So I was chatting with my brother online yesterday and he asked me what my goals were for the new year... I told him my main goal was do have at least as much fun as the last year and what a great year it was. For me it was a new venture, off into the unknown. I left the World Cup Tour, took huge budget cuts from a couple of my sponsors, but yet found more richness in life. One of the best years of my life, no titles, no championships, and not making money.. Pretty funny really to a guy who has pretty much had it all, and to think the year i did none of the things that the world thinks as cool, it has been one of the most fun... Scary sometimes, but still fun. Went to Vietnam right out of the gates, to be at a PWA competition without competing was a first, but for some reason it just felt right. I think that is when I knew I made the right decision. My friend Johannes and I manage to product two 27 minute TV shows for ESPN Asia without having a clew at what we were doing. What a learning experience that was. From there went to Maui and had a great spring time working with the Ezzy Sails team, doing photoshooting and just having a blast. Went to Santa Cruz for a Family reunion Waddell Classic event, which was fun to see all of our childhood hommies there! Then to Thailand, Denver, Jackson Hole for some late season snowboarding, the Gorge, where I hadn't been to in over 15 years, to Pistol River, then to Aruba, filming again, wow that was pretty fun, then to some more windsurfing trips, then over to some Motocross filming which was amazing in Orlando, Kentucky, and over to Mississippi , then Baja, Maui, then back to Cali for an amazing road trip, back to Jackson, then to Maui for the finals of the AWT, and bam the year was done, just like that. What a year.

For this next year, I am going to try to get back into blogging. Sometimes I get so tied up in other things that the last thing you want to do is get on the computer. I was so dedicated to it before and now have been lagging on it. So I am back...

So Happy New Year to everyone... See you in the wind somewhere!!

Happy New Year from Ezzy Sails on Vimeo.

Clinic Schedule 2012

The time of year is here!!! If you haven't quite figured out exactly what you want for Christmas, here are some hints below to suggest to your dearest loved ones....

Aloha Windsurfing Clinics

May 26th-June 2nd

Matt Pritchard and Shawna Cropas

June 30th-July 7th

Matt Pritchard and Shawna Cropas

Oct 20th-27th

Matt Pritchard and Shawna Cropas

Punta San Carlos

April 21-28

Matt Pritchard and Kevin McGillivray

July 21-28

Matt Pritchard and Kevin McGillivray

September 22-29

Matt Pritchard and Kevin McGillivray

One thing is for SURE- you will have a lot of fun and you will learn some new tricks!

If you are a beginning windsurfer, don't be shy about coming to Maui! It is a great place to hone in your skills in warm tropical waters. Shawna and I have a great program to get you hooked in and sailing upwind with the right stance.

Here is a video of our last clinic where we taught a lot of improvers... Check it out!

Aloha Windsurfing Clinics with Matt Pritchard and Shawna Cropas from shawna cropas on Vimeo.

If wavesailing is on your mind and you want to learn how to catch the right waves and what to do on them once you get em, either Maui or Punta San Carlos are great locations. Come on over!

If you have any questions regarding these clinics, hit the contact button on the site and drop me a mail.

Will look forward to seeing you in the wind!

Matt

I got an email asking about some jibing tips so I thought i would share them with you guys......
As for your jibes, you want mast foot pressure and front foot pressure. The back foot you don't want too much pressure, use it as your guide to keep the rail engaged in the turn. Try to keep your weight forward, look into your turn where you want to go, keep the front arm extended so the rig stays away from you. If you get the rig too close to you, all your weight goes back and the board will stall or do funny things. The name of the game for making a nice jibe is speed! Make sure you over sheet with your back hand to take control of the sail, use speed to guide you through the turn. Keep your weight low, knees bent, hang from your booms! Don't move your feet around too much, think of the jibe as a slow dance with a hot chick that you want to be close to- nice and smooth, no fumbling around. Get it in your head how you would do it, visualize and flow through the movements….Always remember, look where you want to go!

Check out my brother's jibe here- watch it a thousand times until you see yourself doing it!

How To Jibe from Pritchard Windsurfing on Vimeo.

Here is a video session with my buddy Andre from Canada- We have been sailing together over the past 3 years and he is learning to RIP! Having video helps you SEE what you are doing so you can correct your mistakes and PROGRESS- this type of analysis is extremely helpful at all levels. Check it out, hope you can learn something from Andre!

Chasing Andre from Pritchard Windsurfing on Vimeo.

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Lots of hype on big winds blasting down the pacific so I jumped in the rig and headed down to Hookipa. It was on-shore with head to logo high waves and reminded me of a good day in Europe! I took out my brand new Manic 5.0 because she has been feeling pretty good and we had some fun.... Until I landed a backloop and the mast just snapped in my hands.... Oh great. Ripped the luff sleeve up nice and had a lovely swim back in narrowly avoiding a rock dance! Thanks Paul for the ride in!
At this stage it was pouring in rain and people were starting to come in. I did what any real man would do, rigged up my favorite trusty 5.0 Manic backup sail and got back on the horse. The wind kept blowing and I’m very glad I re-rigged. Nearing the end of the session, I had another crash that ended in disaster for my favorite 5.0! The sail completely tore in half, through the luff panel and right out the leech reinforcement. Given the sail probably had over 30,000 miles on her, I accepted defeat and will be doing a ceremony for her this afternoon. I will miss her but it is time to move on....
The forecast for today is 30 knots plus with massive surf. Sounds like fun.....

