The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog

Flowstyle Freestyle Windsurfing Video: Caesar Finies

Hail Caesar...he strikes again!

This is a good one.  Planing freestyle too (shot down at the mangroves at the end of Bonaire's Lac Bay) but his flowstyle lightwind work is once again devastating. Check out the new article about him in Boards.

Iyengar Yoga: Ideal for Windsurfers?

I just stumbled over an article titled "Iyengar, the ideal yoga for athletes?"  It's not the best written piece in the world, but it does touch upon a form of yoga that for five years I've been thinking is the yoga equivalent of ABK windsurfing clinics.   It is precise, it is about results, you'll never master it, and its wonderful (I'd like to drag Andy Brandt to a class!)  I first took an interest in yoga six years ago, when I learned that the Wolf regularly practiced (the Wolf who turns the big Seven Oh this summer and will still be on the water every day he can get, 12 months of the year.)   Then I met Gary from Rochester (we were windsurfing at Canadian Hole in Hatteras) who had recovered from the same shoulder surgeries that I had.  We had the exact same recovery stories in terms of diligent physical therapy and lots of ice packs.  But he also swore by Iyengar Yoga, and after figuring out that I lived 15 minutes from an Iyengar center in NYC, he more or less insisted that I go to an introductory class.   

I've never looked back.  

 

Cliff Diver Nearly Skewers Himself On Passing Windsurfer

Yikes! A fool with his fool friends dives off a cliff without looking where he was going first, and is nearly impaled on the mast of a passing. What else can you say? Shish Kebab, nearly. Thanks Jerry Evans for posting in iWindsurf.

Good Morning K Road

What I missed Saturday I caught Sunday morning.  Long user-friendly lefts at K-Road.  Not very big (3-4 feet) but they kept g-o-i-n-g.   Jeff, Tomas, Christian, Jon & Nicholas and a few more of us enjoying the sets.  Must be noted:  Both Swell Info and Surfline had forecast a choppy mess.  Not what we got.   Nice day!

(Photo of Jeff at K-Road on Saturday taken by Cindy Sattler.  Look at him go on his Go.)

Friday could be a thing ("Conditions, part deux")

iWindsurf is talking about ENE 15 gusting to 23 in the afternoon.  That's your basic big board at the Bowl (Bill's Bowl) type conditions.   A fine way to start the long Memorial Day weekend.   What say ye, men of wind and waves?

Conditions, please!

Please I would like some wind or waves please.   The Coastal Marine is all five to ten, and Swell Info etc is knee high and bumpy for the foreseeable.

C'mon...

Chimpable Windage at Bill's Bowl

We sat in Scott's truck for almost an hour, staring at the waves, bemoaning the lack of planing winds, and jibbering like fools.  We are wind chimps, after all.   The Bowl waves looked tasty (3-5') and some surfers were catching some action, but there was a shortage of whitecaps.   Finally Jeff decided to try SUPsailing, and when he started planing the rest of us decided to rig.

Good choice!

Jeff was soon on his 100 liter with a 5.3, planing "often".  I was powered on my 6.2 and 109, and the rest of the guys (now including Jimi and Eric) were in various states of power.   Soon Bill Barber arrived, and announced that Bowl was his personal property.  "This is my beach," Bill proclaimed.  "I was here before any of you m**********rs."   Content with his dominion over the beach, jetty, water and waves, Bill neither rigged nor command us to vacate, so we continued to play as the waves on the outside grew to a crumbly 6-7'.    By and by the Wolf packed it in (but not before catching one fine wave ride on the inside) Jimi and Eric lost interest (or was it the fog) Scott said he was calling it a day, and it was just Jeff and I.  Until a large hole in the wind materialized as eight feet of swell reared up in front of me.  I shlogged over before it broke, yelled to Jeff "too big for me in this wind" and wimpered back to the beach.

For future reference it's worth noting that the Mecox meter showed SE 15-18 during the sesh.   That's enough to go, we now know!

Wave Sailing On My Birthday

JUST what the doctor ordered!  Oh yeah.   Looking at 2-4 foot waves at Ponquogue, Scott and I (he on 98 liters and a 5.7, me 5.5 on the 109 Freestyle) had an absolutely pleasant time in the ENE wind.  A little backside wave riding, the occasional jump...by no means a major session but heck:  a sunny day windsurfing in the waves?!?!  Yes sir please may I have another!

Jon Ford organized the sesh, though in the end he did not rig.  Joe Natalie and friends were sailing bayside, and Kurt stopped by just as we were derigging.  Miss miss miss.    Thank you Scott for sharing the day!

Proper Sets at Tiana (SUPsurf sesh)

Very nice Sunday morning paddle at Tiana.  Jeff, the Wolf, Christian, George Pav and I (Joe Natalie arrived as I was leaving) caught the action at Tiana.  No surfers in the water (???) so we had it all to ourselves.  Chest to shoulder high waves going left and right, with the occasional six footer.   Jeff, who has been SUPing on a Starboard Go for the last year, first hit the water with his newest swapmeet acquisition, another teaching windsurfing board (provenance unrecorded...it was huge, wide, and blue.)  He soon switched it back for his Go, though.

I'm still nursing a tweaked lower back so I only surfed for an hour, but it was beautiful.   A note on water temps:  It's getting close to not needing booties and gloves, but it ain't there yet.

The Connection between Water Sports and Poker

For years, poker was touted as a lesser sport in comparison to others that are more physically demanding, but truthfully, the rigors of one sport cannot be compared with another. Each sport has its own strategies that challenge players both physically and mentally, so by saying that one sport is more superior over the other is a rudimentary statement. 

Though no sport can truly be the cut above the rest, many do share similarities with each other, particularly poker and an array of water sports. 

One might ask what a card game has anything to do with the likes of kayaking or kite-surfing, and the answer to the question is: plenty. The numerous connections shouldn’t be a surprise though, considering that a card player that can manipulate others into a false sense of security is associated with being one of the predators of the ocean (the term is card shark, if you haven’t heard of it before now). 

Below are several water sports that have woven the game of poker into new competitions. 

Poker and Kayaking 
When the two are combined, a new sport is created: paddle poker. Communities in North America have used an event such as paddle poker as an opportunity for members in that community to engage with each other. The Lotus Sports Club in Burnaby, British Columbia continues to hold their paddle poker event at the end of summer. Paddle Williamstown is an event open to residents of North Kentucky and also features a paddle poker run. 

Poker and Kitesurfing 
Bwin, the company behind the Premier League and other events of PartyPoker on YouTube, has sponsored several kite-surfing competitions. The 2006 Kitesurf Pro was already the second time that the gaming corporation was involved. The live bets made available on the bwin website are quite reminiscent of the live bets that are made in a poker tournament. 

Poker and Windsurfing 

The partnership between windsurfing and poker was popularized by the Bonifacio Windsurf Freestyle Project, an annual competition held in South Corsica in France. The tricks, as well as their difficulty levels, performed by the professional windsurfers rely heavily on the hand that they play before plunging into the ocean. The poker element contributed to a greater challenge to the sport, but the unpredictability from poker and from windsurfing did not stop participants from outperforming each other, all the while having a great time. 

What's going on here? (and Swap Meet Reminder!)

No posts for two weeks, during "the windiest Spring in years" according to Peconic Jeff?  Between dinging my back and having a dead car, the sweet wonders of wind and waves have been denied me.  I hope to be back on the water any day now.

AND

Don't forget the swap meet this Saturday at Hampton Watersports!   Starts at 9AM.