Pure Windsurfing

2012 Skate & New Northsails ID

2011-12-14T09:20:00.001-08:00

For those of you with A.D.D. or if you simply get bored of reading really fast, skip ahead to a quick clip I threw together today. It has a few shots of just the 99 ltr board and 5.0 ID sail. If you care about my impressions of the 2012 goodies, keep reading and watch the video at the end.

I was anticipating the new gear arrival for a long time now. And my excitement was at a level higher than I can remember in recent years to get my hands on the new gear. Why was the excitement about this years gear more than years past? Well, for one, the Skate, my favorite board of all time has changed in design for 2012. My anticipation for the new skate was mainly based around the fact that it didn't need it to get any better. I was just hoping that they didn't screw it up. But it wasn't just Fanatic that was throwing a new product into the lineup. Northsails also came out with a pair of new wave sails. They still have the Ice, and Duke. Now they have also introduced the Hero and ID for 2012. The Hero being a 4 batten wave sail and the ID being a very lightweight combination of the Ices and Dukes. A lighter version of my favorite sails, I think I'll take that one!!

So Now I've had a few sessions on the new boards and sails and have a good idea of the new gears capabilities. So lets start off with the boards. I know people are in love with their 2011 skates and everyone was just hoping that Fanatic didn't screw up a good thing. The First thing you'll notice about the new skate are the specs. The 99 ltr lost 1 ltr from last year but still has the same width as last year at 63.5. It is significantly shorter than the 2012 model at 228cm. It seems like the nose is also beefed up a bit from last year.

So how do these changes affect the performance of the 99 ltr. They don't!!! At least for your average Joe that buys the board for it's incredible freeride performance. It planes up at least as early as last year, has every bit of speed that last years board had and carves the same perfect jibe that the 2011 model did. So then what did these changes in the 2012 model do? Well, If you're like me and want to go crazy spending as much time spinning, sliding and flipping as possible, you'll be very happy on all 3 accounts. For moves like an Air Funnel, or Ponch it's absolutely amazing. The shorter length lets you rotate freely without the longer nose grabbing the water and stopping the rotation. With the beefed up nose, it also has less of a tendency to bury the nose at the end of a sliding trick, and spinning all the way through double and triple flakas has never been easier. Basically, if the Rodeo and Skate from 2011 had a baby, the 2012 Skate would be it. No matter what you want to do on this board, it will be more than capable.

I also have the 89 ltr model which in my oppinion has improved significantly over last years 90 ltr. The 90 ltr last year was a bit more dedicated to freestlye than the 2011 100 ltr. The 90 ltr didn't carve as well as I would have thought for it's size, but the new 89 ltr, put some turn back in the board. I couldn't get over how much fun I had playing with the 89 ltr and 4.5 in the shoulder high side-on waves at West Meadow. Then when it came time for a trick, it had every bit of speed, pop and control that I loved about the 90 ltr last year. Now the 89 ltr is also a board for everyone just like the 2011 100 ltr and its 2012 99 ltr brother.

For the sails, I have some Ices, Dukes and my new favorite ID. I haven't had much of a chance to try the Ices and Dukes, but the ID is absolutely amazing! I have the ID in 4.5, 5.0 and 5.4 sizes. The first thing you'll notice as soon as you pick up the sail is that it's light. Really light!!! The ID weighs the same as a 1.5 meter smaller Ice. So the 5.4 ID weighs the same as a 4.0 Ice!! And the weight savings isn't everything. The maneuverability and range of this sail is just incredible. I was switching back and forth between my 4.5 ID and 4.0 Ice one day, and the ID felt even more locked down than the Ice when it got overpowered. The draft just does not move around on the ID. There is still more than enough low end power there for anyone. Possibly even more than last year's Ice/Dukes. So if you're in the market for a new sail, and you want something easier to maneuver and super comfortable to sail, the ID is the way to go.

So how did the ID get so light? Well, mostly due to the new hi-tech material "ODL". There is still some x-ply on the ID in the areas that are "crash prone" like at the foot of the sail, but the ODL is used on most of the areas where the x=ply would be on the Ice. I did a little research on what exactly ODL is. Basically it's a laminate material, like x-ply, but using lighter weight materials. Technora seems to be the main ingredient. North has also added (or taken away) a few little weight savers compared to the Ice. The seems on the ID are single stitched, where on the Ice and Duke there is a double stitch. There is still protection on the backside of the batten tensioners to protect against wear while rigging, but instead of the usual full plastic backing, there is only a small strip of plastic. It still looks like it should do the job. They also dropped the double clew grommet from the ID. Honestly this thing has so much range, that I'm not sure you'd really need it. Other than that, the ID is pretty similar to the Ice. Really great handling, lots of range and just plain fun to sail only in a significantly lighter package.

Also, if you're into freestyle the ID does the duck moves unlike anything I've sailed. You just duck and put the sail where you want it. I made more Air Funnels and Bobs in my first session on the 5.0 ID and 99 ltr skate than the past 2 months of sailing combined! For freestyle, there is no comparison and you shouldn't even think twice about the ID. For everyone else, will you like the ID better than the Ice or Duke? Of course. But will it be worth the $100.00 premium over the Ice? That's up to you. For me it sure is.

I had a little downtime this morning, so I decided to make a quick little video with some of the details of the Skate and ID. I know I repeated a few shots, but when I was trying to find out more about the boards and sails, those were the things that I wanted to see the most. Enjoy

Gorge: Full Power

2011-08-08T13:46:00.001-07:00

I've been windsurfing for well longer than 1/2 my life. I've been traveling on windsurfing vacations for the past 15 years. Naturally people just assume I've been to the Gorge. When I tell them I've never been, I always get a glance followed by, "Yooouuu've never been to the Gooorge?" Sorry to say I have not. It's not that I didn't want to try it out, it's just that the stars never aligned.

While we were on our spring trip to Hatteras, the chatter started about a possible summer trip to the Gorge. Chachi was with us on the trip and all he kept talking about was how much fun the Gorge was and how windy it was in the summer. A time of year when a windy day is really hard to come by in the North East. Especially this year. So the thought was placed in my head, and as the windless June carried on, serious talks about the Gorge began. Ryan and Kerry were first to jump on board with the trip. That was enough for me. Our Jet Blue tickets were in my e-mail the next day!

On the flight Christina and I were filled with great expectations from all the hype at home. I caught a few z's on the plane while thinking of the huge jumps I'd take at the Hatchery that I've heard so much about. Since we arrived during the night we didn't get to see the beautiful ladscape that surrounded Hood River, the town we were staying in, and the US Mecca of windsurfing. Ryan and Kerry already flew in the night before, so Ryan was eager to show me around town. There are more windsurf shops per square block in Hood River than there are Delis in Brooklyn. It was like waking up in a candy store. the second I walked out of the Hood river Hotel, I could already see Big Winds, and The Gorge Surf shop. Up the hill was Windance and a million other places to spend all the money I had. Seeing the look on my face, Christina decided to hold onto my wallet for the remainder of the trip.

The plan for the first day was to try out the event site for some freestyle , then sail upwind to the hatch. I was told it's an easy sail about a mile upwind. It turns out it was a very easy sail about a mile upwind. The problem was that the wind came up another notch and my 4.2 was becoming a bit of a handful. Combine that with a strong current that runs against the wind, and going downwind in the Gorge is waaayyyyy harder than going upwind. It's the first place I've ben where the walk of shame starts upwind every time!

Day 2 we decided to go straight for the Hatch. The launch there was a little tricky as you had to walk down slippery rocks and hop a fishing net after you were on the board. Tyson showed up a little after we did and the place turned into a freestyle arena! Tyson would throw a loop, so I would try to go bigger! Then a shaka, so I would try again to go bigger! I couldn't really say that I did, but we were both going huge! Then there it was, the perfect ramp for the biggest shaka I've ever done. A little over head high and coming at a slight angle. Perfect! I hit the ramp with full speed, launched way into the air. High enough to watch someone's headcap sail by below me. Everything was perfect, then as I was floating down from the heavens, the wind decided to take a time out. Just for a split second, but it was long enough for me to get too far over the rig and now I was no longer floating down from the heavens, but falling like a meteor. I braced for impact and there it goes......my middle panel in teh 4.7 that is. I was fine, but my favorite sail ever was in desperate need of repair. no big deal. I knew exactly where to bring it. The same place I would be picking up my 4.2 from the previous day. Good old Olaf to the rescue! He does some nice sail repair work!

In all honesty, I didn't really care for the sailing at the Hatch. We sailed there 3 times and all 3 days it was just overcrowded, voodoo chop central. far and few real ramps for jumping, and just an absolute mess of chop. Picture the heckscher chop, with mid summer boa traffic, that's about 2 feet taller. I'm not planning on going there again unless it's the only place there's wind.

After the session at the hatch, it was out to Doug's Beach. This place was BY FAR my favorite spot. It had stronger wind like at the Hatch, but also had smooth water for freestyle on either side of the river. For the last few days, I didn't even bother going anywhere else, even though the wind was stronger elsewhere. It was just day after day of the same thing. It's the only trip I've been on where we weren't alway rushing to the water at teh first sign of a whitecap. We knew it would be there later. All in all, we sailed 9 of the 10 days we were there, all on 4.7 or less. The plans for Gorge trip next summer are in the works.

We also had a blast white water rafting while we were there, and horseback riding, where Chrissy's horse was spooked by a bear. Yes everything in the Gorge is Full Power!

Flaka :Full Power!

White water rafting for beginners in the Gorge. That's my red paddle on the far right trying to breathe.

Shaka at Doug's. 3.7 Full Power!

Spocking my way though the jibatorium at the Hatch

Shaka at the hatch

Rocky launch at the hatch

Me and Ryan stoked after a full day of sailing

here's your sign

Gorge

2011-08-08T13:44:00.001-07:00

Naughty or Nice?

2011-07-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year when all the shops, and team Riders make their wish list for the next years gear. The closest thing that I can compare this time of year to is when I was much younger than I am now, and I was making out my Christmas list and sending it off to Santa. Every year I would hope that I was a good enough little boy to get all those things I had asked for on my list. It's almost the same exact feeling now while I'm placing my 2012 gear order. I know Santa's little elves have been watching me all year long and I just hope they haven't seen me causing all sorts of trouble this year.

Now the second part of the wish list is trying to go through that giant toy catalog and only choose the very few toys that you want the most. Well, the newest toy catalog offered by North Sails has simply made it very difficult to figure out which toys to choose. I want them all!!!! I was all set to order up the usual Ices and Dukes, but wait, there's a Hero and ID. So now I have to ask myself, what kind of a boy will I be this year. A hardcore wave sailor or a freestyle wizard. The reality always sets in that I live in NY where there are no good waves, at least not often enough to justify a true wave quiver, like the full x-ply Ice. So I always wind up choosing the sails that suit freestyle the best. So it's usually 5.3 and down Ices and a 5.9 Duke, but it's North's newest creation, the ID that I truly have my eyes set on. The ID stands for Ice/Duke which is an incredibly light version of those sails. It's an Ice from 5.0 down and a Duke from the 5.4 up. Ready for the bombshell.......the 2012 5.0 ID is the same exact weight of the 2012 3.4 Ice!! And the Ice already lost some weight from 2011! North is using a new material for them in the ID sails. On the website they openly offer up that it's true that due to the new material that the norths aren't covered under the typical 5 year warranty. But, considering the new material that isn't making par on Norths 5 year warranty is the same material that all those Ezzy riders rave about in quality, there's no doubt in my mind that these sails will have a nice long life to them as well.

So my wish list for 2012 is 6.4, 5.4, 5.0, 4.5 ID and 4.0 and 3.7 Ice (dear santa, maybe have your elves make a 4.0 and 3.7 ID next year)

Well, the sails were difficult enough, but now I have to chose boards! This was actually a no-brainer. The pair of 2011 skates I have right now are the best boards I've ever used in my life! Please sir may I have another. The 2012 Fanatic Skate Team edition in the 89 and 99 versions better be in Santa's sleigh.

Makani Fins Wave Xperience

2011-07-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

Makani Fins not only have some really great products, (Makani is all I'm using now) but they are really into the sport and seeing it grow. I've talked to the Makani guys about starting events, and I'v seen them have some great clinics in the past. So check out the latest clinic in Hatteras.

Windsurfing IS a drug!

2011-07-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

It's not so easy to have a drug addiction. Sure it ruins lives, and could cost the user their family, friends and even their own lives. Not so different from windsurfing really. Without wind, the windsurfer will get cranky, fidgety, and start lashing out at friends and family, kinda like a crackhead that hasn't had his fix. But, at least the local crackhead can go get his fix at will, provided he hasn't spent all his money on heroin.

The past month has been rehab for all the windsurfers in New England. At first, the lack of wind this spring/summer had all the local bloggers whining and crying. I could have sworn I drove past Michael Alex (Peconic Puffin) on a street corner with his hand reaching out, trying to feel the breeze coming off of the passing cars. Yes indeed, we were all in some serious need of a taste of our preferred substance, wind. But as the weeks of no wind went on, the whining started to stop. The complaining started dying down and we started to set into the reality that there just isn't any more wind. Our bodies got used to not windsurfing, not feeling the spray from the water splashing against our ankles while speeding across the water. We were finally free of the NEED to sail. The Need to fly through the air. The Need to be truly free by throwing all of our cares into the wind and not worrying about anything other than the moment we were in. Windsurfers all over New England overcame their addiction and triumphed from the forced rehabilitation that mother nature forced on us.

Until Monday and Tuesday. Like the most masterful drug dealer in the land, Aeolus (greek wind god) knew exactly who to pray on, and what to deal out to make the most impact to get people back using again. Not only was Aeolus dealing some wind, but it was in it's most potent form. It was between 20 and 30 mph! Now just after one taste, Windurfers in New york, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, are back off the wagon and waiting for the next fix, which looks to be on Sunday. So when, you're windurfing friend blows off the BBQ on Sunday, or suddenly becomes ill and can't make it to work on Monday, it was because they needed the next fix. Yes sir, we are using again, and it's never felt so good.

Guilty as charged.

Look out Johnny, that's my wind!

Flying high!

Hatteras 2011

2011-05-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple weeks since we got back from our annual spring trip to Cape Hatteras. It's taken us this long to recover from all the sailing we did there. We managed to get 15 out of the 17 days and I didn't need anything bigger than the 5.3. There were more than enough 3.7 days to get really dialed into those conditions. One day Chris Eldridge and I did an upwinder from Ocean Air all the way to the Windsurfing Magazine house which was all the way down by the Canadian Hole. Later on that week Windsurfing Mag dumped off about a dozen 100 to 120 ltr boards at our house to finish up the photoshoot. I rode a Fanatic Falcon that they dropped off that would simply blow right past anything else on the water. That was before really sheeting in! It was a great trip with great friends and I'm really looking forward to our next Hatteras trip. Here's a few clips of one of the days I was on the 4.2 ice & 90 ltr skate.

A Few Clips From Hatteras from Mike Burns on Vimeo.

Freestyle Board Reviews

2011-03-22T17:36:00.000-07:00

First off I'm and expert freestyler that weighs between 165-170 lbs. (75 kilos for our friends across the pond) I've sailed all of the boards I'm reviewing From Long Island, to Cape Hatteras and Bonaire, so I've got a real feel for all of them. (with the exception of the JP 98) I've sailed more freestyle boards than anyone else I know. I've also owned more freestyle boards form different brands over the past year than most magazines that do write ups on freestyle boards. So I figured I'd help some of you guys looking for a freestyle board know the strong points and weaknesses of those boards I've owned. So what boards are they, the 2011 Fanatic Skate 90ltr and 100ltr, 2010 JP Freestyle 89ltr and 98ltr, 2010 F2 Rodeo, and 2009 Mistral Joker. I've had plenty of time on each of these in all sorts of conditions so here are my views of each.

