MISSILE

Wed. Nite Writeup April 30th

Movie Star debuts as Rig Caddy! Fernando has a kid!!!

That’s right, besides good racing again in full planning conditions, the excitement of the evening was The Movie Star debuting as Jim DeSilva’s Rig Caddy! Jim, out on his new F2 FXVI had the benefit of the Movie Star giving him a sail to use, rigging his sail, tuning his sail, and supplying him with whatever parts were missing.  We also had the pleasure of RON KERN last night, who won for the night with a powerful display of downwind speed that the Movie Star was unable to compete with. But watch out, for second on the night was non other than Martin Abete, who aced out the AWIA Windsurfer of the Year with a display of consistent speed and tactics….and he was on a 10 instead of an 11, so that was even more impressive. Jim, floundering on the new Formula board, showed flashes of speed but will have to get a new caddy because he was on the wrong size sail for the night, but hey, when someone is rigging for you complaining is just not an option. But this caddy is KNOWN for rigging up the wrong size (see previous writeups) so maybe Jim should be making the call on the sail size and just have the caddy take care of the rigging, I mean, Tiger just has his caddy carry the clubs and hand them to him, he doesn’t have him actually tell him what club he has to use, does he? What is the most annoying thing about windsurfing…rigging up right? I think the caddy thing has a future. If you are going sailing, and want to pay me 40 bucks to rig your crap, give me a call at 305 860 0888 and I will come over and take care of this for you, as long as you are at Virginia, the Causeway, or Shake A Leg. Other destinations are available, but transportation and lodging will have to be included. Since Movie Star owes me HUGE, he rigs for me for FREE, but that way we don’t tell all the bad stories we know about him. Eduardo was on IR still, but the big news is Fernando was not there due to the birth of future windsurfer and his NEW DAUGHTER!! Congratulations Fernando!!! Oh, and Kent represented for the kiters, drift-launching off the causeway to make the races, JOSH NOE had his Corolla in the shop getting gullwing doors put on and could not make it. Maybe next week. Shake A Leg delivers the wind EVERY WEDNESDAY NIGHT, SO YOU NEED TO COME OUT. Oh, Angelito made a token appearance out also, no Sergios (old or new) were sight

Wed. Nite Racing April 9th—Wild Action @ Shake A Leg Miami!!

 

The best race series in America is back and with a vengeance.  Shake A Leg Miami, home to the best kids windsurfing program on Biscayne Bay, hosted their second Wed. Nite race of the season, with 14-23 knot juice on tap.  Rumored to show up were multiple kiters to battle with Team Miami for bragging rights, but the kiters had a secret weapon up their sleeve—JOSH NOE WAS IN THE HOUSE!!  This legendary kiter, inventor of the bow kite, the wetsuit, and the man who designed the Toyota Corolla, would be competing on a brand new custom racing kiteboard of his own creation for the first time….rumors of this new board filled the beach with buzz and even the R/C was waiting to see the man himself in action.

 

Unfortunately for the kiters Fernando, The Movie Star and Martin showed up and had to show them why Formula boards are faster than kites.  At the start of the first race, The Movie Star took off, never to be seen except in the distance, unless you were Fernando, who passed him and won the race.  What about Josh, the only man known to beat Jeff Kafka?  The secret weapon was less secret than anticipated, but there were some big jumps and that was good, but Josh got beat by a Kona with a 9.0—but he was only on a 12, the other kites were on 14’s, so we will chalk this up to a lack of power.  New Formula guy Martin Abete acquitted himself well, while Jim DeSilva mixed it up with the other kiters who one day hope to be the equal of Josh.

 

Race #2, the kiters got lapped as the wind was up and down.  Well, I don’t know about that, but for the moment, let’s just say kites jump higher and Formula Boards go faster upwind.  But the kiters proved they can smoke downwind, this much we know.  But until JOSH NOE brings the ultra-stealth black box board he is working on at the Skunkworks, Fernando and the Movie Star are still safe in planning conditions on Wed. Nite. 

 

MIA—Ron Kern, Sergio, Angelito, Eduardo (on the Injured Reserve), Monica, and the Polish Girl. 

 

Awesome Pizza at the cook out, you can’t beat Shake A Leg!

 

See you all next week suckas!

