Nice day at Shirley

It's been a while since the last update. Organizing a rather large windsurfing event, running my business, and the combined mischief of a two and a three year old have been keeping me busy to say the least. I managed to catch a break in the busy schedule and get on the water last week at Shirley. The forecast wasn't super, but the NW breezes turned out to be a gusty but fun 4.2 /4.7. It was great to sail the really flat water out the back of Kurt's house. The wind was really fickle near shore so throwing tricks for the camera was nearly impossible. The wind further out by the island was great though. I was working on the behind the back duck tack to set up for Culos and Konos for the first time. I had tried the sail throw a few times before, and in flat water it wasn't too hard, but when things got choppy, it was really difficult. My first attempt was the best of the day. I was wound up on my 4.2 but coming into a lull, which seemed to me to be the perfect time to duck the sail. So Duck I did! Now I'm planing full speed in the straps holding onto the sail in a weird twisted position behind my back. Well, that went better than planned, so I figured just go for it. I ended up popping the board out of the water, and actually made it half way around. Not bad for attempt #1. It's too bad that attempts # 2 through 20 weren't nearly as nice. Tomorrow is now promising to have some good wind, so I'm eager to try some more. The last move I've craved this bad was the shaka and it's still my favorite.

Here's how my beloved F2 Rodeo does a Culo with Steven Van Broekhoven riding it. So my board knows how to do it, so it's only a matter of time.

Steven van Broeckhoven Culo Planing from Windsurfmoves on Vimeo.