About Me
- Mike Burns
- Nags Head, NC, United States
- Windsurfing has ruled more than 1/2 my life. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about how it feels to fly across the water, fly through the air, or spin around in circles on my windsurf gear. So to help spread the stoke (and further give in to my addiction) I started this blog. I hope you find it entertaining and a place to go for some useful information.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Long Island is back!!!
After the past 2 relatively windless years on Long Island, I was beginning to think that the good old days of day after day of Southwest thermal action were long gone. I was beginning to think that the only time we'd be getting wind again was while we were wearing drysuits. But this spring and now start to the summer has been more than making up for the windless years of the past. I just hope I'm not jinxing everything with these comments. Official spring on Long Island starts for me when we get back from Cape Hatteras at the end of April. Last year and the year before we found ourselves writing about how long it's been since our last session. Last year I went a full month to the day between sailing sessions in June.
This year however is totally different. Not only is there more wind, but it's really close to being able to plan a trip to the beach to windsurf like you would any other sport. In may we had two different 6 or 7 day consecutive stretches of 5.0 and down sailing with many more days in between. I counted 20 days of 5.0 and down at Heckscher in May of which I managed to grab 11 (would be 6.0 without the Fanatic skate and Northsails idol combo that I'm using) June hasn't been quite as windy, but 12 or 13 days of sailable days wouldn't be a stretch. Unfortunately most of them were days I was working but I still have 5 days in June under my belt and the month isn't over! It's been blowing since last thursday and has been blowing 5.0 for at least a couple hours every day since. And it looks to be windy for as far as the forecast can see!
Also, I should mention that to catch these windy days at Heckscher, one needs to totally disregard iwindsurfs botched forecasts. They don't have any local forecasters and are spread too thin as the forecaster is doing the entire eastern seaboard. They haven't called for 20 mph winds a single time in this last stretch of 5 or 6 windy days in a row. 10-14 is usually their call. Best bet is to check windfinder for a good forecast and compare that to the NWS marine forecast. Joe's beach is right on windfinder now for one of the forecast spots and the forecast is really, really good.
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Hey Mike, sounds like your spring/summer going well! I'm in the gorge now and the wind has been great, are you still heading over here? I'm here until the 21st of July. If I recall correctly you described the chop at the hatchery as voodoo chop! I couldn't agree more, what a mess! Going to try the flat area near the marina/event site downwind of a large sand bank. You liked Doug's the best though?? Regards Andrew from Melbourne
ReplyDeletehi Andrew,
ReplyDeleteWe're going to miss you by a couple days. We'll be arriving in Hood River on the 24th. Yeah, the Hatch takes some getting used to. It's not too bad on the outside past where most guys turn around. Coming back in, there's voodoo chop all over, a million other people to watch out for and no wind where it's nice and flat on the inside. The event site is nice for freestyle if there's enough wind. It's really gusty there, but the water conditions are much better. Doug's was by far my favorite spot. You can stand on both tacks, the chop is much more organized and the wind was steadier there than at the Hatch. 2 PM and it's time to go to Doug's!! That's where I'll be at 2:00 on the 24th :-)
Enjoy the rest of your trip!!
Mike
Totally agree with your assessment!! Had a great day at Doug's, also helped by the fact I'm back on North Hero's which I've managed to rent! Sooo much better than the other brands I've been renting! Not quite as easy for freestyle as my idols but still far superior to anything else I've used! Vindicates my views on north sails in general and totally justifies the premium prices! The local fanatic/north pro lent me a 99 skate also which is awesome shame I won't get to sail with you was looking forward to some technique advice, hopefully next year pretty sure I'll be back I love it here!
ReplyDeleteHey Andrew, Glad you scored some good sessions, and I couldn't agree with you more about the Norths. And Fanatic for that matter too!! I try as many different sail/ board brands as I can get my hands on just so I know that I like my boards/ sails the best :-)
ReplyDeleteGlad you scored Doug's!!! We had a good 4.5 day here in NY 2 days ago. Reminded me of the Gorge...... Can't wait to get out there!! Save some wind for us!!
Mike
A friend back home is getting powerex masts for his idols will that work? I found it interesting how you use no limitz instead of north masts, but I recall a very thorough test some years ago in a British magazine putting non original brand masts in sails and they found the sails often felt better!! I had a fiberspar mast yesterday in the hero and it actually felt good! Have you tried lots of different mast brands in your northsails?
