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What sparked my response was something I see often on forums: Good sailing advice, but offered with no clarifiers, or nothing that speaks to exactly whom the advice targets. The rig-small mindset you’re promoting isn’t wrong for the surf. It’s just that it only applies to expert sailors; those whom are already proficient at waterstarting, slogging and getting out. For the less experienced, however, that advice leads to disaster.
This irks me. I’ve seen too many sailors’ skills peak at jibing. From there, they get in a windsurfing rut. They sail less and their enthusiasm drops. Surf sailing staves off that apathy. It’s a new challenge. For those who dare tackle it, those first ocean sessions are critical. They involve a big leap of faith, often with no instruction. Forums are one of the only places wannabe wave sailors can find it. Perhaps collectively we could be more careful about clarifying our advice, and who it best suits. For how few of us are out there, I’d hate to think this forum’s banter played any role in ensuring our small #’s.
On a separate note: Someone mentioned there being no difference between slogging on a 5.8 versus 5.2 and 5.0 sails on Maui. I’d be curious to see if that applies as readily in Florida — especially for middle- and heavyweights. We did several mag articles that spoke to why all wind is NOT equal. They highlighted why Maui’s wind has more punch than most any other location. This also explains why we moved Maui free-ride and light-air board tests to Florida, as it was the only way we could be sure our results would apply to the real-world.
Looking forward to sailing tomorrow,
Eddy
On 4/1/08 6:23 PM, "floridawavesailor" <floridawavesailor@...> wrote:
Hello Eddie, I'm very glad you answered. First, thank you for
laughing. I am an introverted analytical and my social skills are a
disaster sometimes. The moment i sent the email, my stomach was upset
as i reread my choice of words.. i was trying to complement you when i
mentioned the contest and you being so good, i am sorry if i crossed a
line, it was not my intention.
I have great respect for you because of your experience and
knowledge, and learn greatly from your comments and magazine writings.
And i appreciate you taking the time to answer this post because i
learned yet more how your experience relates to equipment and
sailing. i bought my freewave 95 after watching your sailing ability
with your gear and listening carefully to your insights.
i will try in the future to make you laugh with well chosen words
rather than the audacity of my writing.
Best wishes, john in jupiter
p.s. this is the short answer....and i am a work in progress
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