Opposite End Windsurfing

Back to Reality...

2011-05-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

and it's not too bad, however..... I came back from Hatteras two weeks ago and was looking forward to getting in a lot of windsurfing and building on my TOW, but have been only able to sail 4 times since then, and only about 2 - 2.5 hours per session. The two most recent sailing opportunities that I had were Friday and Saturday (yesterday) on 7.5/133l board, both at Tanner Park.

Friday was quite interesting as the wind was on the light side to start and Jim M. and I were both on 7.5's. After an hour or so, the wind picked up. Enough that Jim went in and rigged down to a 5.8 and a smaller board. I was unwilling to waste sailing time (I started at around 4 PM, Jim had started at 2 PM or so) rerigging so I downhauled and out hauled the Ezzy Infinity 7.5 (new this year) and went back out. It was really windy (over 20 mph) and I had a bit of a time going upwind, but when I headed deep downwind my board just kept going faster and faster. It was, in the dictionary sense of the word not the slang over-used sense, AWESOME. I didn't have my GPS with me, but I did go by Jim one time almost like he was hardly moving and he said his GPS read about 24 mph around then. Really cool.

Yesterday, I got in about 2.5 hours with Jim M. again, again on 7.5's. This time it was more real 7.5 conditions and fun. Jeanne B. also came out for a while on a 6.0 and 101 liter board. Then, clouds rolled in and the wind died. but a fun day and good to sail two days in a row. Lessons learned from these two sessions: I need to get further to the leeward side when cranking into jibes and need to keep the weight on the inside rail in order to keep the board turning. As you can tell, still haven't done a full planing jibe but was really close the last day or two in Hatteras. Wish I could have stayed there for another week.

As it was, though, I did get to sail (plane) six days in a row down in Hatteras. It was great fun and actually perfect conditions since I hadn't really sailed since last fall (my two abortive attempts to sail earlier this year notwithstanding) and so the conditions down in OBX (I love saying that) ended up being perfect for me. Day 1 - 7.5/Pacer. Day 2 - 7.5/Pacer then to 7.5/133l. Day 3 - 6.3/Rogue Wave 102l. As you can see, the wind just built and built until it was like 30 on Thursday (Day 5) - sailed 4.2/85l although I probably would have been more comfortable on my 3.7, as George M. was. Then Day 6 it backed off a bit and I got back on the new Rogue Wave (which I've named "Stoker" in honor of my first boat, a Laser, that I got back in 1971 or 1972. Any way, that board is just amazing, and in spite of what Billy T. might think, who picked it up at Heck last week with a 32 cm weed fin in it and proclaimed "Wow, this thing really is solid". I took that to mean that it felt heavy. It's really not, it's pretty darn light. Anyway, it seems to plane in a fart and seems to be really fast, although I've gotten out on it 3 times now (twice in Hatteras, once at Heck since I got back).

Anyhow, I am still working towards completing that full planing jibe, but like I said to Jim yesterday, to expand on what Thomas Edison once said, I have now learned 5000 ways NOT to do a full planing jibe, so I am that much closer to it. It seems like I may never get it, but I know that I will and to be fair to myself, I've sailed so little the past two years (this is the first time I've gotten to sail in the spring in 3 years) that I really don't count those years as years sailing.

Oh, and you know how I mentioned in my last post that I had loaded all of my wetsuits? Well, I discovered over an hour into my trip that I hadn't put any wetsuits in the van at all. So, I ended up buying a 3/2 on the way to Frisco Woods at Ocean Air (where I ran into a contigent of LI'ers) on that first Sunday of vacation and ended up wearing it 3 days, if I remember correctly. The other days were all in board shorts. Oh, and the trip down on Saturday (the day after my last post) ended up being "The Night of Tornados" in Va. and I stopped that night in Gloucester, Va. and saw the aftermath of a tornado strike on a middle school about a 1/4 mile down the road from where I pulled off for the night due to yet another traffic jam that night and seeing ambulance after ambulance go up the road the other way. I think I missed that tornado by 15 minutes or so. THAT was an AWESOME night also. I am thankful for having made it through that.

So, now that I have received the clew-view mount for my Go-Pro (invented by Jerry Evans at Chatham Wind and Time, whom I met at Hatteras - he was just a couple campsites over), and the windsurfing mounting plate for the Shadowbox, I can't wait to get out and make ride recordings and videos which I hope will advance my learning curve, plus provide insight as to how I really sail.

Btw, I've already made reservations for campsite 32 at Frisco Woods Campground for April vacation next year. That's my new favorite place in the world, much like Newport, RI was when I was racing sailboats.

Oh, and I need to thank Pete R. and his son Devon for helping me to have a great time. It was my first vacation in over two years and it was one of my all time best. Also, thanks to George M. and his kids for making me laugh so hard. It's been a long time since I laughed like that.

Off to Hatteras in the AM

2011-04-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

Hello dear readers. I know I haven't posted since September, but I hope some of you might still remember me. I've sailed twice since Christmas, actually pretty forgettable sessions, but I did sail some in October and November. On one of those occasions my boom broke. I was able to make it back in without too much trouble, but it did seem rather harrowing. So, I know have three new monococque booms to (hopefully) prevent another catastrophe.

So, on to the title of this post. Tomorrow I am leaving to go to Cape Hatteras for a week to do some (hopefully) good sailing. This will also be my first experience camping in probably 20 or 25 years, so that should prove to be interesting.

I am bringing everything, on the advice of those in the know. Suits range from dry to full 3mm wet. Booties from 7mm to split toe sneakers. Sails range from 9.5 to 3.7. Masts range from 490 cm to 400 cm. Boards range from the 255 l Pacer to the RRD FSW 85, with my new baby "Stoker" (Rogue Wave Custom 102l - woo-hoo!) being the board I most want to use every day. More on that in a later post.

All in all, this should be a really fun trip. I have also brought various still and moving picture cameras to capture all the action. I am meeting Pete R. and his son at a campground and I'm hoping Pete will have a few minutes in between being awesome himself and helping his son to help me out a bit also. Still wanting that full planing jibe, you know.

Well, got to finish packing. I'm leaving early in the morning. Coming back in a week. Talk soon.

The Most Reliable Wind Forecast Ever

2010-09-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

So, I was thinking today when I clicked on my Yahoo mail account to check for new mail that I had finally found a way to get reliable wind forecasts. It seems to be the most reliable wind forecast available and I am even thinking of getting rid of my iwindsurf account. Who needs meters and meteorologists when one has access to the most reliable wind forecast ever, and it's free?

So, what is this most reliable wind forecast? The longislandwindsurfer group, of course. You see, I only use
my Yahoo email account for this group, so all of the mail I get is LIWG traffic. I don't even have to read the emails to find out if it's windy or not. Of course, if I want to find out WHERE it's blowing, I usually only have to read the subject lines of the emails.

What I have determined is this:

If there are more than 10 new emails in the morning, then the wind will be sailable, but not great. If there are more than, say, 18 emails in the morning, the wind will be really good. Less than 5 emails means it probably won't happen, while less than 2 (that would be 1 or 0) new emails means that it is a great day for a long bike ride.

So, I would like to say a big thank you to all of the members of the LIWG for providing me with this most reliable of wind forecasts.

The address for this awesome, accurate, and avid group of windsurfers is longislandwindsurfer@yahoo.com

The littlest RRD comes home..

2010-09-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

Well, at least its the littlest RRD in my collection and it just came home to me today. As a result, the song for today is "Brown Eyed Girl". When you see the pictures of my new RRD FSW 85 X-Tech below, you will understand why I picked that song.

