Happy Monday! Hope everyone is having a GREAT SUMMER! Just finished up our June Aloha Windsurfing Clinic and what a great week we had! A great team and group of people learning the tricks of the trade. The common theme was to GET LOW! Everyone thinks they are low but when we see the video and photo’s LOW still has a long way to GO! Where does it all apply?

Up hauling- this is one of the most important ones……. trying to uphaul with straight legs is a recipe for diving into the water, more like a guarantee. Spread the feet apart, get a SUMO style stance nice and LOW and then pull the sail up.

Beach starts- as soon as you jump on your board, get that front foot all the way up to the mast base, drop your weight and be LOW and centered on the board.

Light Wind Jibing- über important in the light winds to get into LOW LOW LOW stance. I try to sit on my heels and keep the sail up nice and high to hold me on the board. I pull with my bag leg the fin into the wind to steer the board while LOOKING where I want to go. Not at my feet, not at my hands, where I need to go! Just like driving a car- you don’t look at your gas pedal when you pull out into traffic do you? Hope not

High Winds- Using your harness is key in high winds unless you are made of steel…. Staying low in high winds commits you to the harness and gives you control. Straight and upright legs will toss you around in chop and throw you off your steed. How can you get LOW with short harness lines? You can’t really….. Check this link here to find out more: Harness Line Help

In the end, we all want to have more fun, sail longer and smarter and be able to move the next day without too much pain. Try some longer lines, get your weight to work for you! If you want to Buy New Lines, click the link and we will get you set up!

Got another email the other day asking about forward loops tips and tricks….. decided to pass  this on to anyone that cares! Here is the question:

well yes, it can be scary. the trick is to not chicken out and go FULL POWER without hesitating. That is the biggest problem I see people do, is hesitate….. NOT GOOD. You have to visualize yourself doing it correctly. it is such a simple move, you just have to commit, tuck your head and pull with your back hand HARD while pushing with your front hand HARD and at the same time PULLING with your back leg to get the tail of the board under your BUMM! The wind just pulls you around. Whatever you do DON’T LOOK at the water, tuck and roll brotha……

1. When inserting your mast, make sure the 2 pieces are together before down hauling. You can check this by running your hand over where the joint should be. Always check at the top of the sail to be sure the mast/sail connection is secure and where it should be.
2. Understand how your downhaul lines likes to be threaded. Most extensions have different ways of doing it- this helps ease the strain of down hauling to the proper setting.
3. If your boom is difficult to put on, apply only 60% downhaul, then put the boom on- the boom cutout of your sail is more open like this and you can dinker with ropes and settings without struggling to get your hands in there. If you have no problem with this, pull the sail to desired downhaul setting so you only have to sit down/get up once- Save that energy for the water!
4. Outhaul settings- don’t believe everything you read for settings….. especially if you are not using the recommended mast! A good trick to get you close is to put your elbow at the clew of the sail and extend your arm towards the center of the sail. If your hand is easily able to push the sail down onto the boom it is a sign that you need more outhaul.
5. Make sure your battens have proper tension. What is proper tension? You want as many wrinkles taken out of the batten pockets to create a smooth foil. With your tensioning tool, feel the pressure and watch what happens as you increase or decrease tension.… you don’t want to go too tight or else you risk punching your battens through their stopper at the mast. Feel it out and get them snug.

Just got back from Baja- I love it down there. We had a great crew, found some wind and waves, ate like kings, drank like fish and slept like rocks! What’s a normal day like you might ask? Get up when you want, go play in the water with a SUP, SURF or Kayak. If you want some good cardio, jump on the bike for a group pedal or just chill it and read a book! Class begins at 10am right after breakfast, at 12 we start rigging. Some choose to get an early session before lunch, some chose to work on the simulator. The sun and wind drop off around 7, this place is a playground all day, everyday! They say pictures are worth a thousand words….. so check out this link and join us in spirit!

Diane started riding the waves with us 3 years ago, she is charging it now!

