Performance Sailing

Time to turn!

The first thing I want all of you jibers out there to do is “GET IT” in your head first and foremost. If you can’t visualize it, how do you think you are going to make it happen? Maybe by sheer luck it might happen but seeing yourself complete a jibe will greatly increase your chances of success! When I am working on learning a new move, that is all I think about sometimes. I stare off into space and pretend I’m out on the water..... I go through it all step by step and analyze each part of the movement required to make it happen.  Once I get on the water, I’m already ahead of the game. By the end of our jibing lessons, you will have the tools to jibe in your heads and take that onto the water!

Last week we talked about how important it is to have speed. Speed usually gets you out of trouble in windsurfing unless you are getting real close to shore! This week we are going to talk about the first stage of the jibe- The Entry! I believe the “entry” to the jibe is the most important stage of the jibe. If you get that right, the rest of your movements will be much easier. In a perfect world, the best conditions to learn to jibe in are smooth glassy water, 20 knots of breeze, sun shining and nice warm water.... In the real world, most of you guys are in pretty cold water, gusty and choppy water conditions either underpowered or overpowered- did I get that right? Well ok-

Once you decide it is time to turn, take things real slowly. Don’t get all huffy and stomp around. The first thing I like to tell you to do is watch the water- see what is happening and look for a smooth place to initiate your turn. If you are in big swells, make sure you get over the top of the swell and then begin your turn going “downhill” rather than uphill. In short chop, you are going to want to find a place that you can carve “in between” the bumps. So take you time and get comfy and prepared to turn.

When you are ready to go, do one thing at a time. Look downwind and behind you to make sure you aren’t going to smash into one of your buddies. Slide the back hand back on the boom about 2 or 3 inches (this gives you better control of the rig).  Take your rear foot out of the footstrap and put in on the leeward rail just ahead of the rear footstrap. Do all of this while you are still hooked in. When you take your rear foot out of the strap, try not to lift it up very high, rather drag or slide it to the leeward rail. Any abrupt movements to the board will disturb the flow so keep it smooth! Now you are ready to initiate- Unhook, bear off the wind and look for that smooth spot and downhill slope that is going to help keep your speed up. Sheet in with your back hand, bend your knees and extend the front arm and pull down on it in order to transfer the power of the sail into the board. I like to have you think about the mast being forward of the centerline of the board- a lot of people pull back on the sail and bend their front arm too much. This action causes you to slow down- you lose the power of the sail going into the board with the bent arm- things are getting LOST IN TRANSLATION!!!! You want to be able to keep the energy going forward- thus the straight front arm, the weight on the balls of your feet. Any time you straighten your legs or bend your arms too much you are most likely pulling back on the sail and moving all your weight to the tail section of the board- Not Good!

In the photo here, I am right at the end of what I call the “Entry” part of the jibe. I have followed all my rules- I picked my water, put my back hand a couple inches further back on the boom, SLID my rear foot out and over to the leeward rail just in front of the back footstrap, my knees are bent, I’m putting weight into my toes, my front arm is extended, my back arm serves as a “crutch” just in case I need some balance help- I keep it extended so if I need to pull in, I CAN pull in. If my rear arm was bent and I needed some help, I would have nothing to pull on..... Notice my head is looking to where I want to go- I’m watching the water down wind to make sure I’m going to keep my speed without hitting any uphill bumps. This photo taken by Darrell Wong is what I would consider to be a perfect shot of where you should be when approaching next week’s topic... the ALL IMPORTANT Transition Zone! That is where it all happens.

Three-Time World Champion, Matt Pritchard is sponsored by Gaastra Sails, Tabou Boards, Da Kine, Kaenon Polarized and Camaro Wetsuits. Matt will start doing monthly clinics on Maui towards the end of each month- to find out more about getting signed up, contact Matt by email:matt@pritchardwindsurfing.com

Spring has arrived on Maui and along with it more consistent winds so far! It's also when all the pros and 2011 equipment come to town for photo shoot season on the North Shore. Shawna Cropas (www.shawnacropas.com) a long time Neil Pryde/JP rider and windsurfing coach will be running a week long in depth windsurfing tuition clinic which will run from April 25th to the 1st of May. We'll be setting up base at a private guest home on the North Shore of Maui using the latest 2010 Neil Pryde/JP stock through Vela (www.velawindsurf.com)/Neil Pryde Maui (neilprydemaui.com)

Every day will start with on land simulator work using the mornings to really learn new techniques through a process of repetition called 'Muscle Memory' in order to bring our new moves to the water in the afternoons. We will also be offering video tutorials where we go over our windsurfing progressions from the day before. Shawna will spend the afternoon working with the group and then moving around to sail and work privately with each individual’s personal needs and skill levels. Should you be on holiday with a non-windsurfer who has always wanted to wet their feet at least once, beginner lessons will be available through HST at Kanaha Beach Park.

