Christmas Eve Copper

A few years back I was driving down Westheimer Parkway on Christmas Eve. It was an icy cold and blustery day. The sort of day where you curl up on the sofa and watch TV with a hot drink.

There are a number of small bodies of water on Westheimer Parkway. I had never considered them sailable before, but on this day the NW wind was cranking and I spied white caps. I also coincidentally happened to have my gear in the van. What a stroke of luck! I pulled into the car park and quick as a flash the 5.3 and freestyle board were rigged and ready to go.

The wind was all over the place. It was either 30 or zero. So the key to making the most of it was to wait for the gust, blast to the other side, bust a move and repeat. The small body of water was fairly close to the road and passing vehicles kept honking their horns. Cool I thought...

Suddenly a loud voice barked "Exit the water immediately".
I looked upwind to see a police car parked next to my van.  "Uh-oh" I thought.
I threw a quick tack, sailed in and walked over to see what the problem was, feeling like a naughty child.
The policeman wound down his window and with a dead pan and grim look said "What you are doing is a federal offence. I can take you to jail for this."
All at once, the fun drained out of me "I'm sorry officer, I..I didn't realize." I stammered.
"Somebody called it in" he said.
"Are you serious?!" I replied before I could stop myself.
"That's right. Do it again and I will lock you up" he said breaking into a grin. "You must be crazy!"
"Yes. Probably". We laughed. "I won't do it again officer. Thank you and Merry Christmas!".

I derigged, put the heater on maximum and headed home.

Boards Mag

If you have even a smidgen of interest in wave sailing then this magazine is a must buy.

 

I picked it up in WHSmiths and haven't put it down for days. It's a veritable smorgasbord of everything wave sailing. There is a piece on 'Dream Quivers' which reckons I need not two but three wave boards for an all-round wave sailor! I knew it!! ;) Actually I pretty much agree with the choices but I would skip the small board and play with fins and mast track position on the larger down the line board to save a little bit of cash.

 

They test a couple of boards and include measurements of strap spread and distance from the tail of the straps and mast track. These are exactly the dimensions I found so interesting when comparing my Twin and custom. Unfortunately I don't know what their reference point is for the measurements. Middle of strap and mast track?

 

I was rather surprised to see an article on the Quatro guys in Abreojos, which I thought was officially a secret spot. I really need to get there this year. There is also a 'Complete Wavesailing Directory' which is cool. Only problem is, I couldn't find any Quatro boards listed! Ironic right? Like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a kni-ife. 

Awfully Windy

On account of the 330 degree wind direction, kicked off the day at Punish on 4.0. Had fun but it was awfully windy. After scrubbing off the excess energy, headed to Packery 'just in case' and it was looking pretty good even though it was NNW. Took a little video, this was the highlight:

Sorry Guillaume! I rode the Experiment at Packery. Too early to judge whether it's going to work for me but one thing is for sure. It turns harder, tighter and faster than anything I have ridden before.

The Experiment

Here it is:

Some background on how this beauty ended up sitting on my living room floor. I think everyone needs a two wave board quiver...don't they? One that is fast and loose for side-on and small wave days (my twin 84). Plus a second for dedicated down the line conditions in head high plus conditions. Previously my Quatro LS75 filled the second spot, but it was a bit small for slog and ride and the KT83 was my dream replacement.

Well I sold the 75 recently and started thinking about it's replacement and the KT was the obvious choice. I did have some reservations about the KT though. I had to find a used one, as I didn't expect to sail it a huge amount. Plus I felt like I wanted a shorter and wider version of the KT. Don't ask my why! I just did.

I asked the opinion of Alex, former Texas windsurfer, now residing on maui. And he was like "I'll sell you my Ho'okipa board". And I was like "Deal!". Here are the specs:

Click on it to see them!

