Chachi brings back a little piece of the Gorge

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.

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

Big Wednesday at West Meadow

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!!!!!

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