So now, I just need some wind to try this little baby out. I did sail after work on Tuesday, and it was another awesome day at Tanner Park. SW, low tide, so it was flat, flat, flat. I sailed 5.5/102 for almost a couple of hours. It was really blowing but I managed to hang on to the 5.5. For comparison, Jim M. went to a 4.0, but Scott D and the great George M. were also on 5.5's. It was a great session, even George M. went so far as to say I was soooo close to completing that elusive full planing jibe. He suggested I flip the sail sooner, and I will try that next time out. Anyway, without further ado, here are a couple pictures of this cool new little board:

At last...

2010-09-05T17:57:00.000-07:00

a great day. No, I still haven't completed a full planing jibe but am getting closer and closer. Now I am getting onto the new jibe, clew first on a plane (sometimes). No song for today, but this little video should suffice (I apologize that I haven't learned how to add music yet, but I was able to edit it down to three minutes):

Tanner Park, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2010 from Dennis Grunbeck on Vimeo.

Anyway, here's a little update. This past Thursday, Sept. 2, was the first day back to work for this year. So, naturally, there was some wind. I was able to get down to Tanner and start sailing some time after 3 PM. Sailed for about an hour and a half in perfect SW 5.5/102 conditions with Jim M. Took Friday off, supposed to have been a big hurricane, but it pretty much "Earled out" (aka "petered out"). I am sure loads of real windsurfers got some sailing in that day.

Yesterday, Saturday, the wind was from the West, not ideal for Tanner, but went there anyway. I was twitching all morning while looking at meters. The forecast was for 20-30 or something. I was so anxious, called Jim M, decided on Tanner. Well, it was really, really gusty, something like 11-31 knots. I went out on the Naish 85 Wave with 4.7, first time out on that board. I bought it used and thought it would be good for higher winds. It was hard to get it on a plane and the gusty wind really frustrated me and I didn't have a great day sailing. But, I did sail on 85 liter for the first time. However, Dave K and Scott seemed to be having a great time with their 5.3's, albeit way overpowered in the gusts. Curt E, Cecil, and Jim M were also in attendance. Another guy, Steve I think, showed up later on and he looked like he had a good time also. I guess I need more experience on smaller boards.

On to today. I ran down to the beach (Tanner, again) as fast as I could, but with a newspaper as I was figuring that I would have to wait for wind. Nope. Wrong. Good thing. Curt E, Dave K, Cecil, and Jim M. were already there. Rigged 5.5/102 (my current fav. combo), the wind was more South than yesterday, but still almost perfectly sideshore, real low tide, but still pretty flat (see video above). It was a halcyon day. I know I've said that in a few places about today, but it's true. A gorgeous day, great breeze (a bit up and down, and started to die around 4:30 - 5:00 PM0, but all in all my fav conditions, fav board, etc. I had a grat time sailing today and feel super comfortable on the RRD FSW 102 C/K (I've called it an LTD before, but in 2007 the light weight versions were called C/K's - for carbon/kevlar). Turns really easily, planes easily ( I can now pump myself onto a plane), and just too much fun. Except............I've now used my GPS speed thing with this board and sail combo four times and 25, 26, 25, 25 (mph). Does the board have a speed limit or is it me? After a break today, I set out and went faster than I had all day (I think), but had turned off the GPS and had forgot to turn it back on. Oh well, maybe next time.

Jibing: as I stated above, getting better, esp. in these easier conditions. One thing I've learned is that if I do the sail flip boom to boom, with the boom shaka and underhanded grab, and throw mast to windward as I am looking ahead, then I almost always complete the jibe, just not on a plane. Also, I've learned to do the step a bit earlier than I have been and have been experimenting with how sharply I can turn this board (really sharp).

Until next time...............

1st Windsurfing Video

2010-08-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

So, here it is, my first, unedited (sorry) windsurf video made with the HD Hero cam.
It was a real light air day last Sunday (8/22/10) and it was my first time on the Pacer in about a year.
I just used the Prisma 7.5 as I didn't know if I could handle the Pacer 9.5 at this point. I am now sure that I can. I found out the Prisma has a broken bottom batten which is why you see all the wrinkles in the bottom part of the sail.

I know, I know, some tacks and jibes aren't too good. Sorry, I will work on that.

Well, hope you like it, even if it is kind of long and boring.

Windsurfing 8/22/10 from Dennis Grunbeck on Vimeo.

Where's the Wind?

2010-07-08T07:38:00.001-07:00

I think the title of this post should suffice.

Maybe I Can Do This,

2010-07-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

after all I almost nailed a full planing jibe on Sunday, July 4. As a result, the song for today is "Almost Grown" as I've almost grown into a real windsurfer.

Here's the full story: the last two sailing sessions (I am still not comfortable for some reason using the word "session" for a day of windsurfing, but everyone else uses it, so....) I had were Saturday and Sunday, July 3 and 4. The days were very similar in that the wind started out fairly light both days and then the thermal effects pumped up the wind for a while and then it died back down later on. As I stated in a previous post, I decided to go back to basics, get out the old Go and put the Pacer away for a while. So, my m.o. (modus operandi - quite literally meaning "mode of operation" or program) for both days was to rig a 6.2 and go out on the Go in the lighter winds and just do flare jibe figure-8's until the wind showed up, if it ever did. So, I cranked out flare jibes for close to two hours each day on Saturday and Sunday,getting them tighter and tighter and really concentrating on moving the mast hand to the mast just before the flip and then go from boom to boom. I also put in a couple of tacks here and there. On Sunday, I sailed upwind, tacking 2 or 3 times and then jibe, jibe, jibe on the way back downwind. The purpose of this was to get my balance back and to try and get the sail flip to be "automatic" (stored in muscle memory).

So, when the wind did come up (both days) I hopped on the ol' Z-Ride and went a-planin' and tried to do full planing jibes. Even though I didn't come that close to completing one on Saturday, I did make most of my jibes on the Z-Ride and even completed a couple of tacks. On Sunday, the wind came up a bit more than on Saturday and once again, I was able to complete most of my jibes. As I alluded to above, I almost completed a full planing jibe on Sunday. I stayed on a plane until just before the sail flip, and then regained the plane right after the sail flip. I even got a "woo-hoo" out of Mike Burns (click on link to the Pure Windsurfing blog for more information on Mike) who was right there when this happened. I was stoked. Maybe I can do this, after all.

Suggestions that helped:
1. use a smaller fin to make the board "looser" (Pete R.)
2. when flipping sail, "throw it" to make it come around faster and regain sail power a little sooner (Mike B.)
3. move backhand back further, keep front arm straight, push sail in towards direction of turn (Pete R.)
4. Get up on balls of feet when going into turn (Pete R.)

On another note, good to see Kurt E. and LB Steve this weekend.

Thanks everyone. Unfortunately, it's going to be hot and low wind for most of the rest of this week. Can't wait to get back at it.

This is the year!!

Why Can't I Do This?

2010-06-30T18:05:00.001-07:00

While other windsurfers (or should I say the windsurfers) are posting videos of guys doing
moves that include backwards duck tacks and the like, I just want to be able to do this:

Back to Basics

2010-06-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

No song for today, sorry.

Yes, I am back to windsurfing. I first went on Friday afternoon, June 25. It was a nice day,
fairly light winds. I was zooming around on my Pacer with the 7.5 sail. At first I had to have the c/b down
to plane, but then the wind came up just a bit and I was able to plane w/o centerboard. A very nice and mellow re-introduction to windsurfing. Made all my tacks (they were dreadfully slow) and just about all jibes (even though they were flares). I felt good and figured I was back.

Then, I went windsurfing again on Saturday. Bit more wind. Went back out on Pacer/7.5. Horrible day, didn't feel balanced at all. Later on I went to sail the Z-Ride 133 with the 7.5 and couldn't find a fin screw for it. Luckily, another guy let me borrow one. (I just recieved a shipment of new fin screws this morning.) So, I sailed that for awhile, I felt like I did make a little progress as I was able to get the board turned through the wind on a plane on one jibe. Otherwise, I felt really bad and unsteady. Plus, I was really physically tired from the day before.