It's interesting to compare it to the Twin which is already a pretty radical design. The length is a full 3 inches shorter than the twin, but the mast track and straps are simultaneously moved back 3 to 4 inches. It has more rocker, less finnage and the orientation of the front footstraps is clearly for surfing not blasting. It is very light (Alex said don't jump it when I rode it in the spring!) and it is wider but much tinner in the tail:

 

Tail thickness



Why did I call it "The Experiment"? As mentioned above, I did ride it at Ho'okipa briefly in the spring and it was super technical and difficult to sail! You don't want to be figuring out a board your first day at Ho'okipa in the middle of logo high waves and the best windsurfers in the world. So I don't actually know if it will work for me. Maybe I'm not ready for it yet. But that's half the fun. The experiment. The journey.  So yeah. I'm psyched. Just need some wind and good waves to try it out.

Bacliff

5:15 am - alarm goes off
5:16 am - check wind
5:30 am - get in truck
6:25 am - "Egg McMuffin with coffee please"
6:35 am - rig 4.2 in dark
6:45 till 7:55 am - shredding
7:56 am - derig
7:58 am - get in truck
7:59 am - wish I had brought a hair brush
9:02 am - arrive at work

El Nino

Up to now, this has been a pretty mediocre year for Texas wind. Don't get me wrong, there have been some great days but they have been mixed in with uncharacteristically long spells of no wind. Two of our best months, May and November, were practically windless.

The culprit could be El Nino conditions which we are currently experiencing. El Nino is supposed to bring increased rainfall to Texas which would reduce the thermal bump we get during SE winds. La Nina does the opposite. So, to see if this was the case I had a look at the history of El Nino and La Nina conditions and compared them with my recent Texas windsurfing history. I don't have statistics but my recollection goes like this:

• 2003 was light - worst year since I took up windsurfing
• 2006 was a stand out year
• 2010 was apparently awesome but not at the weekends...
• 2012 lots of windless spells

For the theory to hold up. 2003 and 2012 should have El Nino conditions whilst 2006 and 2010 should be La Nina. Here is the history of El Nino and La Nina conditions.

There does seem to be a bit of correlation between good Texas wind and La Nina, but really 2008 and 2011 should have been super duper awesome which I don't recall happening, but maybe that's because I'm just a weekender. 

I had this vision that I could find different spots that go off in either El Nino or La Nina conditions and plan windsurfing staycations and vacations accordingly but it looks like a red herring. If anyone reading this has some insight or solid data on this, I would love to hear from you!

Milking It

Short clip from yesterday. I tried to increase the action with a bit of Franz Ferdinand, helps a little. Apparently Mon 12th Nov was all time. That'll teach me to use up all my vacation.

Happy Thanksgiving

This made me laugh:

7.5 at Bird in boardshorts followed by lotsa turkey. Can't complain about that.

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!

Nice

Class-sick Packery shred fest.

Sotavento Session

Remarkably similar conditions to Sotavento, except the water was brown, sky was grey and I was the only one out. Over powered 4.7 at East Beach, side off wind and nice little stunt ramps. Perfect for trying Ponches, but I couldn't pluck up the courage to try any. Maybe if I blog about it I will man up next time. What's the worst that could happen?

Windsurfing Fitness

Quick 6.0 session at Toxic City yesterday. I'm really in need of a good wave sesh though.

What I love about windsurfing is that anyone can do it. That said, it isn't always injury free. My triceps, wrists, back, ankle, feet (plantar something or other), biceps and shoulders have all suffered over the last ten years (Wow! Time flies when you are having fun windsurfing!!). Some chronic, some fleeting.

Last year, after breaking a rib and a good stint off the water, I decided that some of my issues may be due to inadequate fitness. So, I decided to try to improve my windsurfing fitness. My goals were to reduce the chance of injury by increasing flexibility and sorting out my muscle imbalance and hopefully increase stamina so that I could sail for even longer. As there were no windsurfing specific routines out there I decided to give P90X a shot.

You probably won't look like Tony at the end...

You're probably thinking "P90X?! Isn't that just a bunch of gimmicky marketing hype?" Not quite. What I discovered was an extremely well conceived work out program that met my windsurfing fitness needs perfectly. There are 3 days a week of resistance training, which focus on all muscle groups reducing the muscle imbalance that windsurfing can cause. One day of yoga and one day of stretching really helps with flexibility and recovery. Then 2 days of cardio training work endurance and speed.