Chasing Andre! He gets more water time than you can imagine!

Pete going off the top

Engraining the muscle memory on land

We have been trying to jump this rock for a while! Just made it……

This guy is a real “local”

Textbook Andre!

Jean caught his first wave ever……. his eyes were wide open

Talking about lots of tacking tricks lately! Wanted to share …

This Guest Blog article is from Eddy Patricelli, a real world wave sailor who many of you have probably heard of from his days at Windsurfing Magazine- He hits a lot of nails right on the head! Enjoy

My home break isn’t Ho’okipa. Not by a mile. My go-to wave board is 100-plus liters, and often, it raises eyebrows for being too small. Recently, a promising forecast touted 30 mph gusts. So I drove to the beach … and spent the afternoon surfing glassy waves. Such is life for this Florida wave sailor, who has found the coastline east of Orlando to be as nuanced as the sunshine state itself.

So Matt asked me to write about real-world wave sailing. To be sure, this isn’t the faux real world where pros offer onshore wave riding tips using 5.0-meter sails. That’s dreamy. Think grittier: a 12-16 mph onshore tease breeze, a strong rip, and plenty of white water to punch out over.

Of course, there are good days (see photos). But most of the time, my first glimpse of the ocean sparks a sigh. So my real-world tips aren’t so much about technique, but attitude. Not just coping with lesser conditions, but excelling in them, and driving home hungry to go again.

That’s my real-world challenge: keeping the fire stoked. A three-year-old son, a full-time job, and an hour’s drive to the beach make successful windsurf sessions resonate as minor miracles. Enjoying each of them – even if the wind no-shows – is where my attitude has had to evolve.

Specifically, I ignore memories of Maui board tests for WindSurfing magazine. I block Punta San Carlos sessions from my mind. Ditto for summers spent sailing Florence, Oregon. Those conditions rarely materialize for me. Yet to this day, voices in my head try to wish it so, sparking delusions that derail water time and fun.

These delusions I consider seductive traps. Below are three seductive traps that haunt me, along with remedies that help keep my windsurfing fire burning no matter what the ocean serves up. My $.02 on real-world sailing: Don’t be seduced!

Real-World Bio

Eddy Patricelli

Age: 41 Weight: 185 lbs.

Primary Spots: Cocoa Beach, Playa Linda

Typical Wind: 12-16 mph

Real-world Challenges: onshore winds, strong rips;

job w/ lots of travel, three-year-old son

Drive Time to Beach: 1 hour

Windsurf Sessions Per Month: 0-4

Surf/SUP Sessions Per Month: 3-6

Seductive Trap #1: Invest in the Good Days

Two years ago, I bought an 85-liter board that dripped of bells and whistles, and beckoned for wind. Real wind. Not the typical tease breeze. My board for that wind (the 102-liter sled) was a decade old. It dripped of neglect and ding stick. And that was a problem. I wasn’t eager to ride it. Upgrading wasn’t an option. The little board tapped me dry. So I waited for good-wind days … and waited … and waited.  

Remedy: Love the Gear You Need (read: Not the Gear You Want)

I sail more when my big board and sail don’t smack of compromise. When I want to reach for my big gear, delusions that it’s windy enough for my small gear – the gear I really want – are quelled. Embracing that mindset requires nudges. This year, I saved (and saved) – splurging for a 100% carbon mast, boom and base for my big rig. It’s ridiculously light, powerful and I’m eager to grab it. And yeah, I sail more.

Seductive Trap #2: Grand Expectations

A great wind forecast. A good swell. Today’s session will be epic, and it’s about time. These thoughts are delusions that blossom on the drive to the beach. The more I indulge in them, the more chance of a letdown when I arrive.

Remedy: Unsinkable Expectations

My sailing expectations – no matter how promising of forecast – must embrace all ops for progression. My surfboard and paddleboard travel with me. Always. Windsurfing is my first choice, but I can’t hang my head if the wind vanishes. The clock is ticking. I didn’t leave my wife and kid to sit on a boardwalk and wind whine. So I go surfing, or SUPing. Both help my windsurfing, and both eliminate any chance of being skunked. I get wet. I get exercise. I learn new skills and I come home happy. Just ask my wife.

