Better World Windsurfing School - Blog

Warm with an Uncommonly Steady Breeze

9/12/2021

This was another warm day, with an uncommonly steady breeze. And it was mostly cloudy, which may have reduced the Sunday traffic on the lake. It would have been perfect for a lesson, if my clients hadn't cancelled for a variety of reasons.
The first video looks exciting, but in 58 minutes on the water I only got planing for about one minute. The rest of the time I was able to sail around kind of like in the second video, which is still faster than most of the time around here. This is, of course, with my biggest sail. A beginner in a lesson would use a sail half that size, on a bigger, more stable board.

Autumn Winds Arising

9/8/2021

Spring and fall are the best seasons for windsurfing around here; summer offers little wind, and in winter the lake is often ice covered. Today may have been the beginning of a breezy season. Here's the best planing run of this afternoon's session, culminating in a botched jibe attempt. I seem to have forgotten that you're supposed to sail out of the jibe clew-first.

Labor Day Session

9/6/2021

Gorgeous weather. Somewhat breezy, but still sub-planing. Top speed: 9.7 mph. Only a few other people out on the water, including one speedboat towing a couple of women on what looked like an inflatable couch (see video). The temperature was 75F, but I still wore my shorty wetsuit and wasn't too hot.

An Uncommonly Breezy Day

8/12/2021

With this much wind you'd think I might have done some carve jibes, but I never even made the attempt. I seem to have been regressing; I was better at it ten years ago.

Refresher Lesson in VERY Light Wind

8/7/2021

Annie R. came over from Lewisburg for this lesson and donated the $100 fee to Centre Peace. She had had some previous experience windsurfing on the west coast. Our biggest challenge was the extreme lightness of the available breeze.

Light Air Lesson

7/28/2021

This was Becky's second attempt. The first one was just too windy so we cut it short. This time there was barely enough wind, but enough for her to get the hang of it. The $100 fee went to the Howard volunteer fire company. The video shows some of the higher-wind parts in roughly chronological order, first as seen by the GoPro on my boom, then from Becky's boom. Sorry about the camera zoom setting which cut off our heads.

Susanna A. Got Her First Taste of Windsurfing

7/5/2021

This PSU graduate student had given up small boat sailing and was looking for a more compact way of using the wind for fun. The video below includes GoPro footage shot from both my boom end and from her boom end. Susanna chose PAWS to be the recipient of her $100 fee. (Lesson provided 2021-07-05 on Sayers Lake.)

Quick Learner

6/29/2021

Gave a beginner lesson yesterday to a guy who caught on exceptionally quickly. True, he has a watersports background, but he had never sailed before. The wind was pretty light, so after a while I let him switch from the "Fisher-Price"* sail to the sail I was using, so he could have more power and to give him better feedback from the force of the wind. Then I took out my usual largest sail so we could still sail around together. The fee went to Doctors without Borders.
*My 4.5 square meter school sail, dubbed "Fisher-Price" by my wife because of its primary colors.

30 Seconds of Glorious Planing

6/26/2021

I was out on the lake for nearly an hour today, but the wind was pretty light. I was glad to get this one brief planing run. The wind was erratic, even changing direction quite a bit as you can see from the GPS track below.

Getting the Hang of It

6/24/2021

I had given Rose M. a brief lesson a couple of years ago, and today not that much instruction. Still, as you can see, she steadily improved this afternoon until she was able use the wind to go where she wanted to go.