The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog

Brian Sez Get On a SUP. Dude you have no idea...

In response to my Summer Solstice lament “24 Days Since My Last Session” Brian commented "I bought a windsup that can be used for sail-chi* and similar."  Well this last weekend was quite SUPcentric in my neck of Puffindom.   Saturday saw me on Davis Creek on my All-Wave SUP and a 4.5, working on duck tacks, upwind 360's and the like in the 5mph breeze.    Sunday I swapped sail for paddle for my first paddlesurfing session in nearly a year with Peconic Jeff and Christian at Ponquogue, enjoying some of the friendliest conditions I'd paddled in years...waves 3-5', ride them left or right, precious little dues to be paid.   I'd driven to the sesh worried that I'd forgotten everything about catching waves, but did quite well for myself...certainly had a wonderful time, with nary any kookage.

Let's hear it for SUP's!

(Saturday afternoon the wind came up enough for a brief 7.5/JP 109 session on the Little Peconic.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.  Nah, I loved it!)

*Sail chi is the term used by Andy Brandt and ABK Boardsports to describe sail handling exercises, and those nonplaning freestyle windsurfing moves that teach better sail and board control, not to mention having their way cool planing counterparts.   No wind snob me...I love sail chi work, and think it pays off when shlogging through whitewater in flukey winded wave sessions.  

24 Days Since My Last Session

I have not been in the right place at the right time in over three weeks.   The straps on my boards are bone dry.   The sand on the floor of my van is from sessions long ago.   My callouses are gone.

I need a session bad.

Babes and Better Battens

27 years ago windsurfing magazines were chock full of wonders!   In this 20th anniversary issue published in 1990 (so there was a windsurfing magazine in 1970) there's a QA with US1111, a jump clinic, and Better Battens!   I remember when battens seemed precious and specialized.   They seemed to break a lot, too.  When a sail was destroyed we would remove the battens and save them against our future batten needs.   I think after a decade of carting my batten box around I finally ditched it.  Hope I'm not jinxing myself.

What, the sailor?   She's Brazilian champ Beth Modesto cruising off the pristine waters of Aruba, according to Aruban great Jeroen Westrate (from whom I stole the pic on Facebook.)   I'll bet the guys used to fall over themselves to get her set with battens.

It's on a tee, gentlement.  Insert jokes.