Sunday: Southwest about 20
Monday: South-Southwest 25 gusting up to about 30
Tuesday: Southwest 25 gusting up to about 30
AKA: Springtime in Cape Hatteras... Warm temps, afternoon winds, fun swell, daylight until 8PM... Love it!
All pics are by Stuart, who was blasting the race horn, driving a jet ski, watching the clock, officiating the races, and taking pictures, with only one hand, as the other hand is still out of order!! Nice work, Stu!
We ran some heats for the Hatteras Wave Jam Fast 8 race on Sunday night. It was super fun, and each race was up for grabs as everyone fell, everyone schlogged, and everyone planed about evenly... I was racing on my Tabou Freestyle 100 (with 14 cm stubby freestyle fin) and World Sail 5.7- hardly a race kit! But everyone else was on pretty wavy gear so I guess I had a bit of an advantage in the planing ability of my kit...
Took the lead in the first race but made a huge tactical error by rounding the wrong side of the buoy at the finish... hahaha whoops! So it was down to the wire as I struggled to schlog around, jibe again, and schlog back over the line on the correct side before Donald came blasting in and sprayed me down, crossing the line just inches ahead of me! haha! Nice work, Donald!
I timed my start perfectly on the second race, crossing the line on a full plane just a millisecond after the horn... so that race was in the bag right from the beginning. Then on the third race, we all had a great start and I got caught in some dirty wind and chop and got pitched over the bars... Luckily most everyone fell at the first and third jibe mark so I made up some time there and got back in the running, but Donald was too fast to catch! Nice work, Donald, on taking 2 out of 3, and a big thanks to Stuart for officiating!
On Monday evening, Anne and I watched from the queue at the grocery store as the bushes bent over backwards in the quickly building breeze... but by the time we got the milk back home and in the fridge the sun had faded... So I chalked up a "missed it" in the calendar. Looks like Bill and Caleb had some fun up in Pea Island.
Made up for it Tuesday afternoon, though, as the SW hit again! This time, Keith called with a report of fun shoulder high waves at "The Stump" out on ramp 34. By the time I got out there, Chad, Justin, Caleb, and Dan were already ripping with Keith or in the process of rigging up their 5 meter sails. I rolled in with a truck loaded to the gills with very little windsurfing gear, but three friends and their insanely high quality video gear! The light was perfect with clear skies and the evening sun setting behind the beach, illuminating the wave faces. Should be some great footage in there, although the conditions deteriorated as the light got better... Wind faded, tide got too high, waves lost their punch, etc etc. It was far from epic, but it was a really fun sesh anyway! On a personal note, I think I'm over my fear of starboard back loops (the move that caused me to break my own hand by punching myself in the face), so that's good (not that I can land them yet anyway, but at least I'm trying again)!
Looks like more solid westerlies this afternoon and a Northwest fade tomorrow morning. If you're here, this afternoon should be super fun in the sound, or if you want to wavesail, the southside (Isabel's or the Airport) will be sideshore but probably pretty disorganized. The secret for tomorrow morning is to wake up super early and rig one size bigger than you think you need. It's not as windy as it looks, and it generally fades pretty quickly, so don't dillydally and get on it as early as you can!
Side note from the shop- We've got lots of new harnesses, footstraps, and accessories from Dakine and Protec helmets have arrived as well. I'm expecting Tabou and Gaastra today or tomorrow, as it has "out for delivery" status on the tracking page... I can't frickin' wait, because I've got one of these for myself in that shipment...
Seeeee ya out there!
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