Turfdog windsurfing on land from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.
Upwind 360s worked surprisingly well, gybes not so much. In this video you can see me get going nicely and then fail on my heli tack attempt. Apparently people have found this board helpful for learning vulcans. We'll see about that. My only gripe about the board would be the footstraps. They are a bit twisty and uncomfortable. However, they do simulate the fear that I had years ago on water when it was hard to get that back foot into the straps.
The ground was not very smooth or level. Next time I want to find a flatter surface! Unfortunately all the grassy playing fields near me are in valleys surrounded by trees. Yes, I'm wearing protective gear.
In the background of this photo, you can see Mont Sainte-Victoire, which was one of Cezanne's favourite subjects in the south of France.
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| The Turfdog |
Here's what the Turfdog board looks like from the side. When you are going, the front wheel caster is facing toward the back, like on a shopping cart. Steering feel is quite realistic, sail forward and back to turn up or downwind. Your back foot also steers like a skateboard, or like using the rail on a windsurfer to carve.
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| Nice scenery in France! (That is a coal fired plant) |
carl -- this is really cool... I've been thinking of getting a skate sailor... how do you think this would work on relatively hard-packed sand?
ReplyDeleteAlso odd... for some reason your blog won't save on my "bathroom reading list" I've tried to add it several times but the feed won't work. I'll have to tinker with it some more.
Thanks, if you check out Vimeo or Youtube for other Turfdog videos, you'll see that it works very well on hard sand (eg. when the tide is out.)
ReplyDeleteI think that since you can practice vulcans, flakas etc on this, it would be of more interest than a skate sailor.
I was also noticing that this blog post hasn't shown up in other feeds. Oh well, hopefully there is wind tomorrow and I can do another post.