Shake A Leg Wed. Nite Racing                                     10-04-2007

So tonight was an interesting lineup….could a Fanatic Viper with a 6.5 beat a Formula Board with an 11.0 Meter Sail?  Most would say, no, this is impossible, but when you have the Movie Star sailing, anything is possible.

So the wind was light….too light for planning for sure, even with Formula gear.  But Shake A Leg Fanatic Vipers were out and the Movie Star was up for the challenge, so out he went, schlogging the whole way to the start.  The gun went off and the mixed fleet of multiple windsurfers, sailboats and Lasers were on their way.  Surprisingly, it was Meredith Bass out front early….well, so what that she was 30 seconds over early, but out front nonetheless, and since she pays the R/C, they sure were not going to call her over.  It did not look good for the Movie Star early but lo and behold, what do we have here?  It’s the Movie, planning upwind in a little puff, channeling Fernando or something!  Jim DeSilva, in second place in the Vipers, looks over and watches Movie plane right by him, going ten times as fast and twenty degrees lower, but that was good enough to get him to the windward mark in ……..second place, behind first time windsurfing racer Meredith Bass!  Bass then proceeded to start reaching sideways, just to taunt the Movie Star but eventually straightened out her trajectory downwind to secure first place and a place in history as the first person to beat Alex Morales on a Viper.  Defeated Viper rider Jim DeSilva commented, “Hey, she beat me straight up, but I taught her everything she knows about sailing and windsurfing, so this makes me proud…what, this was her first race????  Oh, I did not know that…….I think I am going to cry, excuse me”…..ok, we really did not need to see any of that, so we looked away while Jim embarrassed himself.  All the other people she beat on the Vipers had no comment, nor did they reach for Kleenex.

Brittney Hinckley got scared and did not sail to the race course because she was afraid of victory and the ramifications that might cause by beating her ex-boss and current boss.  But she did sail.    Angelito, self proclaimed light wind planning champion of Biscayne Bay, thought the wind was too light and thus did not rig.  But the Movie Star did plane, and was more of a man because he did.  Let others follow the great man’s lead and rig up more often…..

Afterwards, with Meredith rubbing it in, The Movie Star started talking about pulling out his Lechner.  We get this speech often, but the reality is that the Lechner is lost and may never be seen again. Movie, call Shake A Leg because you seriously have to get that board out of there….they really are uncertain of the whereabouts, other than that it is occasionally seen, kind of like Bigfoot.  In other news, Martin is down in Argentina at the Raceboard Worlds, with Jim’s Race 380, hopefully showing those Argentines how we do it here in Miami.  Over/Under on Jims board coming back not damaged?  Well, let’s just say HIGHLY UNLIKELY is the correct response.

Get ready for the upcoming MIami Slalom Series October 13 and 14,  Miami Pro- Am November 17-18  and the AC/BC in January at Shake A Leg.  2 more weeks of Wed. Nite Racing and then the sun is done…..starting a little early next week at 6:15 to allow for more racing.

Miami  Shake a leg  wed nite series                       sept 17-2007

With perfect Formula wind Wed. Nite, it was going to be a battle between the Movie Star and Fernando. Also gracing the course was Sergio and Angel, who both are making claims about being the early planning champions of Biscayne Bay, but for some reason when the gun goes off, they are never planning and the Movie Star and Fernando seem to be. Jim DeSilva also came out and was schlogging on the Prodigy, which proved to be precisely half as fast as a Formula board in these 10-13 mph conditions. Jim whupped on some sailboats, who also commented on how slow he was, then went over to the US Sailing course (hey, we got two courses to choose from now—I am telling you, the racing is good down here…what course am I going to sail on? Who is sailing on what course?? Decisions, decisions…) and went slow on their course too.

So after years of promoting Formula, why is it the Movie Star can’t rig up the right sail ever? Fernando comes down, takes one look, and rigs the 11.9. Movie comes down, looks around, thinks about it, checks iWindsurf, walks upstairs and scopes it, walks out on the dock and scopes it, calls Eduardo and asks what the wind is doing, calls over to the Causeway and asks what the wind is over there, checks the windmeter inside Shake A Leg and after gathering all this information, rigs the wrong sail. Thus, the results are, Fernando first cuz he has the right sail rigged up, Movie Star 2nd, Sergio 3rd, Angelito 4th and Jim pulling into last, with a few people in between. Ron Kern was scared of the Movie Star and did not show up. Eduardo was tired from the trade show and said no way but he will be there next week.

