Greetings:  Last time we spoke of Thumps and Boings  by  Guy Racette
     As time passes the goal is to reduce the number and harshness of the THUMPS. This is probably the biggest difference between a yahoo like myself and a pro sailor.  Concentration and the ability to read, then correctly and accurately respond to the wave forms in front of the board create the biggest gap between sailors of differing ability levels.  Skiers do this all the time.  They pick your least bumpy path from among a set of choices, and then maneuver the body to set the skis accurately on the chosen path.  One important difference is that the moguls on a ski slope seldom move. Or try to roll over and grab your legs. 
     Every time a sailor misjudges the water ahead, the board smacks the water harder than it needed to.  This wets out more of the rocker (slow) distorts the sail shape a little more (slow), disrupts the sailor’s position and forces him/her to sheet out a little to keep control. (also slow)  Sometimes it even causes a quick trip around the mast! (VERY slow) 
     The way to avoid some of this is to develop foot-steering skills.  This can be practiced very well on flat water, actually.  Pretend those little wavelets of chop are big enough to eat your lunch.  Keeping in mind that bigger waves move faster, you can still get the idea of how to keep your ride as smooth as possible by steering always for the most gradual slopes in front of the board. 
     Big whitecap dead ahead?  Quickly decide whether to head up a little more or to head off the wind a little more to duck it.  The consequences of either decision quickly become apparent.  Heading off requires unweighting the front foot and is scarier, but sometimes it’s the better choice.  You’ll pick up some speed, but the rate of rise up the face of the swell will be gentler and the board will tend to stay flatter as it comes off the lip. Then you’ll be able to turn that momentum quickly upwind after you land.
     When faced with steep chop, it’s often easier to step hard on the windward rail and head up quickly.  This will slow the board speed a bit, but make the angle of rise up the face steeper, meaning you may fly higher. When you come down, the board may lose still more speed and it can take a while to get it back.  In other words, it’s not always wrong to duck upwind, but remember the other choice is there if you’ve practiced heading off quickly.  Whenever you try to make quick direction changes, beware the possibility of Killer Spinout.  You’ll learn just how hard you can push before the fin breaks loose and that’s another good thing to practice.         Biff 

Editor's Puffs:   by Roy Tansill
     I’ve always been slower than most folks and I guess its taken me a bit longer to accept the significance of recent US history.  Rather depressing stuff and I find that depression is to writing what no wind is to windsurfing- you just can’t do it!
I’m not the only one.  Chip Biery, our Commodore and normally hyper energetic nice guy,  seemed to be equally afflicted when it came to writing.  I missed my second club meeting in 5 years last month and was not alone- almost everyone was a no show.  I offer no solution to these observations beyond saying it will be good to see you at the next meeting.  I’m going to be there- its therapeutic. 
     Taking the easy way out this month,  if a picture is worth a thousand words,  here’s a thousand that don’t have to be written.  Despite his lone status (for now) rumor has it that there is a behind the scenes effort to incorporate unicycsailors into the CCWA.  As usual, I’m opposed to this change on the grounds that we can’t get insurance coverage (and I can’t ride one of those contraptions either!).
     With Thanksgiving rapidly nearing on the calendar, I was disappointed to hear that Worldwinds was not even going to be open this year for the holiday.  I’ve gotten quite attached to enjoying my turkey feast on the beach with a bunch of boardheads and the prospect of not having that option didn’t improve my mood one bit.  Then came the word that the Dallas based North Texas Wind Riders were planning their annual Fall trek to Bird with or without Worldwinds.  Brian Cunningham (AKA the Dog) will be frying up turkeys on the beach and has opened the door to other sailors who might want to join in the feast.  Its a pot luck feast so the price of admission is bring something tasty to share with the hungry horde.  It might also be a good idea to let me know if you plan to attend and I’ll pass that along to the NTWR folks.  They’ll be out at Bird that entire week so if you’d like to attend their party, drop by Bird during the week before and see what you can bring along to help out.  One item I know that is high on their list of needs is tables.
     Remember a few years ago, well I guess its been more than a decade now, when a boat with a secret keel ended the US domination of the America’s cup?   That idea never filtered down to sailboards- until recently.  The sailboard version was designed for fins and it really isn’t a winged fin; that design would grab weeds so badly it would be an anchor within a few yards.   This ‘winged’ fin uses an enlarged tip that is shaped like the fin foil but with much more chord width way down near the tip.  The photo is a prototype which was hand shaped out of wood and used a TruAmes Weed Blade as a base.  The reviews of folks who tried it were all very positive.  The fin generates lift- tons of it when its deepest point is somewhat bulbous.  The whole point of the ever increasing length of today’s fins is lift- this idea seems to produce that without something akin to a Samurai sword lurking under your board.  The Hawaii based tester raved about the fins upwind ability.  There is a major  drawback- no way to mold that design.  But with epoxy, some wood, sandpaper and too much spare time this looks like a fix for that now near useless formerly favorite Laguna Madre ground off tip weed fin that you have but never use anymore. 