ReplyDeleteDidn't Powerex go out of business?? I'm honestly not too sure if the powerex will work too well. I'm pretty sure the powerex bend is the same as Maui/Gaastra. You can stick those masts in and the Idol and it will still feel pretty good, but with the right mast it will work much better. Those masts are hard/top masts, so what will happen is the middle batten will pull away too early and make the sail lay too flat to make good power. Then if you let the downhaul out so that the middle of the sail is looking good, the leach will be very tight making the sail feel like it's got lot's of power and not going as early as it should. On a side note, the Northsails still feel better than the Mauisails even when they are both using a maui mast. I've tried and we thought it was pretty funny!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I ride for NoLimitz and Northsails (by choice). I ride NoLimitz because they're the same performance and 1/2 the price of a comparable North Mast, or Maui Mast, Gaastra mast, or just about anything else coming out of the Italian Factory. And the great thing about the idol is that it is so forgiving to rig, that you can really get it working pretty well with almost any bend. But when it's got the perfect match of a mast, that's when the magic happens :-)
As for bends that will work with the Nortsails Idol, or really any Northsail, the Ezzy, Goya, Simmer, Chinook masts I've tried and work good on northsails. NoLimitz obviously would be my first pick since those masts are designed around the same exact bend as North. Laying on the beach there's no distinguishable difference to a North mast or a NoLimitz mast. On the water, you can get the sail to handle exactly how you want depending on which NoLimitz mast you choose. Nolimitz makes softer and stiffer versions of each sized mast. The stiffer nolimitz mast, the Sumo feels a lot like the North Platinum only a little bit heavier. The Original Skinny is lighter but a little softer. For freestyle, weight is everything so I use something a little lighter. The mast I'm using now is a secret weapon in the testing process for NoLimitz.
Mike
Hey Mike,
ReplyDeleteI'm Andys friend Chris who is getting the Powerex masts. Andy mentioned that he asked you the question, so thought I'd check in to see what you said :)
You're right Powerex did go out of business and was purchased by another company I believe (2011) and have now started making windsurfing accessories again (http://2011.americanwindsurfingtour.com/powerex-is-back/). In fact a few pwa riders like Justyna Sniady are using their gear now; namely their bamboo composite masts which apparently have some new technology in them which I don't know too much about.
Since the company was reshaped a few years ago they have started making masts from scratch. Their masts have a 'constant curve' which was different to the bend traditional Powerex masts had > 2 years ago. As such they claim to fit well to the North sails, and in particular, 'newer freestyle sails' even. I'll get the masts in a few days so can report back with the testing results :) I'll be keeping my North masts for another few weeks though just in case :)
But like you, I was looking for an alternative brand because of the inflated North prices; not to mention issues with booms that have been circulating amongst the windsurfing world for a while now (ie grips coming apart, booms slipping, cracked heads). The Powerex equipment is *substantially* cheaper then the North booms/masts. The masts come in at almost the same weight as the North Platinum Aero (90 grams heavier), a fair bit lighter then the North Platinum (300 grams lighter), and also a fair bit lighter then the North Platinum equivalent booms (400 grams).
I've been using North Idols and North masts now for a while so am used to their good stable feeling. I think it will be obvious quite quickly whether the Powerex masts do justice for the Idols.
Cheers,
Chris
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update on Powerex!! You should notice the weight savings nicely. The prototypes I have are even lighter than the Aero :-) the difference is HUGE!!! I sailed a 5.3 Idol with a North Platinum in it after being used to my masts and the weight makes a big difference. So yeah, if the bend is good, which it sounds like it should be with the new powerex masts, then the idols should work even better with those masts!!!!
Happy sailing,
Mike
keep posting..down in Bonaire it's solid 4.7 for the next week.
ReplyDeleteNIce Ann!! Go get some!! You gotta come to the EAst Coast Winsdurfing Festival - Cape Cod. We're just getting it set. Sept. 14th & 15th at Kalmus. Peter and Nina are the main organizers. I'm just helping them as far as stuff they need to do.
ReplyDeleteHope to see you soon,
Mike
Nice post thanks for sharinng
ReplyDelete