Wednesday, January 1, 2014

2013 by the numbers


2013 was a good year- no matter how you look at it.  I managed to windsurf and kite 161 times over the course of the year (that's 44% of all possible days in the year but more precisely I made 53% of all possible days- given that I missed a stretch of 58 days in the fall of the year.) 
83% of my time was devoted to windsurfing while the remaining 17% went to kiting. 
I gave kiting a go this season with almost 15 days on the water learning this January in Baja and another 9 days in the summer when the wind got more reliable. I'm not hooked like I am with windsurfing but then again Ive been windsurfing for almost 25 years and kiting only 1. All good things in all good time!
The windiest months in San Francisco are in the spring and summer where I managed almost 20 sessions every month from March to August. July was noticeably cut short by 2 weeks with the arrival of a baby girl but that was indeed made up for in August and September with the help of the inlaws who arrived!
Yes- windsurfing and kiting are a family affair!
My time windsurfing (133 days total) was nearly split with 54% of it going to formula sessions (72 days) and the other 46% devoted to slalom sailing (61 days.) I used a total of 4 boards and 7 sails through the windsurfing season while I  just used 2 kites all season long. The avanti 10.0 was the most used sail with 45 sessions and the avanti 7.7 with 42 sessions. Both sails are an absolute pleasure to sail- feeling lighter than anything else Ive tried before. 
My 72  formula sessions were divided between the starboard 167 (37 sessions) and the new ML-13 mini 89cm wide formula board (35 sessions.) 

If I were to only have 1 board- the Ml13 would be it. Its so damn comfortable to ride in the San Francisco Bay where the chop and gust can make riding a 100cm formula board a real struggle.  Amazingly the ML-13 did best with the 7.7 and 10.0. I hadn't quite dialed in the fins but think there could be a lot of potential for this board once the right fin and rig can be matched.

For my slalom sessions, I rode the 70 cm wide ml board for 90% of the time.  Its a real versatile board handling the 7.7 and 6.3 rigs quite comfortably. In stupid windy conditions, I went down to a 85 l ml slalom board that handles the chop much better than anything I've ever sailed before.


I did less racing this year with the arrival of a baby + finishing my architectural licensing exams but 15 races, with the majority being in San Francisco- was enough the fill my needs. Its hard to leave SF and go to a regatta on the other side of the country or world knowing that there might not be any breeze at all.
Rule #1- Never leave wind for wind!

2014 looks like another great year as one season seems to roll right into the next. I've got a new kite course board and look forward to the challenges of learning to race in a new discipline. 

Below are some of the best moments from the 2013 season:











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