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"The AI is only really designed to go about 8mph, and the TI about 9mph. You need the right conditions to to gain 2-3mph on top of that, including waves you can ride moving in the right direction, strong winds from the right direction and no smaller waves or conditions to slow you down".
This sounds about right to me. I have been out several times since getting the AI a couple of weeks ago. I have not been clocking max speed on my GPS, just looking down at it now and then. Mine measures in knots. I clocked a legitimate 8.3 through a gust. There were faster bursts, but I was not attending to my unmounted GPS. The boat starts to build a lot of resistance at those speeds. Hiking out, which I haven't tried yet, might reduce some of that resistance and allow for greater speed. Marc's TI does seems to be little faster.
Now for wave riding, I have to report an experience from yesterdays outing. Marc and I wanted to get out into the Atlantic and decided to go out of Lake Worth Inlet. It is a shipping channel and the widest around here. Weather Underground called for 5-10 mph easterlies. Sailflo called for 14 knot easterlies - take your Pick, I guess.
As we got closer to the mouth of the inlet, riding the last of an outgoing tide, heavy clouds started to build and and the seas started getting bigger, we were beating and taking the waves was not too bad. Expecting flat sees outside of the inlet, I was surprised to see a line of surfers in the water as I rounded the jetty, and the waves were continuing to build. At this point, I decided to turn back. I was apprehensive as I was not sure how the boat would handle going down wind with fairly large waves. Things were going fine; the boat was steering true with most of the waves running under and by the boat.
At this point, a larger and steeper wave came up behind me. What a rush. This wave was big enough and steep enough to allow the boat to surf, and I'm not talking about a little goose from a wind wave. The boat was surfing for real and for several seconds. I angled the boat a little left so as not to bury the bow - something I feared from reading and watching the videos here. The bow did not try bury at all. No clue as to the speed, but it was exhilarating - at least until my uncleated rudder popped up and the boat pealed back into and over the face of the wave. If it had been a steeper, breaking wave, I'm sure it would have been a different experience, especially when the rudder popped up. This wave was probably perfect for surfing the AI - steep enough to lift the boat but not steep enough to bury it.
Just another little get acquainted with the boat opportunity. You might not intentionally go out in deteriorating conditions, but it sure helps with leaning the limits of your boat and how to sail it when less than perfect conditions creep up on you.
Ted
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