The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog

By Popular Demand, More Caesar from the Vault

Dennis likes my taste in alternative music (alternative for windsurfing videos) and a lot of people apparently never saw these when they first ran (new windsurfers?) so here is more.

Caesar’s Freestyle Bedazzlement (through fresh eyes)

The flowstyle genius Caesar Finies was not putting on his daily magic shows last week in Bonaire.   When I asked around I heard he’d hurt himself recently and so was on the mend.   Our loss, but okay. 
    Then on Friday while hanging out in the Hang Out bar, I heard someone loudly ask “WHAT IS THAT?  WHAT IS HE DOING”.  I turned and saw Caesar back on the water, just 25 feet away, and he’d lost nothing during his break.

I’ve seen him a dozen times before, and while it was still jaw-droppingly amazing, it was almost as much fun to stand next to someone who had never seen Caesar ever:

“Look at that!”

“He’s dancing with the sail!”

“What is that?”

“How does the sail know where to go?”

“I’ve never seen anything like that!”

“Oh my god, look!”

“What?  What?  Oh!”

“This is unbelievable!  They’re dancing!”

It was great fun.  And good to have Caesar back!

(The video above is not from last Friday...I shot it a few years ago, but if you’re not familiar with Caesar it will give you the general idea. He's actually much better now! And hey...if you like this, please like us on Facebook.)

Windsurfing Bonaire, Pt. II

I am back, baby.   After being unable to windsurf since October I managed four 2-hour sessions in Lac Bay:  The previously reported 7.3 day, an 8.0 day (I haven’t sailed a rig that big in ten years), a 6.6, and then overpowered on a 5.9.  I couldn’t pull off anything tricky (strictly jibes, duck jibes and tacks) and my recovering arm hurt quite a bit afterwards, but 8 hours in a week beats two minutes over the last several months.  I am back, baby!

Lac Bay is wonderful.   Truly the easiest place in the world to windsurf.   Thigh deep 95 degree water, steady onshore breezes, the occasional amazing blue or yellow or green fish that swims by in crystal clear water.  Very nice indeed.   For three dimensional sailing you must do what Georges Pav and Marr did:  tack and tack and tack until you finally get to the reef that separates Lac Bay from the Caribbean, then sail through the channel into the waves.  Mr. Pav reported an excellent session out there!

Back on the flat water Sally (Jibe Sally Jibe) continued to close in on her first planing jibe (in one attempt she was still planing as the sail flipped...a perfect catch would have taken the gold ring but alas) and also is starting to take shortboard tacking seriously.   

We met some brand new members of the tribe (Liz and Alex)...Alex is seriously addicted.   He took his first windsurfing lesson, and then promptly went out and sailed for four hours, coming in only when I promised him he’d be crippled for the rest of the week if he didn’t take a break.  After an hour of conversation we realized that Liz and Alex live around the corner from us in New York City...literally on the same block!    We also met sailors from Toronto, Boston, and Lala Land.

Who we didn’t see were Bonaire’s three freestyle superstars:  Kiri, Taty and Tonky (currently #2, #4 and #6 in the world) were not on the bay last week.  George Pav reports "I sailed with Kiri 3 or 4 times...he waited for the stronger wind at the end of the week.  I heard that Taty and Tonky left last week to train in higher winds in Fuerteventura."

There is of course a fourth dazzler on the water in Bonaire...I’ll tell a story about Caesar tomorrow.

(Top: The Bonaire wind cam last Friday. Bottom: Alex, Liz, Lili, the editor, and Sally make medicinal use of caipirinhas after some quality time on the water.)

Bonaire Invaded by Long Islanders

Sitting on the beach looking out on the water and along the shoreline, I thought "there's a whole lotta Long Island windsurfers here!"   There's George Pav sailing backwinded.  Chrissy Burns just threw a sail body 360.   God knows what Mike Burns is working on.  There goes George Marr.   And Kurt, Marianne, Susan, Tomas, Jill, Jeannie, the Dana/Andy/Lili/Wilson Napeague axis, not to mention your editor and his lovely wife.  There's even Jay, an OG Puffin from the early 90's Puffin House.   Lotsa New York here.