First off, the 2009 Mistral Joker. I'm including this one in the reviews even though it's a couple years old. This was the board that changed what freestyle boards are supposed to be. Gone were the slow, totally dedicated freestyle boards of the past. Those boards were great for sliding backwards, but the 2009 joker is simply a great all around board. It is fast, easy to sail, and has very good carving ability. It also feels much smaller than it's 99 ltrs. The tail of the Joker (along with the JP) has a little less volume than other freestyle boards, so it's a little less stable to learn the sliding maneuvers. That said, it will slide though any 360 type trick without ever catching the rail. It's thick rails up by the mast track help to skip sideways over even steep chop. It's also very good at tricks you need to carve into like shakas and ponches. All in all, it's better at the more advanced set of tricks than vulcans. In 2009, this blew everything else off the water. It just did all the tricks I needed to learn better than the other boards in 2009 and it also was great as a large wave board. However that was 2009 and this is 2 years later. The other brands took note and have improved on a great design.

Next on the list is the 2010 F2 Rodeo 98. It's basically the same exact board as the 2011. All they did was move the fin box a tiny bit forward for 2011. This is a great freestyle board. Definitely one of my personal favorites. When you first try the board it will feel a bit weird because at only 225cm and all that volume in such a short board, it's kind of directionally unstable. But once you get it figured out, which took me about 2 sessions, you'll be loving life. The Rodeo is tied with the Skate in the early planing department. It will pop up on a plane much faster than most of the other boards and will blow away ANY freestyle/wave in planing. It's also a very fast board. Faster than freestyle/waves and the 09 Joker. The pop of the Rodeo is incredible, and sliding afterwards is very fast. Also having all that volume packed under your feet makes the board easy to cheat throgh the end of a move that would other wise go under water. The one drawback to the Rodeo is the jibing/wave riding. It's very short and thick rails don't make for a good carving board. It will fly through jibes, but they will always have a wide arc. It also makes the board harder to learn shakas and other moves that require a really hard fast carve to initiate. I really do like the rodeo and would recommend it as a close second to the skate. So the strong points of the Rodeo are planing popping and spinning. The weakness is carving.

Third up is the duo of the JPs. I list them both because the JP 89 and 98 don't really sail like the same board at all. First is the 89 ltr. The 89 is a shaka machine. It's simply incredible at doing shakas. You can screw it up so bad and because of the amount of rocker the board has, there is a huge sweet spot where you can land a shaka. The downside, is the board suffers a bit at all the other tricks. It's thin and narrow tail helps carving, but if you're looking for forgiveness in the sliding tricks, look at the Rodeo or Skate. That said, it can easily spock, flaka and go for switch stance tricks. Another thing I found interesting about the board is it's range on the high end. I'e taken this board out in well over 30 knots many times and really didn't want anything smaller. I was really surprised as to how much wind the 89 ltr could handle for it's size. The oh so obvious strong point of the 89 ltr is its shaka-ability. It's obvious that the 89 was designed specifically with this move in mind. There really aren't any real weaknesses of the JP 89. It doesn't offer as much stability or early planing ability as the 90 ltr skate. It will still do all the tricks just fine, just not quite as easily as the skate 90. I would recommend the JP 89ltr as THE board to learn a shaka on. If you really want to crack that move, the JP is the king. If you're looking for a board that offers a more rounded freestyle ability, look at the skate. But if you're looking for an easier sailing, earlier planing, faster version of the JP freestyle/wave this is for you.

The 98 ltr JP is next on the list. This is the only one I didn't actually own, and for a reason. For advanced freestyle, it's just not cutting it. It planes nice and early and has a great feel while sailing. But after sailing the 89 ltr, I was expecting a lot more out of the 98 ltr JP. A buddy of mine had it out that doesn't do freestyle before I tried it and he mentioned the lack of pop. I figured he just didn't know how, but when I got on it, I was surprised how much effort it took to get this board out of the water. Then once going backwards, it kept hooking up in the slides. It as really hard to pull off a funnel for me unless it was perfect. It's almost like it only wants to vulcan while you're sliding backwards. Getting the 360 out of it was really hard. Strong points of the 98 would be planing and a lively ride. It's really a great freeride board, not a freestyler. Weaknesses: everything freestyle.

Now on to my current boards and hands down favorites. The skate 90ltr and 100ltr. One thing about this pair of boards that I noticed right off the bat. The 100 ltr has more rocker than the 90. I was wondering why you'd change up a boards rocker so much only one size away from each other. The short answer, when switching back and forth from the 90 to the 100, all the moves require the same body weight distribution. Last year was hard for me when I was switching back and forth between my 98 ltr Rodeo and 89 ltr JP. I'd spend 1/2 the day learning the board, before I could start making progress on the tricks. With the pair of skates, I can go back and forth without any kind of change in my posture or weight distribution in the tricks. Fanatic really nailed both designs.

The Skate 90 ltr: It does EVERYTHING very, very well. Every trick you try will be easy and the planing of the 90 ltr is truly remarkable. I was out-planing guys on 5.3s and 100 ltr boards. It planes up much earlier than the JP 89, but I think it will have a more limited top end to it. And although shakas are easy enough on the board, you need to land them right to make them nice. The skate won't self-shaka like the JP does. But for every other trick in the book, the fanatic has the edge. The JP 89 also has a little better carving ability than the 90 ltr skate because the rocker is just so flat. But that flat rocker is just insanely fast. you'll blow any of the freestyle/waves out there away with this thing. And all that speed translates into explosive tricks. It's no wonder Gollito can do 4 or 5 moves in a single sequence. The speed just carries right through. The strong points of the 90 ltr skate are planing, speed and spin-ability. Weaknesses are lacking. It doesn't shaka as well as the JP 89, but certainly isn't any harder than the other boards in the review.

Skate 100 ltr: My favorite board of all time! It planes like no other, it pops like no other and can actually rip through a regular old carve jibe. If there is a weakness to the 100 ltr skate, I certainly haven't found it. It will slide through every transition with ease. If you were to take all the best qualities form the other boards and pack them into one design, this would be it. It even shakas as easily as the 89 JP. The outline and rocker combo of the skate makes for a fast, easy carving freestyle machine. This board is also great for those guys not even doing freestyle. it's just a great back and forth blaster as well. My favorite tricks are air funnels, bobs and shakaflakas, but when I let a buddy of mine use it, he was raving over how well it just jibes, and donkey jibes. I would not only recommend this board to guys for their 100ltr freestyle board, but to anyone looking for a 100ltr freestyle board. Weakness: I've got to keep looking.

If you're still with me, here's a list of some qualities that people are looking for in a freestyle board. I'll rate the boards in the order from #1 to last in the order that they perform.

Early Planing
#1 Skate 100 /Rodeo 98
#2 Skate 90
#3 JP 98
#4 Joker 99/JP 89

Speed
#1 Skate 90
#2 JP 89
#3 Skate 100/ Rodeo 98
#4 Joker 99
#5 JP 98

Pop
#1 Skate 100/ Rodeo 98
#2 Skate 90
#3 Joker 99
#4 JP 89
#5 JP 98 (not a typo, the 89 ltr has much more pop than the 98ltr)

Sliding Control (ability to control the speed of a slide once you start a 360 like in a spock)
#1 Skate 100
#2 Skate 90
#3 joker 99
#4 JP 89
#5 Rodeo 98 (only goes fast)
#6 JP 98 (only goes slow)

Sliding Stability (how far out of that perfect position can you be before the tail goes under during moves like a spock)
#1 Rodeo 98
#2 Skate 100
#3 Joker 99
#4 Skate 90
#5 JP 89
#6 JP 98

Carving for trick (like a shaka)
#1 Jp 89
#2 Skate 100
#3 Joker 99
#4 Skate 90
#5 JP 98/ Rodeo 98

Carving for a jibe
#1 Skate 100/Joker99
#2 Skate 90/JP 89
#3 JP 98
#4 Rodeo 98

Ability in High winds
#1 JP 89
#2 Skate 90
#3 Joker 99/ Skate 100/JP 98
#4 Rodeo 98

What board will I like if I'm switching from a freestyle wave?

#1 Skate 100
#2 Skate 90/ JP 89/ Joker 99
#3 JP 98
#4 Rodeo 98

Wave Ability
#1 Skate 100 / Joker 99/ JP 89
#2 Skate 90/ JP 98
#3 Rodeo 98

If there's anything I'm leaving out, or if you have any questions about any of these boards, just let me know.

Happy sailing,

Mike

East Coast Windsurfing Festival 2011 is a go!!!

2011-03-03T08:23:00.000-08:00

We just got word back from the parks dept. that the 4th annual East Coast Windsurfing Festival is a go. Mark your calendars for June 11th and 12th and expect the usual big turnout with lots of action and fun. I'll be updating the ECWF website as soon as I get a chance, but I wanted to let everyone know the official dates as soon as I could.

A few shots from last year's event.

Bonaire 2011

2011-02-21T13:17:00.000-08:00

There's nothing I look forward to more than our trip to Bonaire every winter. We get to leave the cold and ice and head to paradise. This year in Bonaire the wind was a little on the light side. That being said, I did manage to plane every day for 2 weeks on my 5.9 or 5.3 and 100 ltr Skate. You had to get on it early though as most days the wind would die off by 10AM. The 3 best days of the trip were the first 3 days of the trip. Full power 5.3 all day every day. After that it was usually get up at 7:30 get to the beach at 8am, sail the morning session and come in for lunch. Then proceed straight to the Amstel brights and sangrias. Hanging out on the beach with our family and friends rally make the trip what it is. even without much wind there were smiles all around and nobody wanted to come home.

2011 Fanatic Skate first impressions

2011-01-10T11:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday looked to be a nice windy day and almost above freezing. So with my brand new set of Fanatic Skates I headed to the Training Grounds with George and Joe. Chris showed up later on after my run in with the crazy bible lady, ( another story in itself). As I pulled up, George was finishing up rigging his 5.3 which looked to be the call. The wind was a little too far west to get a clean fetch, so a bigger sail would hopefully get us through the lulls.

George was on and off a plane so I rigged up my 5.3 as well on my 100 ltr Skate. Right off the beach I could tell that this board was going to be one of the greats. After a few runs I was really getting it dialed in. It planes very early. It pops very well, at least as good as the rodeo. The thing that I liked most about it is that it was so settled when sailing along in a straight line. Not bouncy or weird to control. Just ready to pull off the next trick whenever I was. The last board to really pull off the ease of sailing like this was the 2009 Mistral Joker which George happened to be sailing right next to me. We swapped for comparison and George said the same thing. It's a lot like the Joker but more stable.

For carving, the 100 ltr skate was really well mannered and would make the short, sharp turns into a shaka really well without a hint of sliding out. I even made a few regular old jibes on it, and I have to say it's holds the rail really well, and planing out of a jibe has never been easier.

For the sliding tricks, you won't find a better board. The first flaka I tried actually bounced me in the air around the second part of the 360 landing fully planing. So needless to say, a true double flaka is a piece of cake with Skate if you can already get the board in the air after the first one. Sliding a spock doesn't get any easier. It likes coming into a spock with the toeside rail landing first. Some boards like being landed flatter to spin, like the rodeo. Anyway, it spins so freaking easy I kept ending up with a 540 instead of a 360 without trying. I made a few grubbies I would have crashed on any other board with. So the 2011 skate is hands down the easiest sliding board I've tried and very, very forgiving if you mess up a little.

In the air, it was very controllable for the shakas and ponches I tried. Not quite as fast through a ponch rotation as the rodeo, but definitely better than the JP of equal size. Even on the sketchy landings from under rotated shakas, the board slid into the 360, where the Rodeo never would have and JP would have just stopped dead.

I would highly recommend the Skate. There just doesn't seem to be any weakness to the board. Other boards seem to be very strong at certain tricks, while not so hot with others. The 2011 Skate seems to do it all, and do it better. Anyone thinking about a freestyle board would be very happy with the Skate and I'm sure it will impress you more than expected. It definitely gave me more than I thought it would. There are areas where other boards might barely beat out the skate, but as a whole, the Skate is the best all around. I'll have side by side comparisons with the skate, Rodeo, JP, and 2009 Mistral Joker as soon as I have a chance to sail the skate in different types of conditions.

I'd like to end with a great quote form a very wise individual that showed me the light (skate)

"Any day of sailing is a GREAT day of sailing." - Andy Brandt

I'd like to add any great day of sailing is even better with a 2011 Fanatic skate.

Happy Sailing.

Mike

2011 fanatic skate is here!

2011-01-07T18:47:00.000-08:00

After months of drooling over pictures on the internet of the 2011 skate, a pair of the sexiest freestyle boards I've ever seen have finally arrived And they're all mine! I got a 90 ltr and 100 ltr. I'm planning on doing a nice review and comparison between the recent boards I've owned. So look for an in depth comparison of the 2011 skate, 2010 JP Freestyle, 2010 F2 Rodeo, and the 2009 Mistral Joker (I know it's not a "new" board but it is still very popular and has a good following) I took a few pics of the skate because I'm in the middle of a snow storm and I was tired of looking at the same old ones on the internet. You can look too if you want.

Ahhhhh!!! Winter sailing!

2010-12-30T16:54:00.000-08:00

After everyone raving about the wind during the storm on Sunday and Monday I was really itching for a session. It looked like Tuesday would be mid 20s and perfect tide and wind direction for West Meadow. So that was the call.

At 10AM I packed up the truck with all the winter neoprene and headed for the Meadow. As I approached the gate I saw a HUGE pile of snow about even with the roof of my expedition. The problem was that it was sitting smack in the middle of the entrance. As I pulled up to the pile I could see the exit way was plowed in, but surely doable in 4 wheel drive. It was about even with the top of the front bumper. I contemplated turning around for a split second as I took another look at the 4.2 conditions and perfect flat water. Then I glanced back at my trailer. Yes I was about to make a 90 degree right turn into a 3 foot pile of plowed snow towing a trailer. As I hit the gas I was definitely not going the "right" direction. So I backed up. then went forward, then backed up, then went forward, then went back, then went forward. You get the point. There was already 1 set of tracks going through, so I figured all I had to do was flatten it out a bit. After 5 or 6 minutes of going forward and backward and getting a few looks from people walking past (the same looks you get when you come back out after sailing in below freezing temps) I finally got some directional control with the front wheels and made my right. Piece of cake. There was only one other car in the parking lot. A couple of kiters that I see sailing there all the time jumped out of their 4x4 truck and came running over. "How the F@(k did you get in here with a trailer!!!?????," one said. "And more importantly, are you going out?"

Well, both answers seemed pretty obvious, but I answered anyway. "I just drove right in, and hell yes I'm going out!"

I rigged the 4.2 and hit the water. Full power right away. Then as I started moving got overpowered right before schlogging, right before being overpowered again. Lets just say it looked way better from the beach. I still sailed for 2 1/2 hours on a 4.2 but here's my impression of me sailing that day. Underpowered, underpowered, powered, overpowered, overpowered, OVERPOWERED, OVERPOWERED, overpowered, try trick, blow up. Scholg scholg, OVERPOWERED, OVERPOWERED, overpowered, try trick, blow up! Repeat for 2 hours with the occasional clean trick, realize that I'm crashing so much probably because I can't feel my feet, sail for another 1/2 hour then pack it in. So I walked back up the beach with the ice cubes attached to the bottom of my legs. Cue strange looks from bystanders and we've got another winter session on LI in the bag. It was kinda weird trying to move out of the way of tractor moving snow as I was de-rigging. And after all that, YES I'D LIKE ANOTHER!

Marcilio Brown's favorite sail? It was my favorite first!

2010-12-22T20:17:00.001-08:00

North Ice of course. See it in action as Marcilio explains why it's soooo nice.

Gollito's PWA Victory Tribute.

2010-12-09T07:29:00.000-08:00

It's gotta be the board.

