Racing isn't my Thing

But this video is AMAZING!!!



This is the type of coverage that windsurfing needs more of. Accessible, easy to watch, easy to understand what's going on. The low angle helps capture the speed, but a high angle from a tower would be really compelling on this sort of race as well.

Mo is Funny

Check out teamcoyote.net to see a recent cartoon that Mo' drew of me. It's a graphic depiction of my early years windsurfing on lakes in Florida.

Hilarious! Thanks Mo!

It's inspiring how well Mo has done keeping fresh windsurfing content on her website for years now!

Pro Windsurfers are Good

For those of you who don't speak Spanish, Daida Moreno is giving a shoutout to my blog, as well as professing her undying love for me.

It Takes Balls to Sail Ocean Beach

This is a video taken by someone last month of some windsurfers getting after it at Ocean Beach. Ocean Beach is the main beach on the West Side of San Francisco. It's about 4 miles long and a couple hundred yards wide on low tide. It's fairly unusual to find good windsurfing conditions, or even conditions that are windsurf-able out there. The predominant winds are directly onshore and the water conditions, as you can see, are pretty friggin' gnarly.

Ocean Beach is considered an advanced surf spot. Usually, you'll have to paddle through 10-20 lines of white water to get to the break. When you get there, the waves are extremely peaky. It's hard to position yourself and you normally are paddling to different positions the whole time you are out. I've been crushed by a couple of waves out there, so I can attest to the power and speed of the wave there.

The long and short of it is that windsurfing this spot is NOT for the faint of heart. You had better have skills, courage, and a hunger to challenge yourself to go after it here. Props to the sailors in this video. Ryan from South Africa (silver naish) and Vincent from France (Yellow MS) are Crissy regulars who definitely have a reputation of being a couple of the braver guys in my neighborhood.

A Tribute to Paul Mann

For those of you who haven't heard, a windsurfer passed away in the Columbia River Gorge last weekend while Stand Up Paddling on a light wind day. The details of how it happened are unclear. He was missing for several days after his board was recovered and finally his body was found early yesterday morning.

This has definitely weighed heavily on me, I knew Paul. Paul was a Crissy Field regular and was the local rep for North Wave sails. He was very well known and well-liked among the crowd and he always had time to chat and joke around. Being the new guy at Crissy this year was a little intimidating at first for me, but Paul went out of his way to make me feel welcome. He remembered my name the first time we met and would always make a point to say hello and give me a hard time about my sail choice. (4.2? Are you nuts??)

Even in the short time I knew Paul, he had a positive effect on my life and on my windsurfing. At the end of the day, that's what life is all about right? Even in our imperfection, we should ask ourselves "Am I having a positive or negative effect on the people around me?" Paul unequivocally brought good times, a smiling face, and constant stoke to the windsurfers around him. His life may have been unfortunately cut short, but I know in my heart that he, like all windsurfers, truly lived.

The picture below is of a gathering that was held at Crissy for Paul. I know that he would feel so happy if he could have seen all the people who showed up in his honor. All of them were undoubtedly better off having known him.