Stand up paddling will be introduced for fun as well on the off chance of days with no wind. Evenings can be enjoyed by the surrounding of Maui's beach life culture from BBQ's to nights out on the town rubbing elbows with all the names in the game! Not to mention that during this course we'll be able to watch and be introduced to some of the best windsurfers on the planet!

(photos by Thorsten Indra)

This blog report is from Tom Lepak who works for Vela Aruba, ABK Boardsports and tests gear for Windsport Magazine.

The season is getting into full swing, with many old friends returning and a lot of tourists resulting in really full beginner classes. Winds were heavy early in the week (footstrap, water start and jibe lessons), light wind with big sails for a couple days (it’s good to also be giving leeward side sailing and Heli-Tack lessons), and back to high winds. We even had Vulcan and Loop lessons!

Fix of the year – one of our guests accidentally brought his old harness. The spreader belt was always slipping! His solution was he wanted to drill a hole through the buckle and put a bolt through it! I thought this strange, but in the spirit of ‘the guest is always right’, found a bolt, drilled a hole, and after sailing he was happy as could be! Fortunately the fix was only needed for one day.

On one of my days off, we finally did a tour of the island – it’s been almost 20 years since the last one, guess it’s about time! Boca Grande is a secluded spot on the southwest (windward) part of the island. It is an unpopulated beautiful wavy bay and nice sandy beach and windsurfers have been going there for some wave sailing. I’d love to get over there before I leave.

Back on Aruba’s north side, Arashi Beach has been totally refurbished with paved parking, and many free Palapas. This is a great place to spend a relaxing afternoon swimming, snorkeling, and enjoying the sun when the wind doesn’t cooperate or the body just needs a little break. On wavy days, just  north of Arashi is a nice surfing and body board venue.

Upcoming Events In Aruba!
Everyone is looking forward to this weekend (March 20-21) ‘Sail Wind Kite Beachfest’ event at the Fisherman’s Huts. Taty Frans and Aruba’s own Sarah-Quita Offringa (on her new Gaastra sails) are among the ‘local’ pros attending. This should be a real fun two days with windsurfing events including slalom and freestyle, beach tennis, food, and drinks. Vela instructor Enry’s band will be playing.

June 30 – July 5 is the annual Aruba High Winds just north of Vela at the Fisherman’s Huts. Last year around 70 windsurfers attended a very successful event. This year’s windsurfing disciplines include Racing (Slalom and Long Distance) and Freestyle (single elimination ladder) with Men and Women’s various age divisions and a Sport Fleet. For more information see http://www.hiwinds-aruba.com. Several of the Vela instructors have been seen training for the event.

Something new for this year, Aruba has just been added to the 2010 International Bodyboard Association (IBA International) World Tour. The Arubian Aruwak Pro will be held June 15 – 20. Bodyboarding is becoming popular in Aruba, and the locals are excited to welcome entrants from all over the world. See http://www.ibaworldtour.com for more details.

Some great storm action from Bat Galim beach, Haifa, Israel!

Here at Angulo we are always looking out to find new personalities to be the faces of our brand. We just recently brought on board the 2009 Junior Slalom World Champion and top overall junior Gutek Kurczewski from Poland.

Gutek started windsurfing in 2004, and has been racing since 2008. Already a world champion, he is ready with tools to defend his titles. “Right now, with these Magnum boards, I know I have good weapons to defend my 2009 title” says only 16 year old Gutek.

We are stoked to have him on our team and give him our support for this upcoming season. We are all about personalities at Angulo, and Gutek´s “Go get´em” style is what we are looking for. Good luck for this year Gutek.

Check out Gutek's website here: www.pol75.edicypages.com

Check out some of Guteks latest impressive results:

• 2009 Junior Slalom World Champion – Bonaire Carraibean
• 2009 3rd junior Europeans, Shoenberg germany
• 2009 Formula Juniors 1st Polish Championships
• 2009 Slalom Junior 2nd Polish Championships
• 2008 1st Juniors Slalom Polish Championships

"And it isn't a full-time business for Mulder, a composites fabricator who got his start making high-tech windsurf boards, and got into supplying disabled athletes by chance when wheelchair marathoner Kelly Smith came to him for a wheel repair. Since then, Mulder has taken on projects for athletes on a word-of-mouth basis."

