Tristan Haskins

Speed

If you've got a GT31 GPS in the UK chances are you might already know Tris Haskins. Tris has been selling the GT31 GPS units for speedsailing since 2009, before that he sold the GT11 and Garmin Foretrex 201. With direct contact to some of the UK's fastest sailors like Farrel O'Shea and Steve Thorpe, Tris decided to get himself a speed board and see if he too could join the 40 knot club.

Armed with a 5 year old X15 5.2 and a 6 year old Tabou Manta 49 Tris spent the best part of 3 years blasting around the 37 - 39 knot range - but not the elusive 40 !

Time to think. At only 74 kilos and 5'8" Tris isn't the normal giant of a speedsailor. With some wise words from the Thorpedo Tris got himself a smaller board, a Starboard iSonic W44 and a weight jacket (7 kilos) - 6th October 2011 .... 40+ knots achieved over 100m and 250m with 5 x 10sec averages of 40.54

2012 - fully equipped with a new quiver of Tushingham X15 4.6, 5.2 and 5.8 - Tris has bettered his PB to 41.61 average and 43.54 knot max. There's more to come - Tris is now the proud owner of Daisy the Speedboard - the very same board Steve Thorp touched 50 knots on - so we expect to see a move up the ranking in 2012 now Tris has 40cm Daisy to help him along.

15 May 2013

West Kirby 2nd ALL TIME 1 HOUR RECORD

West Kirby 13th May 2013. Forecast 22-25mph with 35 gusts. PURE WEST.

Off to West Kirby for what turned out to be a classic day trip. Not the pure off the wind, neck breaking, speed session that we love at West Kirby, but a day to savour and enjoy all my toys….

Started on the Starboard iSonic Speed Carbon W44 with a Tushingham X15 5.8 and 5.2 – experimenting with spacers, outhaul, downhaul etc. Whatever I did, I was just hovering around 37 knots run after run after run, with 10s average of 36.6 knots. Once I realised the wind was too light (25 knots) and a bit too square for mega speeds I decided to put in some gybe practice.

ONE HOUR, and 49 gybes later… I’d managed an average of 18.6 knots without stopping. Shame I hadn’t put the 5.8 on, but by this time I’d been sailing for 5 hours and I was pretty well knackered…. With the Starboard iSonic 87 and the Tushingham X15 5.2 it was “easy cruising” to 2^nd place on the West Kirby ALL TIME 1 HOUR RECORD.

Gybe track

1 hour stats

8 Feb 2013

Speed catch up

Bad day for me at W.Kirby the other day on the Moo …

I looked at all my tracks on GPS-RESULTS and my top speeds where all running at about 125 degrees to the wind.. big bear offs in to the middle of the lake where the chop then kills the speed. The wall – and the flat water – was running at 100 to 110 degrees to the wind, very square really. I am putting the disappointing speeds down to 2 things… Moo Board not getting loose on the square coarse and Moo Swept back Assy fin not giving me enough lift on the square sections. My Moo set up is fantastic for those perfect broad days, but maybe not so good on the squarer days. X15 felt great – well powered up, but I just couldn’t transfer that power to speed. Still not had a PROPER session on the Moo board. So ?? What to do ??

I’m doing three things.

1) Getting myself some mXr UFO fins. Delta wing shape – had a go on one on Monday on a Falcon 45. Brilliant fin. Great grip, plenty of low speed lift – then BAMMM!

2) Maybe get hold of a Starboard iSonic W44 Carbon

3) Next time it’s square (less than 110 degrees offwind) I will try a regular mast – not the speed tip (or maybe just tighten the outhaul a tad to totally + 1cm or so beyond neutral – as opposed to neutral / negative 1cm to 3cm).

That’s all for now, fingers crossed for higher speeds next time! Image credit Oisin van Gelderen

24 Aug 2012

New to the Speed Team

I am really pleased to be joining the Tushingham Speed Team with the aim of improving my rankings over the coming months!

Following several years of trying to reach the 40 knot barrier I have recently joined the Tushingham Speed team now fully equipped with a quiver of X15′s and Daisy (Steve Thorps trusted speed needle).

I have already smashed my max speed and the 40 knot average run barrier so the equipment is definitely making a massive difference!!

Fingers crossed for more improvements to come as I get to grips with Daisy!

@heartrateuk

6 days agoheartrateuk: Check out Rhossy Sunset sensation with Lukasz http://t.co/OsRyo2Frw7 via @mpora

7 days agoheartrateuk: http://t.co/7V7oMbeCt8 - fun, but should have used 5.8m

1 week agoheartrateuk: West Kirby Windsurf - 1 hour @ 18.39 knots average = 49 gybes !!: http://t.co/DXOohkEUU4 @TushinghamSails

1 week agoheartrateuk: West Kirby Marine Lake - How close is TOO CLOSE !! @TushinghamSails on iSonic 87 and Tushingham X15 :-) http://t.co/Pk4IySsIfk

1 week agoheartrateuk: I posted a new photo to Facebook http://t.co/dpBCiKAuTS

1 week agoheartrateuk: I posted a new photo to Facebook http://t.co/erha5wjHPY

1 week agoheartrateuk: #Giro - I think this is going to be a VERY DRAMATIC two weeks in the Giro. Can Bradley get the time back? #gettingexciting

2 weeks agoheartrateuk: BHIP Ltd - MAY SALE - save up to 30% - http://t.co/xUH1CgVUGW

4 weeks agoheartrateuk: BHIP Ltd - end of April sale - http://t.co/XvEazedt6G

1 month agoheartrateuk: I love WINDSURFING !! Hunstatnon bank - christened new iSonic 87 slalom with 38.5 knot max @TushinghamSails X15 5.2m http://t.co/VgS3hdXDBS