It is a traditional Spanish phrase that translated to English is more or less "to the tail, it's a whole bull"

The meaning is that you can't relax. I think about it because the last 3 times I broke a mast or a sail (yesterday I broke a panel with my elbow) it was in the going out and in stupid falls in the waves with no wind and water knee deep. How to "escape the session" and keep the rig in one piece???? Thanks!

Windsurfing teaches you to pay 100% attention, because if you do not, something will go wrong!

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Sandman1221 said..
Windsurfing teaches you to pay 100% attention, because if you do not, something will go wrong!

If you don't pay attention you will pay the repair :-)

The wounded Bull could also be the result of poor/mismatched rigging.

keep the rig pointed into the waves, with tip down, that stops the risk of snapping the mast.

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decrepit said..
keep the rig pointed into the waves, with tip down, that stops the risk of snapping the mast.

Top of sail/mast is first to hit wave then?

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decrepit said..
keep the rig pointed into the waves, with tip down, that stops the risk of snapping the mast.

My idea was to sail out as far as I could and then "jump and run" but sometimes low winds make it easier for waves to catch me. I try to keep the mast up so waves don't touch it but sometimes happens. Fortunately, I broke a mast only once. The main problem are the sails.

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Sandman1221 said.. Top of sail/mast is first to hit wave then?

Yep, then the wave can pass over the rig fairly safely. If the wave hits from the other direction, the whole power of the wave can drive the tip of the mast into the bottom.

Olso i read somewhere not to hold the mast from the tip if the you didn't duck the sail.

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decrepit said..

Sandman1221 said.. Top of sail/mast is first to hit wave then?

Yep, then the wave can pass over the rig fairly safely. If the wave hits from the other direction, the whole power of the wave can drive the tip of the mast into the bottom.

Got it, thanks, if I go in the Gulf can have breaking waves to deal with, and have been avoiding because of that. But now is also sea grass shedding season, so avoiding that for now, large mats of sea grass floating around, plus lots of loose strands too.

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Sandman1221 said..

decrepit said..

Sandman1221 said.. Top of sail/mast is first to hit wave then?

Yep, then the wave can pass over the rig fairly safely. If the wave hits from the other direction, the whole power of the wave can drive the tip of the mast into the bottom.

Got it, thanks, if I go in the Gulf can have breaking waves to deal with, and have been avoiding because of that. But now is also sea grass shedding season, so avoiding that for now, large mats of sea grass floating around, plus lots of loose strands too.

Get a proper weed fin for the sea grass. Wave fins won't have enough rake. Anything more vertical is hopeless.

We love weed here, it flattens the water and lets you go real fast! But it's not ribbon weed.

Shore break or mean break can be tough. Experience matters a lot. Surfing experience too. Understand wind wave direction along with pointing your board straight at the wave and shoving it hard through it while pushing on your boom.

Nevertheless eventually even experienced riders eat it in tough onshore shore break. A bad hull, side current, etc.

Best is to avoid bad areas or wait it out until you see a break in the break ;) Watch the waves for a while before heading out. Get a feel for it, look for a weak area in the waves often happens along with a small rip tide that'll also help you get out.