I have two goals for this trip:   Improve Sally's jibe, and test my long ailing right arm.   So far Sally has been carving into her jibes but grinding to a halt before flipping the sail.  Then yesterday she managed to hold good speed into the carve, plant the heel of her front foot on the inside rail maintaining speed, felt the rig go light as she began the flip...and then she caught her toe on the front footstrap stepping forward and fell.   Still, it's the closest she's come to a full planing jibe ever

Me...after two days of whining about not wanting to use a larger sail, I finally grabbed a 7.3 and windsurfed for the first time since October.    So eager was I to soak in the joy of Caribbean planning that I failed to adjust the boom height or footstraps...comfortable I was not.  After all of seven seconds of planing I realized that I was about to get catapulted.   I don’t think I’ve been catapulted in a year (not in a decade in such cushy conditions.)  I thought “this can’t be happening to me”.    And then it started, a great slow motion waaaaaaaawhomp!     Textbook doofus!    I never got dialed in yesterday, but I did manage enough runs and enough jibes to see that I can sail "some".   Looking forward to more wind and another arm test, and time on the water with the Long Island Fleet, and more jibes from Sally.

Watch the festivities on the Bonaire Wind Cam.  Best forecast for this week is for Thursday and Friday.

Hail Caesar...He Is Coming

The master of jawdropping lightwind freestyle magic, Bonaire's Caesar Finies, will be competing at the second annual East Coast Windsurfing Festival at Hecksher State Park, June 6-7.   The bar has just been raised Big Time!  Of course Long Island counters with the reigning King of the East Mike Burns, along with LI expat Chachi Sassone.   Come check out the action (and compete yourself...there will be casual competition classes in both freestyle and racing for the fun-inclined)...sign up now at the East Coast Windsurfing Festival website.  

If you've never seen Caesar do his thing, check out the video below and find out what all the fuss is about.  

Windsurfing from Bonaire to Curacao for a Cause

 Bonaire’s Taty Frans (ranked 7th in the world) and former Olympian Constantin “Patun” Sargoza are going to windsurf from Bonaire to Curacao on March 8th as part of a fundraiser to help support a stricken local hero. Ann Phelan tells us more:

The event is a fundraiser for Erwin Muller.  Erwin, a dive master and former windsurf hero on Bonaire suffered a serious stroke in January. He is recuperating in Curacao and has a long rehabilitation ahead. Erwin is well known in the community for being a man who loves adventure whether it’s riding his quad or delivering a yacht across the Caribbean.  Locals and tourists are rallying to support Erwin and his family, Ellen and Jason. The March 8 race is dedicated to Erwin, one of the original founders of windsurfing on Bonaire.  

Helicopters and chase boats will accompany the two sailors across the passage. The record set back in the 80’s by Erwin is 4 hours. Donations for this fundraiser may be contributed via Paypal to [email protected]   To follow Erwin’s recovery please see erwinmuller.blogspot.com

We wish Erwin well, and good sailing to Taty and Patun.  

I myself have done this crossing….by plane.

(Photo of Taty borrowed from Ann's website.)

Let's Watch Caesar Spin

I haven't played with nonplaning freestyle since the East Coast Windsurfing Festival, but on Saturday I decided that I was going to flip a sail whether there was wind or not, and got out into Davis Creek, imagining myself to be the mighty Caesar Finies.   

The video above is an encore presentation of a clip I shot last November in Bonaire. 

P.S.  Number of emails I've received from Peconic Jeff since the last time we had planing conditions, identifying potential good days that have failed to appear?   Five.   It's not Jeff's fault...we're just all desperate.  

