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:
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Back to Basics
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!!
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!!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Decision Made
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.
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.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Help!
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...
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...
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Decisions, Decisions...
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...
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...
Monday, June 7, 2010
Hope
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.
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.
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