Pat Downey from US Sailing gave the Movie Stars board a try after the racing and was awed by the power….Jim also went out on it and vowed to get back to the Formula love when the new 08’s come out. Wow, if Angel has a formula board now, that pretty much means everyone is doing it, so it must be good. Sergio, tired of taking a beating at the hands of the Movie Star, has vowed to unleash a new ‘secret weapon’ on the unsuspecting Formula Fleet very soon, so beware of the Napoleanic-like Russian. I believe he has gotten his hands on some old Russian Submarine Titanium and will be coming with some whacky fin or something now….just beware of that radioactive stuff, Serg…bring your Geiger counter to the beach when Serge rigs up. Also, Sergio told us that Zaichek means “bunny rabbit” in Czeck and that is why the San Francisco guys are fast, because they have bunny rabbit boards. Well, you learn something new every day, don’t you?

Wed. Nite racing until the end of the month, then, it’s over and the great champions will be crowned for the season. Who will it be? Stay tuned for details.

Wed-Nite race series at Shake a leg                                Sep 6, 2007

A small group arrived earlier than normal as the wind seemed to be better than expected and we were all anxious to get on the water. A new member to the group Nidia was going to crewed on a sailboat to enjoy the racing and take pictures of the races. Reminiscent of last Wednesday the wind was a solid 10-12 mph early and was supposed to die during the racing, as it happened the wind slackened a bit but stayed planeable though out with the winds becoming gustier. The pleasant surprise was the small amount of weeds in the course area something rare in the bay this summer. We got out about 5 to 5:30 and got all 5 racers out together at the US Sailing course as the Check-a-leg course hadn’t been set up yet. We were all in formula gear with each racer using a different board. Alex was on his 2007 f2 and his usual 11m North Sail, Juani a 2006 f2 and 10m Noth, Brian a 1.4 Bic and 11.5M Neil Pryde, Sergio a custom ML and 10m Naish, and I was using an Alex modified 2006 Fanatic with 8.5 sail.    

 The 1st race was run in solid wind and as usual for this group it was Movie Star going 1st at full speed fallow by Juani and Sergio close behind, I follow behind and found I was unable to point as high as the rest. Brian seemed to have missed the starting signal and was way behind. Alex kept his lead through out the double lap race but Sergio kept pace in second place as Juani had had fallen which also allowed me to take third and Brian to come in last.        

The 2nd race seemed to be a rehash of the 1st except that Juani was able to finished and Brian was able to start with the pack. Brian had trouble finding the laid lines being short the 1st upwind and wind and way over in the must of the down wind legs causing him and me following to try to finish the race in the wrong direction through the finish line. (results?)      

With Alex dominating the race so far it seemed that the rest were just trying to fight for the remaining podium spots and I was just trying to finish all races. Sergio felt that he was getting dehydrated and returned to land. With one less member the 3rd race was run with Alex starting 1st as usual followed by Juani and Brian the latter actually getting a good start, I brought the rear following Brian for the 1st half of the upwind leg before loosing ground pointing lower. It was an Alex, Juani and Brian turning the top marks close together. On my down leg I found myself on a head on track with Brian who had overshot the lay line (again!?) and was coming back on a close haul and bared off just a few feet in front. (results?).

The last race was run without Juani who decide to take the race off and Jim joined us with his long board. The wind died a little it was a fight between the formula and long boards with the long board going tighter and Alex making up with speed. Brian falling again allowed me to take 3rd place and being thankful that the race was over as I was to tired to go once more. (results?)

It was another exciting Wednesday night with the wind showing up allowing for some fun racing where we missed the competition that Fernando, Eduardo and Monica would have brought. We retired to the weekly barbecue to recount the racing as well as talk about upcoming windsurfing events. We were joined by future windsurfer/racer Nidia which had a great time on the sailboats and was eager to start windsurfing so she could become another member of Team Miami.