Since doing P90X, my chronic shoulder problems have practically cleared up. I feel lighter on my feet, which is great for tacks and freestyle and I no longer almost hurl after a 60 second down the line session at Port A like the one at the end of this video:

So, if you are looking to improve your windsurfing and maximize your time on the water. Improving your fitness can really help, and P90X appears to have been designed for windsurfers.

Backies

Kicked off with a 4.7 sesh at Bird. Julie was ripping her gybes. Then headed to Packery, which was fun on 5.2. I had to work it a little, 5.6 would have been better, but I threw a bunch of backie attempts, made one, and got as close as you can on a bunch of others. Stoked.

 

No footage from Packery unfortunately, but I do have a backie sequence from PSC:

 

Q: If you were on a desert island and could only eat one thing, what would it be?

Replace "eat one thing" with whatever you fancy. Like "do one windsurfing move" or "take one woman with you". Anyway, backies are my desert island move. The feeling as you go up and slowly rotate is marvelous. Everyone reading this needs to go to Packery on the next windy day and try a bunch. Boo yah!!

P.S. - answers to the other desert island questions : breakfast tacos and Angelina Jolie my wife.

Will It Be a Goodun?

Well yesterday certainly was, with beau cul people at Port A. There were so many people ripping it up it was like sailing in the 80s, just without the leg warmers and neon wetsuits. I had grand plans to take lots of video and make a mini-movie. Unfortunately, I was having so much fun I sailed for 4 hours straight and the camcorder didn't come out at all.

Cold fronts give Texas it's most consistent wave sailing conditions and usually roll through about once a week. Before the cold fronts hit, Corpus usually gets 2-3 pre-frontal South wind days too. So up to 4 days sailing a week. For the weekend warrior Sunday cold fronts are the bees knees whilst the absolute worst case scenario is Thursday cold fronts. Windy all week and nothing at the weekends.

So the question is. Will it be a goodun this year?

Boca Chica

Full power 5.2 session at Bird Saturday afternoon. Unexpected and a lot of fun.

Sunday, made the trip down to Boca Chica with Jason as it looked too West in Corpus for wave sailing. Unfortunately it was flat as a pancake. A bit of a surprise because I thought it was always logo high at Boca Chica! Like this session from February 2005:

Pootled about a bit. The weather was beautiful. A couple of pics:

Beautiful blue sky

Jason and flatness

Hal

Even More Stuff!

Gosh, the weather is horrible. But the bonus is that I found some more PSC footage. Check it out:

There are bunch of other windsurfing and surfing clips at this link. This one caught my eye for some reason:

More Stuff

My last couple of posts were pretty me-centric. Have you ever done a me-gybe? It's a cool move. Do a carve gybe in the straps and when you flip the sail let go with both hands, point at yourself and shout "ME ME ME!!!".

Anyway, I wasn't the only person at Punta San Carlos. There are so many characters down there, both rough camping and glamping (glamorous camping) at solosports. But they all have one thing in common, a love for the ocean, waves and water sports.

My travelling bud on the trip was Jason. I've previously blogged about Jason and his stories of disaster. Suprisingly, this trip was incident free.

He just sent me some pics so I'm going to post a few. Jason can actually do real surfing, where you paddle with your arms and that...

Glassy wave

And racing down from the point

Which reminds me! I was sailing back out down by the chili bowl when I saw Jason take his first point wave of the trip. He came at it from upwind and all I saw was a logo high set engulf him and push him in to the rocks. You really don't want to find yourself down there. The wind is cut-off by the cliffs, the waves are relentless, the rocks randomly poke out of the water and the kelp wraps itself round your legs. Broken kit guaranteed.

I kept checking on him as he hung out down there, thinking I should probably be doing something to assist. Then magically, 30 minutes later, up he popped, completely unscathed. One more pic:

Setting up for the chili bowl hit

I think I'm all out of material now. Texas wave sailing season is approaching. Fingers crossed for some weekend cold fronts.

SUP and Stuff

Joey from solosports loaded a short video from last weekend onto youtube. Check out his aerial on the point. It is sick.

