The first windsurfing day I just got some video of other sailors, shot from the upper deck of our house.
Instead we went to Florida for 2 weeks, where we hung out on the beach with some of Helen's kids and grandkids, and visited my niece Gloria who moved to Fl from VT, and spent an amazing day at Harry Potter World, and I took some lessons from my guru Andy Brandt (below). In the first video I did two light-wind tacks, two different ways, on Andy Brandt's gear. In the still pic, Andy is holding the wing he was about to instruct me about. And the next (last) video [truly crappy, shot by Andy on his iPhone] shows me attempting to sail a windsurfer using said wing. Unfortunately, my GoPro camera went to the bottom of Tampa Bay about then, so I have no more decent action footage of windsports in Florida.
Best wishes for 2022! Here are some pictures from lessons I gave on Sayers Lake in 2021. I expect to give lessons again, to vaccinated people, in 2022.
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.
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.
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. |
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AuthorThis is Bill vdB, sharing little vignettes of windsurfing on Sayers Lake, in Howard PA. and sometimes elsewhere. |