Click here to read this story by Derrick Penner of the Vancouver Sun.

Check out this video sent to us by the fine crew at windsurfdeal.com... kids rule!

Happy Monday everyone- thanks for all the great responses with regard to our new topic! It was pretty unanimous that jibe talk is in order…

The more lessons I teach the more I realize how difficult it is for people to learn how to jibe! When I sit down and think about it, I don’t really even know how to spell it... but I do know how to do it! The jibe is one of those moves that can take some people 10 years to learn. It is a mandatory maneuver to have in your repertoire, without it a windsurfer is incomplete! For those of you who can’t jibe, don’t take offense to that statement- everyone wants to learn how and for the next couple weeks, I’m going to do my best to get you guys on the right path to master this move!

Before I go on too much, I will say there are many ways to teach the jibe. I believe everyone learns differently and each person requires a different approach based on what stage they are at. I see a lot of people that can “kinda” do it but it is not so pretty. Some people start out good and just loose it right where it counts. The bottom line is most everyone that I see has problems due to a lack of speed!

There are a couple different jibe styles. Some people teach a carve jibe which I don’t really believe in (mainly because you can’t exit the jibe as quickly) and most others including myself teach a “step jibe”. The step jibe enables you to “step” forward and this keeps your weight centered over the board and keeps it MOVING!!! If you keep all your weight back when doing a carve jibe, you are going to slow down at some point- no doubt about it. The step jibe is a superior jibe to the carve jibe for many reasons- if you already know how to carve jibe, that is great. I don’t want to convert you... but when you ask me how to plane out of your jibes and keep your speed through the turn, I’m going to make you go back to the basics and learn the step jibe!

We have all heard the saying, “when in doubt, gas it” right? That principle applies especially to jibers! The object of the jibe is to come out of the jibe just as fast as you went into the jibe right? In a perfect world, that is how it would go.  In the reality world, most people I see going into a jibe slow down before they go into the turn- It may be just from taking the back foot out of the footstrap and causing the board to wobble, it may be from getting out of the harness and losing momentum, it may be from fear knowing they  are about ready to fall in- the point is, they are losing speed and we need to figure out how to stop that from happening!

My buddy Neil who is an instructor down at Vela Baja has a great story that he tells to jibers... It goes a little something like this-
“Imagine that you are approaching a small town (Jibeville) by car. You have been on a major highway going as fast as you wanted. In this town there is a rule that says you cannot leave your engine running. There are signs posted outside the city limits warning you of this rule- you have plenty of time to prepare for it.  You are able to coast through the town as fast as you want but no engine noise is permitted. The road is on a slight uphill and the distance your engine has to be shut off for is about ½ a mile. If you do not make it through the town by coasting, you have to pay a fine of $10,000. You are not allowed to push your car or have it towed. As soon as you stop, you are instantly subject to  pay the fine or spend life in prison!"

Ouch. The moral of the story is that in order to make a great jibe, you have to have speed. Speed is what gives you the freedom to “COAST” through the transition zone of the jibe (also know as the town Jibeville).

As you “COAST” through Jibeville, this is the time to make your move and transition your feet and flip your sail. If you have your speed, you have stability and can easily maneuver the sail to the new position to head on out of town. If you slow down and stop “COASTING” flipping that sail and changing your feet is going to be a lot more difficult. Chances are you are going to be subject to a $10,000 fine...

The time is now to start thinking about speed into your turns. Hopefully the little story above gives you a better understanding of our goals. Obviously the flatter and smoother the water, the easier it is going to be. The windier and choppier the water, the more you have to bend your knees and be ready for a bumpy road.  Speed is still your friend in all cases, in fact it is more key the windier it gets.

I am going to break the jibe down into 3 sections; the entry, the transition and the exit. I like to keep it simple and focus on each of these areas one at a time. It is a lot easier for me to show you in person, but hopefully this will help some of you that are not able to come visit me in Maui or one of my Clinics. Break out your notepads because over the next weeks, you are going to learn some great tricks to help you get turned around!

