Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Buy Steve's quiver- formula and slalom windsurfing equipment for sale

Ive got a lot of gear for sale at the end of this season.
Contact me for more info and prices
usa4windsurfing at gmail dot com


Formula gear:

2010 Mikes Lab L10 Formula board- one of the easiest and most comfortable formula boards made.
This board finds its groove easy from 7-25k. Ideal for 9-12.0 sail size, Rides well with 60-85cm fins.


Neil Pyrde X9 formula boom 225-285cm- race ready
     complete with adjustable harness lines, adjustable outhaul & easy uphaul

HPL Formula Boom 225- 310cm race ready- reinforced carbon front end w/ maui sails head
complete with adjustable harness lines, adjustable outhaul & easy uphaul

HPL Formula Boom 225- 310cm race ready-

complete with adjustable harness lines, adjustable outhaul & easy uphaul
2010 Neil Pyrde evo2 10.7- great light to medium air race sail. This sail is incredibly light to pump and is very light in the hands. Sails well from 10-20k range



 2010 Neil Pyrde evo2 9.5- sold


Slalom gear:

Mikes lab 23-1/2" wide 100l slalom board- This board makes your teeth rattle in 5th gear. Its super comfortable to ride, gybes easy with a narrow tail and flies right over the chop. 5.0-7.0 sail range. 32-39cm fin range. Ideal for medium to high winds. Old school style but new school comfort.


JP 65cm wide 100l slalom board- This board has thicker rails and carries through the lulls well with more volume in the tail. It has lots of power combined with a powerful 42cm fin and 7.0 rig. Ideal for mid teens- mid 20k range.  6.8- 8.0 sail range. 36-46cm fin range.  Excellent for bigger guys. It sails more like a 110l board.



F2 68cm wide 105l slalom board- This board does everything well. One of the most friendly all around, lively slalom boards Ive sailed. Ideal for mid teens to high 20k range. 6.0- 8.0 sail range. 34-44cm fin range.


2005 North warp 5.8- this sail has been sailed only a  few times. Super stable in op'ed conditions.

2010 North warp 6.3- ideal high wind slalom sail- 18k+


2007 North warp 6.3- ideal high wind slalom sail- 18k+


2010 North warp 7.0- ideal medium range slalom sail. 15-25k


Neil Pyrde 200- 260cm slalom boom - race ready
     complete with adjustable harness lines, adjustable outhaul & easy uphaul

HPL slalom Boom 200-260cm race ready-

complete with adjustable harness lines, adjustable outhaul & easy uphaul

HPL slalom Boom 190-250cm race ready-

complete with adjustable harness lines, adjustable outhaul & easy uphaul
North viper 430 mast
North viper 460 mast

Rigging Parts
Streamlined 30 cm mast extension- US
Streamlined 46 cm mast extension- US
Streamlined US universal
Marlow Formulal-ine downhaul line- the strongest and most durable downahul line available.

Techtonics 32cm goldwing slalom fin
Meanline 34cm slalom fin
F2 36cm g-10 slalom fin
Techtonics 44cm goldwing slalom fin
Techtonics 60cm goldwing slalom fin









Friday, August 26, 2011

2011 Ronstan Bridge to Bridge race


The bridge to bridge race is like no other.
20k+ at the start just outside the golden gate bridge and barely a puff in the air at the Bay Bridge finish line.
There is a race to the finish area and then a race to get across the line.
Racers come screaming downwind from the golden gate only to come to a sudden stop and if your lucky a crawl across the line. 
 
This year the skiffs, kites and formula boards all started on the same starting line set just outside the golden gate bridge. Chaos entailed as we all lined up full speed for the downwind start. I opted for my 10.7 knowing that I would need it at the end of the course but it sure was a handful a the beginning. A few boards got rattled by the skiffs but it was the kiters who jumped out to an early and expected  lead. 1/2 way down the course I gybed back and was still looking in decent shape amongst the charging fleet. CRad came flying in from the far side after gybing immediately after the start and finding the flat flood tide to take him down the Bay.

It was still pretty crowded and you really had to look out for the skiffs and kites who all had different downwind angles.
As I rounded Alcatraz the top group was out in front but anything could still happen. I opted to heat it up a bit as the breeze was starting to diminish but inevitable took it too far to the city front and when I gybed back fell off a plane for the first time.  Ouch there goes a few precious seconds.
A few pumps and back in the thick of things again.
I had just 1 or 2 options left as fleet was getting funneled into the finish area.
I gybed off before the layline taking a risk and separating from the fleet hoping that the Treasure Island bubble would catch them all off guard. As I looked back one by one they all fell off a plane just a few hundred feet in front of the finish. I over stood the finish almost going below it in order to get the required speed to cross it but alas fell off a plane again as the wind was barely 5k at that point.
Even a 12.0 wouldnt help at that point.
The skiffs came charging in hard and overtook the line of boards.
What seemed like an eternity later I crossed the line around 10th place.
Local SF Bay racer Brain Lake took the win on his kite but it wasnt almost so as he had to practically slalom to the finish to keep his kite in the air. Amazingly he managed to break the course record Micah Buzianis has held for almost 5 or 6 years now.

The trip back home was littered with fallen kites. It looked like a graveyard with everyone waiting to be plucked out of the water. I managed to find a puff and get going but the fog rolled in so thick you couldn't see much at all .

Bridge to Bridge 2011 from Phinneas Photoboy on Vimeo.


All photos & videos via photoboy at pressure-drop
GoPro video by waterhound
Results






Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Summer stoke factor

If I missed out on the polynesean sailng canoes entering the SF Bay, I certainly found the stoke alive at the south tower yesterday. It absolutely went off.
Huge ebb, south swell and a 18-22k NW seabreeze.
The best day of the season so far...but thats what I said Monday!
I've been a bit burnt out on windsurfing the past few weeks doing 3 back to back to back 5 day events. My energy level at last Fridays race was at a minimum. No motivation.
But alas a good ebb tide will change everything!

Getting there was worth its weight in gold as I had to come back and fin down from 39 to 32 just to cope my way through that minefield of voodoo chop east of the gate. I've only seen the bay get that frothy a few times. Wicked sets of disorganized chop throwing in every direction but once up to the golden gate bridge it all changed.
.
I did the circuit between the south tower and ft point for 90 min before I was absolute mush.
More gybes yesterday that the entire season.
The standing wave just outside the south tower was just epic.
3-4 sets would line up and carry down past the tower. I had some double and triple dip rides getting me deeper than Ive ever gone before. A few times I looked over my shoulder to see Bowen or Erin on their kites a few sets back but their kites in front of me. It was all good through as the stoke factor was way high and everybody was killing it out there.
The ml slalom board and north warp 7.0 were perfect getting me in position every time.
The sheets of velvety smooth silk water were unreal at fort point with the water moving so rapidly but the surface smooth as silk. You couldnt ask for a more perfect compliment to the standing wave just to the south of the tower.
My last ride I got greedy and tried to go for my 4th gybe at the tower shooting the eddy and pearled the front of my board in 5' steep face. I got shot out so fast and before I knew it I was water starting at the red nun. The friction on the water was so strong that it was almost impossible to get the leach of the sail free for a waterstart.
At the end of the day I was like a little kid returning to the beach after his first day in the straps or discovering what planing is all about. This sport will never grow old as long as there are days like these to keep me going. US M9 was certainly smiling down on us today!
Thank you world for lining it all up.
Sb