Getting ready for Maui AWT

I'm excited that my wife is joining me for my 6th AWT event.

Aloha Classic 2015

I went to my first AWT event in Maui in 2013 with some good windsurfing buddies.

I then made more friends in Cape Verde and Santa Cruz and was thrilled to bring 4 family members to Baja and my sister to Hatteras.

My 116 litre Fanatic freewave board is packed in case the wind is light. I'm flying Westjet since Air Canada doesn't allow windsurfing boards (or anything over 200 cm).

We're staying with windsurfing friends for the first week on the north shore, and then we'll stay with my Canadian university buddy in Wailea the second week.

I was asked what my goals are for the event. Very simple:

• To have a great vacation with my wife.
• To catch 2 waves in each of my 4 heats, 
• To have one good photo taken of me on a wave at Ho'okipa
• I also want to get in some great sessions on the days when I'm not watching the pros sail. 
• And not get injured.
• If I don't break any gear, that will be a bonus.

Opening night registration is Tuesday Oct 27th!

BIC Astro Rock throwback Sunday

Board speeds in km/h with sail sizes

The wind was subsiding but we still had a few hours left in the forecast by the time we'd finished breakfast. Len decided to join me as he hadn't windsurfed much at all in the last two years. 

We took two boats and way too much gear. But I wanted to try out my old Astro Rock ‎which I haven't used in years. My recollection was that it was a super easy board to ride and jibe. 

We started out with Len on the 7.0 and Techno. I rigged the 6.2 and Skate 108 bit that was not enough board or sail for me. 

My niece Vanessa came out ‎to join us. I was glad she came - and brought even more gear!

Vanessa tried the 6.2 and the Skate 108 and had a few runs and some long cold waterstart attempts. Len gave her the 7.0 and Techno which was working very well in the 12-15 knot wind.

I rigged the 9.0 and the Ray 122 and had a few fast runs but found the ‎setup heavy and tiring. Especially compared to the Skate and 5.4 in twice the wind the day before. 

So I decided to try the Astro Rock. At 125 Litres it is actually bigger than the Ray in volume, but much longer and narrower. It doesn't let you pump it onto a plane like modern boards. I could feel the 6.2 trying to get it going but the board wouldn't pop or release up from the water. The speed progression is much more sow and linear like the Kona.

  

Len showing off!

I put the 6.2 ‎on the Techno 148 so I could compare the early planing ability of both. Sure enough I could get the Techno planing, even with just the 6.2‎.   

I then put the 7.0 on the Techno and found that to be a tie with the 6.2 on the Techno as the most comfortable setup of the day. While the cambered 7.0 V6 doesn't let you pump and pop like the 6.2 Duke , it has more surface area to get going and then goes slightly faster. 

Len starting up nicely

So the winning board of the day was the Techno. Len said it was the best day of windsurfing he's had in the two years he's been in Canada. 

I packed up the gear and put it into storage for the winter. Next windsurfing adventure will be in Maui for the AWT ‎Aloha Classic. 

Vanessa on a good run!

All smiles

The board test

Canadian Thanksgiving Saturday

The wind forecast was solid and I headed out in the late afternoon once the temperature had risen into double digits. The morning low 2c temperature was due to a north wind that nicely switched to southwest and warmed up as expected.

I was on the Fanatic Skate 108 and rigged the 5.4. It was the perfect combination. Only the 2nd time this year that I had enough wind to rig something that small.

My tracks in the SW wind

I didn't try many tricks for the first hour or so as I didn't want to spend too much time in the cold water. When I did fall for the first time around 30 minutes into my session it did give me a head freeze when I got going again and my wet head got even more chilled in the wind.

I had some great wave rides and laughed out loud at a few duck jibes that I made. I was carving some sweet jibes and planing out the other side. There are some smooth arcs in the tracks on the map.

I did try a vulcan and duck tack toward the end of the session - both were fails. But I nailed a nice carving 360 as I returned to shore. A bit cold but a very good session in all.

The wind built in the afternoon as predicted

The wind kept building all night and I fell asleep very soundly.

Air 11c
Water 14c

Time 1:35
Total distance 40.4 km
Max speed, 46.2 km/h

4th in Masters at AWT Hatteras Wave Jam

Opening party at Wind-NC (get it? wind & sea)

It was a fun 17 hour drive from Toronto to Cape Hatteras. The outer banks are known for their variety of windsurfing conditions. Avon, North Carolina is the epicentre of Hatteras windsurfing - flat water on the sound side, and waves on the Atlantic side.

Getting used to the waves - small on the first day

The American Windsurfing Tour's 6th event of the year was being hosted by Wind-NC and the conditions were looking good. I had brought my sister along to share the driving and cheer me on! We had a fun opening party and headed back to our shared house.