Three-Time World Champion, Matt Pritchard is sponsored by Gaastra Sails, Tabou Boards, Da Kine, Kaenon Polarized and Camaro Wetsuits. Matt Does Private Lessons on Maui as well as several clinics throughout the year in different locations. If you are thinking of coming to Maui and need help planning your trip, contact Matt by email: matt@pritchardwindsurfing.com.

Starboard is reintroducing the legendary Carve. The board that for many defined freeride in windsurfing is making a comeback this season, plugging the gap between the racing-inspired Futuras and the progressive GO.
 
According to Starboard, the new Carve is all about plug-and-play easy freeriding. They’ll continue to be comfortable, maneuverable and a joy to jibe. However, what were especially important for the Starboard R&D team were the ‘magic touch ride’ and the easy planing aspects that made the original series so iconic. Tiesda You explains, “The hardest part in the R&D work of the new Carves was to bring that magic touch ride that people love. Sometimes an exciting, sensational ride is more important than more quantifiable parameters like top speed and static weight. The jibing aspect was obviously also very important in our R&D process, so we made sure that all three designs really do carve beautifully. The third key design parameter was the easy-planing aspect. If you look at the length-to-width ratio of the new boards, they are pretty much the same as the original Carves. The feedback we received from the market, from shops and distributors worldwide was that we needed a line of freeriders that were exciting and easy-planing machines. Just like the Carves, we asked? They said, yes, just like the Carves. So how about bringing back the Carves, we asked? And they said yes, why not? And so here it is...”
 
Three sizes are available: a 121, a 131 and a 141. The new Carves are available in Wood Technology and Tufskin. The Carves are also on a two year product cycle, hence their designation as 2010/2011 Carves. For more product information, visit the dedicated Carve website: www.returnofthecarve.com.

Well, we have finished the FWC, We went quickly to El puertito to give the prizes to the winning team and make the group and team´s photos. It was a fast ceremony as most riders had to go to the airport or to take the ferry in the south of the island. CLICK HERE for more on the events website.

The winning team was Team 1 with Albert Mandrillo, Jules Denel, Alex Mussolini, Patrick Vigouroux and Iballa Moreno.

:: Miami Wind and Surf Challenge 2010 ::

This year Miami will host the NORTH AMERICAN FORMULA EXPERIENCE and it is sure to be a great and fun event.
 
Classes:

• FORMULA EXPERIECE  FORMULA
• KONA 
  

Formula experience boards and rigs are available for charter, as well as  KONA boards and rigs.
 
Register early and help us to better organized our logistics... thank you for your support!
 
for registration and board charter click here: http://www.windsurfingtour.com/?p=981
 

Not only is the Boardheads "World Premiere" this Saturday March 13th at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, but they like the film so much they've added another screening next Thursday March 18th at 4:00pm!

Plus, Boardheads has also just been accepted into the Newport Beach Film Festival... details coming soon.

Here's a cool video of windsurfing some of the new standup paddle boards in the waves at Juno, Florida.

Since last week I've been in Cartagena, Colombia with Michael Rossmeier. We are working together with Colombian professional windsurfer Zowi Galeano on his project to make a movie about windsurfing in Colombia; Colombia - Windsurfing into the Unknown.

So far we had a day of freestyle followed by four good days of waves. The one problem we've been having so far is it has not been very sunny. We were lucky yesterday afternoon when the sun came out to get a few photos.

The forecast looks like the wind will die down for a few days before coming back up again for our planned trip to the Rosario Islands, which I hear is a freestyle paradise. During the windless days we plan to check out all the tourist attractions in Cartagena, including the famous old city.

(Thanks to Sandra Schennach for the photos.)

By Margot Samson – Windsport Correspondent...

Windsurfers from around the globe converged to the Calema Midwinters this past weekend, and tropical Merritt Island, Florida treated us to 40F every morning and no higher than 55F during the day. You see, you call something ‘midwinters’ long enough, and it’s going to start believing it. I just looked up ‘midwinters’ on Wikipedia to file a complaint with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and hold on to your earmuffs, here’s what I learned: it actually refers to the beginning of winter, the Winter Solstice, a special date in all ancestral cultures when the last feast celebration was held before deep winter set in, and a time when most cattle was slaughtered so it wouldn’t be fed during the cold months. Charming, ain’t it? I don’t know where we got it wrong, but there’s nothing here that says ‘Spring Break.’