Took a break Sunday.

Monday was a great wind day. Quite a few other people were sailing and looking like they were having a great time......I didn't. Although, I was able to sail the FSW 102 with first 5.5 and then 4.7 when I get even more tired and wind came up a bit. Straight line sailing is not a problem. I even was keeping up with Mike Burns and sailing similar (a couple times a bit higher even, but don't know how much he was trying to sail upwind) angles to windward. The problem is still with the jibes. Tried to switch sail before feet for a while. (I have been trying the step jibe). The sail came around but wasn't able to grab boom. Went back to step jibe attempts near the end. Had one made, grabbed boom then fell. Well, almost made it, not quite on plane at the end of it, however. But a faint glimmer of hope, perhaps.

Problems I am having (again, or still - at some points over the last couple of years I thought I had gotten over these and feel like 2 or 3 years ago at ABK I was actually doing better, but that is in the flat water at Napeague, a wholly different deal in the chop at Heck):

1. not getting forward on jibes. I don't know why, but I am afraid to commit to going into the jibe and am hauling back on rig and not flowing into the jibe.
2. worried that I am not going to make jibe (see above about not flowing)
3. not taking the time to re-establish speed after unhooking from harness
4. Overall, just not feeling strong and confident.
5. Need to find a way to sail later into fall, into winter, and much, much earlier in spring. Need to stay healthy.

I guess it will take some time to re-build confidence and build strength. It's been a long and harrowing winter. So, I took the Pacer out of the van and put the Go in. Time to somewhat start over (again, arrgghhhh!), get back to basics and re-learn muscle memory, strength, stamina, and slowly go step by step to, maybe, finally getting this planing jibe thing work. Once I do, on to the short board tack which I am sure will help me speed up my Pacer tacks.

Hope the wind comes up again soon!!

Decision Made

2010-06-13T07:06:00.001-07:00

So, after all my excitement about the ECWF this year, what it came to was:

Stuff happens.

I wasn't even able to attend. oh well.
Hope eveyone that attended had a good time.
Time to start preparing for next year.

Help!

2010-06-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

I love this board, perhaps I will make the 120 liter version my next board.

http://www.robertoriccidesigns.com/media-gallery/VIDEO/video.php?video=http://www.robertoriccidesigns.com/media-gallery/firerace/movies/01.flv&prew=http://www.robertoriccidesigns.com/media-gallery/firerace/m
ovies/thumbs/01.flv.jpg

I've actually never ridden this board, but it just looks so darn cool. Help! Someone please save me. It's the eve of the 3rd annual ECWF (http://www.ecwindfest.com/) and, as ever, I am longing for some new equipment as if that will make me a better windsurfer immediately. At least I would look the part. Oh well, enough dreaming for now.

more later...

Decisions, Decisions...

2010-06-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

The song for today is: "Decisions, Decisions" by the Starting Line. (To avoid possible copyright infringement, this is a cover of the song. Sorry if the quality is not so great, but I wanted to get the idea across.)

So, here it (almost) is. The day after tomorrow is the 3rd Annual East Coast Windfest (http://www.ecwindfest.com/). I have been waiting two years for this as I missed last year's event.
As I have chronicled before, I am a former sailboat racer (highlights of my boat career include:
1972 East Coast Hobie 14 Champion, top 30 in 1988 Sonar North Americans as mainsail trimmer, and 12th place as helmsman of a Farr 41 at the World Offshore Sailing Championships in 2000), but am currently a total wannabe windsurf racer.

I am getting real excited and looking forward to some around the buoys windsurfing. The wind should be on the light side Saturday morning and Sunday mid- to late-afternoon with higher winds forecast for Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. The lighter wind is kind of what I am more excited about as that is when the course racing will mostly likely be run. Although my windsurf skills are not all that great, yet., I do have a good sense of course racing tactics and strategies, especially starts. Oh boy, I really hope they have some timed starts. Due to my advanced age and decrepit shape, the "Le Mans" starts off the beach are killer (in a bad sense) for me.

Anyway, here is the cause of my present conundrum: 7.5 or 9.5. You see, they are running one class with a max. sail size of 7.5 and an "Open" class for sail sizes larger than 7.5. In the higher wind parts of the weekend, this won't present a problem, but if there is indeed lighter wind for part of the event as forecast, I need to make a decision. If I had been able to sail more (or at all) since last October, this would be no choice at all, I'd just go with the 9.5. But since I haven't sailed all winter, I may lean towards the 7.5 even though my hybrid Pacer Pro 300 just does not go too well with the 7.5 in subplaning conditions. Oh well, I guess I'll wait and see what happens tomorrow afternoon. That is when I am planning to get and do a little planing and see how my thumb is and how it all goes. Then, I will make my decision Saturday morning based on Friday afternoon, the wind report then, and how I feel. Stay tuned.

If you are in the area, (Long Island, that is) you should definitely go down to Heckscher State Park on Saturday and Sunday (9:30 AM registration) and join in on the hilarity. I just watched last year and it is really a fun time. Since the wind is supposed to be good Saturday afternoon, I am sure the freestylers will be putting on quite a show.

More later...

Hope

2010-06-07T05:40:00.000-07:00

Even thought I don't like Miley Cyrus (in fact, I really, really dislike her), this song somehow does seem to make sense today. Therefore, the song for today, against my better judgement, is:

And yes, I am going for some kind of comma record here. Anyway, why hope? Well, today is Monday and doesn't hope spring eternal, or words to that effect, on Monday mornings. Just think about it. The whole week, and all of its possibilities lay ahead. There could be good wind every afternoon, although I have a department meeting after work today and have a ton of grading to catch up on. The weather could be just right for some water time, even though my thumb is not quite ready for the water yet. And........the ECWF is this weekend. The ECWF, in case you didn't know, is the East Coast Windsurfing Festival. This the third one in a row. I did the first one and had some fun, even though it was the first time I sailed the Pacer and couldn't get the board down. It was a great time, however, and spawned a second one last year, which I missed due to an appendectomy. So, I am hoping to make it this year. You see, I am a total wanna be racer. I used to race sailboats and have this idea that I can translate that ability into racing windsurfers. Trouble is, the ECWF is just about the only event to do any kind of course racing and its only once a year, and I've already one out of two. Hopefully, that won't turn into missing two out of three. I mean, its only a thumb. I guess I could wear a dry glove on that hand and do my best impression of Michael Jackson windsurfing!

More info on ECWF, please see: http://www.ecwindfest.com/ or http://www.peconicpuffin.com/

The other problem is that I haven't windsurfed, sadly, since last fall so I am not at all prepared for the event this weekend, but I will try and get out Friday afternoon, or Thursday afternoon, or both. I did spend some time getting my equipment, if it's light air, in shape.

Well, let's hope my body lets me finally get out and get back to learning how to windsurf better.

Anticipation (and Frustration)

2010-05-29T07:41:00.000-07:00

The song for today is Anticipation.

Anticipation: Weather forecast for this weekend looked promising all week
Anticipation: Watching Peter Hart jibe videos all week to get mentally prepared to, finally, do a full planing jibe.
Anticipation: This is Memorial Day weekend, three days off!
Anticipation: Haven't sailed since the fall
Anticipation: East Coast Windfest coming up in 3 weeks.
Anticipation: Redid windsurf van interior setup over the last couple of weeks.
Anticipation: Major health issue cleared up.
Anticipation: Sorted out windsurfing equipment and setup amazing (to me, at any rate) adjustable outhaul system on HPL race boom. (pics to follow in the coming weeks)
Anticipation: only 4 more weeks until summer vacation.

