Griag Spottiswood (Spotty) is one of the fastest windsurfers in the world. With a max GPS speed of 92,62km/h. His homespot is Sandy Point in Australia and he has been into speedsurfing for many years now. Time for Localsailing.nl to get to know Spotty a little bit better and of course to ask him about his gear and in particular the trimming of it.   

So, if you are interested in how to improve your personal speedrecord or how to trim a KaKoncept for a record run then read on!

Thanks Spotty and KaSails to give us the opportunity to interview you for our column “Ask the Pro’s”.  

Localsailing: Obviously trimming and tuning the rig in combination with board and fin is extremely important when you want to go fast. Can you tell us a bit about what you all have tried to reach this level? (different fins, boards, sails)

Griag: To reach the level that enables me to sail in control at such speeds is a combination of factors developed over time.   Your stance/style, coupled with an ability to adjust it for different equipment and conditions is most important.   I started out on a early windsurfer one design with wooden boom etc and then onto other plastic and fiber-glass boards.  It did not matter how bad the gear was in those days I always tried to make it go as fast as I could. This experience is what has helped me to adapt my style to today’s easier to use gear.      

My first speed board back in 1989 was a fibreglass Strapper 9’0”x19” with tri-concaves, great for onshore blasting and going over the back of short rolling chop with its length.   The fin I used was a MultiFin Jimmy Lewis speed with a swept back wave fin outline.       Getting onto the epoxy age in the 90’s I had a great locally built ‘Speed’ (Epok) 8’10”  slalom with classic outline and v-bottom shape that would do mid to hi 30’s.   Late 90’s onwards kept things simple and just went wavesailing, but never lost sight of going fast and would always be pushing my wave gear faster and faster.  On wave gear I still run long lines using a waist harness, set only 1-2” shorter than when I’m speed sailing.   My lines are set fairly wide apart on the boom for stability, and makes trimming finer/easier.

When speed sailing returned I bought a ’07 F2 Missile which served me well, but was no match for the later acquired Chris Lockwood SP44.   After trying his proto aka ‘Hammerboard’ in ’06 and later trying the production SP44 with such ease of use I knew this was the board for me.    I also added a few ’07 Koncepts (5.0,5.8,6.6) to my Ka wavesails, the ‘07s’ Koncepts had a real deep shape and loads of downwind power, perfect for Sandy Pt and blasting around, but still manageable on the upwind return after a speed run, definately a favourite sail along with the ’09 with its shape somewhere between it and the ’08 Koncept.  

So with the board and sail situation sorted along came the Lockwood/McDougal inspired speed fins.  At Sandy Pt I use the Asymmetrical 23 and 21.5cm, with its sweptback design it is very easy to use and provides much control if the nose of the board lifts.  On the SP44 they go well back up wind with the windward rail dug in and a wide stance out of front strap leaning forward.

General rule for setting my mast foot position is just enough to keep the nose down and in control with the board trimming close to flat.   General board trim is dependant on this and its tail rocker, find your equipments sweet spot that works best and adjust either way when the conditions change and you need more or less control.

So basically to get to this level for us the main points are a developed style/stance, a sail, board and fin designed to go fast but also be easy to use and forgiving when things get a bit out of control.    Control at speed is everything, if you don’t have to worry too much about your equipment and what its doing, your free to pay more attention to the conditions and just sail with confidence.

Localsailing: Do you have a particular style, how do you prefer to stand on your board? (forward, backwards) What did you try and didn’t work?

Griag: Most would say I have a distinctive style and you will probably find everyone is slightly different.    After setting my boom height I tend to end up with my front arm rasied in front of me with head tucked behind it don’t ask why, its just what I end up doing.   Front leg extended, back knee bent, weight distributed evenly thru both feet and mast base.  I tried using my waist harness at first due to all the recent wavesailing but had to change to a seat harness to really start to make the whole setup work and utilize my weight and leverage.    The main thing is to use the basics (longer harness lines/outstretched arms with slight bend) for going fast and adjust slightly to what works for you.

