Everyone will move down to the lower parking lot now.  It isn’t really that much of a problem for sailing but it is going to be a bummer for summer beachgoing.  That was a very popular beach with a pretty new, big parking lot.  People will still go there but its not going to be as good this summer.

Still I’m not complaining.  It hasn’t effected the sailing really.  Madequecham continues to offer up perfect conditions on west winds and the swell has been pretty consistent to go with the wind.  Yesterday we killed a mid-day session and the only thing I can say that wasn’t perfect was that I wish I had rigged my 7 instead of my 9.  It was very clean and fun and plenty of wind.  Outstanding conditions.

Last weekend’s run was a good example of this. A bunch of marginal SW days one after another.  Saturday I think I got a marginal 12 day.  Everyone was frothing for a good day on Sunday.  I thought the forecast was weak but whatever, I’m not going to be putting negative energy into everything.

The forecast was weak, but not horrible.  The offshore was saying something like 5-10 in the morning increasing to 10-15.  The morning was pretty flat calm.  But the tide was going out until 2:30 and some of the forecast sites were showing 18 in the afternoon.  My gut said that 12:30 was going to be the time to be at the beach and it was going to be sailable until the tide turned.  That was just my analysis of the weather and the feeling I had about the day.

I rolled out to the beach at 12.  It looked breezy but not particularly exciting.  Basically the same as the day before when it had been marginal.  I rigged my 12 and as I was doing it it just felt better and better.  By the time I finished rigging it was fully filled and I went out pretty solid, if not over on my 12.  Rode that for about 45 minutes as other guys showed up and rigged.  Quality sailing was had for a while.  After an hour I came in and had to run home to drop my son off.  By the time I got back about a half hour later it had really calmed down.  Guys were still out but the breeze had lost its punch.  So there had been a window of about an hour and a half that it had been worth being there.  This time it worked out for me.

A similar thing happened to my friend and sailing partner Jeff the next day on the Cod.  He was at West Denis and it was pretty uninspiring.  But since he was over there he rigged his 12 and had some meager runs.  Just when he was about to bag in disgust it filled in and he got a half hour of solid 12.  Then it shut down completely.  Other guys who weren’t rigged scrambled to catch some in vain. It was too short of a window to catch it if you weren’t right on it.  So that can happen sometimes.  You have to put in the time and sometimes comit to just messing around in the hopes that you will get some quality.

I wrote this after my first two ocean sessions:

I just got a 12 day yesterday and 9 this morning on the new surfboard in chest high surf. Super nice board. It really drives through the turns. I am going to have to step up my game to keep up with it. It feels stiff in the choppy sections. I have it set up quad and it really tracks through the turns. Its pretty unforgiving but when you hit a top turn just right it feels so good! Probably not for a beginner but I might be a little soft from riding that fish.

I think this is going to make me progress my surfing which is the point.

Since then I’ve gotten 8 more sessions on the board, probably half in the ocean and half at Jetties, and as I’ve gotten more and more comfortable on it I have gotten an even higher level of performance out of it.  I left it quad and the way it tracks through a bottom turn is amazing.  I just finished two sessions at Madequecham earlier this week and I don’t think I lost my edge once on a bottom turn.  I think you get in more critical sections because you can really turn it aggressively.  I don’t notice the stiff feel as much now and I think that just translates into responsiveness once you are solid on the board.

The fins are pretty sweet looking.

It is really light, like physically light weight.  I think it is an awesome jumper and I had one really fun “freestyle” session at Jetties when I caught it on the backside and just squeezed in a 12 session.  In general I keep it on the water.  You can see the light weight of the board on the beach easily, it is noticable.  It seems like it could start blowing down the beach on a good day.  But I’m not sure how that effects the performance.

I’d describe this board as a high performance surf board that performs best when sailed aggressively. So far its been super fun in smallish on shore conditions and quality chest high surf and perfect side shore wind. So hopefully it will hold up on bigger surf. I think it probably will.

Similar Conditions - This photo was not taken on the day described here but on a similar day.

Just such a satisfying day Monday was.  Double session in the surf and it was really good both times.  The lunch time session was solid 9s, consistent chest high surf and perfect side shore. The after work session was on super lit 12s at Tom Nevers, still solid surf and a little more side on.  Probably should have rigged down in the afternoon.  Super quality.  Jeff and I just killed it.

Without a doubt this was another “Best Day Ever” in the surf. These were the best surfing sessions I have had. Its just about improving on the surf board and learning about the surfing part.  Plus it helps to have super rippable surf to sail and we have been getting more and more decent ocean days recently, not to mention the recent run of solid North which was more about the North Shore mini surf than anything else.  So when it comes all together with the optimal conditions you are able to surf all day and rack up tons of turns and not worry about any of the other stuff.  Its really good.

I haven’t been this satisfied with kiting in a long time.  Its Saturday and today is the first time I am really thinking about kiting since Monday.  It hasn’t been a great week but there was some wind that could be chased.  But I was still buzzing from Monday’s surf on Thursday.  So it is really long lasting.

Water Tower on a North East

As you know the whole North shore of Nantucket can fire off some pretty fun, punchy surf on any northerly direction.  But by the very nature of on-shore wind that type of surf is usually pretty blown out and mushy.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of excellent, critical moments. You just have to work for it.

