The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog

Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes

"Who replaces foot straps" I used to wonder.   During my first 15 years of windsurfing I was a weekend sailor from May-October, and with a good job I tended to replace my boards every five years or so.  I never came close to sailing any of those boards enough to put serious wear on a foot strap.   I'd look at the straps displayed on the wall at Windsurfing Hamptons and wonder about the people who bought them.

That was then.   Now I sail year 'round, and the newest of my boards is eleven years old.   My wonderful JP 109 is NINETEEN years old!  I don't know how many sets of straps have been on it, but the current three are mismatched, one is broken and a second is ready to give up the ghost.   Now my foot strap inserts are starting to fail!   I love the board...nobody makes anything like it anymore (super early planing freestyle but it carves and jibes tight!) so I'll be restrapping it and figuring out the inserts.    I might try using a cable tie as a shim, perhaps accompanied by a wooden toothpick.

 

"Who replaces foot straps" I used to wonder.   During my first 15 years of windsurfing I was a weekend sailor from May-October, and with a good job I tended to replace my boards every five years or so.  I never came close to sailing any of those boards enough to put serious wear on a foot strap.   I'd look at the straps displayed on the wall at Windsurfing Hamptons and wonder about the people who bought them.

That was then.   Now I sail year 'round, and the newest of my boards is eleven years old.   My wonderful JP 109 is NINETEEN years old!  I don't know how many sets of straps have been on it, but the current three are mismatched, one is broken and a second is ready to give up the ghost.   Now my foot strap inserts are starting to fail!   I love the board...nobody makes anything like it anymore (super early planing freestyle but it carves and jibes tight!) so I'll be restrapping it and figuring out the inserts.    I might try using a cable tie as a shim, perhaps accompanied by a wooden toothpick.

An Hour of Wind

An hour is much much better than none.   Particularly when the water is warm and there's a crowd to sail with!

South Jamesport saw me and The Art of Windsurfing on finned boards, with Joe Bruce James and Rob on wind foils (I think I'm mistaken there...one other sailor was on a windsurfing board but I forget who.  Someone correct me please!)   I was on a 5.4, Art on a 5.8 perhaps, and the foilers on four meter stuff with the wind a little more South than usual for SJ.    

I would have had more than an hour but I pulled a footstrap out of the board...the inserts on my 109JP are worn out after 19 years!  Switched to holes I don't normally use and managed some duck jibes and even a hoss tack (attempt) before the Big Hole arrived and we all limped in.

I'm still grateful for the session.  More soon please!

Mecoxing with Massimo

15 years ago I used to sail with Massimo all the time.  If there was wind we were on it, particularly if conditions were good at Mecox.  But then Mass went golf crazy, and always seemed to have a tee time when the wind was blowing.   It was ridiculous.  I explained the cardinal rule of windsurfing:  When it's windy, you sail...but to no avail.   

Then a few years ago he declared his intention to come back to the water.  There have been FEW sessions (lack of wind, golf, family) but Friday we finally caught a little at the Yacht Club.  Six meters, jibing in the gusts...it wasn't much but it was something, and Mass proclaimed that his appetite had been whetted (see what I did there?)

Now if I can just get him to South Jamesport...

(Massimo and van.  Lets get those boards wet!)