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Well, I sailed Corpus Christi Bay today. All in all, a good day, but a bit frustrating.
I was easily the worst sailor out there. The guy I bought the F2 from, Evan, whom I knew to be a good sailor already, impressed me on his first runs out: duck jibe, fast tack, loop. Ah, okay. Guess he's a little better than I thought!
I was on my 5.4 and the 1999 96 liter F2 Wave 264 I just bought from Evan for $100. I had a lot of trouble getting comfortable, as I always do with new equipment. Add the chop and it increased the frustration. Incredibly though, I felt more comfortable quicker on this board in these conditions that I did on the Carve 111 on flat water. I think part of it is that I'm becoming a better sailor, so I can adjust quicker. I was humbled though, by being such a kook. It'll pass, as things always do.
On the good side, I didn't find the chop to be as nasty as I was told or imagined myself. It was there, for sure, and some guys were catching some big air, but it wasn't unmanageable. It was only 5.0 to 6.0 conditions (depending on your size, the best sailor there was on a 4.3 but he was trying vulcans and stuff). I'm sure the chop will get even bigger when it's *really* windy, but it was a good start for me. My biggest concern was how well would I waterstart (not so much the waterstart itself, but the arranging of the gear and the flying of the sail). No problems at all. They didn't all come off in 10 seconds [some did], but I didn't have any major problems other than a 3 minute lull where I couldn't get up at all.
Best day ever? No, but it was a confidence builder. I can handle some decent chop, I can waterstart in it, I was on a new board in completely new conditions, so I'm sure it will get better quickly. Oleander is a great place to sail. The sailing ability for some of those guys is head and shoulders above what I've been seeing, and it's a nice "hangout" area. The rigging is awesome and the launch is great, too. I'll be sailing there a lot, and if I can sail with Evan, and keep up, I'm sure I'll progress quickly. Having a good sailor to keep up with always helps (similar to my snowboarding always improving when I snowboarded with guys better than me). I caught some air, none of it on purpose, but definitely some decent sized jumps. I landed all of them (maybe 5 or 6 decent ones) but not well. I spun out 3 or 4 times. The board un-spins out quickly, though. Nothing like the "abandon ship" philosophy necessary with some boards. ;-) Just stomp on it.
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