A few shots from last year's event.
About Me
- Mike Burns
- Nags Head, NC, United States
- Windsurfing has ruled more than 1/2 my life. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about how it feels to fly across the water, fly through the air, or spin around in circles on my windsurf gear. So to help spread the stoke (and further give in to my addiction) I started this blog. I hope you find it entertaining and a place to go for some useful information.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
East Coast Windsurfing Festival 2011 is a go!!!
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.
A few shots from last year's event.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Bonaire 2011
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.
Monday, January 10, 2011
2011 Fanatic Skate first impressions
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
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
Friday, January 7, 2011
2011 fanatic skate is here!
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.
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