Oh, but we’re resourceful: we wore socks with our sandals and bought rubber gloves at the local drugstore against frostbite. We were here to sail, darn it! And at the sound of the horn, we were off and racing on the Banana River as if we were at the Olympics and nothing else mattered. Now, that’s a particularly clever transition because this year, the event was the North American continental qualifier for the Youth Olympic Games coming up this summer in Singapore (check out the excitement at www.singapore2010.sg)! Kids flew in from Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Guatemala and the USA to earn a spot: altogether, nearly 30 of us on shiny Techno293 gear. The pressure was high, and we promptly started the regatta with a general recall.

Over the course of the next three days, eight races were run to decide who would qualify. The wind was from the North, light to moderate, and pretty shifty. The gusts in these parts of the country have to negotiate their way around the maze of pipes, liquid hydrogen tanks and extraterrestrial radio waves at nearby Cape Canaveral, and they come out of that totally confused. But we overcame the challenges and got it done with a pinch of strategy and lots of pumping!

Four spots were available for the Youth Olympics at this qualifier: Mexico and Puerto Rico earned their way in for the boys, while Canada and the USA (yours truly!) qualified for the girls. What an honor. I had a great regatta the week before at the Island Classic in Sarasota, and was fortunate to carry that good form to the Midwinters. Kudos to Nicole Level Solis Camara and Marion Lepert, who couldn’t officially take part in the qualifier but gave us a taste of their immense talent. Special mention to Rasmus Sayre as well, who led the Under 15 category throughout the regatta and managed to keep up with the top half of the fleet despite having to make his way around the course on a smaller sail.

If that were not enough, Formulas (with pros Paulo Dos Reis, Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel and Gabriel Browne leading the way), RS:X, Konas, Long Boards, and a number of Sports fleets were on the water as well. Add it all up, and it’s more than 100 sailors who came together to celebrate Calema’s 25th anniversary with our gracious hosts Susie and Tinho Dornellas. It isn't every day you hear more Spanish than English on the race course around here, and that was great. We were all impressed with the organization and treated to some special meals, groovy music, upbeat MC’ing on the beach, and all around great companionship throughout the weekend. Apparently, the Gods were impressed as well, as the temperature climbed into the mid-60’s on Sunday for a positively balmy afternoon. Many of us got sunburned and cracked lips, but we smiled big nonetheless. It’s Spring Break after all!

Ride along with Hot Sails Maui's Jeff Henderson and Philipp Schreyer as they film their epic crossing from Maui to Molokai and back.

Brian McCaan, the son of Dewey Beach, Delaware’s legendary Walt McCaan, volunteered his time to paint a fantastic mural on the Vela storage container. Walt is a long time friend of Vela Aruba, but I swear he has several ‘look-a-likes’ as we always see Walt, very distinguished with white hat and beard, windsurfing and kiting at many of the East Coast ABK stops. Many of us believe Walt was born with that hat and beard but the reports are unconfirmed! On a very sad side, Walt’s wife Marie passed away last year, and Brian painted the Vela mural in memory of his mother, who also enjoyed long stays in Aruba.
 
Brian does murals and faux painting as a profession, and also paints custom sails, logos, ‘win indicators’ (i.e. a torpedo for each victory on a boat/sail) etc. Brian lives and works in the Philadelphia, PA area, and frequently travels to Aruba. He may be contacted at bam1016@msn.com or http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianamccann/. We’re all stoked on his work at Vela Aruba, check out his website for other interesting creations.

A shipment of new goodies arrived this week with some new sails, booms, RDMs and fins. We spent a good day upgrading some of our rigs. Experienced guests can use the new MFC slalom fins on the iSonics. The winds have been light, with people needing big sails to plane, while some took out big boards/small sails to work on light wind freestyle. Some of the guests took our stand up paddleboards out and checked out the fish, reef, and the wreck down the beach. Yesterday some waves came in, so quite a few took a try at surfing on our Starboard Stand Up Paddleboards (SUP). One of our guests and I put a sail on SUPs and were amazed at how quietly and quickly it glided on a small 4.9 NP Firefly. The wind was a little off for catching waves, but I did manage to get a couple and had some fun rides.

Not quite as fast as on land, one our more famous guests, Juan Pablo Montoya, successful driver in Formula One, CART, and now in NACSAR, is at Vela Aruba for a few days vacation. Fortunately the famous Aruba winds are coming back to satisfy his need for speed, at least on the water! All the guests are glad to be back planing and jibing,  while I’m finally back to working on those Vulcans (YEAAAAH – 98 JP and 5.3 plane again!).