 Angel Domenech

Wed-Nite race series at Shake a leg                        august 30, 2007

Well the last few Wednesday night events have been plagued by a dying breeze and enough weed to get the whole town high..............But the turnout has been encouraging with around 6 to 10 of us showing up to give it a shot.  We made it out on the water early this week, and got in one race with decent powered up conditions on the US Sailing Center race course.  Movie Star and Rick Randall on Formula, Camilo and Mark Powell on RSX, mixed it up and it was interesting!  The conditions were gusty to say the least, but the weeds were not too bad on the inside, so it was pretty fun.  Alex was on 11.0 2007 North with an R18, and RR was on his TR3 11.0 with a Techtonics 66 cm ( hey Movie said it was windy.....).
Upwind, I was actually pointing higher and about the same speed as Movie with my set up.  Downwind in the light stuff he was doing better than me.

It was enlightening to see the strengths of Formula vs RSX in those conditions.  When the Formula guys are powered up, the RSX has no chance upwind or down.  But as soon as we lost power, those guys put the center board down and bye bye they went.  After the first race, the wind got really inconsistent, and we did another race.  By then the Shake a Leg course was up, and Fernando made it out on his 11.9 and Juanny was also out on a 10.0 North and 06 F2.  The Movie Star was still playing at US Sailing and caused some confusion for RR and Fernando, and the SAL Race committee was not looking too pleased either.  By the time we got going over there, the wind was doing its usual drop along with he sun.  So, we all retired to the shore for some cold brews and hot wings.  We know the windy season is just around the corner, and are ready to crank up the volume once again with racing in Miami.  Stay tuned for exciting news soon!

Rick Randall US - 089

New Windsurfing Program in Miami Launches!

Liquid Surf and Sail Miami, in conjunction with Fanatic and Shake A Leg Miami (hosts of the Alex Caviglia Bluewater Regatta) have launched the new Fanatic Windsurfing School at Shake A Leg. SAL teaches hundreds of children over the course of the year and currently has very strong programs in sailing and kayaking. Surprisingly, demand for windsurfing has exceeded all expectations. Meredith Bass, Watersports Director at SAL says, "The kids are going nutz….all of them want to do it….but we were really surprised how easy it was once we got set up." SAL does not have a beach, but operates off some docks in a tight channel in Coconut Grove. They actually tow new students out on an Airport (large inflatable dock) and anchor off the newly refurbished islands just outside their channel. With warm shallow water and steady winds, this is the ideal situation to learn how to windsurf. Their flexible situation means no matter which way the wind blows, they are ready to windsurf because of the 360 degree exposure of the islands. Equipment consists of Fanatic Vipers and rigs ranging from 2.0 up to 6.5.

Shake A Leg also hosts the Wed. Nite Race series, where we get sailboats, dinghies, windsurfers, multihulls, and kiters all racing together. Contact Jim DeSilva at Liquid Surf and Sail Miami for more details at 305 860 0888.

SAL is getting their fall programming together for afterschool, which will commence Sept. 15. Kids 8-18 are all welcome. You can contact Meredith Bass at Meredith@shakealegmiami.org for more details on the programs and to sign your child up.

Report from Wednesday Night at Shake A Leg, by Ron Kern:

 
The Shake-A-Leg club is certainly gracious and one of the best racing deals around. 
 
 
No charge to race and $5 for a great after sailing BBQ with hamburgers, hot dogs and veggie burger, condiments, salad, sides, soft drinks and cookies.  It's a great way to get some race practice, hang with your sailing and windsurfing friends for a mid-week no stress event.  It's cool too that everybody races, racing what they brought.  This Wednesday were 5 windsurfers, 5 Shake-A-Leg boats and 3 kiters.  It's great that kiting and windsurfing are included in the 16th year of Wednesday night racing: 
 
 
 
 
Windsurfers:  Alex Morales, a.k.a. Movie Star - Formula 10m; Fernando Martinez - Formula 10m; Jim DeSilva - Prodigy - North Sail; Robert - Slalom board and Ron Kern - Formula 9.8m. 
 
Kiters:  Kent Marinkovic - 9m, Gary Menk - 12m, Don't remember name - 6m.
 
