Nice day at Shirley

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

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

Steven van Broeckhoven Culo Planing from Windsurfmoves on Vimeo.

New Video online!

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

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!

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.