As well as great wind and waves, we had glassy surf every morning. Historically I have saved my energy for windsurfing but this time I decided to try to learn to SUP. Talk about perfect conditions!

Morning surf check

The first day I went straight out to the Bombora, which was a mistake. The take off is steep and I got worked, broke the leash, lost the board and had to swim in. It's a long swim! Thanks to Marty for rescuing my board. After that I stuck to the beach break and within a couple of sessions was getting long rides on super clean waves. So much fun!!

They found this litle critter in the campo. Glad it wasn't in my tent!

You can't see his stinger. But it was HUGE!

SOUTH SWELL ALERT!

That was the e-mail subject that got everything moving. 8ft waves at 20 seconds were forecast to hit Punta San Carlos Labor Day weekend.

A week later I found myself getting into this:

So what does 8ft and 20 seconds look like? Like this (all action shots courtesy of Clark Merritt):

After getting scared on the outer point the wave wraps round the point and cleans up. Perfect for a couple of nice turns, or lip smacks if you have the balls.

Next time I'm gonna go deeper.

And then you race down to the chili bowl for one or two last cracks. I spent a lot of time down there swimming...

When you've had enough of that. You head back upwind to the beach break where the more forgiving wave lets you push it a bit harder.

And the reward for all that fun? A round of ice cold Baja Fogs.

Fog you! You foggers!

Holiday Inn

Checked out the sailing from the Holiday Inn on Saturday. Fun 4.7 session, although should have been on 5.3. Worth a visit.

Booty

I recently started to wear booties in the waves. The culprit was scar tissue on the top of my foot that would regularly rip off leaving a fleshy bleeding hole, especially when jumping. It's not the first time I've had foot issues either. My first trip to the Gorge the tops of my feet turned to giant scabby sausages. And there is more. WARNING!!! Close your eyes if squeamish.

Kicked the reef:

JP footstraps:

Did this one on day 3 of a 7 day trip to Baja:

So now I'm all about booties, especially on windsurfing trips. Honestly, I still think they look uncool, but if this guy can wear them, anyone can.

If Only I'd Known!

I just found some pics of Timo Mullen sailing at Redcar. Scroll to near the bottom of this link to check it out, one of the pics is below. Looks awesome right?

This spot is 15 minutes from where I grew up. If only I'd known it could go off like that! Next time we visit the folks, maybe I'll pack the wave board.

Surely not my home spot?

Saturdays Session II

Carbon copy of 2 weeks ago. Except this time it was thoroughly splendid fun. What a difference a good mood makes. Rode my shiny new 5.6 Echo all day. Twas perfect.

Saturdays Session

After some 6.0/5.3 action at Bird I was kinda cranky and disappointed with my day. A couple of margaritas later I reflected on the day and maybe it wasn't all that bad after all:

First run, I plane off the beach, fired up to be sailing for the first time in a month. BAM, perfect spock. Quick pump back onto the plane into a fast tack. Heading back in nicely powered, carving 360 in the straps. OOH feels good. Heading out again, perfect spock 540 BOO YAH!, planing duck gybe, upwind 360... classic Bird. Didn't make any grubbies though.

So yeah, not bad, I guess.

Forward Loop Technique

Actually this isn't a technique article or anything, there are loads of those out there. Instead it is Bill and Bens (true) stories about their journey to become loopers.

Bills Story
Bill was a young and driven windsurfer with solid jumping. One day he read an article on how to loop that said you could loop before you could gybe. As he was already making a lot of his gybes he was clearly behind the curve. The desire to loop became an obsession. Every time he sailed, no matter the conditions, he threw himself over the front. The crashes were spectacular. Whilst he had 'made' a few back slapping loops, as time progressed he mastered the art of crashing without hurting himself.

He would throw his body between the gap between the mast and nose of the board and hang on for dear the life. After a couple of years of trying, he gave up. Quite a few years later when he started trying them again he realized he had to undo everything that he had learned. Slowly, he dissected the move and rebuilt it focussing on one or two key skills. After a couple more years of trying them in decent conditions he started to make then on a fairly regular basis but always at risk of returning to his deeply engrained tendency to crash horribly.