Happy to be back after my 1st warm up session

The first day of competition saw us with an 11am meeting in the parking lot. We hitched rides with people who had 4x4s to the competition site on the beach.

I decided to rent a sturdier 6.0 m wave sail as my 6.2 m wasn't designed for rolling in surf. I was excited though to be using the new 116 Free Wave board I purchased earlier in the year and used just once.


Everyone was getting gear ready and dabbling in the waves for the first time. The conditions never materialized with only marginal planing winds and smaller waves. I went out for a quick sail once it started raining and then we were released for the day.

Day two had a early start with 12 amateur heats being run. I came in 3/4 and 2/5 in my two heats. I was not feeling comfortable though in the big waves and gusty offshore conditions. It really felt like survival sailing to me. I wasn't even able to get back to my starting point after each session and had a long walk back upwind each time.

Survived my first day of competition!

But since I could make it out to the waves, and even turn on one or two I did advance anyway as some competitors couldn't get out through the shore break or find a single wave to ride back in. So that meant I would be sailing at least one more amateur heat again.

I then sailed my first heat of masters and was heading back to shore when the postponement flag went up - no one had found a wave in the 13 minutes as the conditions were too light.

In the meantime, the conditions had built up at the lighthouse. So the afternoon call was to move over there and run the pro division. What good call by race director Andy!

Boujmaa's massive wave at the lighthouse - pros only!

On our way to the competition, we stopped for a sandwich and I bumped into a fellow cottager from Georgian Bay who I'd windsurfed with two years ago. Small world.


The shore break for the pros was formidable but the waves were awesome. We cheered on Sherkston, Ontario reef warrior Casey who made his way through the brackets to be in the final.

Kevin with a kiter who ignored the request to
stay out of the contest area and then wiped out!

For the final, it was decided to add 1 jump to the 2 wave rides to be scored. Naturally Boujmaa hit some nice aerials but it was Kevin Pritchard's one footed back loop that scored him the win. (Even after a kiter dropped his lines on Kevin mid-competition.)

Kevin's awesome one footed back loop for the win!

It was a super exciting final and the champion was crowned right there on the beach as the sun came out. A terrific day.

My paparazzi shot with Boujmaa

Masters elimination ladder

Adjusting my rental sail..

Day three of competition saw good waves and wind so we headed back to ramp 55 to complete the other brackets. I was up in the first master heat and headed out still not very comfortable. The waves were bigger and I wound out putting my knee through my sail during a fall in the shore break.

Found one!

My fan club on the right...

Yeah!

I came 3/3 in my first masters' heat, 1/2 in the second so I advanced to the third round in masters.






Next though I had my last amateur heat and came 4/4 against Casey (who the day before came in 4th in the pros - as last year's amateur champ he had a pro wildcard spot) and two other great sailors. I wasn't surprised that I didn't move forward especially since I'd wasted so much energy trying to get out through the shore break.






I was pretty tired but still had one more master's heat to sail. Boujmaa had kindly given me some great tips on getting out through shore break.






So this time I headed out early and got out through it did a long reach and was upwind, rested, and I was on my first wave when the green flag went up. I caught some more waves and even made it back to shore where I started.




My fan club was cheering and my result came in.... 2/4 in round three so I made it into the masters' final!

Formidable conditions...

Heading out through the shore break for the masters' final

I felt comfortable heading out and sailing in the final but I wasn't surprised by my 4/4 end result considering that I was up against Maui long time pro and windsurfing coach Ferdinando Loffreda and two other great windsurf masters.

A nice wave

The best - last wave ride!

The AWT even used this shot of me on my last wave ride on their site (right under the beach group photo) :

The 4 masters finalists....

The results were announced and we celebrated on the sand as the afternoon drew to a close.

Later that night we hosted a pot luck party at our shared house and got to know all the competitors a bit better.

Beach shot!

My sister heading out on the flat sound side

With all the categories completed, Thursday was a day off. I took my sister back to Wind-NC where we rented 145 and 160 l boards for her to try on the sound side. The wind was light and she was super comfortable on the 4.7 while I planed on my 6.2.

The water was very warm and the soft waist deep bottom makes waterstart practice very easy. She sailed for 2.5 hours and even found her way back during a torrential downpour.  A return to Hatteras with a sound side rental house is in order.

Event video...

The rain started coming down in buckets on Friday and was predicted to continue so we headed home a day early - not a bad thing after a successful week.

Thanks to Andy for hosting, to Si Crowther for the great photos, to Sam for organizing, to Russ for posting, to KP, Bouj and the Schettewi boys for inspiring and everyone else for their stoke and comraderie.



