A very fun day + Francisco Goya's selling trick

A few photos from a very fun day at Hoo (last Thursday).


After something like three hours of fun, my arms gave up and I sat to take photos in the sunset light of the last two sailors out: Glenn (above backloop with a Fire) and Andres (below air chaco with a Smack)


And here's a little story about Francisco Goya and his selling trick.
Well, first of all, I just want to say how great it is to be in the water at the same time with great sailors like him, Kevin Pritchard, Levi Siver, Keith Taboul, and the other pro's... sailing and sharing waves with them. It's such a treat to be able to watch them rip from so close (often from down at the water level after I fall on my wave...).
It feels like you learn something just by watching them... still the gap is (in my case) quite enormous...
Anyway, after having seen Francisco shredding a couple of waves, I happened to be sailing right behind him.

Glenn seems to be enjoying his new twin fin.


"Hey Francisco, how big is that board?"
"Seventy-two!"
"Wow, that small?!" (the wind was kind of light/holy and I was on my 82-84ish)
"Wonna try it?"
"Uh?!? Here? Now? Sure!!!"
So we switched boards in the middle of the ocean and all of a sudden I was sailing Francisco's personal gear... Now, how cool is that?

Andres.


Very cool, you might think... what you don't know is that after you switch boards, Francisco stops in the water and in a moment in which you're not looking he does a voodoo to your board to slow it down.
Maybe he puts some kind of whale's fat on the bottom... or maybe he inserts slices of lead under the pads to make them heavier... or maybe he sticks snot/buggers on your fin... whatever he does, it works!
When you go back to your board, in fact, it feels like a slow barge...

Anyway, that was a great board for sure (72l custom wave 09 production, I believe), but guess what happened to our performances after the switch? Not much actually...
He kept ripping on my board, I kept sucking on his.
In other words, I still believe it's not what you ride, but how you ride. At the same time, it's also true that good gear helps... a lot!

End of the story, now check this photo. Believe it or not, this time I wanted to shoot the top turn of the surfer (who blew it). I didn't even see the girl duck diving!!!
It's like a natural gift...


Watch the wake left by this kitesurfer. See that bottom turn almost cutting back upwind at the end? See the white water left by the spray of the bottom turn? Not too impressive of a top turn in this case, but let's face it: these guys are riding thin 6.0ish surfboards... they can turn way tighter than a way more bouyant 7.4 windsurf board!
In strong wind I still like watching windsurfing wave sailing much better. But in light wind (I'm talking 10-12 knots), there's no comparison...


Talking about kites. I like the clouds in the background.


Here's the weather map of Friday morning. It shows the fetch that created the NNW swell that will arrive on Monday. Not the deepest storm, not a captured fetch (it moved east the day after), but that's still well overhead at Hoo in my opinion. Let's see if I get this one right...
The weekend instead is going to be pretty much flat (actually I just had a fun saturday morning standup sesh) and with no wind. Maybe time for a hike? Or some rest...


Talking about Hookipa, two backpacks stolen lately and a whole car (full of gear) a few months ago. Lock your car and don't leave any valuable inside. Sucks...

Ahhh... all this posting made me thirsty. Ladies, can I have a sip of that water please?
Oh no, don't worry. I'll came and take it myself...


PS. Check out the crazy shapes of these trees...