Localsailing: Your latest record was set with standard of the shelf equipment: Carbon Art speed board 44, with KaSails Koncept 5,0 2008 and KA-Fin Assy 21 Lockwood<>McDougall.

Did you prepare this equipment in a special way, for example; sanding the tail of the board, use stiffer battens or battens with different depth shape, sharpening the trailing edge of the fin, stiffer mast then required, etc?

Griag: The bottom of the board had around 600 wet/dry sand 6 months before and salt/sand left from last sail on the bottom, yes I have a low tech approach.   The 2008 Koncept was a bit flatter than the ’07 so the bottom 2 camber battens had their tips sanded soon after I’d first sailed with it in late ’07 I think.    I probably took too much off as the bottom one broke first run on the big day with too much tension put on it.  This may of helped, who knows? as the sail then collapse and flattened out more with each consecutive run a bit, and with the wind angle at the start of the run being tight it might of helped for a bit of acceleration and control.       The 21.5cm Ka asymmetrical fin I used that day had an accidental nick out of it on the leading edge near the tip and just a light 600 grit sanding all over.     Usually on the 5.0 Koncept I had used an old soft 400 MCS19 that worked well in winds upto 35 knots, on the day I just thought I should put a newer stiffer 400/19 to cope better with the constant 40 to 50 knot winds, the added tension on sail still had it twisting off nicely and it performed really well.

Localsailing: How were the settings of the equipment during the record run? And how do you trim your sails for maximum speed?

Griag: From memory with the ‘08 5.0 I just had the cup/pulley (euro –pin) setup in the bottom of the mast, no extension, and bottom of the sail coming just coming to the bottom of it ie top of uni.  Outhaul probably had just a cm on past neutral as I thought I would be overpowered and should flatten sail just a tiny bit.

For moderate conditions I just put enough downhaul on to remove the horizontal wrinkles and any looseness around the boom opening in the mast sleeve.  Boom is just tied on little if no tension at all.   The head is still slightly loose and can twist but the aim here is to generate lots of low down power to haul me along.   

 For the same sail in question as the wind increase slightly more downhaul is applied to loosen the head more so the sail can breath more and respond to gusts better.   Outhaul is increased to remove extra slack created just tie on neutral or 0.5cm.   For off the wind speedsailing you don’t want to flatten the shape in the bottom of the sail it needs to be full.

For a tighter course flatter sail settings are required, with slight outhaul and downhaul added.   If the sail doesn’t feel right you need to adjust something, the ability to fine tune your gear for the conditions is something you acquire over time, play around with the settings.

Localsailing: What would you like to try more (or change) equipment wise?

Griag: Given the performance of the sail, board and fin last September they could of done more for sure as they were not showing any signs of slowing down, that was more my doing or the chop at the end of the course.     A lot of ‘what if’s’ come out of a record day, would be good to have had the time to try a SP40/21.5 fin that day.   Or to have had same amount of wind with more south in it to get a longer run, though some think the chop may have been worse with that angle tide on the day, just have to wait and see. 

I’m really happy with the combination of gear at the moment, just need more extreme days to push towards 50 again.  The 2010 Koncepts are another step in the right direction to achieving this.  

Localsailing: Do you think you could get higher speeds with custom made equipment? And why (not)?

Griag: Maybe, but is it really going to make a huge difference for the extra cost?  There is hi-tech refinement that can be done for going faster on a windsurfer looking at what the super yachts are doing now, but cost is a factor. I think special suits, single sided booms only help a tiny amount, its more to do with gear getting refined, getting to know it and perfect conditions that don’t come too often that make the speeds advance at this stage.

Besides I think its good for sailors who want to try going fast are able to get the same gear as guys setting top speeds.

Localsailing: What are your goals for 2010 and what is your dream spot?

Griag: To get some good conditions to see what the 2010 Koncepts are really capable of, last years test run was impressive in the not so great conditions.    Dream spot is Sandy Pt of course!!

Localsailing: Thanks for the interview we wish you lots of speed an we hope to hear a lot from you and KaSails in the near future.

Griag: Thanks for the interview, all the best to all with your sailing endeavours!

Source: Griag Spottiswood & KaSails