thought i'd start the fin slashing or ball rolling so to speak. could be you learnt to gybe, use the harness, forward loop or made a nose bleed air. so fire away!


i got 3 of em.

1. i did a 17.7 knot NM on my formula kit which consisted of 2 gybes, a down wind run and an upwind run. pity it wasn't in a straight line hey but those bloody sandbars don't like my 70cm fin.....

2. was sailing at the train mucking around doin little top turn things on the wind swell. a bigger one popped up and i managed a very small re-entry arial. prob didn't look much but i was stoked.

3. i will never forget new years holidays this year. blew it's ring off for days on end.

Do you mean for 2007

Just getting into this fantastic sport

In last days of the year I have done a catapult and hooked into harness for all of 5 sec.

lol, right you are.

ok. i edited it. so it's for 2007 and the last 4 days.....

hahaha i edited too lol

Its funny how when you do something that is not really that special and usually doesnt look that good from someone elses view but to you your super stoked... thats what I think is cool.
For me I have a couple... one was windsurfing mast high waves at the Gloo and the other was doin killer pushies in front of my mates

Lots of them for me, here are the standouts:

* Wavesailing proper "Down the line" waves for the first time
* Buying a new (not secondhand) board for the first time
* Having a quiver of sails that are all the same brand
* Moving to WA to chase better windsurfing conditions

But the biggest achievement was this:
* Finally planing out of a gybe

Too many to mention, those that come to mind, Sandy Point on xmas eve, was just magic and Doing 38 knots for the first time in a winter storm, in wild choppy conditions (for me).........................

Yep, doesn't matter how good you are, you'll always have a highlight. My wife is used to me coming home with a big smile on my dial saying "best session all year, better have a beer to celebrate". Might have been best session on any combination of my sails and boards, and wind direction and locations, air or water temperature, percentage of gybes completed dry, heck even not going out but having a few beers with mates and hanging wettie on clothesline afterwards to give the impression I did. Did I just say that?

1. Getting back into the sport after several years. Really know what I was missing.
2. Discovering the the GPS Team Challenge via this site, wow its drawing the competitive nature out just a little and making me think a lot more about my WS and progressing quickly.
3. The great advice from this site and Challenge group and the camaraderie.

Now about those PB's - major new years resolution.

Select to expand quote

nebbian said...



But the biggest achievement was this:
* Finally planing out of a gybe

Yeah yeah, me too! How good does that feel!!! Have done a couple, mainly through mis-managing bad technique, but to come out of the carve with sail already flicked, and body low enough to pull down on boom and suddenly you're doing the same speed in the other direction, that's priceless. Mind you, turning the corner in any style without having to waterstart is priceless, but that planing exit takes it to a whole new level.

Yep, also for me was getting back into the sport after a long, long "time away". Before Jan07 the last time I sailed was back in the late eighties, 89 I think. And being surprised on how quickly I picked it all up again, from beach to water starts, tacks, etc. (still working on those carve gybes). Felt like I had only stopped windsurfing a few years back and not almost 20 :D What a great sport it is!

I think also, what makes it even better, for me at least, are the people I've meet in the last year. Always willing to help and offer advice, and happy to chat. I never get sick of hearing "what size sail are you rigging!"

Windsurfing highlight - seeing my daughter and a mates daughter get there first little runs on and old tyronsea 330 - and getting bugged ever since to take her for another sail. Surfing highlight - seeing the same two girls paddling into some green waves and learning how to do a little bottom turn, trim and ride to the beach.

personally - just not blowing gybes very often and really enjoying spending as much time on the water as family and work permits - getting more confident jumping - and buying a skate 112 - dream planing machine for a 90kg heavy footed sailor.

Bring on 08

First time riding a wave board after 16 years in the sport, that was last weekend at the train and Vicy point !!!

Totally different !!! nowe i have to get into the waves


I LOVE IT, might have to sell the tabou rocket 69 ! ( i can't bear it)

GCMOZ

i have had a good 07 i pretty well started this time a year ago,

stopped using sh!tty dacron sails and bought some monos. got 2 new ( second hand ) boards.

learnt to use harness , bought new harness .

learnt to waterstart

can gybe sometimes on one tack only , still working on that one.

can chop hop well on both tacks .

now i wanna strap a gps on and see how fast i can go ! ! !

I have had 2 major acheivments in my eyes!