Seductive Trap #3: It Looks (and Feels) Windy …

From the boardwalk, a sea of white caps stretches to the horizon. I’m leaning into the wind. 5.4 or 4.7?

Remedy: Know Better

Of course it feels windy. The boardwalk sits on top of a dune. Wind is magnified on a hill’s peak. Also, my first view of an onshore wind day means looking dead into the wind – offering a panorama of white caps. I know these things, and yet this is the trap I fall victim to most – thinking it’s windier than it is. The mind sees what the heart wants.

But even the smart move – gauging the wind from the shoreline – carries a reality check. The rip (current in the impact zone) will steal 2-3 mph of wind from my sail. An onshore breeze that averages 14-18 mph on the beach will feel like 11-15 mph in the impact zone. 5.4 or 4.7? Yeah right. Grab the 5.8 (or bigger?) and get out there. This ain’t Maui.

Eddy Patricelli is one of Florida’s most hardcore windsurfers, driven by pure stoke, he works hard and wants to play hard. I tried to convince him to move back to Maui…… but that didn’t get too far. Thanks for the great article Eddy!

Photo Credits to: Peggy Giesenschlag

I have been really wanting to get better at windsurfing. When your level is high, to me it seems like it is harder and harder to get better. Every millimeter, every little tiny, grip of the toes, where you put your hands, where you are looking matters.

I saw some of the overlay comparisons watching Resi at the Olympics. While it is nothing new, I thought that would be pretty cool to try and look at what is going on and what is happening where. On a wave it is very different because each wave is so different. The location of where and when you are bottom turning is totally different.

I figured I would share the overlay as some of you guys might find it interesting maybe?

To me, it looks like I have most of the fundamentals down. It is just about putting more energy and speed into the turn. Brawzino gets to his second turn quicker than I do with speed and power. Jason had a bit of a squirt of speed right on the bottom turn to get up the wave.

WOW- If you want to see some wind, check this out…….. talk about some radical and heavy conditions! You gotta be in pretty good shape to handle some of those beatings the boys were taking- Enjoy!

A lot of people have been asking me how do I get planing more easily? Most of that boils down to technique. The most important part of this technique is Mast Foot Pressure or MFP as we will refer to it from here on out. MFP is what tells the board to GIDDY UP and get going. Without this, you will never gain control over your board and be able to windsurf properly.

Some common occurrences take place before you even hit the water. Setting up your rig and getting tuned in for your body height and weight are uber important. Tuning the sail with the right amount of downhaul for the conditions is a big factor. If we take a 200lb 6’2” dude and dial in his 6.2 Freerwave sail for 13-22knots it would be different to a 5’6 135lb girl. I think we can all agree on that?? For the big boy, I would recommend not as much downhaul- he is gonna need a little more power up higher in the sail to get him going. When you pull too much downhaul, you flatten out the top of the sail and this kills the power. How much less downhaul? I would normally recommend no more than 2cm off of the spec. For the girl in this same amount of wind I would suggest downhauling to full spec maybe even a touch more to  give control and ease in the big gusts. The worst feeling for any windsurfer is getting that unwanted catapult! That hurts. By pulling more downhaul, the top of the sail flattens out and releases the power. The sail feels lighter in the hands when planing and doesn’t pull you around so much. If you think about the sail being fuller up top, this is a recipe for getting launched over the bars (also known as the unintentional forward loop attempt)!