Bens Story
Ben was a good sailor too but he wasn't comfortable jumping. Instead of throwing himself at the loop he waited a few more years. He developed his skills to a much higher level, sailing waves, freestyle and a variety of different spots and conditions. When he finally tried a loop he was feeling good in close to perfect conditions. Small waves with a nice little lip, slightly side-off so hitting the wave head on he was jumping off the wind, well powered on 4.7. First attempt he water started out of it. By the end of the session he had made one clean. He then started developing his skills in different conditions such as smaller choppy conditions and bigger waves. His progress was quick, easy and mostly incident free.

As I said at the start. These are true stories. However, I did change the names. The truth is that Bill and Ben are my alter egos. Bill is starboard tack Mike, Ben is port tack Mike. 

Labels

A number of times people have come up to me and said stuff like "Hey! Freestyler" or something similar.

I hate labels.

Can't they see I'm a "Windsurfer"!

O'ahu Recap

Expectations couldn't have been lower. With my trusty 84 twin, 5.6 and 4.7 at hand I was hoping to possibly maybe squeeze in a few sessions amongst the family fun. Instead I got this:

• 5 days wave sailing out of 7 in head high+ waves. 4 of those on 4.7, 1 on 5.6
• Countless aerials and late smacks
• My best day ever.

I found Diamond Head to be quite a heavy spot. It destroyed my 5.6 and also my mast on the last day. But get the timing right and the lip would really project you - effortless yet powerful.

Here are some island pics.

Kailua Bay. Didn't see Robby though

Local surfers? Waikiki

An island shaped liked a nipple.  

RIP

"One of the bigger days at Diamond Head...Biggest." Cue music. Pretended to be Robby, just for Noel. :) Actually it wasn't that big.

It was going OK until I got a bit of a working and destroyed my favourite 5.6 all over again. This time it is official. RIP 5.6 Riot.

Bad Idea

If you are an avid water sports fan. Don't do this:

It will mentally scar you.

Best Day Ever

Seriously good.

Too Tight to Blog

We're in a swanky hotel on the beach but I just can't bring myself to pay the $15 Internet fee. So trying my phone... Sweet 4.7 down the line session yesterday. Head high set waves. Beautiful azure ocean. Only me out. Just like Port A then!! Waves are forecast to build to advisory levels by Wednesday. Oh baby.

Debby Downer

Tropical Storm Debby didn't do her thang and the wind forecast is bleak. We're coming up for a family vacation to Oahu. I decided to take a board and couple of sails. Lets see how that works out with airport parking, windsurfing kit, luggage, two kids and all that. You never know I might get to sail some conditions like this:

If I do, for sure I will be bloggin!

Music To My Ears

Synopsis...ALL MARINE INTERESTS IN THE WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO NEED TO MONITOR THE TRACK OF A TROPICAL DISTURBANCE LOCATED NORTH OF THE YUCATAN PENINSULA. THIS TROPICAL DISTURBANCE IS HIGHLY ANTICIPATED TO STRENGTHEN AND BECOME A TROPICAL CYCLONE WITHIN THE NEXT TWO DAYS. WHILE THERE STILL REMAINS QUITE A BIT OF UNCERTAINTY WITH THE FORECAST TRACK...THE POTENTIAL FOR THIS DISTURBANCE TO AFFECT THE WESTERN GULF DOES EXIST. EITHER WAY...LARGE SWELLS WILL BEGIN TO IMPACT THE COASTAL WATERS BY MONDAY OR TUESDAY AND INCREASE EVEN FURTHER BY WEDNESDAY. PLEASE STAY TUNED TO THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER FOR FURTHER UPDATES ON THIS TROPICAL DISTURBANCE.

Quest Video Analysis

Bird was really good yesterday. Best day in a long time for me with a handful of people out. I got quite a few decent grubby attempts in, keeping my hands closer together and focusing on sweeping that back leg round, and Julie got a couple on video. Happy Fathers Day to me! Here they are:

Grubby Attempts June 2012 on Vimeo.