The Race to Hatteras

2010-12-08T11:11:00.000-08:00

Cape Hatteras is a fall pilgrimage for many New Englanders. This year I had some weddings booked on the dates that the larger group of guys from LI decided to go. Their week in Hatteras was one to speak about for years to come. Warmish, wind every day and lots of great folks. They even had topless women, but that's another (private) story all together. So my hopes were high for our trip to Hatteras 2 weeks later. We had a smaller group of about 7 planning on going. One had to cancel due to personal reasons.

The forecast was VERY good for our week while we were heading down. We awakened in our Holliday in Express room in Exmore VA to the sound of a steady 20 knot breeze singing at our windows. Only 3 hours more driving until we were in Hatteras sailing the beautiful warm winds. As we drove, I realized this wind that we woke up to was very, very isolated. We were directly behind the cold front. Every time we would pull ahead of it, the wind would go calm, and every time it would pass us, the wind would crank. The race was on!!!! As we drove on, we pulled slightly ahead of the front. 3 hours later we pulled up to our Hatteras house in Avon to see Rob already planing in a SW breeze right in the back yard. He came in and and we asked him what he was on. "5.9 and this 126 ltr I borrowed from Ocean Air." He replied.

I told him, "I think it's going to get windy really soon."

"That's not what the forecast says, and it's not really good right now. Why do you think there's wind coming."

I pointed past his head to the very obvious front defined by a low level line of clouds stretching as far as the eye could see. Then I whipped the 4.7 and 89 ltr out of the trailer and rigged it up. I threw on my 3/2 wetsuit and got right in the water. I schlogged out a bit, but there wasn't nearly enough wind to plane on a 4.7. I jibed and schlogged back in. As I approached the houses the first gust hit the sail. "Here we go!" I thought to myself. I did a quick tack and and headed back out. this time fully planing. The clouds were now directly over head and as I sailed straight past them the wind did a 180. Without jibing, I sailed right back to shore down the beach. The wind was now NW and full power 4.7. It lasted about an hour and every second I was sailing I could taste the sweet, sweet victory of our race against the front to Hatteras.

The rest of the week was kind of a let down. The temps fell from 70 degrees to mid 40s. The coldest temps I have ever experienced at that time of year in Hatteras. EVERYONE in the house was also sick and many went to the doctor. But that one 1 hour session we got when we beat the front to Hatteras made the entire trip worth while. Now we're home in below freezing temps and I'm wishing we were back in Hatteras in the balmy 45 degree weather.

Fanatic!

2010-10-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

After the demise of Mistral in the US I went searching for the next perfect board. It was hard to find to say the least. Along the way I've sailed boards that were lots of fun and others that only a mother could love. (you know who you are) For 2010 I couldn't find a brand that had it all, so I ended up with both JP and F2. I recently was able to try a few of the 2010 Fanatics. Not just the skate but also a sampling of the wave range. The skate was very nice with good pop, nice sliding and decent carving abilities. The wind cranked up a notch and I was able to give the 85 ltr New Wave Twin a shot. That thing has more traction than anything I'v ever sailed, and I could actually picture myself starting to wave sail again with one of these. So with a great all around range I've decided to go with Fanatic for 2011. Not to mention they look sexier than any board I can remember in recent history. I'll be sure and post up my findings of the new boards when they come in. For now I have on order a 2011 skate 90 and 100.

2011 North Sails Ice review

2010-10-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. Everyone says the new sails just keep getting better and better. Well, everyone is right. The 2011s are very similar in feel to the 2010s. I've had the 2011s for about a month of testing now. I finally managed to get out on the 4.2 and 3.7 recently and I've been out on the 4.7 and 5.3 a ton.

As always, North is a very high quality sail with the 5 year warranty to back it up. There is an attention to detail in the norths not found in most other manufacturers. It's still the easiest sail to rig on the market. Just set the downhaul to the sail markings and outhaul to the numbers on the luff sleeve by the boom cutout that are dead on. The Ice HD is back again this year in a full X-ply construction. I opted again for the monofilm versions for ultimate handling and easy viewing of the next wave I'm about to slash, or boat about to run me over.

The handling of the 2011 sails is a bit lighter feeling in the hands than last year, and that's saying a lot, because one of the online mags stated after testing a boatload of sails that the 2010 Ice was the lightest handling sail in the group. Now the 2011 is even lighter feeling! The low end of the Ice increased for 2010 and but couldn't tell a difference this year. Still lots of smooth power and I'm still always the first one planing. What I did notice however was the ability of the 2011s to stay even more locked in when overpowered. The center of effort just stays right where the harness line markings on the sail are. Another noticeable improvement for those that are up for some freestyle trickery is that the 2011 is much more controlled in all the duck moves. It goes neutral really easy and just lays into the perfect position for a duck tack, funnel, kono or culo. The improvement of handling was most notable in the 5.3 size. It's very close in feel to the 4.7 now.

All in all, the 2011 ice is as good as or better at everything than the 2010. Little improvements here and there are really adding up. Although you might not notice too much of a difference going from a 2010 to a 2011 if you haven't been sailing the 2010 all year, I recently sailed a 2008 5.3 Ice and the difference compared to a 2011 very noticeable.

For more info on the Northsails Ice go to the NORTHSAILS WEBSITE

Here are a few pics of the 3.7 in action in winds gusting over 40!

And one of the 4.7 in action at Heckscher along side it's older brother (2009).

SEPTEMBER: a month in 800 words or less

2010-09-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

So this summer didn't deal up the usual epic conditions we're used to at Heckscher. Don't get me wrong, we had plenty of wind with a bunch of 5.3 and 5.9 days. It even was pretty good in August which along with September are the two least windy months of the year. This September has been very different. Very, VERY different. today was day 13 that I sailed this month and it looks like we're going out with a bang. I've also been swamped with work, so I've missed a good bit of wind too. we've got to be on day 17 or 18 of sailable days for Sept. The first week in Sept. we had a streak of 7 windy days of which I grabbed 6. Right now we're into day 4 of which I've nailed 3 and it looks to stay windy right through the weekend.

Not only have we had lots of wind, but we're still getting some summertime temperatures. I managed to get not 1 but 2 of the best low tide, full power freestyle West Meadow sessions this month. Not only were they incredible, but they were also in board shorts. I don't think board shorts and West Meadow have ever been mentioned in the same sentence before. We've also grabbed a few perfect sessions at the training grounds, a little freestyle spot we found this past winter. So far so good for the "fall" season.

GEAR:

New gear has also been arriving. The 2011 North Ices and Dukes are even better than ever. I've had them for a few weeks now. North has just keeps making little tweaks the past few years. This year they're more locked down when they get really powered than last year and so the upper range has increased even more. They're also even lighter while tossing them around and maybe ever so slightly more springy in feel. Anyway, I've been making moves easier than ever. I'll be posting up a full review when I finally manage to grab some pictures. For now we'll just say that they rock!

NoLimits shipped out my 2011 masts today. They've got few tricks up their sleeves with the 2011 design. Rumors are that they redesigned the bend curve ever so slightly for the new generation of sails. So if you want to try a mast that just might work better than your sail manufacturer's mast at 1/2 the price, give the new NoLimitz a shot. I'll post up a review on the new masts after I've had a few sessions on different sails with them.

Chinook is also redesigning their carbon wave booms. no word on exactly when they will be ready, but I've heard rumors of some 1-offs already floating around some shops to see what they think, so it should be shortly.

Maybe some BIG news in the board dept. for me. We'll see if things come through.

That's it for now. I feel like I'm on Chachi's schedule. Work, sail, eat, sleep, repeat.

Earl Schmearl

2010-09-08T19:31:00.000-07:00

September has come and the wind is back in a big way! We've had more sailing days than not in the past couple weeks. Actually today was officially day 7 in a row of sailable conditions on LI. Hurricane Earl promised us some 50 knot + winds. The only problem is that Earl took a more Easterly path than originally thought and the only people that got to sail were all the way out on the tip of Long Island at Napeague. I eagerly awaited another session at the Training Grounds in all of Earl's glory but ended up getting skunked with gusts up to 12 knots along with everyone else on the North Shore.

But I should be the last to complain. I've sailed more days than not so far in the month of September and it looks like we'll get yet another good day tomorrow. The day following the windless Hurricane was my best day of the season. It was probably the first time I sailed West Meadow without a wetsuit. We arrived at high tide with some great ramps for the perfect loopfest and stayed until the tide went out where I was hitting trick after trick in the perfect flat water behind the sand bars. I had to cut that day short to go shoot a wedding, which turned out to be a great party! Win, win!

Then it was back to summer-like conditions at Heckscher for the next few days. Tuesday was incredible. Fully, fully powered on a 4.7 with gusts over 30 towards the end. There were a bunch of people out and Ryan, Rob and Joe were also on the scene going for loops, flakas, shuvit's and landing vulcans. Chris Goodwin, who is definitely someone to keep your eyes on, was overpowered on his 5.8 (his smallest sail) so he decided to stop and take some pics. here are a few of my favorites.

Coast to Coast

2010-08-20T10:31:00.000-07:00

2 years ago, a boy had a dream. His dream was the same as every windsurfers dream, that is to sail everyday! So 2 years ago a boy decided to pack up and head out west. First to the Gorge, then to the Delta. Fast forward 2 years and that boy has become a man. A man that is know by one name......... Chachi. A freestyle machine! Sorry Chris I don't have such a glorious introductory for you. Chris is f'ing good too but he's just got the same old story as the rest of us, a 9 to 5 job, living on the East Coast. Come to think of it, how the hell did Chris get this good this fast living on the East side!!! Here's a video from these two freestyle pros during a windy week at the delta.

Full Power Delta Freestyle from Chris Eldridge on Vimeo.

Back to the Usual

2010-08-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

The wind has been back up here on Long island. Last week we had what was probably the best day of the summer. It was a full power 4.2 south westerly. Heckscher was definitely the call as the guys on the ocean only had a marginal 5.7 day. Then this week lined up again. Tuesday was a nice 4.7 day. I sailed until I couldn't sail anymore. I got about 6 hours straight in on Tuesday. Here are a few shots from Tuesday thanks to Chris Goodwin, one of our newest freestylers and heckscher Park lifeguard.

Wednesday also had some major potential but things never really came together like they were supposed to. I ended up getting to the beach around 1:00 and sailed on and off 5.3 for a while. Chris ended up rigging up to his 7.5 and was just blasting along. Then suddenly he it a boat wake and snapped his mast all the way out by the red channel marker about 1/2 mile off shore. He ended up getting back in about 45 minutes later. Later on when the wind completely crapped out we worked on some lightwind freestyle. He ended up getting an upwind 360 on the first try and is really getting dialed in sailing backwinded. Thanks Elena for these shots.

Oh Come On!

2010-07-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

It's been 3 weeks straight here on LI of teaser 5.9 conditions. Sure we can get out the big stuff (5.9 is my big stuff) a couple days a week and go blast around on warm sunny days. But it's been a while since we've had any real wind. A week ago I would have done anything to get a session on a 4.7. And I would have, the only problem was that I had weddings booked. Friday's forecast was for close to 30 mph winds, and it came true! I know this because the wedding I was shooting was on the water and the wind was blowing the bride's veil right off her head. Luckily it was also supposed to be windy for the next 4 days in a row. Unlucky for me, I had another wedding booked for the following day.

After shoting the 2 weddings and missing the first 2 days, Sunday morning I woke to a voicemail box full of "Where are you, it's blowing 4.2?" and "Mike, I'm at Heckscher, rigging 4.7, gotta go!" I had missed the first 2 days of wind but Sunday would be my day. I eagerly turned on my computer to see the latest forecast. "WHAT THE F@#K!" 5- 10 knots?!!!!!!! Another 5.9 day at Heckscher!!!!! It was nice being out on the 5.9 but my thoughts were still with those 2 great days I missed. When I got home from the beach after yet another good 5.9 session I checked the forecast for Monday, my last hope as the rest of the week looked pretty pathetic for wind. As the windfinder page loaded a huge smile grew on my face. It looked like I would finally get my 4.7 day. I would be able to work on those new moves I want oh so bad. Yes Monday would be the day.

Monday was right on track in the morning. SW wind was already in place and the thermals would only make it stronger. And it did. Monday was a great day! By 4:00 perfect 5.3 wind was in place and I was loving life. Sure it wasn't 4.7, but it sure as hell wasn't 5.9. I was able to work on a move called the bob and I'm able to get the sail duck part almost every time, but the chop was making it tough to pop and slide without digging in the tail. But progress was being made and I was a happy camper. Then around 6:00 a police car turned it's lights on and was driving around the parking lot. I went to check it out and it turns out the board of Health was closing the park 2 hours early because of freaking mosquitoes!!! What the hell mosquito can fly in 20 knots anyway? The cop was nice though and said he'd clear out the rest of the park fist, then come back to get us off the water around 7:00 so we could be out by 7:30. Not too bad considering the options.

So I went home Monday night glad that I finally got to sail something smaller than a 5.9 and was as content as could be. That is until Wed. Oh Wednesday. There wasn't any wind in the forecast for Wed. so the plan was to edit all day while Chrissy (my wife) took the kids to a pool party. She asked, "Do you mind if I take the kids to the party with the truck?" In my mind this could cause multiple problems, the foremost of which is the fact that I needed the Expedition to tow the windsurf trailer to the beach. But since the kids car seats were already in the truck and the forecast was crap, I told her she might as well take it.

Not 2 hours after she leaves for the party, the wind starts to build. I'm watch the wind climb for another hour as I start burning some Blu-Ray copies of one of the weddings I shot. Then at 3:00 I check again and the wind is already into the 20s. "Oh come on!!!," I shout out in the studio. Finally this is going to be the 4.7 day I need and she's got the f'ing truck! But wait, my wife's edge has a hitch! It's not the same size hitch though. It's got a smaller receiver for the hitch to plug into so I can't use the hitch from the Expedition. then I remembered that my old explorer had the smaller sized hitch and I would just have to find that one. I dug through the garage and after about 15 minutes of searching, I found it. I plugged it in and as good to go! This was one of the longest drives to Heckscher I've ever had. Along the way I kept checking the wind to look for signs of it dying, but it was just hovering right at 20. I couldn't wait to be fully powered on the 5.3 and maybe even get a few runs on the 4.7.

I pulled into heckscher at the same time as Ryan. We both jumped out of our cars with big smiles on. We both agreed 5.3 was the call for full power sailing and ran to the back of our vehicles to start rigging. Ryan with a big smile pulled his 5.4 out of its bag. I eagerly stuck the key into the lock on the trailer and, "Oh come on!!!!!"

Ryan looks over at me.

"It's the wrong F'ing Key!" I had changed the locks on the trailer during the spring trip to Hatteras and never put the new set of keys on the key ring to my wife's car. Ryan suggested finding a hardware store and cutting the locks. My first thought was "that's crazy" I turned towards the water, saw all the whitecaps and changed my mind. I knew of a hardware store about 10 minutes away. So I drove right over. I explained my situation to the guy behind the counter. He told me I should just drive home and wait for my wife with the keys. He obviously isn't a windsurfer or he had made it to the beach all of those windy days I missed. I bought a bolt cutter and new set of locks. About 25 minutes and $50.00 later I was back at the beach. I grabbed the bolt cutters and they cut that lock like butter. I was in! Ryan was lit up on his 5.4, and I on my 4.7. I was busting out huge shakas, ponches, air flakas, and Ryan even claims he saw a full rotation of an air Bob even though I didn't land it. Sure enough the only thing that could be the buzz kill happened. Phil the wind Killer showed up and like clockwork, just as I'm ready to break out the 4.2, the wind backs off to 18 to 20. I went and grabbed the 5.3 and sailed for another hour before the weeds started rolling in making it almost impossible to plane at full speed even with full power and a cut down 17 cm G-sport fin.

All in all, Wed. was the day I was waiting for. I had gotten my perfect 4.7 day and it was everything I hoped it would be. Next time I'll remember the new set of keys, or at least my new bolt cutter.

Looks like they have a Heckscher in Europe too.

