Maybe I Can Do This,

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!!