Caesar Wants To Teach You How To Freestyle Like He Does

Hail Caesar...the magician of light wind freestyle.      You've seen his jaw-dropping sail play (if you haven't, take a look above) and now he's wondering if you'd like to learn from him. Specifically, Caesar sent the following comment to the Peconic Puffin:

What do you guys think if i put a lightwind clinic teaching my tricks...would you join? Let me know... my email is [email protected]

This man is incredibly talented. I've never seen him teach freestyle, but I've seen him assist windsurfers on the beach at Bonaire, and he was quite friendly and personable. This could be quite the opportunity if you want to learn some mad windsurfing tricks!

Board Rack of the Stars

Imagine if there was a board rack at Hookipa where Jason Polokow, Kauli Seadi, Nik Baker, the Moreno twins, the Sivers, Robby etc all kept there boards, and you could walk up to it and check out (without touching) what the Greats were riding.

In Bonaire, not only is there such a rack (with Taty/Tonky/Choco Frans', and Kiri Thode's planks) but you get to walk by it every day for inspiration when you get to Lac Bay. I like to think that the instruments of great performers (guitars, baseball bats, windsurfing boards, whatever) reverberate with past virtuoso performances.

Then of course there's practical information, too. My sailing buddy Peconic Jeff is obsessed with getting the right freestyle fin (he likes mine and certainly has more sailing time on it than I do.) I snapped a photo of Kiri Thode's fin of the day, which turned out to be a GSport T1, originally 21 cm, though it looks like Kiri has had at it with a grinding wheel.

Freestyle Video: Back In Black...Caesar, Part Two

During a trip to Bonaire in late November I was able to tape several practice sessions of the brilliant Caesar Finies.    A video of his first session was shown here back in December.  Now we present a second video, taped on a day when the wind was a little lighter, and during which he showed us at least one new way to throw a sail around.    If you're not familiar with the windsurfing of this incredible nonplaning freestyle genius, buckle your seatbelt and click on the video!

More magic from the crucible of freestyle windsurfing in Bonaire...

Freestyle Video: Caesar in Bonaire

The freestyle you can see from the beach at Bonaire's Lac Bay is astonishing.   Not only can you watch Kiri Thode, Tonky, Taty, and Choco Frans, but also the extraordinary nonplaning specialist Caesar Finies.   On a recent trip to Bonaire I taped several of Caesar's practice sessions.   He told me that the wind (which was averaging 16-18 knots) was a bit strong for his style of sail handling and that he would not have his best control, but that I was welcome to shoot anyway.

Check out what Caesar can do with a 5.0, as his practice session lights up the beach in front of Jibe City.

Bonaire Windsurfing Vacation Synopsis

A great trip!

How much we windsurfed: Twelve sessions in six days.

How was the wind: I sailed 5.9 and 6.6 sails the entire week (should have been on a 4.7 during the storm but that's another story.)

How many jibes did Surfergirl777 hit during the week: Fifteen (twelve on starboard, three on port.)

Favorite restaurants: Cappricio, Mona Lisa, Bistro de Paris, Casablanca.

Best equipment rental: Windsurf Place. We have had good experiences with both Windsurf Place and Jibe City, but Windsurf Place is really stepping it up with the rigs, boards and fins.

Did we meet great people? Yes.

Did we see world class freestyle right in front of our noses performed by world champions? Almost every day. In the clip below, Kiri Thode (PWA ranked #3 in the world) practices next to Sally while she adjusts her rig.

Storm Session in Bonaire

As black clouds hung over a substantial rainstorm just a couple of miles upwind, a few windsurfers stayed out on the bay reaching and jibing, while others began to drift towards shore. Elvis and Roger of The Windsurf Place were discussing the oncoming storm in a language other than English, so I couldn’t eavesdrop…I had to ask: Is the rain going to kill the wind or (please let it be so) is it going to really blow?

“I’m not sure,” Elvis said, “but if it blows it will be strong but brief…maybe ten minutes.”

There was going to be no time to gauge the wind and select gear. I needed to make a decision about board and sail size now, and live with it. I had about a minute to sort it out.

No I didn’t.

