Gear Musings

When eating in restaurants I used to spend ages deciding what to eat. I really really really wanted to choose the yummiest thing on the menu. Parodoxically, my high expectations resulted in regular disappointment. Once I realized this, I started to randomly choose my dish at the last minute and the eating experience improved significantly.

Unfortunately, I have the same affliction with windsurfing gear. Too much choice, not enough information, vague non-commital gear tests... After years of trial and error I found my perfect texas wave sailing entree in the form of the Mistral Twin 84 which I blogged about a while back (I'm also in love with the KT83 but for head high plus down the line, which is rare in TX if I'm honest).

So this weekend I landed super flat from an overotated back loop attempt which got me thinking:

"Dude, hope someone saw that! It was HUGE!"
"Will I ever master this move!?"
"My ankle hurts."
"I wonder if there are sharks out here"
"Something just touched my leg!"
"What will I do if I break my board?"

And that's when it started... as soon as we were home I dug out all the magazine and on-line board tests I could find. I developed a criteria. I watched an interview with Josh Stone who said board design had progressed enormously in the last two years. But my twin is 3 years old! Give me loose, fast, drivey, good for bump and jump, ultra light, compact, strong. Should I go quad? twin? thruster? Ahhhhhhh!!!!!! I'm SOOOOO excited about finding the perfect board it can only be a disappointment.

A couple of months back I picked up a 5.2 for a good price. I didn't need it, I figured it could be a good spare. No expectations. I lurrrrvvvvvv it. It's officially my new favorite sail. Think I can learn from this? No, me neither!