I like to set up above where it is breaking and troll back and forth in the rollers.  I’m looking for a wave that could develop into something good closer to the beach or the sandbar.  Being regular foot I like to surf with my right leg back so I’m cutting across the waves on port tack pretty perpendicular to the direction of the waves.  Basically I’m looking for a wave that I can get a couple of three casual turns on and hopefully get in position to be at just the right place at the right time.  Its going to jack up and break somewhere along the line and by turning on it while it is rolling in I’m increasing the likelyhood that I will be there at that critical moment and get one nice hack.

The other method that I love requires less patience.  It requires that you can make a really tight, snap turn right at the top of the wave, just before it goes critical.  I’m sailing along just along the edge of the break on port tack, pinching up and just looking for anything starting to jack up.  When I pick my wave I pinch right up into it and make a quick, snap turn at the top.  Its a turn with no carve, basically just switching the direction of the board 180 degrees and whipping the kite across.  Now I set my toe-side edge and check my options for what to do next.  If the wave is healthy I can just ride down the face toe-side.

If I look over my shoulder and it seems to be going left I can drop straight down, carve a tight, backside bottom turn and get a solid backside hack at the top.  This has been the most common scenario in the recent run of North days at Jetties.  Sometimes your timing isn’t perfect and you are just going off some whitewater but its all good.  The thing here is that it is pretty easy to do all your turns tight and stay really close to the wave.  This is important because the good, critical sections appear and disappear really quickly and you have to be on it.

The last option is available when it looks like the wave is healthy and moving to the right.  Drop straight down and carve your front side bottom turn and then just wack the heck out of whatever is jacking up in front of you.  The trick part here is not carving your bottom turn too wide and having a hard time getting back to the wave in time.  Its on shore wind so its pushing you away from the critical section and the front side bottom turns tend to be a lot more drawn out in front of the wave.  But it is so worthwile when you get that perfect front side hack.

So onshore wave riding is all about putting yourself in the right place at the right time.  I guess all wave riding is like that but with on shore the good opportunities tend to just pop up and then dissapear and the trick is to anticipate where this is going to happen and position yourself accordingly.  But if you do you will get tons of quality hacks from what looks like just a bunch of mush.

Jesse Richman at One Eye for the pro wave event there.  I read about this in Kiteworld.  Insane wave.

They should have shown some of the riding from the contest.

http://www.jesserichman.com/index.html

Naish Momentum 136 top view. Nice straps.

New Twintip, Naish Momentum 136cm x 43cm.  First one for a few years.  Prior to this I have had 143 sessions on my Nobile 666 135 x 44 which was my first wide twin tip.

This board looks really nice.  The first thing I noticed was that it is pretty thick. It is noticable thicker than other twin-tips I am familiar.  When I say thick I mean it has noticeably more sidewall than I am used to.  It is a bright neon yellow also so it stands out.

The quality is high as I was expecting.  It came mostly put together so there wasn’t really any thing to do except put in the fins.  They were nice quality and I’d say about 5cm.  They are set pretty far out on the side of the board.  Everything good.  The foot beds are nicely contoured and I like the way the strap tightens.  You pull up from tabs on both sides of the strap and then lay one across the other and it secures with velcro.  The footbeds are shaped to your feet.  I was a bit concerned that they wouldn’t work well with boots.  I just got my first session on it and it wasn’t a problem. That said, I really can’t wait to ride this board without boots.  I think it will be really comfortable.

Wide sidewall on Naish Momentum

On the water the first word that comes to mind to describe the ride is “smooth”.  The hype is that this board will help you land your tricks better.  I don’t know about that but I will say that landings are much smoother and softer than other boards I have ridden.  There is something about the landings from tricks and jumps that just felt softer and more controllable.  The board is able to absorb the landings in some way.  Its wide and thick and I think that helps.

I also noticed a really nice ride through chop.  Again I would call it “smooth”.  I generally liked the board in all ways and had a really nice session.  It was pretty solid 12 and really good flat water.  I’d say that it was a perfect setup for this board considering its hype and its freestyle cred.

The only problem I had was that I wasn’t feeling excellent on sent jumps in flat water.  I think it was a timing thing and I’m sure I will work it out.  I found the pop decent but I was expecting better.  I think I just have to get a bit better.  But all in all I think I will get many good sessions on this board.

Season 2

Season 1

Prior to this year 2011, 2007 and 2004 held the mark with 5 sessions.  So I am hoping this bodes well for the season.  Come on March!!

Not February but Quality Ocean

Naish Park 9

My first few sessions I was surprised by how light the bar pull was. I felt like I might be underpowered but I was riding fine. It could have been a little light. But I think the bar pressure is less than my Torch or Helixs. Still it is very snappy and responsive. Its a modern kite with a great bar setup and handles well over powered. I think it is best at riding in the surf and I’ve had my best h feeling where it is in the surf. Good jumping and control during fight. These are the most noticeable performance characteristics that I have noticed so far. It whips nicely out of downloops but I haven’t looped it too much to speak on it. I haven’t unhooked yet either.

The Naish Park 9 rips it in the surf

The Park has the solid, bomber construction that I have come to expect with Naish equipment. the octopus inflation system is still the best one pump system I have seen. This is the first Naish kite I’ve gotten with a stopper ball in the inflation valve of the main bladder. A good improvement. Of course it has the normal disadvantage that every 4 line kite has for self landing but it also has a real noticeable simplicity about it that I think makes it a really nice all around kite. I’ve only got 18 sessions on it since October but I like it so far.