2010-07-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

This is a pretty funny video. Just replace the word "Worthing" with "Heckscher".

Looks Windy

2010-07-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

Well, since we hit July, there hasn't been much real wind here on LI. I personally have missed the 2 good days of the month, but I've been managing to slip in some days on the 5.9 and 98 ltr Rodeo. This combo planes up so early that it tricks everyone else into rigging and getting out. I had a fun day yesterday and at 170 lbs, not only was I the only one planing that was on a sail smaller than 7.5, but it gets so powered so quickly that I had plenty of power for loops, flakas, shakas, etc. Go get yourself a Rodeo and 2010 Northsails 5.9 Duke. 12 knots and you're off! In the shots in the pictures the wind was about 13 or 14 knots.

I Found the Wind

2010-07-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been getting some wind here on Long Island, but not the nice 20 to 25 knot stuff we've gotten used to this spring. Sure we get to break out the 5.9s a couple times a week, but where's the real wind? I personally haven't sailed anything smaller than the 5.9 in about 2 1/2 weeks and the online forums are filled with people complaining about a windless summer, and it's not even half over. So why is the wind on such a light side this year? I surely couldn't be the fact that the waters have warmed up cutting down the thermal effect that gives us our beloved 4.7 days, or that the fronts seem to just keep coming through right around 2PM when the thermals would normally start kicking in. Nope, it's not even Phil the wind killers fault that there's no wind. He hasn't event been to the beach since May when it WAS windy. No, no. The real reason the wind has disappeared is because F'ing Chachi has it! That's right Chachi is 5 days in of solid 4.2 sailing! And he's making it look pretty nice too on his new 75 ltr F2 and Northsails Ice 4.2. Maybe if we ask him nicely he'll share and let some of that wind float over to the East Coast.

I Shouldn't complain, I've been getting at least 1 or 2 days a week on the 5.9 or smaller at Heckscher since April, but here's a shot of Chachi being greedy at the Delta.

Nice day at Shirley

2010-06-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

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.

New Video online!

2010-06-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

We had some good sessions this year! Here is a nice freestyle clip from our trip to Cape Hatteras in April and a nice 4.7 day at home at Heckscher State Park on Long Island, NY. Don't forget about the East Coast Windsurfing Festival at Heckscher on June 12th and 13th!

Mike Burns Windsurfing Spring 2010 from Mike Burns on Vimeo.

A Day full of Good Intentions

2010-05-26T05:47:00.001-07:00

We had our first dry spell of the spring in the wind department on Long Island. This past weekend was packed full of beautiful weather and a forecast for some possible wind on Sunday. My friends from ABK were on Long Island for a clinic out east on the island and I really wanted to get out there to see them. It would be a 2 hour drive to see them, but it's always a great time hanging out and shooting the freestyle sh!t with them. So it was my intention to go say hi to those guys and hopefully sail with them. Then I saw the forecast for Sunday. It had a possibility of blowing ok from the East. Nothing epic, but a sailing day none the less.

I had intentionally gotten up early Sunday morning in time to make the 2 hour drive East. I started packing the cooler for the trip out to Napeague where the ABK clinic was while I watched the leaves on the trees start to blow in a fickle breeze in my backyard. I figured, I could head out there, sail with those guys for a few hours and still make it home in time for a BBQ with the family. Christina, my wife woke up as I was ready to leave and I told her my intentions.

"You sure you'll make it back for dinner?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's not going to be so great out there. I'll sail for a couple hours and say hi to the gang and come home."

As I walked past my laptop, I figured I'd check and see what the wind was doing. Much to my surprise, there was absolutely no wind at Napeague. Then I saw the meter for the Great South bay. A steady 20! This was an incedibly complex dilemma that lasted about 3 seconds. I didn't take long for my deprived windsurfing brain to calculate the planing probability for this situation. I could drive 2 hours for 3 knots, or drive 25 minutes for 20 knots at a place I'd rather sail anyway. Due to the fact that my intentions were to be home for dinner, I would also be able to get a few more hours of sailing time in by going to Heckscher. With the extra time I had now, I hung out at the house and fed the kids breakfast and gave the wind a bit of a chance to come up before officially canceling the trip eastward.

The whole drive to Heckscher I felt bad about blowing off the trip out East. That ended quickly when I pulled into the parking lot and saw whitecaps. I wasn't as strong as I had thought, but having not sailed in a while, I was excited to rig the 5.9 for the first time in months. This spring has been so windy, that I haven't sailed anything over the 4.7 very often. I was on the water by 11 AM and man that 5.9 felt HUGE!!!! after an hour or so of sailing by myself some other guys finally hit the water. Then Ryan showed up and rigged his 6.2. We had plenty of wind, but it just wasn't enough for my 5.3. One run Ryan was heading away from the beach and was on the hunt for a flat spot to try a spock. I was on his tail to witness this incredible event, but he just kept going and going. I caught up to him and yelled, "why don't we just go to the flats, we're already half way there!" He gave the nod and we were on our way. For those who don't know, an East wind like we had on Sunday is a sideshore wind at Heckscher. It lets you sail the 3 1/2 miles across the Great South Bay to a super flat, 3/4 mile section of the bay that's knee to waist deep. It's one of the best spots on LI for freestyle.

We hung out over in the flats for a long time. Billy T. showed up a few minutes later blasting around, hooting and hollering. It was a great time and we stayed there for a good while. I even let Ryan try the precious F2 Rodeo. He instantly loved it. When we started getting tired, we figured we'd head back. After making the 3 1/2 mile trek back across the bay, it was already late in the afternoon and I had to head in and check the time. It was just about time for dinner so I figured I'd call Christina and let her know I was packing up and on my way. As the phone was ringing, I saw Ryan get totally lit up on his 6.2. Then Chrissy picked up and said, "so are you leaving yet?"

"Ummmm, you mind if I go sail my 5.3 for a little while?"

"Sure, but just make sure you make it home for dinner." She said.

"Sure thing."

Now, letting a freestyler who had been struggling all day with moves on a big ass 5.9 go out on a 5.3 was her first mistake. Not giving me a specific time for dinner sealed the deal. I'm perfectly fine eating dinner at midnight. So, my little while on the 5.3 turned into another hour and 1/2 session. It was so nice being back on the 5.3 funneling, shakaing and looping up a storm. For the record, I did pack it in earlier than I had wanted to so I could make it home for dinner. The only problem is that everyone else was packing it in too. Seth and Big Rich had seen us over in the flats while they were kiting and Seth had stopped by the beach to say hi. So we chatted for a bit, and started talking about Bonaire. As his wife pulled up with their new baby girl, he told me I had to sell her on the Bonaire trip so he could go this time too. So that turned into another 1/2 hour sales pitch, which I'm pretty sure was worth while. You're welcome Seth!

I ended up getting home a bit after 8 o'clock, which was still well within my dinner time range, but apparently not the the dinner time everyone else was expecting. So my intentions for getting home for a nice BBQ dinner were scraped too. So every good intention I had for the day was ruined from this darn windsurfing thing and I can't wait to do it again.

Today I will work, play with the kids, and have dinner with the family......or will I.

See you at the beach while you're too sick to go to work!

Need Wind? Come to Long Island!

2010-05-08T06:54:00.000-07:00

Here on Long Island the wind has been cranking on a near daily basis. We've been getting at least 4 days a week of sailable conditions on the Great South Bay for the past few weeks. Last week, if you wanted, you could have sailed 6 days in a row. One day I would have needed a 6.9, so I passed and took the 5 days of 5.3 or less. This week we've already had 3 days in a row of 5.3 or better conditions and it looks like today and tomorrow I'll be breaking out the 4.2 and 3.7 yet again.

This spring really has been incredible, and not only for wind. With all the wind we've been having the local freestyle crew has really been stepping it up a notch. John Marwalter is in the air spinning the board around on almost every single run, not to mention I think he's got more carving type maneuvers under his belt than I do. George Pav is no spockable! He made his first spock a few sessions ago on an Easterly at heckscher and he's really coming close on almost every one he tries. Joe Natalie made a breakthrough yesterday in the perfect SW 5.3/4.7 breeze at Heckscher. His rotations are now looking like a loop rather than a cartwheel. I saw him make the closest attempt to date and he said the next one was even closer. I'm sure this is Joe's season for getting it. On Wed. I sailed at Tanner with Kevin O'shea. He proclaimed as he rigged his 6.0 while I was rigging my 4.7 that he was taking a big sail becasue he doesn't do any flippy-dippy stuff. Then I see him sailing backwinded, thn with both hands behind his head fully planing, the duck jibe then do an arm drag through a jibe. No flippy-dippy my ass! Kev, your most basic of animal instincts are telling you to start spinning and flipping! Just let yourself go and follow your true path.

I'm finally getting some good days on the Rodeo. I've been using the JP simply because it's been blowing 3.7 almost every time I go sail and the 98 ltr Rodeo gets a little big for a 3.7. The 89 ltr JP however stays in control nicely in those conditions. But on the Rodeo is where I want to be and the last few days sailing it has been like a drug. It's getting me closer to new moves faster than anything I've ever sailed. I need to sail it again, and if you're in the market for a freestyle board, grab one while you can! You can only get them at Ocean Air Sports. Brian was smart enough to grab every single one that was available in the country to sell at the shop, and I know that most of them are already gone, so grab yours before it's too late.

Tati Frans Wins 1st PWA Freestyle Event

2010-05-05T07:02:00.000-07:00

After winning the final E vent of 2009 at Sylt, Tati Just won the first PWA freestyle event of the year in Podersdorf, Austria. Second Place went to Steven Van Broekhoven and in third place on a Judges 3:2 decision was Gollito just beating out Kiri. Things should be interesting on the tour this year as there is a new rule in effect. All the freestyle pros must compete on stock boards. Gollito, who has won the title and almost every event the past few years has been pretty much the only guy on the tour using a custom instead of his stock board, the Fanatic Skate. All the other top guys have been on stock gear. So with Gollito off of his magic stick and onto a stock board, it should be interesting to see how this years standings will play out. Good luck to the Bonaire guys!!! On another note, Steven Van Broekhoven who placed second is using my beloved F2 Rodeo, so we'll see what that board really do!!

And the competitors are rolling in

2010-05-04T17:40:00.000-07:00

We announced only 2 days ago that the East Coast windsurfing Festival was a go and we already have 24 competitors signed up and ready for action. If you want in, now is the time to sign up. Go to www.ECwindfest.com to get your name in. This just could be the year for a windy event! The water is getting warm really early which means good things for the wind in June.

East Coast Windsurfing Festival is a go!

2010-05-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

The 3rd Annual East Coast Windsurfing Festival is officially on! The long awaited permits have finally been approved and the event is slated for June 12th and 13th, 2010. With the water already warming up and SW winds already starting, this just might be the year for an epic event. There will be a freestyle competition, racing, raffles, and a board toss. For more information and to sign up go to www.ECwindfest.com

It's All Relative

2010-04-23T18:59:00.000-07:00

So you keep psyching yourself out when it comes time to try to rotate on a forward loop. Before your next attempt, think of these guys and it will be a walk in the park.

Hatteras: April 2010

2010-04-21T05:54:00.000-07:00

For the past 2 weeks we've been in Cape Hatteras. It was easily one of the best trips I've ever taken. Not only was I picking up a new board or 2, but the weather and wind were incredible. The first week I sailed 6 days in a row and 5 of the days were 4.2 or 3.7. All while only wearing board shorts in the mid to upper 70 degree weather. I was also using 2 new boards. I got the 89 ltr Jp Freestyle Pro and the F2 Rodeo 98. Each board has it's own set of features that is better than the other but that's for another post. We'll just leave it as the 2010 boards rock!!!

We had a huge freestyle crew this year. Chris and Sergey were down. Both of those guys have gotten so good landing super clean shakas along with a bunch of other tricks. Mike Jaimeson brought his wind buddha down proving it to work. Literally within minutes of Mike and his Buddha arriving the wind kicked in and didn't stop blowing until the Buddha left town. Of course there were the usual suspects like Nancy & Doug, my parents, and Ted. But there were also a few Hatteras virgins that had incredible trips. It was a great bunch of people that I hope return next year.

Stuart of Ocean Air had been a tester for the 2010 gear for Windsurfing Magazine a week or 2 before we got there and one day, a photographer and Real Kitboarding employee showed up. He was taking some great shots from the water while we were sailing 3.7s. After the shoot I found it slightly comical that after shooting us doing freestyle on a windsurfer, that a Real Kiteboarding (the "windsurfing has been canceled" company) employee was asking for windsurfing lessons.

I also got myself a paddle for that Mistral Pacifico I've had laying around. I had never bought a paddle in the past becasue of the price. Ocean Air Sports has carbon paddles for only $150.00! I was stoked on the price so I picked one up. The first few days of the second week were windless, so I decided to try some SUP action with joe Natali. The first SUP day was a piece of cake. I was a little worried about trying it in the ocean since I had never Paddled or surfed in my life. The waves were about knee to waist high but after an hour or so I was catching waves right down the line. I was now ready to go on the world tour. That is until the second day when we had some chest high waves. When a 11'4" board pearls, IT PEARLS! It's like standing on one end of a seesaw while someone drops a piano on the other end. Perhaps the most memorable part of the trip for me was paddling around outside the break with a pod of dolphins. I was the only one out there at that point and they were just swimming around and under me. The water was like glass and I could could see all of them playing around and slapping their tails next to my board. Then all of a sudden 2 of them popped up side by side about a foot from my board and just looked at me with one eye each for a few seconds. Then they took off and took the rest of the pod with them. Guess I was too boring for them.

After a few days of no wind, the wind kicked in again and it was back on the oh so familiar 4.2 and JP 89 setup. Our last day there, on Friday, the wind turned back from the southwest and I got to ride the 98 ltr Rodeo for only the second time the whole trip.

That is just a kick ass freestyle board. Even though the board was new to me, it was like an old friend coming back to serve me some air funnels and konos.

I can't wait to get back there in the fall, but for now I really want to build on the skills I've learned in Hatteras and just get back on that Rodeo again.

A day with a new addiction

2010-03-30T18:58:00.000-07:00

The forecast was for yet another strong NE day. The Training Grounds would again be the call. This place is getting to be not only my favorite place on LI, but maybe my favorite place to sail anywhere. What made it better today was that I had a sweet, sweet new 2010, 98 ltr. F2 Rodeo Air with me, and it wasn't even mine. You have to ask yourself how many of the guys you sail with would not only let you borrow their brand spanking new board for a few runs, but how many of them would let you take it for a 2 week trip to Hatteras with you. Well my buddy Kurt is that generous. Some might say that I'm even more greedy than he is generous to take the offer. But you haven't sailed the Rodeo. I tried it a couple weeks ago only for a short time, and this thing is like crack and I was definitely a junkie looking to get another score. If you're reading this, KURT, YOU"RE THE MAN!!!! The board is just a gift from god. I was sailing with 2 other guys on 4.2s most of the day. Towards the end the wind started dying off, and that's where this board really began to shine above the others. Not only was I the only one planing, I still had plenty of speed and power to do some shakas, ponches and funnels. The F2 Rodeo only needs the slightest puff to get up and going and when it does, it's instantly up to speed for anything you want to throw. I was hitting moves bigger and faster than I ever have before and it's due to this amazing board. I would recommend this to any freestyle pro as much as I would recommend it to anyone just making their first vulcan attempts. Now who's got some wind so I can get another hit of Rodeo?!

The Secret Spot's Secret Spot

2010-03-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

Many of you guys have heard about "The Training Grounds", a flatwater freestyle paradise on the north shore of Long Island. The only problem was that it had to remain a secret spot because of the parking situation. The only parking at the launch site was illegal for anyone living outside the Village of Port Jefferson. Thanks to George Pav's inner need to continue sailing this spot he ended up finding a new secret spot that's better than the old one. And this one doesn't need to be a secret. It's a Brookhaven Town Park, and there's no booth at the entrance so all of you freestylers need to give this place a shot. There's plenty of parking, a nice grassy rigging area with some benches and more buttery smooth flat water than any place on Long Island.