Frustration: Operation on thumb last night, can't sail for at least another week.

Two days until March

2010-02-27T07:11:00.000-08:00

Today is February 27, 2010. Big deal you might say. What is the significance of that? Well, tomorrow is February 28. And what is the big deal about that? Nothing really. Except......the day after February 28 is......wait for it...........March 1? Which means? Spring, spring, glorious spring is not far away. Hence, the song for today is:

So, that's why I am so happy today. I have been going through alot of not so good, and even bad, stuff health-wise lately. One good thing, I've lost weight which should make for better windsurfing, but the other stuff is bad.

Anyway, I'm sitting here looking out at the sun and starting to feel better about the world in general. Lots of my fellow LI windsurfers went to Bonaire over Feb. break (I went last year), and have been reading their posts about it. I really, really wish I could have gone this year too. The warm sun, warm water, warm winds, warm smiles at the beach, beautiful (but cold) Dutch women,...............soooo nice.

Winter is supposed to be for skiing, and so far, I did get in a couple days of skiing. I love skiing, it was my first love as far as sports go. Sailboat racing only a year or two behind, which then consumed most of my life. But now, its all about windsurfing. I just wish I could go more frequently. Have to wait for summer to go every day, I'm afraid.

So, I am soooo looking forward to spring, and maybe finally, no, not maybe, finally completing a full planing jibe. The harbingers of spring are almost here too, like two weeks until the first Formula 1 race of the season, the 12 Hours of Sebring coming up, the 33rd America's Cup was just completed. It was pretty cool, but I can't imagine spending over 200 million dollars just to go 30 knots. Windsurfing is faster and waaay less expensive, and more fun. Did you see any of the video? In the second race, Larry Ellison (owner of Oracle Racing) was hanging on and looking like he was completely freaked out. But then, he's just a billionaire not a real sailor.

Well, that's about it for today. I hope everyone who gets out to ski or sail today has a great time. I'm thinking about you. Hopefully, I'll be out there with you sooner rather than later.

Happy New Year to one and all!

2010-01-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

The song for today is " the same Auld Lang Syne":

Hello again. It seems that the thing to do this time of year on windsurfing-related blogs is to list windsurfing-related New Year's resolutions, so here goes:

1. arrange life to allow for MUCH more windsurfing time
2. continue working on planing jibes
3. work on achieving higher maximum velocities on sail-powered, water-borne craft
4. probably number 3 could come before number 2
5. sail more
6. attempt more planing jibes correction, make planing jibes. As the great philosopher Yoda once stated: "Do, or not do. There is no try"
7. sail later into the fall, and earlier in the spring to allow for use of Puffin-supplied (well, acquired from Puffin at any rate) 85l board.
8. be more outgoing at the beach and ask for more help and advice
9. sail in waves - I did it once in 09 at Crab and had a blast. I know they weren't huge waves and the wind wasn't that strong, but it was too much fun. Perhaps the best part was that one of the lifeguards that saw me is a student at the school that I teach at and told all his friends (most of whom are my students this year) that I am a "really good" (sic) windsurfer. good times as previously chronicled.
10. get the WHOLE fin to clear the water when making "jumps".

Spun OUT!

2009-10-11T05:54:00.000-07:00

The song for yesterday is "You spin my head right round".

Here it was finally, race day. An event I had been waiting for for 18 months! (Couldn't make the ECWF 09 in June due to certain circumstances). The forecast called for the wind to spin up throughout the day, which would bad for me considering my jibing situation as chronicled ad nauseum here. I decided to get to the beach (West Neck - near where I grew up and we would be sailing in Cold Spring Harbor where I first learned to sail when I was 8, so I'd have an advantage, right? NOT) early to get rigged and maybe spend a little time on the water before the racing. The skipper's meeting was scheduled for 10 AM and first race at 10:30, so I got to ol' WN at around quarter after 8.

Happiness! The wind around this time was light so maybe there would be time to get one course race in before the wind really showed up, or maybe the forecast was wrong and the wind wouldn't arrive until much later. So, I rigged up the 7.5 and the 6.9. First mistake here. As Andy said at the race clinic a couple of weeks ago, make sure you do what you always do. I have learned, and re-learned, this lesson many, many times in the past, but I feel like I make this mistake too often on the day of a competition (of any kind). I hadn't used this 6.9 since the late spring. I forgot that the mast I use for it is the same one I use for the 7.5. So, I had to use the 490 mast for the 7.5 (never rigged on that mast before), so I could rig the 6.9. Anyway, got it rigged and went out for a sail on the Pacer with the 7.5. Tried to plane, not yet, so put the board down, masttrack forward, and went upwind. Felt good, a couple tacks, ready for racing. Then, fell on both jibes. WHAT?? I never fall when I jibe the Pacer, what the heck?

Came in. Hopefully I'd work out the jibe problems during the first course race. But then, the skipper's meeting got delayed and delayed. I was annoyed. But, to the race director's credit, I am sure that he was waiting for the wind that he and ALL the OTHER windsurfers knew would provide for awesome slalom racing. Just not for me. Well, the wind finally did spin up and for the first 3 races, I figured the 133 board and 6.9 sail would be a fast combo. And it was. I'd do my best to hang on. Problem is, the sailor has more to do with speed than the equipment. Before the first race, I sailed the course. Got to the mark, got around it without falling but had to uphaul, sailed back to beach, no problem, I can do this.

First race starts. Oh, I'm doing okay, not last. Catching up a bit. (I always start last when they do these starts where you have to run in to the water carrying your gear. The others run. I walk. Wet rocks and everything. Don't want to slip. Wish we could start already in the water). Anyway, almost halfway across, still up. Picking up speed. Looking back to see who's behind me. Dooosh. Catapault. Now, I am in last. Get up, sail to mark. Carnage at mark. Good, maybe I can pass a couple people. Go into jibe. Doooosh. Get up. Ok, just finish. Halfway back, can't get into harness lines on port jibe. Line is twisted. I hardly ever use this boom because of this. Need to get new harness lines (Ordered 'em already). Dooosh. Catapault again.

The next race went a bit better, but still couldn't get hooked in on port jibe. The 3rd race started out to be my best. Was flying, moved up into the main pack by the mark, so I do have the speed. Even passed Bob M. on this leg, who finished like 5th overall or something for the whole event, but then, he can jibe. Then, doooosh, at the mark. Got up, and sailed back not harnessed in, but at least finished. I was finished. Three runs across the bay without harness with 6.9 in almost 20 knot winds, too much for me. So, I watched and rested. Man, some of these guys (and gals) are fast. Sasha's wife was amazingly fast. Third in one race.

However, did meet some nice people. Ned C, who was the second one who showed up, came from the Hudson Valley and is a super stoked older windsurfer like myself. His wife seemed nice too. ( Might want to get one of those for myself sometime in the not so distant future.)

It was a nice sailing day, so I rigged up the 6.3 and went out on the 133 for a couple runs. Then on the 102 the rest of the day. But, I was tired from the non-harness runs, so gave it up after a while. The wind kept spinning up and the 6.3 was a bit much at times, but it was fun. Almost, but didn't quite make a jibe all day. Need to change mind set on this and try something else, like switching feet after rotating sail. Need to watch Peter Hart alot again.

Lesson: Don't try to race on equipment you are unfamiliar with. Murphy's Law will always catch up with you. On my trial run, I was able to get hooked in on port jibe, but during the actual races was not able to hook in port. That harness line is seriously kinked/twisted. Never using that manufacturer again. My other harness lines just ALWAYS hang straight, so ordered another set of those.

Problem: Spin out. The last few times I have gone sailing, I have been having this problem. Am I pushing on the fin too hard? I know spin out is caused by air mixing into the flow around the fin and disturbing it and causing ventilation/cavitation which then cause the fin to be surrounded by air and it loses "grip" and the board goes sideways. But, why is that happening to me? Different boards, different sails, different fins. Obviously, I am not doing something right. I need some guidance here.

