West Meadow like Napeague?

I had not hit the water in a preposterous time period spanning 20 days(!). So yesterday afternoon after work I said to myself let's try catching the leftovers of the NW wind at West Meadow beach. No matter what, even if dies on me and I have to swim back. Actually, I was more optimist that than because in the afternoon around 4:30pm the wind still looked decent, perhaps enough for the 7.0/111L combo. And so I went.

It was ultra low tide so I had to walk a little to launch. As soon as I was up and going I realized the wind had dropped and was really not enough to get me on a plane. Even if I pumped the sail. There was an occasional "teasing" gust putting me on a plane and then dying. I sailed towards South past the long sand bar hoping the wind would get stronger down the harbor. But nope, no chance.

As I was getting more frustrated I realized that after all the reason I was there was to chill out and enjoy the Ocean (well the Sound, whatever). It still gave me the chance to practice low wind jibes and tacks. Then the wind Gods listened and turned up the breeze a few notches and I found myself planing in flat, knee-deep water for about 20 minutes. Too bad it didn't last but that made my evening!

July 4th with the thermals

The thermals are back! Time to dust off my light wind stuff.
Around noon yesteday there wasn't a leaf moving on the North shore whereas a nice SW thermal was starting to kick in on the South shore. When I arrived at Shirley around 3pm I was pleased to see little whitecaps. Wooo hoooo!
I rigged my new (kind of, it's actually a prototype I bought cheap from Neil Pryde Maui) NP V6 on the Exocet speedslider 135 L.
What a great afternoon! Check the video below

July 4th light wind windsurfing from tonywind on Vimeo.

Who caught the wind last Monday?

Well, we (Steve, James and I) did at Shirley. Another perfect, summery "lunch break" after a stagnant, windless and hot weekend. The best way to start the week. SW winds in the 25mph range. 5.9 was probably the best call but I was on a 6.3
I'm seriously thinking of getting a 5.9. The gap between my 5.5 and 6.3 is indeed too big...


(Catching a little air)

Supersession at Shirley Beach

Yesterday sunny skies and sustained WNW winds brought to Shirley Beach the largest group of windsurfers I have ever seen there. On top of the local sailors there where some more from the Patchogue-Bellport area who were dragged to Shirley by the wind direction. Even the King of the East, the mighty Mike Burns, was there spinning around. It's equally possible that there is a crowd constantly following Mike, who knows?

The wind was really "holey" and dropped later in the day but I still had fun on the 92L/5.5m2 combo. Perfectly powered at times, slogging at others. The setting was great though and it was nice to see the beach packed with gear (see pics).


(beach packed with gear)


(a windsurfer's dream: sandy beach on a warm, sunny and windy day)


(Da twist)

West Meadow with the SSW

Another great day of summer windsurfing yesterday. A strong SSW breeze powered by an approaching cold front provided ultra-fun, worry-free sailing conditions. No sign of the thunderstorms and tornadoes NOAA had foretasted for the region which is truly surprising because the risk was indeed high. Just another reminder that the weather is still difficult to predict accurately.

These wind conditions are ideal for me because I can go windsurfing West Meadow beach, which is less than 5 minutes drive from my house. A total of 3 windsurfers and about 4 kiters were at the beach yesterday. I guess that most people go to Heckscher park when it blows from the SW. By the way, let's hope everyone will be blessed with the same conditions this weekend (well, actually a little less wind otherwise it will be a little boring for the formula guys;))). See you at the beach!

A taste of summer

Temperatures in the upper seventies, blue skies and constant SW breeze made yesterday the best day for me to start the 2010 season. Yes, I admit that it took me a lot to get out of windsurfing hibernation this year but I have also being quite busy in the past few months.
After seeing on the radar a front of thunderstorms coming our way, I decided that the wisest option was a quick lunch session at Shirley. It turned out that the wind was stronger than I had anticipated/hoped (gusts up to 30 mph) and I ended up overpowered on the 111L/6.3m2 combo. If I had the choice (or a van) I would have rigged the 90L/5.5m2 even though a 5.7m2 was the call.
After blasting for 2 hours and being blown off the board a few times while jibing, I called it a day. I was pleased to find out that the water is already so warm in the South Bay, it makes the 3/2 wetsuit superfluous...perhaps a sign of the hurricane season to come? Hopefully we'll stay out of the path of dangerous storms.
After a quick de-rig & lunch staring at the whitecaps I was back to work just in time to avoid rain and thunders.
Hope Steve (who pulled in with his trailer around 2:40 pm when I was about to leave) had a little fun before the rain.
A savory taste of summer.

Snowboarding Austria

Quite a few trips for me this month. Let's start from the fist one to Germany/Austria. I had the chance to go snowboarding on the Austrian Alps near the lovely capital of Tirol, Innsbruck. I was happy to end a long period of inactivity lasting since Copper Mountain, Colorado 2007 (shame on me!). I was also proud to have tried the half pipe and have made it back in one piece. Next time I will push it a little harder (I really had to avoid the hospital this time around). The snow was good and abundant but the weather could have been better. One day the fog was so thick I could barely see the tip of the board. Awful! Below are few pics.


Houses in Innsbruck


City overlook



Little sanctuary by the slopes