1. learnt to carve gybe properly and plane out - AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2.pulled my first real jump ie. fin clear of water and now just cant stop poppin the board out of the water - yippeeeee!!!!!!

First Successful Dry Gybe at the start of the season.
Followed by...
Hitting big ramps at Corros last week and landing them all day long - (Thanks Gary for the tips).
First Planing Gybe on a wave heading out and coming back to the beach dry! Now if I could only do it on flat water!

Just sailing for the first time (about April) after I broke my ankel in Dec '06.

And today: needing a 3.7 in a seabreeze (when I'm 94kg on an 80L so yeah it was pharking windy)

Nailing two gybes in one session on new years day!

Its so easy!

Ok, let me think...

1. Managing to consistently get the board around so that all that's required is a quick uphaul or waterstart. (PWA World Tour, here I come!!)

2. Oh yeah - learning to waterstart!! In gusts only - still need to work on the technique...

3. Smoking a big fat joint and sitting on the beach, laughing my ass off watching people getting scrunched by a monster shorebreak.

4. Getting scrunched by a monster shorebreak.

5. Jeez, just about every time the board is planing and everything seems to be working well.

6. Quitting my stupid job for a while. (BTW anybody want to lend me a few bucks...?)

Select to expand quote

Greenroom said...

Its funny how when you do something that is not really that special and usually doesnt look that good from someone elses view but to you your super stoked... thats what I think is cool.

to true and when you tell a fellow they windsurfer they smile with you. cause they know as well the feeling.

Getting a van My own mobile toybox that I can sleep in too

Select to expand quote

laff77 said...

Getting a van My own mobile toybox that I can sleep in too

Very jelous of you Laffy

Select to expand quote

Gestalt said...

Greenroom said...

Its funny how when you do something that is not really that special and usually doesnt look that good from someone elses view but to you your super stoked... thats what I think is cool.

to true and when you tell a fellow they windsurfer they smile with you. cause they know as well the feeling.

Yesturday at our local I got this wave that actually made me blow chunks. I had to check my boardies for nuggets! It seemed like it was double mast high! I dropped into it and rode it backside (upwind) and just as it threw its ugly crest over the gnarly ledge I rode up the face and did a real sketchy turn off the top and looking down into the dark abyss to see the reef in a foot of water. At this point the bowls released and I hung on for dear life as my life flashed before my eyes. Once I made it into the channel I saw Leech heading out passing me with a fist in the air of approval
When talking to him on the beach he described the whole wave to a very different perspective. But he did say it was logo high

Oh and I also owe Leech my life for saving me from a broken outhaul rope

sailing at robe in the south east of S.A! first time ever in waves was still the best session a have had so far!! getting my new JP!!! this only happened cause i snapped my old one... (biggest bummer for the year for me) i just love learning new things and watching the good guys rip!!!

Going down to Sandy Point Speed fortnight is always my highlight.
Always great fun with a great bunch of guys.


.

TonyC sums it all up as far as I'm concerned
Also being welcomed back into the sport regardless of ability...or lack thereof..after a 20 year break.

Getting back into it after a break of around nine years. I was never 100% out of it but I had other things on my mind which stopped windsurfing. With Howard and Co out a dark cloud lifted from me.

Buying new gear which is great to use plus getting a 4WD van for windsurfing and hopefully camping.

Having some decent days sailing and starting to approach what I used to do.

The WA windsurfari in Jan '07, the highest of the highlights being:
- drive Melb to Esperance in 2 days in absolute blissful solitude
- using my 3.7 for the first time in the arse end of the cyclone at Esperance
- meeting a guy on a sandy 4wd track into Shoal Cape with boards on the roof of his vehicle the same as mine while we were both waiting for wind. I didn't know it at the time, but it turned out he is a WA legend, John Koch.
- sailing at Margartet River, watching and learning from a guy named Corey
- pulling off my first ever shortboard tacks in marginal conditions at Lancelin
- seeing and sailing at Corros, and then having a beer or two with a guy called Clive and his mates in a crayfisherman's shed overlooking Horrocks.

First session in 20 knots where I was consistently getting the sail raked back, in harness and straps and in control, in the pocket, fully lit up, what have you, blasting across the edge of a sandbank at the train. There's a whole other gear when the board and rig is setup like that and you are balanced correctly. First time I'd really experienced it, awesome stuff.

... and finding this forum. A great way to waste time at work.