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?