what Paul told me a few hours before he broke the outright record...
MXR Speeds.......again pretty much all the same
Van de Noord / 53.47 / 52.48 / MXR 16
Dunkerbeck / 53.37 / 52.37 / MXR 16
Albeau / 53.14 / 52.14 MXR 17
Some blatant advertisement here and after this post I will shut up again. Next to our Wide Based ultimate control proven ASY which like rightfully mentioned by Andrew was replaced by AA after crashing at full throttle on the sandbank, we will come up with:
Three lines of Luderitz specials for various conditions and boards this year. So far testing goes well with Antoine clearly winning the Mondial du Vent by three knots difference on the roughest day on a Luderitz proto. It seems we're on track.
We will also come up with a Carbon special so lots to choose from and I can give deep insight advice to riders.
My personal Luderitz experience helped me a lot and top riders like Partik Diethelm are giving input. First tests on a fin based on his thoughts gave some impressive results and we're in the midst of the proces to bring the right fins. As we can manufacture in very small series and Olivier Ponrouch seems to be on fire with his speed designs I expect nothing less than perfection.
Also I am waiting for input from a well respected Aussie for his own line of fins we'd love to make in our factory. I still hope this will happen :-)
Cheers,
Martin
Thanks for that insight Martin. It certainly sounds exciting. I'm looking forward to what you come up with.
I am very interested in what you think about whether fins were the major speed limiting factor at Luderitz last year. The speed figures of the top sailors do seem to suggest this.
Select to expand quotesailquik said..
Thanks for that insight Martin. It certainly sounds exciting. I'm looking forward to what you come up with.
I am very interested in what you think about whether fins were the major speed limiting factor at Luderitz last year. The speed figures of the top sailors do seem to suggest this.
It would be sad if they were up against Cavitation and all had the brakes on for the same reason.
I doubt the total power/drag being a limit because in these cases you have some big variations of board, sail, pilote and therefore also power/drag.
Interesting reading Paul Larsen describing the fin as being 'chalky' after a run. Cavitation doing its thing. I guess with enough power it can be overcome to some extent.