It was quite windy:
 
 
 
 
3 races were run.  Two laps windward / leeward course marks to port with a separate start for the boats about 4-5 minutes ahead.  The formula boards were pretty quick and could beat the boats to the first mark even with a 4-5 minute handicap.  Kites and Prodigy were pretty close in finish times.  Not getting tangled up in bad air from the boats at or on the way to weather mark was a good strategy. 
 
See you next Wednesday.  The more the merrier, spread the word.
 
Later,
 
Ron
Miami                                                                    april -05 -2007

The second Wednesday Night Race at Shake a Leg had great conditions.  The wind was from the SE at about 9-12 knots, and the weeds were not too bad.......Fernando, Eduardo, Alex, Rick, Sergio and Angelito all made it out to the course after a tacking duel through the channel at Shake a Leg avoiding the mega yachts.  The course was a windward leeward with 2 laps.  The sailboats went off first, and we followed later.  There was some confusion regarding the starting sequence amongst the competitors, which made for an interesting time!

The first race was a bit light in places which showed the sail of choice was 11.9, which was what Fernando, Alex and Eduardo used.  RR was under gunned on his 11.0 and Sergio made it around the course ok on his 10, and Angelito was of course on his 8.5.  Fernando was the winner.

The second race the wind built a bit and the start was a bit better as well for everyone.  Alex was in the lead at the first mark but was overtaken downwind by Fernando, the eventual winner.

The final race was done just as the sun was dropping out of sight, and was shortened to one lap.  Fernando managed to snag the anchor line on the upwind mark, costing him the victory which went to Eduardo.  We all got back to the dock just as night fell, the boats all had their running lights on!

Equipment used by, Fernando:  North Warp 2007 11.9, F2 Formula V, Deboichet R 18.  Eduardo:  North Warp 2007, 11.9 F2 Formula V, Kashy 70.  Alex:  North Warp 2006 11.9, F2 Formula V, Kashy 70.  Rick R:  Maui Sails TR 2 11.0, F2 Formula V, Deboichet R19 Soft --.  Sergio:  Naish Stealth 2007 10,  Mikes Lab L5, Kashy 70.  Angelito:  Ezzy 8.5, Bic Techno, Fin?  54 cm.

First Wed. Nite at Shake A Leg—                                4/01/07  

Perfect Formula conditions greeted the sailors for the first SAL Wed. Nite series contest.  For those of you who are not aware, every Wed. nite starting, well, now, there is a race in Biscayne Bay for whatever sails that you want to show up with….boats, boards, kites, etc.  First, let’s talk about who was afraid to show up….kiters were afraid, Juanny was afraid, Sergio was shopping for new Berets on Lincoln Road and could not make it and Angelito was probably sailing on the causeway, probably planning, probably going fast, but did not come race.  But who did show up?  World Female Champion Monica, Eduardo, Fernando, Marvin List (soon to be a new Shake A Leg Volunteer), the World Famous on the Internet Movie Star and Jim, who, since he did not have a Formula Board, went out on a boat instead of being the only daggerboard schmo out there. More about this later.

See everybody next Wed. at SAL!!!  First start at 6:30, be there at quarter of 6.  Mommysotas are welcome

August 9 -2006 Shake A Leg Race Report--by Jim DeSilva

This was a showdown night of epic proportions.  It was very unusual in that we had just enough breeze for Formula planing, but everything was out....Fernando on Formula gear, Movie Star on Lechner, Jim and Eduardo on Old School Raceboards and Mark Powell on RS-X.  Along with the usual collections of J-24's, J-22's, Sonars, some bathtub looking thing, Freedoms and some bright green boat that we had never seen before that looked kind of like an Etchells.

The start went off for the first race and Fernando started planing....this could spell trouble for everyone else, but he was barely planing and when he went out and back, he was actually behind Jim on the 380.  But the breeze started to fill in, and though Jim got to the windward mark first, Fernando got to the downwind first and never looked back.  He actually increased his lead upwind and smoked downwind to get an easy win.  But the wind never got over 12, probably averaging 10-11 consistently.  Of course, the Movie Star was still sailing out to the course, so we had to wait and see what was in store from Mr. Lechner.
 