On some light wind days, or if people want to try something different, we provide our guests with some alternatives. Beach Tennis is big in Aruba, with lessons, games, and tournaments becoming frequent. Courts behind one of the local spots, Moomba, are nearly always full. On the light wind days, Vela has setup their own court for the guests, locals, and staff to use and to provide entertainment for the rest of us. See www.arubabeachtennis.com if you want to give it a try or take lessons while in Aruba.

Breaking News: Last Wednesday evening, strong winds combined with rumored structural weaknesses caused the Palapa roof of one of the beach bars (Moomba) to collapse. Fortunately no one was seriously injured and work has already begun on rebuilding the structure. The other bar/eating structures were unaffected and remain open. As of a day later, with a temporary roof, the collapsed bar is now back in business! So much for Island Time!

Worldwinds Windsurfing in Corpus Christi, Texas is proud to introduce our first ever freestyle school.  This new curriculum is designed to offer a variety of light wind, planning and aerial maneuvers.  Freestyle is not just for the pro's anymore.  We have courses for all levels of aspiring freestylers.  Freestyle is a great fun way to help enhance your sailing skills in all conditions.  

Worldwinds is also excited to offer dedicated freestyle boards in the rental fleet to help with your freestyle progression.

Check out our WEBSITE HERE for more details.

Freestyle School
WHERE:   Worldwinds Windsurfing, Inc. at Bird Island Basin    
FOR INFO CONTACT:  1-800-793-7471   worldwinds@worldwinds.net
COST:  $75 Private Lesson     

(Kevin Pritchard photo)

What do you want to hear from Matt Pritchard every Monday Morning? Instructional tips, his viewpoint, specific topics, interviews with fellow pro riders, etc? Either e-mail Matt directly (matt@pritchardwindsurfing.com) or drop us a note and we’ll pass it along (info@windsport.com). Here’s Matt’s column for Monday, March 8, 2010.

Hey everyone,
I hope you are enjoying the Monday  Tips... but instead today I’m going to brag about Maui and how windy it has been. We had a long 3 months of not much going on which is very strange for Maui. I know, I know… most of you guys have at least 6 months to wait for wind or for the ice to simply melt away, but when you live in paradise or come over for a vacation and want to go windsurfing, it was pretty frustrating!

As soon as March rolled in to town, so did the wind. Everyday of the month except one has provided us with awesome conditions. I have to admit, after sailing everyday my body is a little tired. I guess you could call it being out-of-shape for windsurfing! The good news is that windsurfing is just like riding a bike; once you know how to do it, you don’t forget—your body is trained.

Start of the Season: Hopefully you guys have been working out and getting tuned up for Spring! I gave you some exercises at the end of last year to get you prepared for your first day back: pushups, pullups, jumping the rope and basic stretches (click here to revisit that post). Nothing replaces windsurfing itself but a little bit here and there will help you through your first couple sessions!

Our last topic of discussion has been all about the harness lines. Hopefully that made sense to you and you can start sailing longer with less fatigue. Becoming more efficient is the key to windsurfing. When you are fired up and on form, you are more apt to learn a new move or simply able to focus on the moves you are working on.

Tips for Getting Ready: The focus for this week is to get ready for action. Break out your gear, check it out see what needs fixing and prepare to rip! Replace your old downhaul lines with the new 4mm Spectra rope—it is the white stuff that slides like butter through your cleats and saves your back a couple pounds of torque! If you need to locate that, email me and I can send you in the right direction. It revolutionizes the rigging experience!

Cool Web action: In the meantime, here are a couple links to check out. Some cool pics of Mark Angulo coming in at Hookipa at the wrong spot—I keep telling him it is way easier just a few yards upwind. Kev has some great shots and some video clips posted on the blog- check them out here: http://www.pritchardwindsurfing.com/content/blogcategory/14/44/

There is also some good content over at: http://blog.mauiwindsurfing.net/

That’s it for Monday, see you next week.

Three-Time World Champion, Matt Pritchard is sponsored by Gaastra Sails, Tabou Boards, Da Kine, Kaenon Polarized and Camaro Wetsuits. Matt Does Private Lessons on Maui as well as several clinics throughout the year in different locations. If you have any comments or suggestions, you can contact Matt by email: matt@pritchardwindsurfing.com

CLICK HERE for all the up-to-date news from the Calema Midwinters Race!