I watched the footage on the beach and whilst I thought I was going off the wind, it actually looks like I'm on a beam reach. So I went back out with one objective, to try them further off the wind.

First attempt: Virtually on a run. Got good slide but the sail pushed me onto my back leg.
Second attempt: Did a perfect grubby into no wind. "Nooooo.....glug." Oh. Man. So. Oh. So. Close.
Third attempt: The wind died. Next time.

So. Grubby tip of the week. If you think you are going off the wind, go further, till it feels like you are on a run.

Light Wind Levee

I sailed last Sunday at the Levee but didn't think it worth blogging. My recollection was that I barely planed. This morning I was playing with the camcorder and magically found some footage. Drumroll please....Ta Dahhh!

And it actually looked a little better than mediocre. One of the things I like about freestyle is that you can turn mediocre conditions into a fun and challenging session.

The Bay, Just Because

Wasn't really feelin it Sunday at Bird. Grubby butchering. Then got this:

So headed to the Bay. Had a fabulous time.

Grubby Tips

Solid wind at Bird (over powered 5.3). Took a step backwards with the Grubbies on account of the strong wind. In fact, after 4-5 back slapping half loops I decided to do the real thing instead and tried a couple of speed loops. Post sesh I got a couple of tips off freestyle meastro Randy.

1. Keep the hands close together in strong winds, reduces the tendency to loop
2. REALLY REALLY kick that back leg round, it can't go half way

Can't wait to try em. I get #2 already. When it's strong I'm quite passive, expecting the tail to come round on it's own. Whilst when it's light I really kick it. So, I'm thinking it's not the wind but my approach that is the difference in light vs. strong winds.

Temporary Insanity

Quest Update II

Four days in a row. Can't complain about that. No siree! Some Grubby quest progress was made, here is a recap:

• Melancholic Saturday: only tried 1
• Sunday at Bird: Tried about 6. Brian reckoned that a couple of them had 'potential'.
• Monday at Bird: Tried about 10 with increasing 'potential'.

The 'potential' ones felt like they might look like this:

But the problem was I couldn't figure out how to finish the last 180 degrees, and neither could Brian. If anyone has any tips would be good to hear them. Next time I will try to get some video.

Oops silly me, got the  Brian link wrong.

Brief Melancholy

Combo Bird then Bay session, 6.0 then 5.3. For some reason I just wasn't that excited about sailing. Maybe cos I have a cold which I think is getting better.

When I started this blog I said that I would only blog positivity and would not use it to vent. So some GOOD NEWS. I heard today that the Bird campground 'Host' will be leaving soon. Woo hoo!!

I windsurfed today

Good times at Oleander on 4.7 and the 84 Twin. Doesn't look like Packery will work this weekend, but I'm sensing some grubby quest potential.

The First Time

Digging around old photo albums at my folks last weekend I found some pics from my first ever windsurfing session. The board is a Vinta 370. Solid plastic, weighed a couple of tons. Two piece wet suits. Flourescent pink socks and plimsoles. Venue is Bishopton Lake, North East England.

It was freezing cold, windy and grey. We loved it!

It was gusting 30!

Big sis - shredding

Gear caddy (aka Dad)

About Time!

Light and variable winds as Central Plains high pressure expands down over the northern Gulf. At mid week...as Western Plains pressures lower...onshore winds and sea heights will be on the rise.

The Camera Never Lies

Remember this from Sundays Goiter technique blog?


All Clark Merritt pics BTW

 You may have thought. "Wow, that is a sick photo." I know I did! But it doesn't quite tell the whole story. Check it out:


Initiating



A fraction of a second before the poster pic



A fraction of a second after and it's starting to go pear shaped (click on the pics to see them better)



This is gonna hurt...



OUCH!



Goiter Technique

Lets get the semantics over first, or is it pedantics? This is a ponch. A Goiter is a ponch that is done on the wave. For it to count you need to land it back on the wave, otherwise it is a Goiter off the back of the wave. Got it?