The second race was more interesting.  Everyone was ready, we had a few more boats and all the boards.  Jim and Eduardo went off up near the boat, Movie Star and Mark Powell went off further down the line, and Fernando cleared his air and started planing.  After the first tack, it looked good for Jim, who had a slight lead over Fernando and the Movie Star, but then Fernando got going and took off.....he was gone...no he wasn't...yes he was...the breeze was just at the minimum, oscillating back and forth.  Jim and Fernando got there at just about the same time, with the Movie Star close behind....a Formula Board, a Race 380 Longboard and a Lechner....wow, what a race!  3 generations of windsurf design, all completely competitive within a few feet of each other....amazing stuff!  But then, it was time for new school domination and Fernando took off downwind, not to be seen for a while.  Jim, feeling confident that he would smoke the Movie Star downwind with the 380, found out otherwise....the Movie Star was FAST, going deeper and faster....what the hell happened??  I could smoke him the last few weeks but he had pulled out the deal breaker...the 12.5, not the 11.0, and this was a very, very fast setup.  So it was looking like Fernando, Movie, Jim and Eduardo, with Mark Powell in kind of a funk on the not quite fast enough RS-X.  But on the second upwind, the wind lightened up and we started to reel in Fernando, who was magically still planing, but mostly sideways now and the Movie Star was unstoppable and got to the windward mark first, way in front of Jim and a little in front of Fernando.  But again, Fernando took off downwind and smoked the Movie Star.  Movie, who had something left in the tank, pulled in comfortably ahead of Jim, who had a lead on Eduardo, who had been handicapped with a smaller sail than everyone else.  If he had the 11.0, watch out....it would have been  a whole different ball game . TO CONTINUE SCROWL DOWN
 
In summary, it was really an impressive performance by Fernando to  be planing in 7-8 mph (lulls) and smoking in the gusts (tops 12), dodging boats and not getting too hung up in the weed, which was nasty in spots.  Movie Star has upped the ante now with the 12.5 on the Lechner, which short of having a totally soft sail, has got the be the fastest light wind setup of all time.  When he actually puts a gasket in the board, watch out, because he still has a fountain coming out of the daggerboard well. Fernando never stopped planing, hit the laylines right and showed what the true bottom end of a Formula board could be--a defining moment for the Formula Board  on a very interesting night .  If it had been anyone else on the Formula board, they would have gotten spanked, but FM has his gear dialed,  knows how to use it and he is pretty light, which helps in that kind of wind.  Mark Powell sailed well, but when put against the fastest types of all 3 categories of boards (Div 2, Raceboard and Formula), and all of whom had a bigger sail than him, it was a tough contest.  Camillo wussed out and went to Maui, where they don't have Div 2 boards and raceboards.  Let's see Phil McGain and Matt Pritchard come to Miami and see how tough they are in light winds and weed.....come on, Movie Star has a hundred dollars for everybody on Maui, The Whole Damn Island, all you got to do is show up and beat him.....!!!
 
Oh yeah, it was Simona's 39th birthday, Happy Birthday Simona, you really look great for your age, you don't look a day over 30, I swear.  Simona was out in the boat assisting.  Angel again refused a Free Prodigy, which he could have battled Mark Powell with.  Kent did not sail...saying something about work....I think he was just afraid of the Movie Star.....but we may see him next week.  Kiters were soft, with holes in their bladders...there was enough wind, they just didn't show.
 
Windsurfers kicked butt hard on the boats this week.  Where are the Melges now????  They don't come out at low tide because there is not enough water, so they are on shore, that's where they are. 
 
SAL continues through August and into September, until we run out of daylight.  Make it down, and don't forget about the upcoming Miami Pro Am, Columbus Day Weekend.  Everyboard and everybody is welcome--check this website for further details.

Wed. Nite Shake A Leg Action!  Week of August 2, 2006

Tonight we had a good fleet with all the usual regulars (Movie Star Alex Morales, Top (Mts) Fernando Martinez, Eduardo, Jim DeSilva) plus, Sergio and newbies Camillo Marmol and Mark Powell, both on RS-X's.  Camillo was fresh back from San Francisco, where he was training for Wed. Nite SAL in the strong winds of SF Bay.  Hey Camillo, Seth Besse and Gebhardt are nothing compared to what we got here!!!
 
