A great ABK camp

The ABK camp in Hatteras finished two days ago, and we had a blast. 25 campers and 5 instructors had fun on the water for 5 days, with an about even mix of light wind and planing conditions. Experience levels ranged from total beginners to windsurfers working on Willy Skippers, Vulcans, Conca Tacks, Speed Loops, and Donkey Jibes.

Andy Brandt taught the camp with a broken foot, which did not affect his teaching abilities at all. On the first day, he diagnosed and fixed problems I had with exiting from Back To Back - I let the sail come up when stepping, and/or did not slice it forward neutrally. On the water, he was sitting on a SUP, which made him easier to spot, so things worked out just fine. When the wind picked up, I started playing around with loop drills, and made definitive progress. But rather than sticking to only loops, I started working on other tricks, too, to maximize the amount of information I could get from Andy. That gave me enough to keep working on Upwind 360s, Clew-first Carve 360s, and planing out switch from a sail-first jibe in both straps on my own. Planing switch was a very new and different feeling, and I am eager to try it again when the conditions are right. Planing Duck Tacks and Switch Konos seem feasible now...

We have had a typical SW wind pattern the last three days, with a steady ramp up in the afternoons. Yesterday afternoon, meter readings showed low 30s, with gusts up to 40 mph. A bit much for my taste to try new things, but just sailing and playing with the chop provided plenty of fun. The next three days look like light winds, before the stronger winds return in the middle of the week. A welcome break to rest sore muscles and to practice light wind freestyle!

I love Kona racing

We went to the Kashy/WET regatta last weekend and had an enormous amount of fun. Nina raced our Fanatic Ultra Cat, I joined 15 others in the Kona class. Conditions were perfect for long board racing - mostly sunny, wind mostly between 10 and 20 mph, enough for several long board and formula races each day. There were just too many things to like, and I have to run to the ABK camp soon, so I'll just list a few things:

• Great location at Dave Kashy's house - flat water with a good catch from 3 sides
• A very friendly crowd - competitive, but relaxed enough so fun came first

I loved racing the Kona One. We arrived friday morning after driving through the night. With 3 hours of sleep, sailing on Friday was a tad challenging, but it helped me to get dialed in a bit. Steve Gottlieb, who brought 15 Kona's for racing from Florida, was very helpful to everyone who needed tips for tuning and sailing, which made things a lot easier. Here's are a few things I loved about the Kona racing:

• The board has a nice glide in light wind, making sailing in 5 mph fun
• When the wind picks up, so does board speed. It gradually increases until the board comes up to a full plane. 
• Planing on the Kona feels different from short board planing, but it's fun! The GPS showed that my top speed was close to 20 knots, which is pretty close to what I would have reached on a freeride board in these conditions.
• Sail sizes are based on body weight - I sailed a 9.0, lighter sailors used smaller sizes down to 6.6. That made the racing fair across all body weights. Board speed was indeed the same for different sail colors (= sizes) on the water.
• No pumping allowed, so races were decided by skill, not by stamina.
• Almost everyone who raced had his moments of glory, be in front or close for at least a part of a race.

I have to run to yoga class before camp, so I'll leave you with just a few pictures:

Waiting for the next race

Run, Nina, run!

Formula race start

Formula action

Pro formula winners

Happy sisters

Nina Likes Cats

Of course she does. Everyone knows that. But there's a new cat she likes a lot: our Fanatic Ultra Cat. We've had it for almost two years, but today was the first time she sailed it. And here's what she said: "So viel Spass!"

We both needed some long board practice for the upcoming Kashy/WET spring regatta. I needed to sail again after being off the water for about 2 weeks, visiting family in Germany. It was sunny, warm, and a holiday in both Massachusetts (Patriots' Day) and Germany (Easter Monday). Not to go sailing would simply have been wrong. The wind collaborated, with south winds increasing from 7 mph to low teens.

Nina rigged a 7.0, I used a cambered 8.5; considering our weight differences, these are roughly identical sail sizes. We switched between sailing the Ultra Cat and the Exocet WindSUP 10. The WindSUP was a lot easier to jibe, but had no chance against the Cat in little races: the Cat always won, regardless who was on top, and whether we raced upwind or downwind. It also was a lot more fun to sail, especially when the wind picked up - the Cat just kept going faster, almost planing at times in 12 mph wind. Fun!

Unfortunately, we now have a few problems. At the ECWF in Long Island, Nina has stayed away from low wind races so far - but now, she wants to sail the board I bought specifically for the ECWF low wind days. At the Kashy/WET regatta, I will rent a Kona, so she can have the Cat - but we have to figure out how to get it there. It fits into our van, but just barely so - diagonally, with it's nose separating the driver and passenger, and also blocking the view of the right mirror. That's fine for local trips, but a no-go for the long trip to Hatteras. It would also take too much extra space - leaving one of the other 9 or 10 boards we usually take to Hatteras is inconceivable. So I'll have to explore a roof rack. There are mounting points, but the roof is darn high up on our high roof Nissan NV. Thule does not make racks for it, so some improvisation is called for. We'll have to see what can be done in the few hours we have to work on this before our next trip...

ABK camp Hatteras starts in 2 weeks!

It's only two more weeks until the ABK camp in Cape Hatteras starts on May 5. If you have not signed up yet, do it now! There a only 6 spaces left, and they often fill up quickly. The last few weeks in Hatteras have been very windy - most weeks had at least 4-5 day of 20+ mph winds. This pattern often continues well into May. Rooms at a rental house close by are (probably) also still available; it not, renting a house there for a week is cheap, and you can probably still find other campers to share it with.

The location of the Hatteras ABK camp in Waves, NC is one of the best locations to learn windsurfing and improve your skills in the world. The water in the sound is warm and shallow - you can sail half a mile or more, and still touch ground when you fall. You can leave your gear rigged on the beach for the duration of the camp - or if you need to rent gear, several local stores have great rental gear.

If you've never been to Hatteras, check Dean's video:

Hope to see you there in a couple of weeks!