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My nipples.


Pardon the strange attire, it was a rare scorcher in the bay (especially for this year) and all I had was some neoprene short layers, and one booty to cover a cut on my right foot. Perfect 5.6 butter flat, table smooth water. Happy to not be making spocks to get a chance to cool off. Well, sorta happy about that.

100.

(photo by Asma A, freestyle badass)

Yesterday was my 100th day of sailing this year.

That's a lot of windsurfing.

It's also an easy number to run a quick percentage count of what sails/boards I was using this year. Keep in mind that I live and work in a situation right now that allows me to sail nearly every sailable day in the bay. I take days off to rest, injury or if I'm not feeling well, so by no means am I sailing EVERY sailable day. Probably a majority, though. Also, I didn't include the handful of 2 session days in my analysis. That would change things a bit, but not a huge amount.

3.7 - 3 days
4.2 - 9 days
4.7 - 32 days
5.0 - 15 days
5.3 - 26 days
5.6 - 15 days

97 L Fanatic Skate - 72 days
86 L Fanatic Freewave - 18 days

My weight most of this season has been about 170 American pounds (77kg).

I was a little surprised to see how much more I use my bigger freestyle board than my smaller freewave. I attribute this partly to it being a lighter wind year than normal (el neenyo) and partly to my complete obsession with freestyle windsurfing (something I just started this year).

**Disclaimer: I'm not writing this to brag, or put anyone else's sailing region down. I just think it's somewhat useful information for people who visit or are considering moving to this location. Yes, it's windy here, and if you have a flexible schedule you could sail a ton.

***Disclaimer numero dos: Here's the part where I brag. I made my first spock during my 100th session of the year.

Hamburger A or Hamburger B?

Here are a couple of vulcans that I attempted a couple of weeks ago. The question is, which one is a better attempt?

The second one was dry, but I contend that the first one is the better one for a couple of reasons.

A. I went boom to boom on the first one, and kept the mast vertical. I probably would have made it if that big piece of chop didn't come and eat the front of my board.

B. I do a huge arm sweeping motion on the second one before going to the mast with my hand. The mast fell far to leeward and I was lucky to recover from it...

The boom-to-boom vs. pole grabbing on a vulcan or spock is a pretty hotly debated topic. Many of the best freestyle windsurfers in the world grab the mast when they spock, but most instructors say going boom to boom will ultimately give you a more consistent spock, and a better shot at the spock 540.

I guess the question is, does it matter? Maybe it does. The only people that can tell the difference are the people who are into freestyle. To everyone else, it may as well be a grubby/puneta/other spinnyslidey move.

Or the even bigger philosphical question is: What's better a good miss or a bad make?

I think a good miss is better, a bad make is how you start forming bad habits (see, jibing).