Was your "most committed waterstarter candidate"... Troy ???
Because I've been texting with him a lot about this... so I'm wondering if he was about the only solid 'student'?
Anyway, thanks for this possible 'make-up clinic'. I hope there's WIND on Labor Day weekend, and that Troy can make it.
And hopefully some more folks, that want EXCELLENT info on "learning about high wind windsurfing' as well, can be there!
Like many before have said - learning solid water-starts, is the key skill needed for high wind sailing.
But, there is a lot more as well, cause everything is different, if your only experience is light wind windsurfing in the Puget Sound area. For example. learning HOW to carry your gear around in high wind... and how to rig your kit, in high wind.
There is a LOT that's critical to learn about... regarding high wind windsurfing! So whether it's blowing only 10 mph... or gets good, as is blowing 20 or 30 mph... Wright is an awesome instructor with MANY years experience teaching these things.
And this is a very valuable offer on his part. In person, face to face, is WAY better than watching youtube vids !!!
This year’s most committed Waterstarter has to defer this weekend.
Additionally, Forecasters have ganged up on this weekend, to deliver a Heat Wave, which usually means no wind. Last week’s heat was a Notable exception, as there was sailable wind for much of it. This weekend’s forecasts have light Easterlies or alternating
Easterlies & light Westerlies-all clearly Light. If there were differing forecasts, I’d hold some hope for some useful wind.
There are many topics useful to waterstarts, that don’t require the wind, and we could cover them while we watch for the wind to show.
Among the most useful is solving the equipment problem. When we fall, the gear can fall in any imaginable disarray. Simplified into 3 problems, there are easy & hard ways to solve each. Letting the wind & waves move the gear into position is the easiest
way for the gear to move itself. It takes time, but if you rush, you run short of breath and energy anyway. Hold the part of your gear that you want to be upwind, catch your breath, and shortly, you can launch the sail free of the water with the wind doing
most of the work.
There are enough useful topics & exercises to fill most of the day, but the one thrill of the wind lifting you out of the water and onto your board, hasn’t been practically simulated yet.
Additional Clinic factors including, 8 hours round trip burning fossils, the expense of those fossils, various versions of viruses still on the loose, and the likelihood of most any remaining summer weekend having more breeze than this one, means that
I’ve got to call this one postponed.
Last year was a light wind clinic too, but Tuu was so enthusiastic, I offered that if a sufficiently windy weekend ( I get my sailing in first) materialized, & life’s schedules allowed me, we would try again. It turned out Labor Day weekend was possible,
and the results were spectacular (you can search for Tuu’s report 2021).
We’ll try that again for 2022, with the caveat that notice will be short. My life is not so organized, so when I find a weekend is sorta free, or can be stretched sorta, I work out the sortas, then check the weather. Notice is likely to be 1-3 days,
and if the Commited can make it we’re going. This is notice for the Curious who might want to join.
By the way, if you know anyone Curious, that doesn’t stay current with their email, forward this to them, (then call them) so they don’t take a long hot drive just to watch sturgeon blow bubbles. I haven’t got any contact info on most of the Curious,
so this is how they will be informed.
Here be the Wizards:
Some iWindsurf info requires paid subscription.
Wishing us all luck & wind,
WW.