The wind had been blowing around 12-13 all day, right on the cusp of where Formula becomes dominant.  It was actually a little lighter than this by race time, but still planeable on occasion, so the Movie Star, terrified of getting beaten on his Lechner, opted for Formula and could not plane.  But Fernando could, and actually completed both races, though he was a little late for the first one.  But Jim pulled out old reliable, the F2 Race 380, and that proved the ticket for giving it to the entire fleet in the first race.  In the second race, Jim and Eduardo battled, with Jim holding on at the end, and Fernando edged out Mark Powell on the RS-X, perhaps the most impressive sailing of the nite considering how light the wind was.  Mark sailed a very good windward leg on the second race, losing out to Jim by just a few yards, which was impressive considering the light wind and length difference between the two boards.  Movie Star watched the action from the sidelines, as he could not get going at all, while the ultimo secret weapon, the Lechner 390, sat in the shed at SAL.  Sometimes when you have so much gear, you just don't know which one to use.....or was the Movie Star Emotionally Scarred from never having beaten a longboard yet at SAL????? 
 
J-24's were seen colliding, swearing at each other, and exchanging hull paint.  Jim also ran over Eduardo before the start, just because he could, but for no apparent reason.  One J-24 beat us in the second race, but we whupped them good in the first one.  Eduardo also got taken out by a Freedom, so he took some Advil and called it a night early.
 
No kiters, but two skinny blond girls in bikinis were seen looking for Kent Marinkovic, who was somewhere in the general vicinity but not on the race course.  Was Kent getting ready to windsurf?  Rumors circulated through all of Coconut Grove that he was coming back, but he still has not been sited on a board.  Just the concept of Kent windsurfing was attracting girls already--I told you it would work!
 
Exciting to have RS-X's out there....Garrett is scheduled to be there next week for Sergio and Angel, who are tired of being left out of the fun.  Come on Garrett, bring all those used boards to SAL!!
 
Will we have hurricane wind next week for WED. NITE?  STAY TUNED!

July 26 Showdown at Shake-A-Leg       
 
Tonight we had a full complement of Movie Stars in attendance.  In additon to a really big boat fleet (45 people out on the water) we had local stars Eduardo Owen (Fanatic, F2) and Fernando Martinez (F2, North), Alex Morales aka The Movie Star and Jim DeSilva.  Sergio and Angel, though they rigged up and sailed, declined to race, siting the powerful winds as being too intimidating.  Miami Pro Am Campeon del Mundo Monica also showed, but too late to race.  Monica, get your priorities in line, please.  Windsurfing is more important than work, always.
 
As mentioned, the wind was strong, around 2-7.  All the Movie Stars came out on long boards, and The Movie Star again pulled out the Lechner 390.  True to form,  The Movie Star started things out by starting right at the downwind gybe mark...over early...this is his signature move.....Movie Star, how many times have you done this course now??  It's the exact same thing every week....you think you would have gotten it straight now that you have done it a dozen times.  But the Movie Star, capitalizing on his nice start, still managed to beat Jim, who had a little more juice downwind, but not quite enough upwind.  For the second race, it was all Fernando Martinez, who showed the Movie Star that a Mistral One Design can beat his silly Lechner if you know how to sail.  Jim and Eduardo went right, the breeze went left, and they were left to flounder in the weeds and the lulls as Fernando and Movie Star duked it out.  So the unofficial results were as follows:
 
Fernando-1st
Jim--2nd
Eduardo--3rd
Movie Star--4th
 
However, the official results were:
 
Movie Star 1st
Fernando--2nd
Jim--3rd
Eduardo--4th
 
Unofficial is what actually happened, but official is what gets the trophy!
 
Sergio and Angel could have sailed identical Mistral Prodigies, but were scared of the strong winds and the whole going upwind thing, so they declined to race.  What do I do with the centerboard?  When do I put it up or down?  Windsurfing should not be so complicated, they say, so they just passed.  Of course, Serge is interested in the Starboard Serenity, 16 feet long and if you ask me, that sounds a lot more complicated than a Prodigy, but what do I know?  The only thing I do know, is the The Movie Star is over early in half of the races he starts, whether it is course, slalom, Formula or whatnot.  Since Phil McGain has not shown up yet, he can pretty much get away with this around here.  But the Lechner is fast, so WATCH OUT!!!! is what the Movie Star has to say to all comers.  During his victory speech afterwards, Movie Star challenged the entire fleet to beat him, offering a hundred dollars to whoever can beat him.  So I guess he owes me and Fernando one hundred each right now.
 