As I was down hauling my 5.3 while I was sitting on a bench and the sail was laying on a nice soft lawn, I looked out at the little baby whitecaps blowing over the waist deep water. All I could think was,"this is the perfect spot." I stepped into the water and off I went. Perfect 5.3 conditions for freestyle. As I cruised in behind the first Island I headed off the wind the board rode so quiet in the glass flat water. I went switch stance at full speed for a perfect funnel. On the way back there were tiny little pieces of chop to hit some shakas off of. This place is by far my new favorite spot to sail. Shortly Eric pulled in. He's more of a wave guy so I could tell he was kinda bored just cruising back and forth, so he ended up packing up and heading to the outside to ride some decent swell. Right after Eric packed up, George Pav showed up. The only problem was the tide was VERY, VERY low. Much lower than I had ever seen it before, and the water was getting shallow even for our tiny little freestyle fins. After George's first run, he had the biggest smile I've ever seen on his face and he also proclaimed the spot to be "perfect." As the tide hit dead low, the water was about 3 inches too shallow to sail, so George had the grand idea to walk our gear over the now exposed mucky bottom to one of the channels that the boats moor in. Maybe 200 feet. Half way across we both started laughing thinking the same thing," That little channel better have some water in it." It took a bit of effort to make the walk straight upwind as we sank into the muck with every step. When we got to the channel, it reminded us of how we pictured the speed canal. And it turned into a perfect speed canal. It was plenty deep enough and plenty long enough. We sailed in and out of that channel to the other shore for a while. George was so close to landing some spocks and duck tacks. I was banging out all the flat water slidey stuff and came the closest I've ever came to making a double spock. Sailing one day here is like sailing 10 days anywhere else. It's incredible what a difference conditions can make.
So if you want to make a vulcan a few hundred attempts earlier, come on and sail "The Training Grounds."

Want to go, here are directions. Just turn left into the park where the marker is on the map:

I didn't bring the camera today, but here are some shots form the archive. That's George totally lit up on the 4.2. These pics are from the old launch. the new public launch has about 3 times the distance before you need to jibe.

2010 F2 Rodeo 98 review

2010-03-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

First off, the board looks MUCH better in person. Well, as everyone that knows me will tell you, my current board of the 2009 Mistral Joker 99 has been my favorite board of all time. It impressed me more than any board in any category the first day I took it for a spin. That is, until today. The winds were extremely gusty, side offshore and choppy as hell. 4.2 was the call, and thanks to my buddy Kurt, a brand spankin new 2010 F2 Rodeo Air in the 98 ltr flavor was there for our enjoyment. Just to "test the waters" I took out the 4.2 with my Joker 99 first. I knew this board well and wanted to get a real idea of the conditions for a fair comparison. And conditions were crappy to say the least. about 40 knots in the gusts and 15 knots in the lulls. So on to my first impressions already.

As I schlogged off the beach in the wind shadow, I noticed it was very stable off a plane. As the first little puff came through, I popped right up onto a plane. It planed up just as early as the Joker, which is saying a lot. As I got up to speed the chop coming straight at me and the Rodeo was bouncing around a bit but considering what mother nature was throwing my way, it behaved very nicely. It definitely rode a little bigger than the Joker, and was very similar in feel to the Fanatic Skate. As I set up for a funnel, I noticed the board was a bit more stable than the Joker I was used to. After I was switch stance it also held it's speed up easier also. This thing is a really great board for the switch stance moves. It's got a nice flat deck, so you can really change up your stance easy. When it came time to pop, it was like the rodeo was pre-programmed to pop around all the moves. In this funnel, which was the first trick of the day on the board, it just popped right up. If I wanted the air funnel, I would have had it easy. You can just pop it and throw it around wherever you want it. It's so compact and well balanced in the air, rotating it is a no-brainer. just look where you want it to go and it's already there. On the way back in I was now heading straight off the backs of the chop. I really wanted to see how the Rodeo would handle a shaka, so I lined up the back of a 6 inch peice of chop and let loose. It popped higher than my Joker would with similar wind and chop. In the air, again, it just went where I wanted it. As he nose touched down there wasn't even a hint of stickiness that there used to be with the previous model, the Chilli. The Rodeo instead just spun around to complete the shaka just like I was used to with the Joker. I continued in and went for a flaka, which became an air flaka. the Rodeo handled it without a hitch. As I got closer to shore the wind was lightening up and I began to fall off a plane so I went for a spock 540 to head back out. Again the board popped with minimal effort and as the tail touched down it planed backwards sooooo easily and then slid into the spock needing very little input from me. Just pop and spin seemed to be what this board wants to do.

So all in all I spent about 1/2 hour on the board landing all sorts of tricks very easily in the very gusty conditions. This board would be great not only for the most advanced of freestylers out there, but also guys just getting into it. It's got everything you'd want in one board. Stability and a flat deck for the old school moves. Easy pop and sliding for when you want to learn your vulcans and spocks. Then when you're ready for Ponches, Shakas, Air Funnels and all the other New School radical tricks, the Rodeo will deliver on everything. If you're looking for a new freestyle board, the Rodeo should definitely be at the top of the list. Right now, it's on the top of mine.

New Boards

2010-02-27T09:13:00.000-08:00

While we were in Bonaire my Joker bit the bullet. I've been eagerly anticipating the release of the 2010 Mistrals. But when I got home from Bonaire I got an e-mail that the Mistral boards have been delayed yet again. So without a board, I needed to look around. Luckily while My Joker was being repaired in Bonaire, it gave me the chance to try a bunch of different boards. For this year, I ordered up a pair of JP freestyle boards. the JP freestyle Pro 89, and Jp Freestyle Pro 98 should be arriving shortly. I'll be sure to post up my first impressions of each. They've got some mighty big shoes to fill as in my 20 years of windsurfing I've never been impressed as much by any other board than the 2009 Mistral Joker that these beauties will be replacing.

Another Great Trip to Bonaire

2010-02-27T08:40:00.000-08:00

Well, we just got back from another trip to Bonaire. Those of you that have been there need not read any further. My trip was the same exact trip you had. 85 degrees, wind everyday and a beach full of friends. Actually 34 friends from Long Island to be exact, and that's not counting all the locals and other friends from all over the world. I'm not going to make too lengthy a post about Bonaire because I could literally give you the day by day run down that is still imprinted in my now frostbitten brain. Can being home make you homesick?

I'll just list the highlights and lowlight of the trip. First off, we were lucky just to leave JFK. This year there was a record setting snowstorm baring down on the Mid-Atlatic. As the rather large group of LI windsurfers sat with our eyes glued to the conditions out the window of the terminal we watched as blizzard conditions got worse. We'd cheer for the fleets of plows clearing our runway. After waiting and hoping our plane finally pulled in and we watched 7 gear bags load into the undercarriage. Soon enough we were taxiing around the airport watching the whitecaps from the 50 mph winds on the bay. There was a huge sigh of relief from every passenger on the plane when we finally took off.

I arrived at the beach early our first day in Bonaire. Andy Brandt and the Marrs were the only other people at Jibe City. I quickly rigged my 5.3 and started strapping up the Joker. When I put the vent plug in, I noticed some air bubbles coming out of the footstrap plug. Crap! I pushed on the deck and it was like pushing on a plastic plate sitting on top of a foot of snow. Very soft! What was I going to do. There was obviously already water in there so I might as well grab a much needed session. Plus the damage was under the footpad. I took 2 or 3 runs and could really feel the damaged spot in between the footstraps. I couldn't let my baby suffer any more so I came back in. By now Jibe city was open and I asked around to see if someone would be able to make the repair. Luckily Zeno was the best board repairer in Bonaire and hes was willing to give it a go. Long story short, I was without my beloved Joker for the first 4 days of the trip. Luckily I've got a great group of friends and they let me borrow their boards while they weren't using them so I was able to get some time on the water. My board was finally back to me on Thursday for me to use for the rest of the trip.

All in all I sailed every day on a 5.3 except for a few 4.7 days. The only problem was that I hadn't sailed in so long before the trip that I was up all night in sooting pains from every one of my limbs while at the same time itching like crazy from whatever it is over by the Mangroves that seems to prefer New Yorkers over the locals to snack on. During the day while I was off the water the temperatures were perfect to sit in the breeze on the beach and sip on the beverage of one's choice. While eating a delicious fresh sandwich or salad from the beach bar.

We all had a great time this year and I'm pretty sure our numbers will grow yet again for next year. Now the rest of the year is spent counting down the days until our next trip to Bonaire.

Feel Bonaire

2010-01-29T08:09:00.000-08:00

I just love this clip. I doesn't have much action, and there's not much excitement, but what it does have is that vision that's been implanted in your brain since your last session in Bonaire. You can just feel yourself sailing across Lac Bay. Thanks again to Brian S for the clip.

Kickin' Back in Bonaire from Brian S on Vimeo.

Near Victory at Sea

2010-01-25T18:07:00.000-08:00

It's been forever since we've got a good session on Long Island. The windsurfing gods must have had one hell of a hangover New Years Morning cause they haven't had enough energy for a single puff this whole month. Until today that is. The wind gods must have chugged a few gatorades and took a few Advil because all the wind that was missing all month happened all at once. I woke up in the middle of the night to the unfamiliar sound of the wind chimes hanging next to the back door. Then there it was. The tell tale creaking and cracking of a 30 knot gust hitting the house. Thanks to my parents newly found retirement I'm once again able to get out in the mornings while they babysit the kids. The only problem I laid in bed at 4am pondering was where to sail. The wind was supposed to die early afternoon and I couldn't show up at 7am to drop the kiddies off at Nana and Grandpa's. Heckscher is also closed this time of year so the spots along the south shore for a SE wind is few and far between. I finally decided Tanner should do it and fell back to sleep.

When I woke up the wind was still cranking. I immediately signed onto the LI windsurfer yahoo groups to see where everyone was going and what everyone was sailing on. Much to my surprise no-one even made a mention of sailing today. So I posted up that I was heading to Tanner and looking for company. Then I shoved some food into the kids mouths as fast as I could and it was off to Grandpa's house. On the way there I called George Pav to tell him where I was going. It turned out he was working way out east and couldn't make it all the way to tanner. He suggested Matituck. The problem was for me to drop the kids off then get to matituck it would have been 2 hours of driving before I could get there. So we picked Hart's Cove in Center Moriches. I apologize to the LI Windsurfing group for posting up the wrong spot, but since no-one else made a mention of it before I left, I figured any day of sailing is always nicer with a bud.

I Got there before George and figured the 4.2 should do it. I wanted to work on some freestyle so I went with the 99 ltr Joker. A great setup for what looked like a nice flat water freestyle sesh. As soon as I hit the water I was way overpowered. It was waaaayyyyy windier than it looked. It turned out that 3.7 flattened out and the small board would be the right call or really the only call since I don't own a 3.2. I did a few runs having a ball getting my butt kicked in the gusts before I ecided to give George a buzz and see what was going on. He picked up the phone and said he was right up the street. When he pulled in he rolled down the window of his truck and said, "looks good."

"Yeah it looks good, but I'm getting killed on the 3.7."

"Really?" he said. "Well Jeff Usher and Marty are on the way."

We chatted a bit more and I headed back out. It was even windier than before. Soon enough George was on the water with his small board and 3.7. He did one run and headed back to the beach for more outhaul. As I tried to do my best to spock in 40 knots George yelled from the beach, "It's freakin' windy!" After George pulled some more outhaul it was a little more manageable. We sailed for another hour or so getting huge jumps off the little 2 or 3 foot ramps that would just stand straight up. Personally I was more impressed if either one of us actually made a jibe. I think today was the first time I cheered for myself or George from making a "simple" jibe in about 10 years. A little while later Jeff and Marty showed up. They were ready to hit the water and we urged them to rig a bit smaller than the conditions looked. We told Jeff 3.2 would work just fine.

Then it was back to the water. George and I continued to sail while the other guys were getting dressed and rigging. Right before my last run George decided to take another break and as I made the last jibe on the inside I saw Jeff all ready to go. As I came through the jibe I thought to myself, "well that was fairly normal." Then I hit a nice jump that I didn't blow sideways on. "What a nice 3.7 day this is going to turn out to be." Then an ooooh so easy jibe on the outside. "Yeah, now this is what I'm talking about." And as I begin to sheet in the sail on my new tack back to shore I see a flash of lighting south of the launch and the sky over the launch was as black as night. As I got up onto a plane I could feel the wind shifting slightly off shore and dropping fast. I managed to stay on the board about 3/4 of the way back to the beach before the wind dropped to nothing and the black sky was overhead. This was no longer a victory at sea, but it was a great time anyway. The 5 knot wind was now side-off and I went in the drink. It only took me about 15 minutes or so to swim in and it was actually quite relaxing as the sound of the heaviest rain storm of the year was splashing all around me.

When I got back to shore we all looked out at the water and couldn't believe how fast the wind went from 50 to 5 mph. I felt bad for Jeff and Marty who had finally gotten to the beach, rigged and gotten their drysuits on. I tried to make Jeff feel better by telling him it was too windy anyway and they probably were having more fun watching us sail than we were having sailing. Then Jeff just said it how it was, "Mike, I just put on my drysuit, pissed in it, and now I have to take it off. Trust me, you had a better time." And I'm sure I did.

Thanks to the Iwindsurf graph I can see the exact time I went in the water (Keep in mind the windmeter wasn't blocked by the land like where we were sailing when the wind shifted south) Look closely, it had to be at 2:30 on the nose. The wind dropped dramatically and shifted sw before it came back south again:

Viewing for a Windless Winter

2010-01-15T11:30:00.000-08:00

It's been weeks now since I've last sailed, and I've only had 3 days since November! Needles to say I really need a session. Luckily myself and about 25 or so other Long Islanders are heading to Bonaire in about 3 weeks. Every day I'm watching the webcam at Jibe City and picturing myself sliding across the crystal clear 85 degree water that's teasing me on a daily basis in front of the camera. When I'm not watching the webcam, I'm on the hunt for new Bonaire videos. This is a couple of my favorites from last year.

Hatteras: November 2009

2010-01-06T11:39:00.000-08:00

My buddy got some pictures back to me from the day at the Cove when I sprained my ankle about 20 minutes into it. He still managed to get some good shots of a lot of the guys ripping it up and me sailing with my sprained ankle.

Getting back in into it.

2010-01-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

My ankle is just about fully healed after bad sprain it took it Hatteras in November. I finally got some windsurfing action last week. The first day out was a very strong Easterly. I endd up sailing all by my self at Hearts Cove in Moriches. It turns out to be a great freestyle spot on an Easterly. So I sailed there for about 3 hours on a 4.2 and freestyle board. After a month without getting wet I was rusty to say the least. I was being denied all my favorite moves that I could land 90% of the time. Shakas, funnels and even grubbies and spocks weren't working much at all. At the end of the day I headed home with my tail between my legs. I couldn't believe how much my sailing fell behind due purely to lack of time on the water.

Luckily the next day was forecasted to be a little windy, so it would be my chance to see if the previous day was just a fluke, or if I would really have to relearn all my favorite tricks. It only ended up being 5.9, the next day but I sailed for about an hour and 1/2. I started making my tricky tricks, and my ankle was feeling much better than the previous day. I was feeling much better about myself and everything was coming back.

Day 3 was unbelievable. 4.2 was the call and it was super low tide at West Meadow. After about an hour into the session I was right back where I left off a month ago. Shakas, check. Konos, check. Air Funnels, check. Ponches, check! Woohooo! There were also a bunch of other guys out that day including Mustang Steve, Ryan, George Pav, Eric, Bob and a couple others. George, Ryan and I ended up staying on the inside in the glass flat freestyle heaven. Ryan ended up hitting 2 vulcans and GP ended up hitting a perfect, ankle dry, Vulcan followed by an almost spock. Go George!!!