Oh, and for the record I can't Goiter (yet). Or ponch for that matter. I did however get some good Goiter tips off Tyson and Wyatt in Punta San Carlos that led me to start trying them with results like this:

And the revelation was that it actually seemed doable, at least the off the back of the wave version. Here is the technique:

• Find side-off wave sailing conditions
• Go as fast as possible down the line
• Do a shallow bottom turn, staying relatively high up the wave
• As you reach the lip of the wave throw the sail down and to windward
• Wyatts tip was to hold the toeside carve which is the key to generating the rotation. The toeside carve opposes the rig throw until the board releases from the wave. After that there is a super fun and fast cartwheel style rotation
• If done with enough vigour, you will rotate all the way round to a tail first landing, pull the sail up and out of the water and sail away

Piece of cake.

Unfortunately I wasn't getting all the way round and landed on the rail of the board straining both my ankles which put a stop to my attempts. A couple of weeks ago I tried one at Oleander and landed on the boom, straining my shoulder... So yeah... Errmmm... Just get out there and go for it!! Woo hoo!

Bollocks

This forceast is bollocks! In fact its just plain wrong.

Bollocks is such a versatile word. It means terrible/rubbish, or if it is 'the Dogs Bollocks' then it means it is amazing/superb. It is also a word for a mans balls and it can be used as a simple expletive with negative connotations, Here is an example:

Chap on beach: "How was your session today, saw you do a nice forward loop?"
Looper: "Yeah, Brian said it was going to be BOLLOCKS today but it wasn't, it was THE DOGS BOLLOCKS, but that loop slapped my BOLLOCKS pretty bad. BOLLOCKS, I need to get some ice on em quick."

You rarely if ever hear or read about the risk of genital bruising when looping. But if you value your crown jewels, meat and two veg, bobby dangler, tackle... then I would recommend the use of a shorty wetsuit if learning this move in warmer climes.

The Channel

Oh man, the forecast for the weekend looks rubbish. This has to be the worst May for wind in EVERRRRR. Sometimes I read blogs and it's just a bunch of other peoples stuff. No way am I ever gonna do that. It's just plain laziness.

Check out this youtube clip from someone else. It's great. Wave sailing inside the South Padre jetties. One day I'll catch it like that, one day. Texas windsurfing ROCKS!

 

Quest Update

I did end up slipping in a quickie at the Levee this weekend on 6.0 and Rodeo. It was pretty mediocre except for a magical spock 540 that was the definition of perfection. "Gosh, that was the definition of perfection" I thought whilst sailing away.

It has been a month since the Grubby Quest commenced. I guess I thought I would have made one by now cos they seem easy in my head. I have attempted 3 or more per session on 6 different days. So maybe 30 attempts total. The perfect conditions appear to be light but gusty so that I can get good speed in the gust and then sail into a lull for the grubby attempt. If I try them with lots a wind, it turns into an ugly half loop.

I have yet to discover any secret tips that I just have to share. Just gotta keep pushing it and maximizing the fun.

Poenisch Pop Quiz

Doesn't look too promising for me windsurfing this weekend. How about a pop quiz, name the band in this Poenisch sailing session from a couple of years back.

The Perfect Fit

You know how sometimes, when you slip your mast in, it just fits perfectly? And just feels right? Well it was like that for me on Saturday afternoon when I inserted my new gaastra mast into my trusty 4.2 at Oleander. Finally I had the perfect fit, it felt good and I had a nice long ride.

Masts vary a lot in their stiffness and curves. This website has a pretty big mast curve database and an interesting discussion on mast curves (geek tendencies required). I took the data and plotted it for skinny 400s. I found this plot really useful because you can use it to see what other alternate masts are out there to fit your sail.

A while back I bought a Naish 400 RDM as a spare for my Gaastra. The bend curves are almost identical. I subsequently snapped my Gaastra during Hurricane Irene and have been using the Naish with 4.7 to 5.6 ever since. So the Naish should be perfect right? Wrong. My sails looked good rigged but they felt heavy and dull when compared to the perfection that I had become used to. I didn't get it until I looked at the stiffness plot. The Naish is way stiffer! Maybe for a heavier guy this would be a better set-up. For me, I'm thinking even more flexibility could be good, maybe I should try the Severne Red Line next?