STEVE KING
“I have two top tips for sailing to the best of your ability in super stormy conditions. First and pretty obvious but regularly ignored or forgotten is getting yourself a top quality modern 3.7 sail. So often I see keen sailors pulling out some ropey old 3.7m, sometimes over ten years old which they get to use once a year. It’s not the same brand, model or year as the other current modern sails they have in their quiver. Then they stick the old 3.7m on their modern quads or thruster boards. Their fin setups weren’t even around when some of these sails were designed and the sails just don’t make it easy for these sailors. The modern 3.7m’s have a much better wind range than the older twitchy on/off sails. The new 3.7 Goya’s ‘Banzaii’ for example seems to provide power similar to a 4m for bottom end but with so much top end control even in winds up to 50mph for my weight and sailing style.
I look at it that these stormy days are the best sailing conditions I’m going to get all year, I want to have a top of the range, high performance sail in the right size that can help me make the most of these very rare, amazing storm sessions. I see my smaller sails as the most important sails in my quiver as that’s when I’m demanding the best performance. Secondly don’t get tempted to pull out a tiny board just because it’s super windy. At all our best Cornish spots the wind comes across headlands before arriving at the beach and this tends to make it gustier and in super strong winds when you’re on a small sail this can accentuate this feeling. Take a board with enough volume to keep you going through the gusts that isn’t super twitchy. I’ve just had an awesome session on my new Goya Custom thruster 86 litre on a 3.7m in winds gusting to 50mph. I’m about 86 kgs and the board felt perfect for me. These two tips just help make everything easier and smoother despite it blowing its tits off!”