Feeling good about:
1. The fact that I am now going fast enough where this stuff happens. Also, I am (more and more) going fast enough that I can feel myself skimming along the tops of waves and just going fast. Too much fun.

2. This was, after all, my first attempt at a real planing slalom race. I managed to finish ahead of 3 people for the event. (No idea how that happened.) So, nowhere to go but up. It is really cool and fun, just need to relax and just sail.

Well, that's my story, if anyone has any thoughts as to why I am spinning out so much, please let me know, I'd like to hear them. I think I might try discussing this with Peter Hart too. I think he has a section on this on his DVD.

Till the next time (which might not be for a while)

Fun, but then some disappointment

2009-10-09T19:22:00.000-07:00

Today's song is "Vahevala" by Loggins & Messina (thanks to the PeconicPuffin.com for showing the way to using youtube videos for blog theme songs) because I was out there semi-ripping, and learning alot, today.

So, on to today. I wonder if anybody else gets the slightly sick, about to have a heart attack, having a stroke, can't get there soon enough feeling in their brains when you know the wind is blowing and you are just leaving work around 2:30 and the beach is a half hour away? Please let me know I am not alone.

Anyway, so I got to Heck around 3, in the water by 3:30 or so, 5.5/102. Had some great fun sailing for about 2 hours, I guess, no made jibes, some disappointment. BUT, I feel like I am really learning alot. I can now tell a real difference with the boom at slightly different heights, harness line placement/ length, sail tuning, fin choice, etc. At times I feel like I am getting (almost) the max speed out of the board, by just keeping legs as straight as possible (very difficult in the chop at Heck), getting in the "7" position and hanging my weight on the boom. I can just about keep up with most everybody (nobody could keep up with the dude on the RRD X-Fire 112 slalom race board today, that thing was just too much. It made a whistling noise like a jet as it went through the water. Obviously, its pilot is no slouch, but that board was just too cool - someday).

I also found out what its like when your footstraps are too loose. I had set them up loose to make it "easier" for me to get into them, but today I fell off the back of the board when trying to go max. speed waaaaay downwind, and my front foot got twisted in the strap, and didn't come out. So, there I was lying in the water with my right foot up on the board twisted and stuck in the strap. I will admit I almost panicked. I couldn't get my body up to the same level as the top of the board to flatten out the foot and get it out of the strap. And for a minute (actually less than a second, I hope) I thought I wasn't going to be able to keep my head out of the water for very long. I did notice a guy jibe just outside of me and actually yelled "HELP" once or twice. Actually, it was probably a blessing in the long run that he didn't hear me or didn't respond as it forced me to calm down and take stock of the situation. I ended up sliding my foot partway out of the bootie, and that freed my foot. It hurt a bit for a little while, but all is ok now. I sailed in and immediately tightened up my footstraps so that only my toes go all the through. That felt much better.

Jibes. Jibes. Jibes. One day, I hope, I will be able to do them somewhat reliably and hopefully laugh at this period of my windsurfing career. Then I will reward myself with a Mike's Lab and/or Rogue Wave custom board or two. I hope. Anyway, since I haven't had much real success with them (except sporadically), I decided to try a different approach at some point today. I practiced releasing the sail BEFORE I switch my feet. I was able to carve through turns, get the sail to rotate, but failed to grab the boom on the other side and my feet seem somewhat glued to the board. Will have to work on this.

Some disappointment. After sailing today, I pulled out the Pacer and removed the c/b and plates to clean them all up and McLube 'em so the c/b goes up and down easily. When I got home I used lemon juice to remove the brown stuff that gets on boards at Heck. I also replaced the boom tail lines on my two larger booms with the adjustable outhaul systems with the 3mm Amsteel stuff. I did all this in anticipation of the races tomorrow, which are going to be at West Neck Beach, right in Cold Spring Harbor where I grew up sailing and first learned to sail boats (at age 8) and my first forays into windsurfing 20 something years ago. (I stopped windsurfing for almost 20 years then took it up again 3 or 4 years ago). At least the Pacer is ready for the spring, however, it looks like good conditions for Pacer sailing on Sunday.

The wind forecast is for like 20 mph winds with higher gusts at times. All the other windsurfers are probably very excited, but I am somewhat disappointed. I can't really do a shortboard jibe, and these winds are for slalom races. Even if they have upwind marks, I can't do a shortboard tack either. Not a good situation for me. I have been waiting 18 months or so to do windsurf racing again (except for the ABK race clinic) and now the conditions are the ones I have been dreading. Sunday would be a good day for me to race (10 to 14 knots). Not Saturday. Well, one never knows, and its the beach I would go to any way for the W/NW wind direction that is forecast, so I guess I'll go and see what happens. Hope for the best. At least I will be able to get out and sail all day.

Till the next sailing day.

Lookin' Forward

2009-10-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

Today dawned a somewhat dreary day, but the forecast called for some wind (or zephyrs may be a better word for it) from the SW, so I was lookin' forward to going to Heck and getting some raceboard practice in. I had spent yesterday working on my new version of my all-Harken outhaul on my HPL race boom, and was lookin' forward to trying that out (worked well). Also, I have been trying to put a tennis ball knob on the c/b for the Pacer, and have been lookin' forward to trying that out too. Unfortunatley, things haven't worked out quite like I thought, but right now I have a tennis ball full of Great Stuff foam with slot in the middle that fits perfectly over the end on the c/b. I am going to try Marine-Tex to hold it on. In the meantime, for the foreseeable future, I am using the c/b from the "other" Pacer. They are identical.

Back to the subject at hand. I arrived at Heckscher around 1:00 PM or so. I saw Jim M's van but he wasn't around. so I set to rigging the 9.5 Pacer sail. I also wanted to try my new Prodigy mast foot with a tendon. (It worked great, I guess all these boards with mast tracks use the same mast track) Jim eventually showed up, he was taking a walk with his wife. He rigged up his 8.0. There was another guy there who is at the very first stages of learning. He asked me if "this thing" (pointing to the uphaul) is supposed to give one callouses. I replied "yes, your hands should build up callouses as you windsurf more." Then I showed him how to put the bottom loop of the uphaul around the mast foot. Passin' it on.

So, I finally got out sailing and was planing for awhile. I practiced tacks, jibes, going upwing, going downwind. Spent a little bit of time doing the recovery drills we learned from Andy Brandt a couple of weeks ago. Drag raced with Jim a bit (I was able to get on a plane much quicker, but his top end may have been a bit faster). He was on his Bic 148 with an 8.0, and I was on the Pacer, but Jim is a potato chip, and I, sadly, am not. Although I am down to about 167 now (in the morning, after breakfast).

I am lookin' forward to this Saturday for the East Coast Fall Windsurfing Races. However, after not sailing with the 9.5 for a few weeks, I feel like I am not in good enough shape to race with it. I did fiddle around with tuning it today, and got it looking pretty good, but it is pretty darn big and heavy. I dropped it a couple of times today, and sure had a hard time getting it back up (no inappropriate thoughts allowed here). So, I think I may enter the 7.5 class next week, depending on the wind.

Woo-hoo, one thing I found out is that they may do some timed starts. Finally! Real racing is coming to LI!
So, I really am lookin' forward to it and towards the end was practicing really railing the board with the 52 cm fin. It seems to go almost straight upwind with good speed when I got it way over, but it's not easy keeping it there. There is a point where it just seemed to take off. Of course, there was no one to compare to, but it did feel good. Lookin' forward to using the 60 cm fin next week, if I can get out of having the skin surgery done. We'll see.

