Windsurfing
I feel like I've written or told this story so many times that I don't want to tell it anymore, but I figured that I should really do a good job on my own website, so you can really appreciate why I like windsurfing so much.
My first experience with windsurfing was back in the summer of 2006, when I was on an exchange program in France. The family I stayed with was from Paris, but they usually vacation down in the south of France. We were in this small summer town called Bormes-Les-Mimosas. I had never interacted with a French family before (only des familles québecoises), so I didn't know what to expect. Simply put, their generosity and awesomeness blew me away. Much like the wind did to me when they paid for three days of windsurfing lessons!
To say the wind blew me away would be unfairly characterizing what actually happened. It was more like I didn't understand how windsurfing worked, so the wind would either tear the sail right out of my hands, leaving my sorry back to uphaul again (didn't use my legs at that point), or I'd get dunked or catapulted some other way. After three days of modest fun (and watching my friend's 10 year old sister dominate me on a rig half the size), I was pretty sure that, while kind of fun, windsurfing was not for me. In fact, on the last day, I had the option of renting gear to go practice on my own, but was denied by the instructor because the wind was off-shore and he said there was no way I would be able to make it upwind. So I was like, "pshhh I don't WANT to windsurf anyway." Besides, I'd never have a chance to do it again, right?
Two years later, I'm an intern at NVIDIA and I'm at the yearly family-fun event. Interns and their mentors are invited for some laser tag (which I got the high score on, by the way), and so all the interns are there. Right when the day is about to end, I meet a guy named Jason who is a full-timer on one of the interns' teams. We sit down and chat for a little bit, and eventually he mentions that he just got to this event after having spent a day windsurfing out on Lake Travis (that's the main lake here in Austin). So I'm thinking to myself, "hey, windsurfing--I know about that!" And I promptly attempt to make it seem like I know what I'm talking about. Soon enough, I get invited to go out to Lake Travis to reattempt this sport I once deemed not-for-me.
The day we went out to the lake happened to be the day that the Austin Windsurfing Club had a beginners clinic. I won't get into the details of the logistics, but I eventually end up on a 250L board with a 4.3 sail, borrowed from the club. What ensued was the first of many embarrassing moments. My instructor from France, Jean-Pierre, who once said that I didn't know how to go upwind, turned out to be right. Two years later, he was still right. And he was so right, that the offshore wind on Lake Travis blew me into this place I now call "The Cove of Doom." After spending a pathetic two hours struggling to get out of there, Jason is eventually able to a rope and tow me back to shore. I returned the equipment to the Austin Windsurfing Club in shame.
The good news, however, was that I wasn't deterred from further adventure, all of which is well documented here and here. That first link details the record for longest "walk of shame" at Worldwinds, and the second link describes a moment when I finally feel like I could be getting it.
Ultimately, the summer revival of windsurfing sends me into senior year at Cornell eager to pursue the sport. As my luck would have it (or was I destined to windsurf?), Cayuga Lake is home to the Cayuga Windsurfing Club (CWC). I recently sent an email out to the club's listserv after finally windsurfing again this year. That email was epically long, but here's the part that tells the rest of my story, since finding CWC:
I volunteered to staff the club fest stand for CWC, even though I had never met or talked to anyone in the club. I just wanted every opportunity to get me closer to windsurfing. I had gone three weeks without it and was really desperate to get out on the water. At the club fest event, I got to meet Suan, Sam, and Alex. From there, I knew I had my chance. In fact, later that day I was down at ES, signing my waiver and paying my dues.
For the next month and a half, I ditched a lot of responsibilities in order to get out on the water (this probably sounds familiar to every windsurfer ever). Giving a detailed recounting of all the times I saw our shack at ES go in and out of view would be quite pointless, as I pretty much was out there two or three times a week until the water got too cold. During this time, I got to meet all the great members of CWC, beginner and advanced alike. I had my share of good days as well as some bad days. I remember finally understanding how the sail worked; hitting my first jibe (thanks Pete!); getting planing; beachstarting. But I also remember thinking I was going to die and being washed out to Stewart Park in the remnants of some hurricane (look up that email if you've been on the list since September of 08 :)
The last time I sailed was in late October, when finally the water got too cold, even for my newly bought 5mm wetsuit. At that point, I was still only a late beginner. As I witnessed this weekend, some people can do all the stuff I just listed on their first weekend of windsurfing. It took me about 15 times out on the water to get that far.
I never got back out on Cayuga for various reasons, but I'm now graduated and back in Austin, TX where I work full-time. This past weekend was my first time back on the water, and where else would this rebirth take place than Worldwinds? But something amazing happened at Worldwinds. After not having sailed for 10 months, I magically acquired some amazing skill. This past weekend, I sailed a 145 board with a 6.0 sail in about 13 mph gusty winds. I was able to do everything I got last fall without effort, but I also got planing in the harness, a couple of clew-first beachstarts, faster jibes, semi-regular waterstarts (never attempted before this weekend), and a clew-first water start. I even almost hit a duck jibe by accident (I dropped the sail by accident on a jibe and caught the clew and went under it, but panicked and fell :p). This entire time I was wondering what in the world had happened--I didn't even think much about windsurfing in the time that had passed (self-defense mechanism, I suppose--didn't want to miss it too badly).
But then it hit me. It was because of CWC. Think about it: it's universally true that if you train in hard conditions, you will have a much easier time in easier ones. That's what Cayuga and CWC (inadvertently) affords us. When you've gotten pretty good at controlling that damned Fanatic CAT (or its evil cousin BAT--oh how I hate thee, adjustable mast base), when you're staying afloat and adjusting in weird gusty winds, when you're punished by icy cold water for every mistake you make--well, that makes you pretty resilient. And when you come to a place like Worldwinds where a 13 mph slightly gusty wind is considered crap, where the water is hyper-saline so your board is hyper buoyant, where the water is warm and only ever neck-deep, then yeah, it's not going to be so bad and you might just do a move you never even considered before.
So let that be a little motivation for any beginner out there who's reading this. I know what it was like to be frustrated on Cayuga and not progress very quickly. And I know how bad it sucked to be a beginner. And it's also tough when you're seeing all the experienced sailors out there just doing stuff so easily. Keep in mind that being a beginner on Cayuga really means you're reasonably good given better conditions. And if you hate the Fanatic CAT and BAT as much as I do, then take comfort in the fact that modern boards are way better.
Well, that's it for my story. I hope that at least someone got something out of it. If you didn't, then it's probably because you already knew how awesome this club is, in which case you didn't need this testimonial in the first place :)
The 145L board I mentioned in that email is actually now entirely mine. I also ended up buying the rest of the rig on a subsequent visit to Worldwinds. So as of now, the gear I own is the Fanatic Shark 145 HRS and a MauiSails 6.5m Pursuit. I also love my harness, the Dakine T4, which was well worth the extra money. It fits so well that I forget I'm hooked in sometimes.
Now that I have all my gear, I finally feel like I'm free to find the wind on my own terms. I want some more experience with my gear in different conditions (especially to see what it feels like to be near-over-powered) before I feel entirely comfortable, but things are looking up and I hope to have many more windsurfing adventures to share in the future.