As for the outhaul, the heavier the weight, the less outhaul you will need to pull. The amount of outhaul you pull is relevant to how much downhaul you have. When the mast bends with more downhaul, it causes the need for more outhaul because there is more material that bunches up. It works both ways, so with less downhaul, not as much outhaul is required. I like to use the boom touching theory to set the outhaul. If the wind is really light and I need planing power, I set the outhaul so that the last 12”s or 30.48cm’s of sail might just barely be able to touch the boom. If it is draping over the boom that is not enough outhaul and can damage your sail. One thing to note if you are using the manufacturers specs on the sail, if you are not using the exact recommended mast, everything about those specs goes out the window!!! Very important to note this…..

How about your board? In a perfect world, we would all have the latest and greatest LTD construction and all the bells and whistles right? Not always the case for many……I’m a big fan of using what you have unless it is just way too old and gonna hinder your performance which in turn bums you out on windsurfing- Not good!!! Most boards now days are pretty darn good. The biggest problem I see is using too small of a board- bigger is normally better especially when it comes to planing. Duhhhhhh- If you don’t have the means to buy bigger boards, consider going up a few cm in your fin size, that can give you some more horsepower. For earlier planing you can also move your footstraps further forward on the board so that you an get in them and be going more quickly- not as much weight further back on the tail. The downside here is top end speed…. the windier it is the further back you want to be on the board for better control and speed. There is a lot going on with the board and setup- pay attention to what the good guys are doing at your beach and ask questions- most windsurfers are pretty friendly!

Setting your boom to at least shoulder height when standing upright next to your mast while on the board is the best place to start (you can do this on the beach).  Once this is established, you want to make sure you can easily get into AND out of your harness lines. Too short = too hard so consider longer vs shorter. A lot of sailors ride with a boom too low and never find that magic sweet spot of pure bliss while sailing. Too low of boom also gets you into a bad habit of too short of harness lines- this greatly reduces MFP! Some people challenge this notion of longer lines until they experience the balance for themselves. Common complaints are that my bum is hitting the water and I use my arms too much. Most of the time, what is actually happening is they are pulling the rig too far over to windward and trying to muscle it rather than letting the harness do the work. When the harness is doing the work, your weight is dropping down into the harness engaging the lines and guess what this does naturally……. it gives MFP ! When everything is set up correctly, you don’t even have to think about Mast Foot Pressure, it just happens, like magic! All of the sudden, you and your board are acting as one unit, a connection to the wind. You can finally breathe, smile and play the piano while blasting along.

Jumping onto your board for your first run out, it is very important to get that front foot all the way up to the mast track. Keep your back foot between the straps so you have a pretty wide stance. Most people don’t get the front foot far enough forward and the board rounds up into wind and they can easily fall off. The other key factor is keeping the rig away from you- let the sail pull you onto the board and with your hips up in light wind get your body weight over the centerline of the board, arms extended with the rig pulling you along. As soon as you pull in on those arms and bring the sail too far over towards your body, you are walking a fine line of falling off. Think of the sail as your helper to keep you over the center of the board and pull you along. Once you get into some real wind, rather than pull with your arms, think more of dropping your weight to get lower and feel the sail start to pull you along. Keep your front foot pointed towards the nose of the board and as you get moving you should be ready to hook in to your harness. Whatever you do, don’t look at your harness lines, your boom or your hands or your feet- this is one of the biggest reasons for getting catapulted. Just like driving your car, you don’t look at the gas pedal when you accelerate into traffic do you??? You should be able to get into your harness without having to look at your lines. If you can’t do this, i suggest practicing on the beach to get a feel for this movement.

Once in your lines you can then start to think about getting your front foot in the strap- make sure you are heading upwind and in control. Feel with your feet and first slide your back foot back(to keep a wider stance) and then your front foot back so that you can ease it into the front strap. If you are a first time footstrapper, make the straps BIG so you don’t have to mess with wedging them in. A bigger strap will receive your foot better- especially if you are wearing booties! Keep your weight low at all times during this process. When your legs are straight there is a better chance for getting catapulted!!! With your front foot now in the strap, keep your head up watching the wind coming towards you. Put some pressure into your front foot to get the nose of the board to go downwind- this will start your planing process. As you get going now it is time to get that back foot in the strap. There is no great rush to do this and many people panic right about now and lose their flow- the back foot can slowly work its way back to the strap and without ever looking, find its way in. This should all be on auto flow. Another great way to practice this is on the beach- take your fin out of your board and work on hooking in to your harness, moving your feet back and getting into the straps- all without looking! If you can’t do it on the land, don’t expect to do it on the water.