WHAM came the pouring rain in what the meter later confirmed to be 30+ knots of wind. While everyone on the water was getting flattened I grabbed the first smallish stuff I saw…a 100 liter board and a 5.9 sail. I hit the water and took off like a bat out of hell, of course immediately overpowered. I’d have been blind as well, but sunglasses prevented the 30 knot power wash from shutting me down. Lac Bay is so flat that keeping the board on the water wasn’t a problem, but with visibility only about 70 yards things were well past exciting.

After about five minutes of tearing around, the wind dropped and the rain subsided. I headed in, but Elvis waved me off. “It’s going to come again!” Bless his local knowledge…

WHAM

By now my harness lines are adjusted and I’m as dialed in as I’m going to get. And as the first blast cleared the bay of sane people, the second five minute session saw the water sailed only by Kiri Thode, Cesar, me, and one other vacationing lunatic (he never even rigged down.)

(photo: The storm, ten minutes before it hit.)

Surfergirl777 Hits Her First Jibe

And her second, third and fourth. But we came to Bonaire so she could get her first, so let’s talk about that one.

Sally and I were supposed to be spending this week on a more traditional Wedding Anniversary vacation (something not centered around windsurfing) and we’d spent the better part of a year planning said vacation at a suitably fancy location.. One week before our departure, my wife grabs her superhero windsurfing outfit (in which she is Surfergirl777) from the closet and proclaims “Let’s skip the carefully planned fancy vacation. I want to go to Bonaire and hit my first jibe!”

She really knows how to twist my arm. Seven days later we were on the water in Bonaire.

My bride got bit with the jibing thing back in September, and the ABK clinic that month really got her going. But Long Island conditions since have rarely been suitable since (too much wind or not enough) and then drysuit season broke out…not her thing. Hence Bonaire.

Sunday was warm-up day (we arrived on the red-eye from Newark, and were not our best.) But out on the water Monday Sally was looking good. It seemed like it might happen. And then it did! Planing on starboard she carved into the jibe, flipped the sail and switched her feet…and then sailed away with a big beautiful grin on. What did it feel like?

“You know that tingling you get when you hear a great piece of music or try on a great pair of shoes? I felt like that all the way back crossing the bay.”

With her groove on, Sally hit her second jibe. Then her third and fourth.

If I remember correctly, it was about a month between my first and second jibes.

Classic Freestyle at Pro Kids Bonaire Event

Reading through the results of the 2007 Pro Kids freestyle competition in Bonaire, I was happy to see a listing for "Classic Freestyle." I love watching and trying the new school moves, but in truth I'm probably more stoked about nonplaning freestyle..."classic" as some of this stuff dates to the days before planing, and if it's possible to get radical in 8 knots, count me in!

I was also happy to see the winners list:

1st Place: Caesar Finies
2nd Place Andy Brandt
3rd Place: Brian Talma

Caeser Finies is a common site to visitors to Bonaire's Lac Bay, and he's also been popping up on YouTube in some tremendous nonplaning freestyle clips. My two favorites are below.

Andy Brandt is not only chief instructor/guru/master of ceremonies/owner of ABK Boardsports windsurfing clinics, but he's also been enthusiastically turning people on to nonplaning freestyle for over a decade, both as an enjoyable windsurfing activity for its own sake, as well as an invaluable way to hone technique and instincts needed to rip when it's blowing 25. I'm particularly glad he came in second place. Andy takes great personal pleasure in tormenting me at clinics, and I know he really wanted to win. So: great job, Andy...you almost did it!

You already know who Brian Talma is. I got to meet him when he MC'd the 2001 King of the Cape Freestyle Pro-Am. This guy can generate more enthusiasm for falling off of a board than the rest of us can about nailing a quadruple loop. He's a gift to windsurfing (as are all these guys.)

Come learn classic and new-school freestyle on Long Island at the September 21st ABK Clinic at Napeague. Special added bonus for Puffin detractors: See me get tortured by Andy for my second place wishes!)

(Photo: Andy works with a student on "sail chi". If you can control the rig from behind the clew, you're on your way to duck tacking. Photo by Jeff.)