Sightings   by someone else 
     Has anyone noticed that the wider the board Doc Allen has been ripping about on, the thinner he gets?  Rumor has it that its no illusion- Doc’s been getting into shape, sailing a lot, and also has been very hard to catch since he’s gone both wider (board) and narrower (body) at the same time.
     Worldwinds has recently made a major change.  After dealing with Bic for many years, they are now an F2 stocked rental facility.  They also have gotten into the wide style so if you want to check out what a formula board can do for you,  go out to Bird and test drive one.  Its a lot cheaper to rent one before you pay out big bucks for one of your own.... first discover if they are or aren’t your cup of tea. 
     While on the topic of width, I’ve observed that each issue of Windsurfing Magazine is thinner than its predecessor?  I’m uncertain what that indicates other than,  after scanning the next issue cover to cover, I’ll have more free time to do something else. 
     Since earlier this year I’ve been using iwindsurf.com as the source of the peak wind data in Doc Allen’s monthly add.  This past month their Laguna Shores anemometer has been down more often than its been up.  That wind meter is on CCWA member Wally Allen’s house off Laguna shores road.  The site is also home to Vicki and Bob Haraghy’s Texas Excursions.  The problem began with the thunder storms we had back in September and had progressed to the point that the site was not reporting at all by the end of October.  A new PC was installed and the site is once again back online.  If you’ve never used their service, give them a try- you can get a free trial month and they’ve got a good product. Give them a look at www.iwindsurf.com 
     We need some help for the upcoming Holiday Party.  If you want to help out, give Chip Biery a call.  So far we have a date but nothing else is confirmed; meanwhile,  December looms quite large on the rapidly nearing horizon.  We need a few folks for the party committee so how about you? 

2001 Aransas Triangle   by  Roy Tansill 
     Saturday, October 27th arrived clear and just cool enough to feel good.  A leisurely drive up to Aransas Pass then just a few miles further and I was once again at the waterfront home of John and Rose Williams in the City by the Sea Community.  This year felt different and unlike the past four years that I’ve made that same trip in late October. One major difference was immediately noticeable- John Williams was not there this year.   John was called out of the country for an unscheduled trip.  That left Rose to deal with the crew of Gumbo seeking windsurfers by herself.  The weather was great except there was no surplus of wind and by the time the race got underway there were only two racers who could get on a plane. 
     Jonathan  Bright brought his Starboard 175 potato chip along with a 9.0 sail and had little problem with the flat water out and back course.  Dick Ward tried to offer him competition but his vintage HyperTech air filled board couldn’t match the big rig and wide platform his sole competitor was on.  The closest anyone came to the Lost at Sea Award was our commodore.  Chip provided the chase boat and coming out of the boat launch (only a block or two from our launch) he missed the channel thereby winding up out in Aransas Bay in a boat not really suited for the bay’s wave action.  In dying northeast breeze the Bay had built up large ramps from earlier in the day and Chip was quite happy to find his way back into the flat water on the inside of the sand shoals. 
     Since the annual event has moved to the Williams’ home, the race has become secondary to the post race chow.   Gumbo consumers far out numbered sailors this year but a few hours on the water had me ready to consume multiple bowls of Rose’s delicious concoction. 
     Maybe it was the Osama syndrome or perhaps everyone went to Port A for what was probably a great dawn patrol session in the waves but less than two dozen folks showed up for the 2001 Aransas Triangle.  Whatever your reasons for not attending, you missed a good time and the best gumbo west of New Orleans.  New family members, Hans and Annie Anderson,  were able to find their way there and it was good to see Jon Bright at a club function again.  The great fall weather held all the way through the late evening’ sky show.  For you folks who live amongst the city’s lights, the shoreline star/moon light show is another reason not to miss the next event John and Rose host.   Meanwhile I’d like to offer my personal thanks to all of the no shows- I wolfed down a whole lot of that gumbo that could have been yours.

       END OF SEASON SPECIALS: 
Dakine High Back waist harness XS-XL w/bar  $69.00 (reg $82) 
Dyna Fiber 430/25 masts $199 (reg $245)
Chinook In Flight harness lines $24 (reg $31) 
Chinook giant slalom boom 6’-8’ $110  (reg  $166)
ALL OTHER RETAIL ITEMS   15% OFF 
Two or three brand new Gaastra sails for 25% off retail
Come on down and take advantage of the great weather, great sailing, great people, and great deals. 
That’s it from here, Don 

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Worldwinds end of the year ‘gotta make room for the new wide stuff’ sale
Bic Evolution Medium 112L - one left
Bic Saxo 270  95L - one left
Bic Techno 273 125L - two left
Four or five 2001 Gaastra sails of various sizes  $159 - 299
Contact Don at (361) 949-7472  e-mail djackson@worldwinds.net

‘00 Seatrend 260 ATV  excellent condition custom 85L carbon reinforced jump & bump board w/ fin and daybag.  $500 obo 
‘93 Brand-X slalom board 9’ 100L knockoff of Copello w/Tuttle box, pads & good straps $75 
Contact Roy Tansill   e-mail: LooseClu@prodigy.net