Here's the event video - I'm briefly at 2:29...

Success teaching another beginner

Another success teaching a first time windsurfer.

After my big 5.4 day yesterday the wind was lighter.  I took family and a guest out to the bay for a light wind session.

I had great success again teaching a 17 year old beginner using the "hand on the mast" technique. Maxx was using a 3.5m sail on my old YPSI Wayler and made it right back to shore after his 2 hours on the water. Congratulations Maxx.

Family fun times!

The rest of the family had fun as well exploring the small island and with the various water toys we took out in the warm consistent winds.

This will be it for summer sailing on Georgian Bay this year...

First 5.4 session at home in 2 years

My 47.5 km windsurfing track.
Some nice wave rides upper left corner.

What an amazing session. The wind was predicted to be strong across Ontario. When I got to the cottage it was already blowing but I waited a bit for the predicted late afternoon increase.

I took out my new Fanatic Free Wave 116‎ that I purchased back in January when I decided to join the AWT for 2015. It had been hanging up on the wall at Boardsports looking very lonely.

Vanessa got to ride it once in May but I haven't had a day where I could short board ‎yet this year.

My wind meter said 17-22 knots and I took a chance and rigged the 5.4. The ‎board and sail felt very light in my hands as I positioned myself to take off. Sure enough, everything was rigged nicely and I felt very comfortable even on my first run out. (Hard to believe I didn't sail it at all in 2014 - I'm happy to have this blog to be able to check things like that...)

My speeds for the 2 hours.
From time 35-50 I was on the kids' JP Young Gun.

I was grinning from ear to ‎as I sailed some of my favourite waves and picked lines through the shoals. The waves here don't really break, but as the swells get closer to some of the rocks they back up and become ride-able and make for fun jibes. The wind had a few lulls but was definitely increasing.

I switched boards for a few minutes and rode the kids' JP Young Gun. It is a very different board. Solid and less slapping in the chop. I got it going easily, but with the ‎back foot strap so far forward (set for my daughter) my feet felt like I was balancing precariously. I was able to tack it easily though. From my speed chart there wasn't much difference in actual GPS recorded speeds.

First time out on the new Fanatic Free Wave 116

I got back on the ‎FreeWave 116 and started having even more fun. I almost got a the sail to come back to me on a planing duck tack! Nailed several downwind 360s and every duck jibe I attempted.

The board is very light and fees like it enjoys jumping and loves jibing - more than the Skate 108 in my memory. I look forward to sailing them back to back some time.

I ended up‎ sailing 47.5 km. Top speed as I came into the flat water and headed downwind was 50 km/h! Amazingly I didn't see a single boat out even though it is still August. With the warm wind and nice warm water I really think August sailing up here is my favourite spot in the whole world.

It feels so great when you pick the right sail for a full 2 hour session and it works perfectly on a completely new board. I'm now sure that I'll be happy taking the FW 116 board to the AWT event in Hatteras. I might even take it to Maui.

Two light wind bay days: Techno 148 rules

Aug 16

I took my buddy Michael out windsurfing on Aug 16. ‎He only sails once a year but has great muscle memory from his days on his now retired Mistral Garda. 

I sent him out on the BIC Techno 148 and a 5.4 while I rigged the 7.0. I was only planing half the time but I think it was frustrating for him that I was whipping past him the 5 times I did get going. ‎"What am I doing wrong he asked?""You just need a bigger sail" I replied. 

Speed in Km/h - either planing or slogging...

The wind dropped a bit and so I rigged the 9.0 and gave him the ‎7.0. He felt the significant difference moving to a double cam sail and did get going in the footstraps for a few seconds. 

I was having a hard time staying upwind in the‎ marginal conditions. Since it was warm and sunny it wasn't a surprise to have a visit from Scott on his Dart catamaran. I did manage to give Scott a good race few times.

Michael was a bit tired after the 90 minutes we'd been on the water but made it back to the launch spot without any drama. 

We stored the sails and boards out on the rocks under a tarp and called it a nice bay day. 

Aug 17‎

While the wind reports were suggesting 15 knots late in the day, I should have gone out earlier when I could see some wind. 

I slogged back and forth on the 9.0 and Ray 122 but nothing was happening. ‎So I went ashore and spent time de-rigging the 5.4 and 7.0 ‎from the day before. 

I then went out again with the 9.0 but on the Techno. It really is an amazing board. With the extra volume in the nose, it is easier to get planing. And it is easier to sail as well. And for the price, its light weight and solid construction ‎had me smiling as I got planing a few times and then windsurfed almost effortlessly. 

The Techno has been a great board for the 7 years I've had it now, even if the Ray 122 is a bit faster when it is windier.

Hopefully the more wind comes through for next weekend.