Now we've got about a month until we hit up Bonaire to learn some new tricks, get a nice tan, and drink the beach bar out of alcohol. Can't wait to get out of the land of ice and snow. Here's a link to the Jibe City webcam. This time of year, I watch it everyday.

Game On!!!!

2009-12-18T19:05:00.000-08:00

Many of you have heard about the secret freestyle spot I've found. If not, I'll bring you up to speed. I had discovered the spot sailing at another local beach on the north shore. The problem was finding a launch to get to what looked like freestyle heaven. So when I got home I googled a bit and found a road that lead right to where I wanted to sail. The only problem was that this particular launch was in an incorporated village, and anyone residing outside the village could not park or use the beach there. Apparently satan himself guarded this little piece of heaven. The first 2 days we sailed until we couldn't sail anymore, but on the 3rd day at our little spot George and I got the boot. We were told we couldn't park there and to not come back or we would be ticketed. When George heard the news he said he knew it was too good to be true, hung his head low and de-rigged in disbelief of what had just happened. I was in even worse shape. This was the place I was going to learn all the newest moves faster than anywhere I had ever sailed before. Bonaire included!!!

So we drove home after our last spin through heaven. George called me and still couldn't believe we were no longer allowed to sail there. So many thoughts were going through my head as to how we could windsurf there without bringing the cars into the area. Maybe we could park down the road, or maybe park at another beach and sail there. Taking another look at our options I realized that there was really no safe way to reach the secret spot without actually launching there. Then I thought, maybe we could just pay for a pass. Even if I only sailed there one day a year, it would be worth it whatever it cost. So I went online and found the village website. There weren't any signs of a pass being sold to the public outside the village. I kept digging and digging and eventually came across some contact information for some of the town employees and members of government. Then there it was. The Mayor's e-mail. The only logical step from this point in my mind was to now e-mail the Mayor of the village in question. I stated my case and requested special permission to windsurf at the secret spot. I never in a million years thought that I would even get a response from one of the Mayor's assistants, so much as the Mayor herself, but I figured I couldn't be any worse off than I was already. And so the year's most important e-mail was sent. Much to my surprise the very next morning I opened up my e-mail to find a nice little note from the Mayor. She not only granted my request, but also wanted to meet me in person to give me the special pass.

So today I went to the Mayor's office at Village Hall and picked up a one of a kind special access pass to windsurf at my little secret spot. She even excused herself from a meeting to see me when I arrived at Village Hall. She introduced me to my new best friend Bob who made up the written pass on letterhead straight from the desk of the Mayor. So next time "the man" is holding you down, remember if you ask them nicely, you just might get what you want.

Now you know where I'll be every time it blows NE!

A Not So Typical Week in Hatteras

2009-12-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

Windy foreast. Check. Warm weather. Check. House full of friends. Check. Sounds like a your typical trip to Cape Hatteras, NC right. Well that's how it started off. The ride down was great and we were meeting up with Some friends from Boston, CT, and NYC, and Long Island. We ended up pulling into Island Creek Friday night and couldn't wait for the winds to come. Chris Eldridge had managed to get there Friday morning and sailed all day mostly overpowered on his 4.2.

Saturday morning I woke up at 6:45 AM from the wind howling through the screens on the bedroom window. For the record, the sounds of the wind blowing will wake me up quicker than smelling salt. I dove into my wetsuit and rigged my favorite board/sail combo. The 2010 4.7 Ice and 99 ltr Joker. I was on the water by 7:00AM. I had the entire sound to myself. After 2 hours of slipping, sliding, jumping and spinning I began to wonder where everyone else was. When Chris finally made it out onto the water, I asked him what was taking so long. It turned out that I got on the water before anyone was even awake. The wind direction had me sailing just North of the house and blocked from the view out the back windows. They were all waiting for me to get up to go sail. By the time they all realized I was already out, and had been for hours, the wind started dying. We all ended up getting a nice session, but they definitely missed most of it.

The forecast for the rest of the week was pretty typical. Windy just about every day. The only thing standing out was one "gift from god" forecasted SE wind around 30. We strolled over to Ocean Air to chat with the guys about the SE forecast for the Cove. I mentioned it to Stuart with a huge smile on my face. "Don't get too excited, that only happens once a year no matter what the forecast says." so says Stuart. Well, I figured it's December, the cove day hadn't happened yet, so this has got to be it!

We had a couple more windy days, and some great sailing. As "Cove Wednesday" got closer the forecast remained the same. When Wednesday finally arrived we scrambled to check the meters. It was already in the low 20s and forecasted to increase. We all piled into my Expedition and headed down to the cove. We drove on the beach like we were racing in the Baja 1000. The truck was filled with anticipation, expectations, and memories of the last Cove day we had there 2 years ago. Then with a last heavenly thought we saw the water. Flat!!!!! Not just little waves flat, but as flat as behind the houses in the sound! The wind was there, but where was the logo high, down the line beauties from the last time. Disappointing would be the understatement of the year. There were only 2 kiters on the water as I looked again in denial of what of was seeing. I was so depressed I didn't even feel like sailing. We drove back up the beach at a snails pace not believing what we had just seen. We pulled back out over the cut in the dune and back onto the pavement to tell the guys with 2 wheel drive waiting for a ride the bad news. As I shifted back into 2 wheel drive and got ready to go home, I caught a glimpse of Mark Skelton. He's airing down and getting ready to go down to the Cove. Well, if he's going, I guess I'm going too.

As we pulled back in at the launch, much to my surprise there were some little waves beginning to break. "What's this?" I thought to myself. "Wait a minute. The wind has picked up too." I stepped out of the car, and knew the 4.2 was the call. Just as I finished rigging, Andy showed up with Doug in tow and told me to be patient. "Waves just start out of nowhwhere at the Cove and it'll be head high before you know it. " Andy said with a big smile on his face while watching Stuart rotate through the first forward of the day.

By the time I hit the water there were a few nice chest high sets coming in, and from there they just grew. As the waves grew in size, so did the height of the jumps. I hit some really nice high stalled forwards, and got some nice little wave rides on the way in. Then on one tack out, I saw it. The perfect ramp to chuck a huge forward. For a fraction of a second I thought about going for a normal big floaty jump but then my little voice kicked in and said "Just go huge." So huge I go. I went up, then up some more. Then set up for the forward, then stalled it out cause I was still too high. Then looked around, then stalled it out some more. Then I started coming down, but I looked down and was still too high so I stalled it out some more. I didn't want to throw it too early and over-rotate so I stalled some more. Then finally I sheet in and round we go. About 3/4 way around I realize I should have waited just a bit longer. I tried my best to slow the rotation, but ended up over-rotating and landing as flat as flat can be. My front leg took most of the impact and I felt the pain shoot right up my leg. I knew something was wrong right away. Long story short, I sprained my ankle pretty bad and had trouble sailing back in. While I was sailing in, I thought it was broken. Hopping in on one foot through the break was interesting to say the least. I sat on the beach watching the perfect day just pass right by. After a while I was able to put pressure on the ankle again. It looked like someone stuck and egg in the side of my ankle, but my windsurfer instinct took aver and I headed back out for another session. Jumping was obviously out of the question. All I was hoping for was a few one-footed wave rides.

My first run in I picked a nice small wave to give it a try. I got into the wave. Not much pain, so I went for the bottom turn. It hurt like hell, but it was worth it. Then it was time for the top turn. The sprain was on my back foot, so as I slashed the turn it felt like my foot was going to be ripped off. I jumped off the board and was me cursing up a storm both from pain caused by the injury and disgust that I couldn't take advantage of the now incredible conditions. I sat on the beach for a little wile longer before I decided to give it yet a third try. "Right foot." I kept telling myself. "Only use your right foot. The left one will hurt." So I continued on without giving in to the need to "go huge" again. I ended up perfecting the one footed top turn and sailed for another half hour or so before the pain was too great.

Then it was off to get an x-ray. the whole time I was sailing I just kept praying it was only a sprain and not broken. In the end it was only a sprain, but I had to stay beached for the rest of the trip, and the next 2 great days days of sailing. A week later, I'm off the crutches and cast free. I still can't walk straight, but it's getting better every day, so hopefully I'll be on the water again very soon.

All in all, it was another great trip to Hatteras. We had a photographer there that got some great shots of the action at the Cove that day. As soon as I get the pictures I 'll have them online.

Secret Spot Found and Lost

2009-11-24T18:05:00.000-08:00

Tuesday November 23rd marks a sad day in windsurfing. Our newly discovered secret spot is secret no longer. George Pav and I were super stoked to go sailing and work on all the latest tricks in the perfect freestyle spot we've dubbed "The Training Grounds". We rigged our 5.9s and were powered perfectly. George managed to hit 6 vulcans (3 of them being back to back) before "The Man" discovered our spot.

As we made our last run across our short and perfect stretch of water the officer from hell pulled in. And I'm not calling him the officer from hell because of the way he conducted himself, nor because of what he did. We were in the wrong and knew it. I'm calling him the officer from hell because to ruin such a good thing that came straight from heaven, Satan himself must have sent out one of his demons to ruin it for us. The officer was polite and didn't give us a ticket, but he informed us that since we were not residents of the village, we couldn't launch there. This was a very big disappointment especially since the other 4 officers I spoke to before this one came along had no problem with us sailing there as long as we kept things to a minimum, hence the need for secrecy.

So in the past few weeks, I went from saying "enough is enough with this NE wind crap", to "George, I can't believe it's going to be NE so we can get to sail the training grounds again" , to "Mother Fu*(&$^(* &(*&&*^#$$@%^& &#^#%$@$%, God DA&*#(!^^#((&#&@^** North East wind again!!!???? F##############*&!!!!!!"

Maybe I'll figure something out to sail there some time in the future. I literally wrote the mayor of the Village in question begging our case. Her response should be interesting to say the least.

Now it's off to Hatteras for some cheering up. Woohoo!!

Ida hits Hatteras

2009-11-16T19:17:00.001-08:00

A picture says 1,000 words.......The Storm surge in Hatteras

For more info check Bill's Beach Life

And some some more shots of storm damage

I hope the road is open for thanksgiving when we head down.

......

Ida day 3: The Training Grounds

2009-11-13T18:04:00.000-08:00

This is at dead low tide. As the tide comes in, you can sail in clean wind right in between these grassy islands for some butter smooth water for some perfect freestyle training.

I personally couldn't get out today. I had my hands full with my 2 and 3 year olds. If you think a forward is hard, try running around after 2 screaming kids having epic battles over a Sponge Bob sticker. Anyway, we all needed to get out of the house. George Pav gave me a buzz in the morning and told me he didn't even come close to having enough of our secret spot dubbed The Training Grounds and that he was heading back again today. So I decided if I couldn't sail, I might as well take the kids for a ride to the beach. When I pulled in, the wind was cranking. Way stronger than yesterday. I would have rigged my 3.7, but George was holding down his 4.2. And sailing really good. I decided to break out the camera. I wish I had my good camera with me with the longer lens, but these shots came out nice anyway. Today was much choppier than the nice 4.7 conditions we had yesterday, but hey, when it's blowing 30 knots, you can't expect much in the way of flat water.

George Pav nails a picture perfect vulcan.

Why buy a carbon boom?

2009-11-13T10:43:00.000-08:00

Simply because an aluminum boom feels broken right out of the box. I found a great little video that demonstrates what I mean. It's no wonder why those things don't last like a carbon one. Thanks to Brian S. for putting it up on Vimeo.

Windsurfing with an Aluminum Boom from Brian S on Vimeo.

Serious Freestyle Training with the former storm, formerly known as the former Hurricane Ida

2009-11-12T16:26:00.000-08:00

So the entire East Coast of the U.S. has been drooling over the predictions for up to 4 days of solid wind in a row from former hurricane Ida. Wednesday was the first day of good wind being predicted here on LI. Out east was looking like the best bet for good winds all day. I haven't had nearly enough flat water sessions to keep on top of my freestyle this year, so keeping up with my latest bag of tricks was my plan for Ida. Napeague would obviously be the call for Wed. As I pulled away form the house in my windsurf mobile I realized that almost everyone else that would normally make the 2 hour trip to Napeague to get some flat water action decided to make a 10 hour trip to get some flat water action in Hatteras. Kurt was still around and he loves Napeague, so he was my first call. He was in, and so was Steve with the "Caboose" from Shirley. There was barely any traffic on the way out and the truck kept swaying in the strong breeze on the highway. When I arrived at Napeague Kurt and Steve were already there and rigging. It looked like 4.7 was the call. I was powered to overpowered most of the time with the occasional lull but never fell of a plane.

Not having any flat water sessions in the past month or so was really showing with my switch stance tricks, or rather lack of switch stance tricks. But as the day went on, I pushed on and started making progress towards the end. I sailed until I couldn't sail any more. In the end I sailed about 5 hours straight in perfect 4.7 conditions doing at least 2 or 3 tricks on every run. Man I was shot while I was driving home but it was soooooo worth it.

So how can you beat a perfect 4.7 flat water session at Napeague? Well, I found a secret spot close to my house last winter. The only problem is that there are 3 no parking signs, 1 no trespassing sign, and one sign with all the town rules and regulations clearly stating that this secret spot is not only secret, but should it be found, it should only be used by those permanently residing within about 5 feet from the launch. It makes sense because there's only room for 2 or 3 cars to park. So I called George Pav, told him about the spot and we both decided it was worth the risk.

I arrived first. It was low tide and I was worried that it wouldn't be deep enough, but as soon as I took my third step into the water, I went right in over my head. "Wow, that's a drop!", I thought to myself. Then as I sailed across the small canal I thought, "That's great because I won't have to worry about running aground." With that thought I went splat! I nailed a sand/muck bar about 4 inches deep. I made a mental note on how far I could come to the other side and sailed back to where I launched. I was fully powered coming in for my first trick on starboard. I was flying! Just as I start to switch my feet to set up for a funnel the water smooths out to the point where the board starts making a hissing sound. I nailed a perfect air funnel on my first run! It happened to be the only one I hit all day, but man that water on the inside is soooo smooth it's not even fair. Then I spotted a sand bar upwind for port tack. It ended up being the identical setup that you have in Bonaire, where you come in on port tack, and then have all the time in the world to set up for anything you want to throw with the wind blowing right into the little bowl downwind of the sandbar.

When George pulled in I saw the smile on his face. He knew what was to come. Then I pointed out the sandbar upwind and his eyes lit up like he hadn't sen the water in 6 months. "4.7?, 4.7 is good? you're on 4.7 right?" "Yes George, I'm on 4.7 and it's perfect." After George's first run and his first vulcan, we decided to dub our secret spot "The Training Grounds" we continued sailing and exploring different secret runs in "The Training Grounds." As the tide came in, our super flat spots, weren't super flat anymore, and that was ok. We found some more super smooth flat spots to practice in. We sailed 4.7 all afternoon, slipping, sliding and spinning all over the place. George said that "The Training Grounds is to Freestyle, what the Canal in France is to Speed sailing." I had to agree. It was like our little secret spot was designed for freestyle windsurfing. I used to hate hearing the forecast for NE winds. It meant either traveling 2 hours for a good session, or giving in and sailing some typical mushy sound conditions. Now I can't wait for the next Nor' Easter at The Training Grounds!

2010 Northsails Ice Review

2009-11-03T18:41:00.000-08:00

To put it short, it's hands down the best sail I've ever used. I weigh 170 lbs (77 kilos) and use the 2010 Ices for 5.3 and smaller. The 2010 Ice carries over the power and then some from last years sails. The major change is the double clew grommet. The Ices have always been extremely sensitive to outhaul adjustments. By pulling the outhaul another 3cm you would go from full power to no power. For 2010 they took it even further. The outer clew grommet gives the sail a similar feel to the 2009 sails with lots of power and direct handling. The inner grommet setting is a very new feeling. The sail just twists off so far making it very soft and have a huge top end. I've had a chance now to sail 3.7, 4.2, 4.7, and 5.3 Ices along with my 5.9 Duke and across the board the double clew grommet works just as well with all the sizes. When I was getting too overpowered to try tricks, I simply changed the outhaul to the inner grommet and I've got total control again. It really is amazing! It's not like going from a 5.3 to a 4.7 but it's like changing the 5.3 to a 5.0 with a quick adjustment.

