LENA ERDIL
Having small enough equipment is key to conditions like we had in Korea. I also use longer harness lines, footstraps and mast bases move forwards and legs become shock absorbers. I was on my 5.0 Point7 AC-ONE and 87 litre Starboard Isonic with a 32cm Chopper fin. In flatter water I sometimes use smaller fins, but the 32cm was perfect for the strong wind and choppy conditions. Some carbon fins can be hard to handle, but the choppers are perfect in choppy waters so I was able to get great control with it. When setting up my equipment for these kind of conditions, control equals speed for me. The easier it is for me to control my equipment, the more I can focus on going fast and tactics. I like to play around with my board settings. In Korea I moved my footstraps all the way forwards on one tack and just a little forward on the other, because on one side we were sailing directly against the waves, while coming into the beach we were going with the swell, overtaking it from behind and going down it, so this is what worked best for me. My mastfoot was almost all the way forwards, but when faced with extreme conditions you shouldn’t be scared of extreme equipment setups. This can be very personal and the best way to find out is to play around with your settings. Do a couple of runs, change something and see how this affects your comfort and speed. I didn’t actually change my sail setup for these conditions as I find that each of my sails has a sweet spot in which it performs best, no matter if its windier or less windy. However my high wind sails (5.6 and 5.0) usually get just a touch less downhaul then the other sails.
Tactics wise, in lighter winds and flatter waters my priority while jibing will be to get to the inside at the mark so that I can stay upwind of my opponents and prevent someone from covering me, but this changes when the swell and wind picks up. Reading the swell right is all important, going into the jibe I will try and set myself up in such a way that while coming out of the jibe I can have the swell helping me to accelerate out instead of blocking me. That means I want to finish the jibe riding down the swell. Getting stuck behind the swell or having to jump over a wave right when you come out of the jibe can be fatal! Bending your knees for suspension is always crucial, but in choppy windy conditions it becomes a matter of life and death, so this is my top tip – bend your knees to new extremes to allow you to absorb the chop during your jibes. Sailing position for maximum speed in Korea ended up being the one I could have most control, making my harness lines as long as possible allows me to sit more into my harness and again bending my knees while navigating the chop enables me to keep my board from jumping around. It can be scary to go downwind on a broad reach, but if you set your equipment up in a way that allows you to handle it on a broader downwind angle this can mean a couple of knots more speed.