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