Another great thing about all these different settings is that you can really get any sail you want in just one sail. If you like the soft feel, use the inner setting, if you like a very reactive sail, use the outer setting. On top of all these adjustments, north now offers an "HD" Full X-Ply version for maximum durability. Can't ask for more than that! I took the HD Ice in the 3.7 and it was really nice too.

The Ice works just as well for freestyle as it does for waves. When the sail has wind in it, it gets a very deep pocket in it giving it all the power. What is unique is that when you try to make the sail go neutral, it goes perfectly flat. So whether you're trying an air funnel, or just a regular tack, the Ice will help you out with it's amazing handling. Going into a jibe or going down the line on a wave the Ice also goes totally neutral. It just feels so light.

If there ever was a time to buy a new sail, the 2010 Northsails Ice would be it. I really can't say enough good things about the 2010 Ice.

Pictures really don't do the new colors justice, but here are a few of my 2010 4.7 Ice.

Double clew grommets

Oversized pulleys make down-hauling simple

Boom length settings on the mast sleeve. As the boom goes up, the distance gets longer so check here for your outhaul setting. I find it best to leave it at the minimum outhaul settings. I actually use mine at 161cm or 162cm where I have the boom mounted here.

Always thinking about durability North puts plastic coating on wearable spots like on the mast tip, batten ends, and here on the foot stitching to prevent abrasion from the nonskid on the boards.

Admiring my 2010 4.7 Ice. Oh when can I use you again......

Two More!

2009-10-29T06:52:00.001-07:00

We just got another 2 Easterlies at Hekcscher. heckscher State Park closes to windurfing Oct. 31st, so I was stoked to get 2 more days there, and with my favorite Easterly direction. This time I was craving some super smooth water to work on some switch stance tricks. When I pulled into the parking lot, much to my surprise there was no one else there. I knew John Markwalter was on the way along with Big Rich. It was blowing a perfect 5.3 and I really wanted to head to the flats. For those who don't know about the flats, it's an area of 2 foot deep water that might be the smoothest water found on long Island. It's about 1/2 mile out from the Fire Island side and stretches for about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile. Plenty of room to throw trick after spinny trick. The only problem is that it's about 2 1/2 miles from our side of the bay where we launch at Heckscher. It's only really doable in a due East or Due west wind. It takes about 10 minutes planing on one tack to get there. Anyway, I rigged up my new 5.3 2010 NorthSails Ice. By the way, if there was ever a year to buy a new sail, the 2010 Ices and Dukes are it. I'll be doing a review of the new gear shortly.

So I headed out with my magical new sail and was in heaven, well almost heaven. Heaven was 2 1/2 miles across the bay. I really wanted to wait for the other guys to head over there, but I just couldn't wait. Off to the flats it was. I just hoped that none of the people parked in their cars watching were going to call the coast guard when I didn't return. When I got to the flats, it was full power on the 5.3. I was definitely a little rusty, but the new 5.3 handled even better than last years. I was banging out tricks left and right. There was definitely some issues with seaweed, so after about an hour of spinning my brains out all by myself, I decided to go se if John or Rich arrived yet and go grab a weedfin. I sailed back across the bay to the parking lot and as I was approaching I saw John pull in. It always takes a little arm twisting to get john to go over to the flats. (It dies EVERY SINGLE TIME John goes over there) I couldn't wait to get over there, so I told him I would meet him. He showed up about 5 minutes later and we were blasting around doing all sorts of tricks. John figured out the "pop" thing to initiate freestyle tricks without chop. I saw him practice that and then kick around a willie skipper. He didn't sail away but it was great to see him catching air without chop.

Then what John knew would happen, happened. The wind started dying and we were 2 1/2 mile from shore. Just as we decided to head back, Big Rich was finishing his shlog across the bay to meet us in the flats. Triumphant of his shlog he jumped off in the shallow water to prove he made it, then got back up and followed us home. And it was a looooong slooowwww trip home. As we got 1/2 way across the bay the wind started shifting to the north (offshore). So the 3 of us were now pinching upwind in the still dying breeze. As we approached the shore pointing as high into the wind as we could, the 2 Joes and Alison were hooting and hollering. Apparently they had taken bets on who would get back first. During the cheering, Big Rich went down. Luckily no one bet on Big Rich. John ended up setting foot on shore first as I did a tack or two to get back upwind a bit more. Big Rich ended up not being able to get back on the board in the now 2 or 3 mile per hour northerly winds. After we were all back in safely we were laughing and John and I agreed that it was well worth the shlog home to be able to sail those conditions. We just wished it had lasted longer.

Our wish was granted, because the following day it was blowing even harder straight out of the East. I couldn't get there until the afternoon. When I pulled in, George Pav just finished rigging his 4.7. He was planing really well, so 4.7 it was for me too. We stayed in the choppier Heckscher side of the bay to work on some bigger aerial moves. George was floating shuvits everywhere and coming so close on so many vulcans. The ramps for Shakas were incredible. It's been a while since I was able to get the amount of air I was getting for the shuvits and shakas. Our session only lasted about an hour before it totally crapped out, but it was good while it lasted. I still want more!!!!

Easterlies Antics

2009-10-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

Friday was yet another easterly forecast for Heckscher. The wind forecast was good for the entire weekend for that matter. However it was looking like Friday would be my only chance at a session. The only fly in the ointment was actually a fellow sailor and good friend of mine named Joe who had come over to build a gate for me. I called him before he got to my house hinting, "maybe it would be a good day to call in sick. It's a steady 25 at Heckscher." "No, no, that's alright, we've got to build the gate sometime." he replied. I watched all the updated windgraphs on Iwindsurf as the gate was being constructed. Hours were ticking by and the gate was being put together piece by agonizing piece. Joe is in by no means slow to construct anything, but when it's blowing, time is counted in passing leaves, clanking windchimes, and howling breezes instead of minutes and hours. Finally around 3 o'clock, the gate was finished. I already had my drysuit on and was helping my favorite handyman pack up his van. "Just let me vacuum up the saw dust" he said. "Dude, screw the sawdust, and lets get our asses to the beach!" With that we were off.

I had lost joe at a light somewhere along the way. When I got to the beach, I had never rigged so fast in my life. It was perfect 4.7 easterly at Heckscher. I had already landed a few shakas, ponches and funnels by the time Joe pulled in to the parking lot. The rest of the day was perfect. 4.7 until dark. And what made it even better was seeing the other guys really going for it. John Markwalter was on a mission to make a shuv-it. The ramps were perfect AND everywhere. I saw him try at least one on each tack in both directions. He also hit some of his regular tricks super smooth. That brand new 99 liter Mistral Joker had John loving life. Kurt was also throwing some forwards, perfect duck tacks and all sorts of other carving moves.

We ended up sailing right to dark and wanting more. It looks like we'll get our wish this week as there are more Easterlies in the forecast.

Chachi brings back a little piece of the Gorge

2009-10-13T18:20:00.001-07:00

The forecast was looking good for another classic West Meadow day. It would be my fourth great West Meadow day of the year. Considering last year I only got to sail my favorite spot about 5 times total, I'm in heaven. Not only were they calling for good wind, but Chachi, Aka. Jon Sasson, was back from Cali for a few days. Even more than I was looking forward to a great sesh at the meadow, I was looking forward to sailing with a good friend I haven't seen in months. I was eager to see how much spending 6 months in the Gorge had improved Chachi's sailing. He's also the newest member of the Northsails / Mistral team so I couldn't wait to see one of my teammates ripping it up on his new gear of choice.

When I pulled into the parking lot, Chachi was standing there with a big smile. It was almost as big as mine because I was looking past him at the small wavelets breaking over the nearly exposed sand bars. I got out of my truck and figured 4.7 should do it. Since Chachi was also using my gear, we had to share. I would be taking the smaller sail with the big board and he'd take the bigger sail with the smaller board. So it was 4.7 and the Joker for me, and the 5.3 and the 85 ltr Style for him. As soon as we finished rigging we looked at each other feeling the same gust. We both thought the same thing, should have rigged something smaller. We went for it on the already rigged gear anyway. Chachi made it to the water before me and boy was that 5.3 twisted open. It was quite obvious that he was lit out of his mind. I followed on my 4.7 with bigger board. I could barely keep it in the water. We stayed on the gear for a few runs thinking it would probably back off the second we went to rig down. It didn't. So after a few runs more I gave him my 4.7 for the smaller board he was using. Then I went down to the 4.2 on my Joker.

We were both a bit overpowered, but much better than before. We were going loop for loop. I had some sick ponches and shakas. Chachi threw a pretty nice Kono and an almost burner. Later on I saw him make a couple of ponches also and some massive shuv-its. So did 6 months in the Gorge improve his sailing? Lets just say calling his sailing improved is an understatement. Not only has he learned so many new tricks, but he's also doing the old moves so much more stylish. At one point the ramps were big enough and steep enough to go for some backloop action. Neither of us made any, but if we knew what we were doing with those we definitely could have landed a few.

All in all it was everything we love about sailing West Meadow. Low tide for flat water freestyle, high tide for some wave action, and lots of friends to share the wind with. I can't wait for the next sesh at the meadow.

Always good for a laugh.

2009-10-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

A few of us got together for dinner last night and this video came up in conversation. Pretty funny.

Big Wednesday at West Meadow

2009-10-08T19:05:00.000-07:00

I was watching the forecast for Wednesday for almost a week. It never changed. Windy as hell all day long! High tide was right in the middle of the day, which means outgoing tide for the better part of the afternoon. My hopes were very high for the big winds, huge ramps, and great waves at West Meadow. My wife works as a nurse overnight, so I was letting her sleep in. Every gust that howled through the trees out the back window of our house was killing me. Forget about how much the constant stream of phone calls were. "Where are you?", "Don't you know it's windy?" Then the worst call came in from Rob Biaggi around 1:00pm, "I just got out of the water overpowered on my 4.2. The waves are HUGE! There are about 20 guys at the beach right now." All right already, I'll get there as soon as I can guys!!

As soon as I heard Chrissy crack the bedroom door, I was already on the road. 15 of the longest minutes I've ever experienced later I pulled into the parking lot at West Meadow. There's no freakin parking!!!!! After 2 circles through the parking lot and a good peak of the conditions I deemed the spot next to Pete doable. The first time around I didn't think I could squeeze in with my Expedition with trailer in tow since he was taking up 1/3 of what would be my spot as well. Brewster was parked on the other side of me. I slowly pulled in being careful not to scrape my mirror on Pete's van and Brewster's sexy little Audi. (Sorry Brew for only leaving you about 3 inches to open your door)

A quick walk down to the beach and it was obvious what sail I would be rigging. 3.7 all the way! I heard multiple stories of people getting denied in the dead onshore wind with constant shorebreak. It wasn't that the break was incredibly huge, it was that you can't touch bottom (at least I can't touch bottom) unless I'm in the impact zone. That means you've got to wait for the perfect opportunity, then run your gear past that next wave and give it an extra push past the breakers to water I can't stand in. Then get your ass in gear because there's only about a 3 or 4 second duration between waves. I ended up getting the board knocked out from under me, but quickly waterstarted up and I was off. I was powered up to say the least. I really wanted to go back in and give it some more outhaul, but more than I wanted less wind in the sail, I wanted to not have to go in through that shorebreak.

After a run to get my harness lines set on my brand new 2010 Northsails Ice, I was good to go for some big airs. I hadn't jumped that high since that 3.7 Easterly we had at Heckscher a while back. The waves were incredible! A little overhead in the NE corner and I was really able to work the waves. West meadow doesn't get you're typical North shore roller style wave. these things actually stand straight up and break. That was sooooo much fun. George Marr was ripping it up as usual even though he was overpowered on his 4.2. (Hey Jill, get George a 3.7 for x-mas) George Pav was getting some huge airs and ripping up the waves way better than anyone else I saw. Nice George! I can tell you've been training at Ponquogue. I saw Pete hit the jump of the day when I was walking my board down to the water. He went all out off the 8 footer that jacked up right in front of him. He went up 15 feet easy. I had one forward that I can still picture dong in my head. I went way up, tilted the sail forward , looked down at the guys headcap that sailed past the other way, then sheeted in to go and bam. Stomped it! Big forwards are big fun!

Here are some shots from later in the day after the tide and waves went down. Thanks to Bill Doutney for the great shots!

West Meadow is Back!!!!!

2009-10-06T16:27:00.001-07:00

Well, many people know about the killer sessions to be had at West Meadow Beach on LI. West Meadow is a very special place. It has something for everyone, whether it be a speed freak, freestyle pro, or wave jumping machine. Yesterday, Monday October 5th, was my first taste of the version of West Meadow that I have come to love more than any other place I've ever sailed. Dead Low tide at Da'Meadow is perfect for freestyle. The silkiest smooth water you've ever sailed is there for the sliding in between each set of the sandbars.

When I left to head to the beach I wasn't very hopefull. The trees by my house were loosing some leaves from what seemed to be a nice breeze, but the iwindsurf meters weren't showing much. Then I saw Sasha's post on the LI windsurf groups. "Rigging 5.7 at West Meadow" That was all it took to get me out the door. 20 minutes and a couple of phone calls later I was at the beach. George Pav and Ryan were also in route.

When I pulled into the parking lot I saw some whitecaps, but Sasha was just standing around, along with Jeff. They didn't look to hopeful. "But I swear I could plane on my 5.9," I thought. With that thought George Pav pulled in and after checking out the conditions decided it wasn't good enough to call the baby sitter. He told me he could see the channel from his house, so if I was good on the 5.9 I should go sail over there as a signal for him to make the call to the baby siter and get some West Meadow action. He left and I finished rigging the 5.9. I hit the water, then I was off. As I got away from the beach, I was very powered. I think I saw George's house before he did. About a 1/2 hour later he was back in the parking lot. Now the sandbars were starting to pop out, and I was pretty overpowered on the 5.9. I changed the outhaul setting on my brand new 2010 Northsails Duke and with the glassy smooth water, I was able to hold it down easily. A few minutes later and George was on the water. A few minutes after that he hit his fist vulcan of the day. A few minutes after that , he hit his second. A few minutes after that, he almost hit his first Duck Tack. Soon enough Ryan showed up and was banging out Vulcans left and right. I told him to go for some spocks. He was a little hesitant with the outgoing tide and not being totally familiar with where the sandbars are. After I told him I'd buy him a case of beer, he shifted gears and was ready to go for his first spock. I followed him in shouting, "Think of those Icy Blue mountains" (Coors Light of course being his beer of choice) As soon as he got inside the first sandbar, he made the perfect vulcan, slid it 360 degrees and flipped the sail, but face planted. I thought to myself, "Holy Shit! I'm going to owe him a case of beer." He had many more very close attempts, but just couldn't stay on the board. He's definitely going to be hitting one in the next session or two.

I was in my own zone. I was hitting tricks I hadn't hit since Bonaire. It's amazing what a difference conditions make in your sailing. I had the best freestyle session of the year for me yesterday, and I'm sure West meadow will deliver many more this fall. Tomorrow, Wednesday, looks to be at the total opposite end of what West Meadow has to offer. High tide is around 2 PM so the afternoon shift should deal up some incredible 40 knot, 3.7, 20 foot jump, balls to the wall sailing. Hopefully I'll get some video.