Hopefully, all will go well, and there won't be a ton of wind next Sat (I can't believe I am actually wishing for lighter winds, but I do want to get in some tactical course racing). btw, there was a really nice sunset tonight.

Well, 'till next time!!

More Progress...

2009-09-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

(The theme song for today was "Livin' on the Edge of a Hurricane", by Randy Naish and the Ultronz.)

Last night I checked the forecast for today and it said SW in the 20's. The only fly in the ointment was that I almost had to stay late after school. So, I moved some things around, and checked the wind right near the end of, the day. The promised wind had come. This is quite unusual, but I was ready. Contact lenses in, bathing suit on (yes, I wore my bathing suit under my dress clothes to save time later), wetsuits in van, and ice and drinks in cooler.

So, I basically followed the buses out of the parking lot to get down to the beach as soon as possible. All day long the trees outside the window were moving around ALOT, so by the end of the school day I was very antsy, to say the least. You know the drill on the half hour or so drive to the beach on a windy day, right? Temples get all tight and achy, fists clench steering wheel, heart pounding out of the chest, basically a heart attack. Well, for some reason, I was all calm today, and focused. Today was the day I was going to do, not try, not attempt, but do a planing jibe.

When I arrived at the beach, the parking lot was full with the usual suspects all out sailing already. (Some people did come even later than me, but most were already there). I saw Allison rigging, I said hello, she said "everyone is out on 4.2's". Awesome, I thought, this is the day.

So, rigged up the 4.2 and headed out on the 102. There were big puffs, and for the first couple of runs I felt overpowered, or over-boarded, or both. But, it got my attention. I should say right now that when I first saw the chop, my first thought was, well, maybe I won't do my first planing jibe today. That was it, the die was cast. It was not to be, I had psyched myself out yet again......but, I am feeling so much more confident and free, yes free, in these very windy conditions than I used to be ("used to", meaning last week, I suppose). Anyway, made first 2 jibes, not planing but the ever popular flarve where you carve in and flare out. It was fun going back and forth a couple or three times without falling. It will be so much MORE when I can stay planing the whole time (or more nearly so).

Of course, I was so excited I told a couple of people on the beach that I had just made 2 jibes in a row, and that was it for a while. But, it was 100% fun, all the time. Took a break for awhile, went back out and made 3 jibes in a row. Also, I started thinking that besides looking where I wanted to go, I needed to flip the sail earlier. This was later confirmed by Pharmacist Al (who I really look up to, cause he's like 68 or something and rips it up out there), who said two great things to me:

1. "You are sailing as well as I did after 8 years in only 4 years" (to paraphrase)
2. "If you flipped your sail sooner you would have a perfect jibe" (well, maybe not perfect, but acceptable).

Also, I need to credit Andy Brandt of ABK Boardsports once again. He had us doing some recovery drills in light wind on our raceboards last weekend. Well, when the 102 nose popped up a couple of times in the flare phase of my flarve jibes, I just leaned forward, down it went, flip the sail, and go. It sounds smooth, but believe me its pretty rickety.

I was also able to finally thank Joe (he of the Angulo board), for suggesting to me several weeks ago to use a single backstrap. It really changed my life. (my windsurfing life, anyway - or should I tell my students that I am much happier in class now that I can always put both feet in the straps and can really motor on the water - or relatively so?) You see, I had this phobia all last year, and even the first part of this year, about getting my back feet in the straps. If I didn't do it at precisely the right time, dire consequences would happen, or so I thought. The single backstrap made it so much easier, and now I do it almost with thinking, even on the 133 which has double back straps. This, along with getting my boom up a bit and slightly shorter harness lines has unleashed my inner personal speed demon. woohoo. (which is not to say I am the fastest, or almost the fastest on the water by any means, it just means that I can more closely keep up with the other people and in some cases keep up or go a bit faster than others in some conditions)

Not only was the sailing great, but it's always inspiring to watch the more experienced windsurfers do really cool maneuveurs. Trying to emulate them, and trying to keep up with them speed-wise has made a big difference in my sailing. When sailing alone, I would think that I was going fast, but its not until someone passes you that you realize just how much faster one could be going, or how much better one can turn, etc.

So, all in all, another wonderful day in the universe. see ya next time its windy and I can get out sailing.

Catchin' UP

2009-09-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hello there. Haven't posted in a little while so I figured I would catch things up. Last weekend, Sept. 19 and 20, I attended the ABK Board Camp Racing Clinic out at Napeague. As I think I have posted here before, I am a (wannabe) racer. So, of course I had to make it to this clinic, as there is the East Coast Fall Windsurfing Racing thing coming up Oct. 10 and 11. I turned 54 during last week's clinic, so I will be signing up for the over 50 class.
Still not sure if this only for the 7.5 and under class or not. The Pacer sail is 9.5, which would put me in the unlimited class. If its blowing, I guess I'll go with the 7.5 and under class. Just hope its not windy enough for slalom!

Anyway, the clinic was great fun. Who knew that Andy Brandt. awesome freestyler and teacher, is (or was and may be again) one of the top windsurf racers in the country. He had us doing some really cool light air drills to get more comfortable on the board, and to be able to stop and turn quickly in light air. He also gave me some tips on how to get the Pacer moving better in light air with the 7.5. The flat water at Napeague is very confidence boosting I might add. So, on Saturday we did some triangle light air racing, then a "long distance" race around the island at the entrance to Napeague Bay. Besides learning alot about upwind speed and tactics, the effect of current, and the effect of shallow water and choosing the right strategy to maximize speed in light air, the two things that really stand out from the "race" are the following:
a. getting back in the bay against the tide through the little cut to the north of the island when board speed was only a tiny bit above the current speed. The board was basically planing in the apparent current "wind" but forward progress was very, very slow. Two people came walking down the dunes towards me and were probably wondering what was going on. There was a rooster tail coming out from the stern of the Pacer ("flux linkage", is its name, like it was a racing yacht or something. oh well, I am a geeky nerd after all), and yet I was barely moving relative to the shore. Wish I could have had a camera to show my students. This was a great example of adding (or, rather, subtracting) vectors.
b. The deer that came bounding through the water and over the sandbar, and swam right across water right in front of me. An amazing sight. One I'll never forget. So, its true that deer swim from Ct. to LI after all.

Sunday was actually pretty good. We did one triangle race, and then since it appeared that the wind was going to build, Andy set up a little figure 8 slalom course. The wind dropped a bit, but I was able to get planing with the c/b down (ran aground a couple times so pulled it halfway up), and it was great fun. Didn't realize how much I miss timed starts and rounding buoys in (or on) sailing craft. The only thing I realized as I was driving home was how come, yes how come, Dennis, you didn't do port tack approach starts? You used to be awesome at tacking into the hole in the line. Next time, don't forget.

After the clinic ended on Sunday afternoon, I stayed out on the Pacer for a while flying on close reaches across Napeague Bay and back. I have never sailed the Pacer that fast before, I don't think. The perfectly flat water is perfect for speed runs. When I finally came in, Tom L. called me "speed boy". Well, the only thing is that I am sure that all the good windsurfers would have been able to beat me, but it sure did feel good.

My "ace" move of the weekend was jibing early and wide at a leeward mark to get inside of a guy, pass him, and then kill him upwind. Of course, I did this for 42 years in boats, but it did feel good to do it on a sailboard. Also, Andy had gotten hold of a 20 year old custom carbon 13 foot long course racing board designed by Bard Chrisman. What a weapon!! He let me sail it, and the thing felt so stable for something so long and narrow, and it just glides upwind at very close angles. I need to get ahold of something like that. Of course, then I would have to get racks for the hitop van, figure out someway to get the board up there.........Guess that's one of the things that led me to the Pacer in the first place. But I was able to almost hold his angle (at slightly less speed) non-planing on the Pacer. Even though Andy made me use a 36cm weed fin instead of the upright 60 cm its supposed to have.