It is wave season here on Maui and life is good! As we approach a new year there are always new things that come about- and what is going to be new for 2013? Oh yeah, it isn’t even 2012 yet...... Well my call is a movement back to the single fin set up... I have been calling that for the past 3 years already so if you know me, that might be old news.
The quad fin boards have come a long way in the last 2 years and do offer a lot of OPTIONS. You can really crank out some fast turns and go from rail to rail quickly. A lot like a short board surfboard- you gotta be ON IT to utilize this in fast moving waves. I do notice that they seem to be slower to plane and not as fast as my favorite single fin boards. Not everyone wants to go fast but I live by the saying, “Speed is your Friend” and “when in doubt, GAS IT”!
From what I have learned after playing with countless fin set up combos (Makani’s, Black Project, Stock) and options is that my style likes a lot of fin back there in order to not slide out. Nothing worse than going into a bottom turn wondering if you are going to make it...... I put a 16cm and 9cm combo on the 2012 Tabou Da Curve 85 liter board (which as 5 slot box fin boxes- can be used as a thruster or quad) and that seems to work ok. The other day I cut up one of my favorite single fin 24’s to a slot box and tried that out..... The box was a bit too far back to be used as a single fin- I think it was better in Quad formation for the conditions. This experiment got me thinking about my old trusty favorite contest board from back in the days.......
Although 2005 doesn’t seem that long ago, we are looking at almost 7 years- WOW! I took out my old baby and boy did she feel funny looking at all the nose sticking out of the water. At 8’2” long it amazed me how different it looked compared to a 7’8” length. Once I set foot on her, it was just like old times- she got planing quickly, smoked up-wind and brought back some fond memories in the turns. It did feel a little “old school” but once I dropped in and pushed in the bottom turn, it just felt like I was on rails. The turn off the bottom may not have been as TIGHT as the new boards allow but it was nice to be able to push it. The off the top was also a little more STIFF but with the right wave, it still worked pretty good.
What did I learn? I would have to say that a combo of the old and the new is ready to be found. I rode one of Levi’s 7’5 Single Fin boards that he just made and it was really fun. It fit in the pocket of the wave, had PUSH to crank a good bottom turn and had most of the good features from the quad-like outline.
As 2013 design phases begin, I’m excited to see what all the brands will put on the table for the new “IT” shapes! Stay tuned.....

Wishing everybody out there a Happy Thanksgiving! Try not to eat too much Turkey..... and hope you find some WIND!

You may never really know how a sail should feel until you actually sail one. I don’t mean a “Sail” I mean a “RIG”. The Rig is what gives you that feeling of effortless performance-The way the mast works in the sail and how it lets the material flex are a HUGE key to getting it right. You can buy the best sail in the world and if you put it on a mast that isn’t specifically designed for your sail, you are compromising your performance.

No matter what kind of sail I am using, race, wave, or freeride, I look for similar characteristics in each. I like to be able to sail comfortable with that light feel in my hands. I don’t want a sail that is pulling me up and down and all over the place.

Here are some tips to getting it right.

The first is downhaul settings. I would suggest getting a tape measure and learning what those little numbers mean that are printed at the bottom of your sail. There is usually a number in centimeters that should tell you how far down you need to pull your sail from the bottom of the mast- hook your tape over the collar of your base and measure to the bottom of your pulley- that gets you in the ballpark. If you are a lighter sailor, you may want more downhaul to get rid of some of that pull- it will give you a little less power because less of the sail is working to produce power, rather giving you a more exhausting effect. For the bigger guy, he may prefer to have a little more pull to get going easier- do this by setting up the rig at it’s minimum recommendation. Then, I suggest playing around with settings. Try something different and get a feel for yourself.

Outhaul settings are pretty easy these days especially with adjustable outlhaul systems. You can learn a lot from an adjustable outhaul system. The bigger the sail you have, the more key being able to tune the outhaul on the fly becomes! I find that whenever I pull too much outhaul, I don’t have the drive out of the rig. What I mean by that is how the sail pulls me along. I don’t have enough constant power. When I get hit by a gust, the reaction time is slow to turn on. Imagine hitting the gas pedal on your car and there being a large delay- that can happen when you over outhaul your sail. Again, check your settings box on your sail and play around with the settings. Don’t be afraid to change things and learn about your gear.

If you are looking for the ultimate adjustable outhaul system, hit the contact button and we can further advise!!!

AWT Maui Makani Classic - Day Four from American Windsurfing Tour on Vimeo.

Check out the very nice edit from MNP

AWT Maui Makani Classic - Day Three from American Windsurfing Tour on Vimeo.