See you in heaven (West Meadow that is)

Mike

Bonaire boys cleaning up in Sylt

2009-09-29T19:52:00.000-07:00

It could actually happen. The 1st double elimination round is over and Tati, Kiri and Tonky stand 1,2,3 respectively. If they finish the event off this way and keep Gollito down far enough in the rankings, the next PWA Champion could come from my favorite winter get-away, Boniare. Here's more info on the final freestyle event of the year:

Back to Back

2009-09-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

Gotta love Heckscher and all it has to offer. Yesterday, the 28th, was a funky day at Heckscher. It was probably the worst day of the year there that had strong wind. The chop was coming from every angle, and the wind would go from 15 to 30 almost every single run. But it was still a blast. Any day we can get to do what we love is a blessing. Even though the conditions on Monday were far from optimal I would have sailed those conditions dozens of times to get a day like we had today. The sun was out, the wind was up, and I mean way up. 4.2 was the call all around and I was even forced down to the 3.7 at one point. The funky chop from yesterday got itself together to make beautiful ramps on the outside for port or starboard jumping. The inside just begged me to throw down some sick tricks. Chrissy made it to the beach and managed to get a lot of really nice shots from the window of the car. Plenty for me to throw together a quick little video from today. And George, (no, not Starfish George, vulcan George) screw the vulcan and go for some spocks! That Mistral Joker you've got is already doing the full 360, you just don't realize it. Flip the sail baby!!!!!
Enjoy!

Heckscher 29, 2009 from Mike Burns on Vimeo.

PWA Sylt

2009-09-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

The final freestyle event of the PWA Tour is going on right now. So far the wind has been too light for competition. Gollito is currently in first place on the tour with Tonky and Kiri tied for second. It's the final event of the year so everything will be decided this week. You can follow the event live by clicking on the new PWA Ticker.

ABK, and the First day with the new stick

2009-09-25T20:08:00.001-07:00

So I've got my new Nolimits masts and Andy Brandt is in town for the weekend giving a freestyle ABK camp. The clinic is held at Napeague about a 2 hour drive from our house. The wind had been cranking out there all morning, and i was finally able to make it out there around 2pm. Just in time for the wind to die. When I pulled up Andy was giving a looping clinic. It was awesome to see 12 or 15 guys sitting in a semi-circle not just listening to a great instructor, but all willing to listen about the lesson Andy was giving. To learn to loop! They were all also keen on learning vulcans. The number of locals willing to push themselves to the next level is growing every year, and I'm so happy to see these guys willing to push themselves. Freestyle is what's going to save this sport and pass it on to the next generation.
As the class went back out to try some light wind trickery from the "sail chi" master I couldn't help but rig up and go for a sail. My 5.3 was the biggest sail I had with me so it would be that with the 99 ltr Mistral joker (my favorite board ever)

I went with the Sumo masts from NoLimitz this year for my whole quiver. It's a little stiffer than the original skinny and I've been sailing more powered up than I used to, so I was thinking it was the right call. After an hour or so of playing around in the light wind, the wind finally started filling back in close to sunset. I saw the first burst of wind coming across the water and as soon as it hit me, I was off. I was fully powered on the 5.3 and the mast was definitely stiffer. I'm glad I got a chance to try it on the same sail I've been using all year so I could really get a feel for the mast. It seemed to give a more direct feel to the sail. The feeling of full power in the sail came much quicker. Overall, I really liked the new Sumo and would recommend it to those who want the best from their sails. I should also mention that the NoLimitz masts are much cheaper than many sail company manufacturers masts and in some cases perform even better than the masts made by your sail company. So if your in the market for a new skinny mast, check'm out. I know a couple of guys that have switched to NoLimitz even though they had good masts from their sails manufacturer.

Friday Sept. 18th at Heckscher

2009-09-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

Heckscher would be the call again for Friday. When we pulled into the parking lot there was already a pretty good crowd. I rigged the 4.7 and was good to go. I was VERY powered when I first went out. I had a couple of really nice ponches, shakas and air flakas. I'm loving heckscher for all the power moves when it's blowing from the west. You get a nice little section between the chop to carve for the moves. Speaking of carving, I saw John Markwalter on fire yesterday. He hit the cleanest, fully planing sail body 360 I've ever seen. Seth learned how to jump, and yesterday I think he was trying to jump off every little ripple in the water he could find. So of course he's already looking to go for the next level and try some shuvit's. I gave him a few quick little hints to get him started, and when I saw him later on he said he actually tried one. Way to take it to the next level Seth! Ryan was coming sooooo close to so many vulcans. I thought I sw him get at least one, but he doesn't claim it if it's not perfect. I even saw one he could have easily turned into a spock if he would have just tried for it.

The word is also out that my 2010 gear should be here any day now, so people are calling dibs on it for next year already. If you might want something from my 2010 collection, let me know before someone beats you to it. As for my 2009 gear, I still have a 4.2, 3.7 and 85 ltr left unclaimed. My new sails should be coming in any day now, but no word on when the boards will be here yet.

Another Great Easterly at Heckscher

2009-09-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

My hopes weren't too high when I was heading off to the beach. The forecast was for yet another East/NE wind to blow on LI. I had hoped to give Demo a try but the wind was looking a little flukey and I had heard the waves were only about waist high. Then, Ethan posted up that he's sailing at Heckscher on the LI windsurfing group. So Heckscher would be the call once again. When I pulled in Joe Rocco was rigging his 4.2. It looked a little light on the inside even though the outside was surely 4.2. So I rigged up the 4.7 because I wanted to try some tricks close to shore on starboard (my weaker tack.) Joe and I launched together, and then we were off. He was blasting along fine on his 4.2 and I was well powered to say the least on my 4.7. The wind was steady, strong and the ramps weren't too big but were straight up, so getting some good air was pretty easy.

On one tack out I saw a ferry coming way out of the usual route that the ferries take. I noticed it had a blue hull with a white top. That's Billy T's boat!!! I figured he was coming close to check out how we were doing. I jibed outside as the rather large boat passed between me and the beach. Billy had planned it out perfectly. He was going to throw up a huge wake for me to go big on. As I approached Billy popped out of the cabin and made a windmill motion with his arms signaling me to throw a big forward. What Billy didn't realize is that my starboard tack (the tack I was on) is my retarded side. I couldn't complete a forward on starboard tack if someone started me off already upside down. Then suddenly that perfect ramp for a backloop made it's appearance. It was amazing and was there for my taking. I can bang out backloops on starboard and I would surely give the guys on the ferry a great show. As I approached I could picture myself rotating cleanly through the loop. I could already spot my landing before I'm even in the air. Then as quickly as the ramp appeared, Billy's big ass wake knocked the ramp down and I just ended up sailing by. I did manage to jibe and head back out to catch a little forward action off his wake, but I figured he wasn't watching and trying to explain to the guy next to him "I don't know what went wrong. Normally that guy's pretty good." Well Billy, I truly thank you for bringing your ferry all the way over just so I could throw a loop, but next time remember I'm retarded on starboard tack. So if it's not too much trouble make sure I'm on port tack when I hit your wake and I promise I'll give you a show. Now if I had only gone to the ABK clinic last year, maybe my starboard loops would be just fine.

Check out some pics from today thanks to Bill Doutney:

Billy T's ferry. I must be behind the boat in the picture setting up for that perfect back loop.

Easterlies at heckscher set up great ramps for learning shuvits and shakas. I managed to pick a nice one for this shot.

Big Rich catches some air next to Seth

Nice switch chacho

and a nice one handed funnel

Some of the Heckscher regulars

ABK Clinics coming up!!!

2009-09-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that Andy Brandt is in town spewing infinite windsurfing wisdom for the next 2 weekends. There are some spaces left, so grab them while you can get them. Go to http://www.abkboardsports.com to sign up.

Wipeouts at the Reunion Wave Classic

2009-09-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

Well, we're all looking forward to the wind on Wed. here on LI. Here's a great wipeout video I came across from Open Ocean Media at the Reunion Wave Classic. It's pretty amusing. Now only if they had taken an ABK clinic........

Reunion Wave Classic 09_Worst Wipe Out - Powered by Soöruz from Open Ocean Media on Vimeo.

Noreaster Day 2

2009-09-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to a cool breeze making a whistling noise through the open bedroom window. It was time to get another great session out this strong Easterly breeze. I waited until about noon to head to the beach. Heckscher would be the call today as the meters were reading due east and gusting to 30. (which means it's well into the 30s for the average) I downed a couple of bottles of water before getting into the car. I was still dehydrated from yesterday's session at Napeague.

When I got to the beach, Joe was thinking about rigging down to his 3.1 and Ethan was lit on his 3.5. Well all's I got is my 3.7 so that's going to have to do. When I hit the water with the 3.7 and brand new 85 ltr Mistral Style it was soooo perfect. Big ramps and the the strong wind made for some big airs for everyone. That Style rocks! It jumps so easily and you can really dig in the rail and crank the turns very hard without even worrying about the rail catching.

The wind dropped off a bit a couple hours into it and some guys rigged up to their 4.2s. I was still just fine on my 3.7. At least now I could do some freestyle stuff too. On one run I ended up chasing Ryan way out into the middle of the bay, maybe 2 miles out and we were just having a blast taking turns cutting in front of each other on the chest high rollers. Luckily we only did a run or two of that and decided to stay a bit closer to shore. About 3 runs later i was following Ryan in on a run, we were both fully planing then suddenly it was like he ran into something and his board just stopped dead. Just as I was catching up to him the same thing happened to me. The wind had gone from 25 - 30 to about 6 in the matter of 2 seconds. I was still behind him and I found it hysterical to watch a 195 pounder try to sail a 4.2 and 85 ltr board while up to his waist in water. I was still able to stay knee to ankle deep with my 3.7. Finally when we were about 100 yards from shore Ryan went down. The wind just totally shut off. I could barely make out which way the wind was coming from. I was schlogging past Ryan who was still convinced that a puff would come through to get him to waterstart but there was just nothing. I made sure I laughed loud enough for him to here me as he replied ,"Shut up you light little bastard!" I made it about 10 feet past Ryan then I went in. We were both laughing our asses off, as we were swimming it in. It was a great day with great people. Can't wait until next time.

Bill Doughtney was at the beach snapping away photos for a while. Here are a few of the highlights:

Ethan catching air on his 3.5

Big Rich gets some

Ryan going big

Joe Rocco mid backloop

The usual suspects

A couple of yours truly

Look it's me again. Sharing some laughs with Ryan and Seth after the swim in.

Noreaster Day 1

2009-09-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

I was questioning whether or not I would even be able to sail. I had the cable guy coming around 2:00 to fix the channels that magically disappeared. There was no wind on the meters anywhere except Napeague which is a good 1 1/2 - 2 hour ride for me to get to. Just as I was losing hope and starting to think about where I would sail the following day, the phone rang. It was 10:30 in the morning and it was the cable guy. The voice on the other end said, "Hi, this is Jason from Cablevision, do you mind if I stop by earlier to see what's going on with the cable?" Yes!!!! the stars have aligned and he would be here in 10 minutes. I quickly checked the wind again while waiting for my now favorite cable guy named Jason.
Still no wind in-island but Napeague remained 24 to 29 mph. The plan has been set into motion. Jason showed up around 11:00 and was gone by 11:15. A new cable was in place and a great session was about to begin. I made the long drive without any trouble. When I pulled up, Kurt was rigging his 5.4. The wind had backed a little but was supposed to get stronger as the day went on. I decided to just go ahead and rig my 5.3 and 4.7 so they would both be ready to go. While I was rigging, John Ford pulled in and mentioned something about Graham Ezzy being on his way to our little beach.
I headed out on the 5.3. It was perfect! right off the bat I was hitting great shakas and even a super smooth air funnel. Then the wind stared to pick up and it was time to grab a drink and the 4.7. As I was making the walk to the car I saw someone walking towards me sporting a "Princeton." T-shirt. There's only 1 guy I know that goes to Princeton and is also a windsurfer so it's got to be Graham. I introduced myself and he was very pleasant and eager to get on the water. he had forgotten his harness but we scrounged one up form John Markwalter. But first Graham had promised his buddy some windsurfing lessons. I could see his frustration as his eyes were just glued to the other sailors on the water while he was trying to keep his attention focussed on his buddy. Eventually his buddy got a run on the beginner gear. I guess that was Grahams signal that his buddy was good to go on his own and started rigging his own gear. (I would have been giving my buddy lessons as I was sailing past him.)
On the next run in Graham shouted from the beach, "Mike, my boards too small can I borrow this one" (pointing to my 85 ltr sitting on the beach) "Sure," I replied. He hooked his Ezzy sail up and was off. We we're having a blast and he was throwing some flakas and super clean forwards. I was glad to help him get some action.

We ended up sailing into the sunset and packed it in as the sun went down. It was solid 4.7 for most of the day. Today looks like it's got more East in it so I'll most likely be off to Heckscher. I can't wait to get on the water again today.

Great reading for no wind days

2009-09-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

Well, checking the www.beachtelegraph.com is one of the first things I do every morning, right after the www.peconicpuffin.com of course, to find the latest news about the windsurfing world. You know they do their homework because they actually made a mention of my newly started ramblings of windsurfing thoughts called a blog. The Beach Telegraph is a great blog all by itself, however the editor, Brian McDowell has taken it to the next level with the launch of a paperless internet only magazine called Windsurfer International. It's a great read with great photos and definitely worth a look. Here's the link www.windsurferinternational.com Happy reading.

Awaiting the arrival of the 2010 gear

2009-09-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

Well, tis the season. It's the time of year when the air starts to cool off, the winds start shifting to the north, and it's time to hit up my favorite beach not only on long island, but that I've ever been to. West Meadow of course. And what makes getting to sail my favorite spot better? Well getting to sail new gear at my favorite spot of course.

I anticipate the arrival of the 2010 Mistral line the most. The entire range has been reworked and not only do they have one shaper but 2 just to make sure everything is up to par. And this year the boards are being made somewhere other than the infamous Cobra factory and promises have been made that the durability will be greatly improved. The only fly in the ointment will be to see what they done with my beloved 2009 Joker. Could they have actually made THE perfect board better? Could the earliest planing board I've ever sailed plane earlier? Could the most fun to ride board I've ever sailed be made more fun to ride? My only hope was to not have the 2010 joker be a let down from the 2009 model.

Then I got my first peek at the 2010 mistral line: http://windsurfing.mistral.com and my faith was restored. Not only are the dimensions pretty much the same as the 2009 model with the 98 and 108 ltr, but they've also added another board to the lineup. The Joker Wave. it comes in an 85 and 95 ltr. I'll take the 85 ltr please! It will compliment the 98 ltr I'll be using as the bread and butter board. I'm so psyched for the 2010s!!! I haven't heard about an arrival date but I know it will be some time this fall. For now we'll keep waiting for wind.

Tropical Storm Danny was found at Cedar Beach

2009-08-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

It was Friday night before the storm and there was tons of chatter on where we would all sail on Saturday. E-mails, phone calls, posts to the groups. Would it be demo for epic side-off wave sailing, Napeague for the strongest wind, or somewhere else. Oh the dreams I had that night of the epic session to follow in the morning. Much to everyone's disgust, we awoke from our happy dream world to the no wind hell of August. Where was the storm?!!! Where was the 40 knots of wind forecast out east?!!! The realization of the lack of wind finally set in, and I headed off to my studio to finish up editing some wedding videos. Around 1:00 Rob called and said "are you watching the meters?" I told him I gave up about an hour ago. There was no wind and it was only supposed to get worse. "Well, it's gusting to 29 at Cedar!" I think I made it to the beach before Rob managed to hang up the phone. I pulled into the parking lot and thought to myself that these 4.7 conditions presented to only Rob and myself were surely a gift from the wind gods. I rigged the 4.7, Rob his 5.0, and chose my 85 ltr. It turned out to be a great session that lasted for about 2 hours. Somewhere in the middle I switched to my beloved 99 ltr Mistral Joker and I was sliding, spinning and looping up a storm. Then it started dying. I managed to get a few more runs on the 5.3 before it totally crapped out. Tons of fun though.