Next sailing day was Friday afternoon at Crab Meadow in a somewhat less than expected NE, Of course, I should expect NE winds to die as the day progress as they always seem to do. Rigged the 7.5 (desperate to get out) on the 133. The worst windsurfing I have done in a long while. I just felt out of sync and couldn't do anything. The less said about this day the better. Even Greg the kiter had his spreader break and Jeff T (old sailboat racing friend and all around nice guy) and Dr. Bob (pediatrician and all around nice guy) ran down the beach and helped him out. But it was nice to meet Chris and Dana, and even Greg, and have a good talk catchin' up with Jeff T.

Today, Monday, Sept. 29. I hope I never forget this day. The wind was expected to be SW and build, which it did. Almost wish I had driven out to Napeague early in the morning, but went to Heck early afternoon instead. I wasn't feeling so good, maybe just the anticipation or maybe because I hadn't sailed well in a week (or sailed at all except for the crappy sesssion on Friday). I even went back home after I left for the beach to make sure I had taken all my medications! (I had)

Anyway, got down to Heck sometime after 12, I think. To my immense surprise, ardly anyone was there , but it wasn't that windy yet and not that many people had today off. It was not surprising, however, to see "The Captain" cruising around and even getting on a plane once in a while on her Starboard Phantom. So, I rigged the 7.5 and went out on the 133. Right away, I could tell this was going to be a good (if not great) day. Everything just felt so comfortable. Even the chop seemed fairly small and manageable ( I retained this feeling all day even as the wind built, to my enthusiastic surprise). I was even getting around and making most of my jibes (not quite planing out, but almost). Then, the wind built. Rigged the 6.3. It took awhile, had to redo the mast extension at least 4 times, but finally got it set up right. I did remember to right down all the settings at the end of the day. I think I finally have this sail in its sweet spot. It felt light and powerful all day.

At first, I sailed the 6.3 with the 133 but pretty soon went to the 102. What a treat! I was having fun blasting around and carving up and downwind in the little chop-swell. Just a great time. I was even making most of my jibes (at first) and started coming out of the carves on a plane, and I THINK, maybe, not sure, but just maybe I completed a carving, full planing, jibe. Not really sure though. Here's what I have now learned. Jibes are a whole lot easier when you look into the direction of the jibe. In other words. look where you want to go, and you will go there. I learned this a long time ago when learning to ski trees, and then a little less long ago when riding mountain bikes. I guess I have to learn it every time I try a new sport! Everything the hard way, that's my life. But, so much more satisfaction when I do accomplish something new.

I was even looking for "ramps" and trying little jumps as best I could. I THINK, maybe, not sure, but just maybe on or even possibly two of these attempts that the fin may have cleared the water. In any event, I was able to turn the board off the wind before the board contacted the water during these attempts and avoided the dreaded spin-out. All in all, a good day, and progress made.

So, the day was awesome until I noticed a little crack in the nose of the 102. Fixed it with some ding stick, but it took an hour to dry, it was 5:30, heavy clouds moving in, wind dying off a bit. But, went out for one more planing run, and had to schlog back in upwind, but what a great day. Then, on the way home, I got within a couple of minutes of home when the heavens opened up. So, had to run in during a torrential downpour. Of course, it let up quite a bit several minutes later. Like I said, everything the hard way.

A great day. Just wish I didn't have to wait for the weekend to go sailing again. Oh wait, class at Stony Brook on Wednesday has been cancelled (you should see chlorophyll fluoresce at 669 nm under black light, very cool),
maybe there will be afternoon wind.

Until the next time!!

A Tale of Two Sundays

2009-09-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

As Joe4.7 had said on Saturday, "Manana". He had then pointed down, meaning it was going to be happening here, at Heck, on Sunday.

Sunday, Part One.

Woke up, got out of bed, checked the iWindsurf meters. 26 NE at Bayville. 23 NE at Gilgo. 11NE at GSB. What to do? First of all, when its NE, I historically have missed it because either 1. the weather is lousy (rain and all that stuff), which takes the stoke right out of me, 2. I don't get up early enough (NE seems to always die pretty quickly around here), or 3. I just simply don't know where to go.

Then, I checked the Long Island Windsurfer's Group forum on Yahoo (LIWGF). This REALLY bummed me out. It was 8:11 AM, or thereabouts. George and Pete (and probably others) were already sailing 4.2's at Overlook. Overlook? What and where is Overlook?

So, I went down to Heck. Heck, Joe4.7 called Heck yesterday, and he always seems to know what to do, right? Arrived at Heck at 9:30 AM. No wind. No cars. No people. Drove back up to the north shore to Crab Meadow. There was some wind, woo-hoo!! Bummer, though, the only two windsurfers were just leaving as the wind was starting to die. Was I going to miss yet another NE day? Even the kiters were preparing to leave. Well, since I had to go back to work in two days (today), I better go for it, I thought to myself. The guys who were leaving had been on 5.8. So, I rigged a 6.3, pulled out my beautiful and lovely RRD FSW 102 (that I really can't jibe) and went out. It wasn't constant, but I was planing most of the time. The water was, for me, super. Large (for me) swells, well spaced. Not the choppity, chop-chop stuff like Heck. Jumps (well, sort me, at least it seemed like it to me) on the way out, wave riding on the way in. Changed my life. Seriously. All my life I've had this thing about surfing and surfing lifestyle. I've been surfing like two or three times (not including body surfing). Over 35 years ago. In high school. Down at Tobay. My friend's Dad took us. He was real good. It was awesome.

Well, that's the feeling I had Sunday morning. Three runs in and out. Made 2 out of 3 jibes. Amazing, now I can jibe, awesome. Then the wind died out some, so I headed in. One cool thing is that a lifeguard was watching me, and as I walked by him he said "Are you Mr. G?". Good thing it was the best windsurfing I've ever done on that board. Turns out he is a student at the school where I teach. Today he was telling everybody what an awesome windsurfer I am. Just lucky, I guess.

So, I headed home just before noon, prepared to quit for the day, but happened to check iWindsurf one last time. GSB at like 25, ENE. This is it!!!

Sunday, Part Deux

I ran, as fast as my van would take me down to Heck. You know the feeling when it's blowing and you can't get there soon enough? The arteries around your heart are tense, your mind is blowing itself out through your ears, your legs are twitching, you feel like you are going to die if you don't get to the beach NOW. Well, that's what I was feeling. All thoughts of the morning are gone. Just MORE, MORE, going through my jellied brain.

And then, of course, some guy in front of me at the gate guard shack has to give the gate guard a hundred dollar bill or something, the gate guard is probably texting during the transaction, then the guy has to ask her an hour and a half of questions about who knows what. Finally, after about 5 hours, I finally roll through, go 25 times the speed limit to get to the beach, AND.... the parking lot is crowded and everybody has been sailing on 4.2s for hours. "Where were you?"

So, quickly rig the 4.2 and head out. I'm feeling all flushed about my newfound jibing ability from the morning. But this is Heck. Things are different here. The choppity chop-chop is worse than ever before. But, speed is good. Jibing is not so good. I think I made about 2 jibes all day. But what fun, oh what fun!!

Laughed it up with Curt, Sesel (sp?), even John M., who was doing amazing stuff like an Essex duck jibe. Really cool. Curt sailed across to other side with a few others. Joe4.7 was out on his old Bob Dill board. Some guy on a Maui Sails sail was jibing, tacking, doing amazing maneuveurs. Upwind Mike was doing his normal thing cranking out jibe after jibe without, seemingly, losing any speed whatsoever. Everybody was having an amazing day. "Someday", I thought to myself as I crashed for the umpteenth time.