As you now sail off into the sunset, be sure to keep your head up looking upwind where you want to go. Twist the hips upwind and find the connection to your rig through your harness. One way to think about this connection is by pushing the rig away from you to engage the lines- at the same time you are dropping your weight by bending your knees/ankles to keep the harness in the lines….. all this is generating the MFP that keeps us in the flow.

Hopefully this can help you on your way to improving your windsurfing. Stay tuned for more How To’s coming to you in 2014 at www.pritchardwindsurfing.com

Check out this video to see Santiago from Argentina learning how to get planing and in the straps for his first time ever! He had the ride of his life…..

Tourists of The Sea - Episode Two - Punta San Carlos - Surgical Strike - Kevin Pritchard + Graham Ezzy from Johannes Neumann on Vimeo.

I had just booked my ticket to go to Park City to visit my girlfriend when I happened to check the forecast for Tahiti and saw an 18 second interval pop into the forecast window. With the south swells you can get a pretty good idea at least a week in advance, so I saw this massive swell coming. I talked with "Mr. Baja" Brian Caserio and said looks like there is another swell hitting, you want to go. We both grimaced at the thought of organizing, preparing and rearranging our schedules. The desire to get one of the big south swells, made us excited and craving to man up for the adventure. I called up Graham Ezzy and he started looking into it as well.
We kept tossing the idea around over the Santa Cruz AWT event, going back and forth, if we can do it, what is our time frame, how is the swell going to hit and so on. I had just won the single elimination and was pretty happy with that so I was like lets do it. It was a mission. My ticket to Park City was non refundable. So I might as well go see my girlfriend for one day. Hoped on the plane, said hi on Tuesday, then back on the plane on Wednesday, Brian picked me up at LAX, drove to San Diego, slept and hit the road at 5am. Some lack of sleep, some anxiety, and some hints of south swell along the drive, made the drive seem to fly by. Graham had to hook up with another way down as we were full in Brian's Tundra. We didn't see them on the road or when we arrived so, they had to be behind us. We arrived to Punta San Carlos to mast high waves and 4.2 wind. It was blasting. One problem, I didn't bring my 4.2. Shoot. Well lucky for me, the guys at SoloSports carry the new Ezzy Elite sails, and bam I was out on the water. Fully overpowered, mast high, insane conditions. This is just what the doctor ordered. Wave after wave, it was insane.
Growing up in Southern California, Baja is where my brother and I learned to windsurf in the waves. It is the best spot in the world in my opinion to learn to wave sail. This was it, this is what we had dreamed of all our lives, wind, waves, and the biggest south swell of the summer hitting Baja. I had waited 20 years, I know that dates me, but I really had waited 20 years to get this place like with the waves like we had. It sounds cliche but it was a dream come true. I mean for the last 15 years of my professional career, to be able to take time to jet down for a swell when you are competing on the PWA world tour, is pretty tough to pull off. The worlds aligned, it came together and for the next three days, we had all we could handle. Wave after wave, set after set, it was just awesome. I am still glowing from the trip and can't wait for the next surgical strike.
~ Kevin Pritchard
A Maui Nerd Production
mauinerds.com
Camera: Kevin Pritchard // Brian Caserio // Graham Ezzy
Graphics & Editing: Johannes Neumann
Supported by: Ezzy Sails // Dakine // solosports.net "You just don't know, until you go!"
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Check Episode One: vimeo.com/75500787
Check also our teaser: vimeo.com/70628144
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Music:
Agnes Obel - Chord Left
Charles Bradley – where do you go from here
Pretty Lights - Reel 5 Break 3