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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).

A Symphony of Crashes

There has been a ton going on here I've been wanting to write about. I've got a bunch of nice photos from Pistol River. US Nationals happened 5 minutes from my house. There was a pro freestyle competition in the Delta. I've been wanting to share some thoughts on my progress windsurfing. But alas, I haven't had the gumption to get all of that out there.

In any case this morning I threw this video together real quick of a session at Haskins. We were mostly on 4.5/4.7, but probably should have been on 4.2's. I grabbed my camera after I was completely exhausted, and all of my friends were exhausted as well. Usually, we are all much better than this.

As always, excuse my crack-head shaky camera work.

The REAL Wave Bash Winners

Guess Who Won the Wave Bash?

(Wave Bash Coverage, part 2 of 50 skrillion.)

Press Release for Pistol River Wave Bash

Just pitched in to help out with the event by writing this. The final day is upon us. Good luck to the competitors:

PRESS RELEASE

6-20-2010 10:00 AM

This summer marks the official return of the Pistol River Wave Bash, which was on a ten year hiatus. Under the management of Samantha Bittner, the event's first year back greatly exceeded expectations in attendance. Over 75 windsurfers hailing from as far as France and England traveled to compete in the legendary conditions wind and wave conditions offered by the Oregon Coast. The conditions for competition have not disappointed. Head judge Matt Pritchard described the conditions as "epic". He went on to say, "After having been around the world traveling with the Pro Windsurfing Association and searching for waves and wind for the last 25 years, this place goes in the top 5 in the whole world."

On Thursday, the wind ramped up into the high 30s which made the competitors choose their smallest sails and boards to deal with the extreme conditions. Huge aerial moves and wave rides were judged in Single Elimination heats. Veteran pro windsurfers Kevin Pritchard and Francisco Goya came out on top of the expert men's division, allowing them to skip competing in the Double Elimination heats on Friday.

Friday brought winds that were slightly less strong but were described by pro windsurfer Russ Faurot as, "excellent for a competition.' The judging was based upon scoring one jump and two wave rides in 8 minute heats. Huge push loops and back loops were standard fare. Clean landings and jump height were the determining factors in jump scores. Wave selection and style would play into the scoring for the wave rides. Throughout the day, parking crowded the highway from passers-by enthralled by the action. Many walked long distances to reach the competition area as heats were run late into the evening.

The women's division ran heats on Thursday and Friday as well. Four of the best women in the world competed in the challenging conditions, scoring big forward loops and back loops along with silky smooth wave rides. Canadian Ingrid Larouche pulled out first place on the podium, followed by Tanya Saleh.

The future of windsurfing was on high display as well as competitors Zane Schweitzer and Bernd Roediger duked it out in back-to-back heats to determine the winner. The juniors, who are 16 and 14 respectively sailed well beyond their years, nailing push loops and back loops in rapid fire. Their wave rides were stylish and had huge aerials, as well as sliding through freestyle moves on the wave faces. The rest of the competitive field were blown away by the level of the junior's competition and many commented that they had the most entertaining heats of the day.

Going into the final day, one last heat is left to run between Kevin Pritchard and Francisco Goya to determine the overall expert Men's winner of the Pistol River Wave Bash. Reports of the final heat will be published later.