But, you know that foot thing I talked about in my first post, well, that works. Helped me in the morning and I did it all day long. I am almost there. So close. Just need to do a thousand more jibe setups and entrances, and I am sure I will be able to do a carving, planing jibe in the not so distant future.

Yesterday, Monday, Labor Day:
Nothing really to talk about, except for talking to a few people. Then headed out on 7.5 , 133l to practice tacking, trying to get footwork right. Frustrating, but some progress made. Then laughed it up for a while before heading home and getting ready for the big day today. Wind tomorrow, they say, but I can't make it. Maybe Thursday afternoon. I sure hope so. If so, see you all there!!

Asphyxiation

2009-09-05T17:04:00.001-07:00

After listening to Roy Orbison's magnus opus Windsurfer several times this morning, I just had to get wet. While driving down to Heck on Sagtikos Parkway, I noticed that a giant caromboulage had just occurred on the other side. Some poor person's car was completely smashed in and ambulances were on the way. Serves to make one feel lucky when one is in good health and can think about going windsurfing.

When I arrived at the beach, there was a bit (a wee small bit) of wind that the Captain was making use of on her Starboard Phantom along with a couple of other people who looked like they were on their maiden windsurfing voyages. Good on them, I say!!

Anyway, I decided to rig the Pacer/Pacer combo and went out practicing railing and longboard tacks and pivot jibes. It was okay for about 20 minutes, then the wind (if I may call it that) got so light that it wasn't even blowing anymore. It was more like a sucking effect. Sucking out all of the oxygen in the air. It was getting hard to breath. I was hoping that an oxygen mask would pop out of the boom. I started feeling a bit "high" and began to realize that if I didn't get back to the beach soon, that I would soon pass out. This "high" is the first indication that one is being asphyxiated, and is similar to the effect of diminished oxygen in high altitude flight without an auxiliary oxygen supply.

In addition, even though the insolation from the Sun has started to diminish because the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the Sun has begun to move the Northern Hemisphere into a position where the incoming solar radiation is spread over a larger area as fall and winter approach, it was still hot enough that I was thinking that when I did get asphyxiated from the sucking effect of the "breeze" that someone would eventually find a dessicated human sailing along on a really cool windsurfer. A gaggle of jet skiers thankfully interrupted this reverie and I headed in.

Joe4.7 then opined that "Manana" was going to be good. Can't wait to fall asleep and wake up to lots of wind.

(Some names have been changed to protect the innocent.)

Back to Summer weather...

2009-09-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

Pretty light wind today, so I put on some windsurfing music to get myself stoked a bit. My favorite windsurfing song of all time puts me in the mood and I've been listening to it over and over again today. Thought I'd share it with you (hope I don't run afoul of copyright laws):

Windsurfer
Windsurfer
All he wanted was to ride out on the wind
Windsurfer
To be one of the guys and to look good in her eyes
He practiced in his dreams
trying to catch the waves
Most of the time he sailed alone
Endless summer days
flying in the sun
He'd ride and wait for the wind
to take him home
Windsurfer
Windsurfer
Windsurfer

He said let's sail away together
She told him no no never no
Wind Windsurfer
It was early one morning
on a lonely beach
He left a message and
he wrote in the sand
Why do we always go for
something out of reach?
Nobody ever really understands
Windsurfer
All he wanted to do
was outrun the sun
Wndsurfer
to take her in his arms
when the lonely day was done
Windsurfer

-Roy Orbison (Mystery Girl album)

Thanks for the stoke, Roy

Wow, It got cold fast....

2009-09-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

That's exactly (or pretty close to exactly) what I said to Judy when I got out of my van at Heck this late afternoon. Judy is the wife of George (I don't think their last name is Jetson) and they are a really nice windsurfing couple. In fact, just about all of the people I've met windsurfing over the past, say, four years have been really nice.

My goal for the day was to practice tacking and jibing. (See information below about my desire to be a "racer")

I digress, however. It felt pretty cold this afternoon, and the wind when I arrived was from the SE or SSE, hard to tell, but side onshore in any event. Judy was out practicing tacks on her 109 liter board and 6.3, not planing, just practicing tacks and doing well. So, I decided I was going to, once again, practice tacking my Exocet Pacer 300 hybrid raceboard as I am a wannabe racer. More on this in upcoming posts. I rigged up my 9.5 custom Aerotech cuben fiber Pacer sail and went out. Well, the wind as measured by my wind meter on the beach was only about 9 knots, but was stronger the further one went off the beach. I was planing the whole time, no problem. Oh, I forgot to mention that just after I beach started for the first time today, I glanced at my watch and it was 4:52 PM. So, I had some fun trying to figure out optimum speed vs. angle upwind for maximum VMG (I may be relatively new to windsurfing, but not to sailing, more later on this also). This is extremely hard to do, if not impossible, without someone to gauge off of, but I was just seeing what angles felt better vis a vis speed. So, I tacked upwind for a while and tried to put into effect the ABK tacking method. (This can be viewed at windsport.com) I did this with more or less decent success, then turned downwind and did a bunch of "flarve" jibes downwind. Flarve is a type of jibe where you sort of carve in to the jibe, then finish with a flare. These seemed ok as I wasn't almost, but not quite planing off the wind.

Then, the wind picked up and I was flying! woo-hoo! I could easily have been on a 7.5 and 133 liter board, but I wanted to get some experience with the whole raceboard setup. I must tell you, dear reader, that over the past couple of days of non-sailing, I happened to look up all the information I could find on planing jibes to try and sort out some of my problems that are keeping me from the completion of this most elegant windsurfing maneuveur. Once again, the ABK videos at windsport.com are very helpful and awesome. I also looked at Peter Hart videos a few times which are also good, but no substitute for real instruction. Andy Brandt of ABK has obviously spent a lot of time figuring out the best way to teach windsurfing which is a wonderful thing. Sort of like how us classroom teachers try to figure the best way to present content to students so that they can learn quickly and easily. Unfortunately, for an athletic plodder like me, windsurfing is superhard and it is going to take me some time to get this whole carving jibe thing. I need to concentrate on one step at a time.

At this point, I should like to put in a plug for ABK board camps. I have been to three of them over the past couple of years and they are really great. At the first one I attended, I was initially disappointed to not be in the learn to jibe group, but they did sort out my stance which was in dire need of straightening out, literally. The "7" stance that they teach is the best way, IMO, to sail.

Back to today. When the wind came up to maybe 14 or 15 knots, I was super powered on the 9.5 and decided to try some carving jibes. Well, in addition to online videos mentioned above, I found pictures I took at an ABK clinic last year of master instructor Tom Lepak showing the foot work involved in a carving jibe on the beach simulator. I noticed that he put his old front foot in FRONT of his back foot when stepping over to the other side of the board. For some reason, I have been putting that foot BEHIND the old back foot first. I wondered how all these windsurfers could stay so far forward driving the board through the turn. Now, I know.

So, I tried this technique today. Amazingly enough, when I carved into the turn (which I think I have now just about figured out thanks to a few tips from Pete Roesch a couple of weeks ago on a windy day at Tanner Park) and stepped across as described above, the board stayed on a plane, and if had done my sail flip sooner and quicker, I would have planed through and out of the jibe. But, as I said above, one step at a time.

All in all, a fun time sailing. I sailed until around 6:20 or so, so I got in almost a good hour and a half with only a couple of short breaks. I am only sorry that I forgot to bring a camera as it was a beautiful day and sunset. I will post those pictures of Tom Lepak tomorrow or Saturday to illustrate what I am talking about.

Another lesson learned today, is that to practice tacking and get more efficient at it, I need to get on my 70 cm wide, 133 liter board with a fairly small sail to get all the steps down properly. The big sail and board is somewhat unwieldy for learning the subtleties of maneuveurs.

Thanks for reading.