Windsurfing Patterson Park

Windsurfing at Patterson Park Kingston Oct. 2005 a little wave riding.

Glenn's Cool Turns

Long Weekend Winds

Lots of great sailing over the long weekend here with a strong SW system coming through. 6.0's were the call on Saturday, and anywhere from 5.5 to 6.0's on Sunday. Evan snapped this picture of Dan Michaluk whipping a vulcan on his Gaastra Echo on Saturday.

Family Day

Both Neil (left) and Andrew Devries got out on the water Sunday for a little light air sailing. Andrew (right) tested out is new Gaastra Matrix 6.5 and Bic Techno II 160 that he picked up the day before....and found it much to his liking! Neil (left) took advantage of George Gaudets free land lesson and free water coaching by Glenn and Evan to give windsurfing a try. Neil did a great job, showing people three times his age how it is done!

Not too Shabby

Here is picture of our pal, the irrepresible Barney Huycke showing anyone who wants to learn, a text book forward loop on Lake Huron.

Just not the same without a cute German girl to jump over though, is it Barney? Don't think she has recovered from that one or returned to Barbados yet!

Stoked for 8 knots?

With the past weekends promising forecast fizzling out in a hurry, Glenn grabbed his 6.2 and 180L entry level board and headed out in ultra light wind for a little freestyle action. What was going to be a 45 minute session to get cooled off turned into a 2 hour session of dusting off the lightwind freestyle. Conca tacks, duck tacks, push tacks, rail rides, sail/body spinning, and Glenn's light wind vulcan-ish trick had him stoked and tired after a couple of hours on the water.

Getting out on the big stuff in light winds is a blast.....and sure beats moaning about the lack of wind while sitting on the beach!

Beauties Everywhere

Barbados season 2006 is a wrap, with Mike coming back a few days ago. This is a shot of the Windsurfing Direct Barbados gear....well used this winter for sure!




If you get sick of watching the great wave sailing in front of Silver Sands, there is never a shortage of sites to see!

Secret spot that's not so secret

Glenn and Evan took a little road trip to sail Long Point last fall on a rare NE day. It is a little off the beaten path, with the location a little bit a scene out of Deliverance. However shortly after starting to sail, a few others showed up. The conditions were nice, with 4-5 foot swell and lots of backside riding and some nice jumping.

Where do we sail?

Have you played with Google Earth? It is a great way to check out your local sailing spots.

Here is a file with some of the places we windsurf.

Google Earth File Lake Ontario Windsurf Spots

Tabou Windstyler Longboard

Length: 325cm, Width: 72cm, Volume: 220ltr














Erin (Mrs. Matt Pritchard) chillin' on the Windstyler!













We are starting to receive pictures of the new Windstyler from Tabou. After over a year of development by famed shaper Fabien Vollenweider (as he perfected many prototypes) Tabou has just released the optimal longboard shape .

Mike and Glenn sailed a prototype last fall in Cocoa Beach, and it is a blast. Feels like a classic longboard (including freestyle) in light winds, but planes and totally rips in next to no wind. We are dying to sail it in local light wind waves and will report as soon as we have! (note: Wahines in bikinis not included!)

Lakeshore Crew

The Lakeshore Crew of Vlad, Gord, Jim, John, Rob, Dave et al. sent this pic from the deck of the Hatteras house. Nice to see lots of Gaastra sails, and heard that good wind and good times was had by all.

However.....

Do I even want to ask about the Nyquil, Girls gone Wild stickers, and "Support Strippers", or does "what happens in Hatteras, stay in Hatteras"?

Sobering

A picture that will never be duplicated........

Evan took a couple of pictures of Glenn to show the conditions they had at the Outlet Beach on Sunday. Good waveriding and jumping. Strong winds when they were up. But the wind would back off for 20 minutes at a time after the clowds went through.

Time for Waves

Check out Windsurfing Direct customer Rich Tarsia's website at
www.timeforwaves.com. Rich does all sorts of acrylic sculptures and other art that is all surfing and windsurfing inspired. Plus, he is a great sailor and all around nice guy.

Lip Smack'in

Follow our blog and you have likely seen a couple of pictures of Amine Fadous. Well, he strikes again and here he is bashing his way through a nice set in San Carlos on the Baja Peninsula.

Not what I wanted to upload....

...but a funny picture none the less.

It will be really good....or a total bust

Not looking bad for the weekend on the homefront.....there is potential later in the day Saturday and early Sunday. East winds will either be a rare treat or a total skunk, but likely nowhere in between. With Glenn's sprained ankle on the mend, Evan and him are hoping to hit the water to finally initiate their new boards. Meanwhile, Mike heads south for Barbado-thon Phase 518 on Saturday, and the forecast looks better each day he will be there!

Ripping like a Veteran

Jared Mauldin of Pensacola, FL has not been windsurfing for very long at all....about 8 months to be exact. However, here he is sailing his Sailworks Retro and Bic Techno II like a veteran. He is planing, in the straps, using the harness, jibing, and asking questions about jumping. Way to go Jared, we are stoked to see you progressing so quickly!

Spencer on the mend!

We couldn't be happier for Brian and Kerri Casserio hearing that their son Spencer's battle with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia is going well. Latest reports on the Casserios website is that Spencer is ripping it up on late season snow, much to their joy I am sure. I am sure that anyone who knows or deals with Brian and Sideoff Video will be glad to hear that Spencer is doing well, I am sure the last 700 days have not been easy for the Casserios. Continued best wishes from us.

....the keen windsurfer would notice that Spencer is sharing his sled with Kevin Pritchard.

Jibe School with Professor Greg

Need to see how to rip a laydown jibe in light winds? Look no further than this sequence of local sailor Greg Pucher tearing this jibe on his Starboard Carve and Severne S2 7.0.......note the lack of whitecaps on the water. Props to Evan for putting this sequence together!