Kiters stayed home and untangled their string, with the exception of Kent Marinkovic, who showed up and was ready to windsurf (!) but then declined, because Fernando STOLE his board.  Being that Fernando can bench more than Kent, Kent just went out on his boat with Paula and laughed at our antics instead....a wise move in retrospect. 
 
In the windsurfers giving it to boats department, boats won the first race and Fernando won the second. Thanks to all in attendance and to SAL for putting on the action.  Wed. Nite is Growing!!!

 

 

 

July 24 , 2006

Wed. Night Writeup--Showdown of the Titans!
 
Many of you have always wondered about light wind supremacy....what set up was the fastest of all time?  It is generally concluded that the F2 Race 380 was the fastest raceboard ever made.  It is also true that the Lechner 390 (former Olympic Board) was the fastest lightwind Div. II board of all time. 
 
So when you match these two boards up, who wins???
 
We had the opportunity to find out last week on Wed. Night at Shake A Leg.  With light winds of 3-8mph, and both of these boards in attendance with matching 11.0 meter sails, the debate would be settled.  The Movie Star, Alex Morales, pulled out his old school Lechner for the first time of the season and he was claiming that his board was unbeatable.  Jim DeSilva, with his BRAND NEW F2 380 (even though it is really old, but it was a new board) had a matching sail, and was up for the challenge.  Sergio declined to come out because he was scared of the mighty firepower on display, so it was up to these two to battle the rest of the sailboats at SAL.
 
Race 1--Movie Star, who had been storing his board at SAL, can't find it because they moved it in the hangar somewhere.  So Jim beats the entire fleet and wonders out loud, "Where IS the Movie Star?"
 
Race 2--Movie Star makes it out, as do the rest of the boats, including some very fast Melges 24's who beat the windsurfers to the windward mark.  Movie Star is in front, but gets rolled downwind by the 380, which looks to be a superior platform to pump on.  But Movie Star can't find the groove upwind, Jim maintains his lead and cruises away downwind for the W.  As usual, weeds slow everyone down some.
 
Afterwards, Movie Star mumbled things about not having a gasket, daggerboard at the wrong angle, I let you go by, etc. but the bottom line is as follows:
--Lechner faster and points better upwind.
--380 equal speed downwind but by being more stable, can be pumped much harder, which translates to more speed.
--But if you put the gasket on, I bet it is a lot faster.
--neither one is as fast as a Melges, which kicked our asses, but the J-24's went down to defeat.
 
Kiters stayed home and stroked their bladders as there was not enough wind.  But SAL WED continues to be the most intersting race series in the US, with many sailboats, boards, kites and everything on the Start All At the Same TIme.  For some reason, we got trophies, which was really cool, so props to the SAL organizers for this.
 
Hope to see you all there every Wed. at 6:30!

Wed. Nite Racing @ Shake A Leg

Wed. June 28th was the start of the next series at SAL. This is a fascinating race series as we have everything racing together…..windsurfers, keelboats, dinghies and even kiters!

See the previous pictures of the action to get a feel of what is happening down here.

But Wed. we had light wind, and it was pouring while rigging up! But the R/C, saying that it was "game on", sent folks out anyway. Although a lot of Formula guys rigged up, Fernando Martines was the only one who made it out to the course, but he could not plane, so he left it to Jim DeSilva to duke it out with the sailboats. Jim brought his F2 Race 380 down from Boston, and this was the tool for the job in the very light wind. The Movie Star was afraid to pull out his Lechner when Jim showed him the brand new 380, so he rigged up Formula and prayed for a gust—his prayers were not answered on this particular night. But J-22’s are hard to beat in light wind, and a 470 showed up that went pretty good too, so the results were J-22, 470 and Jim on the 380, Fernando, and Movie, Serge, Angel being the next windsurfers (DNS) with all the other sailboats after that. Not enough wind for kiting (with a little lightning thrown in) so we had no puppet sailors this time.

Though not competitive upwind yet, the kiters are refining their game to be as fast as the Formula guys. But they go great downhill, so the contrast is very interesting. How fast are windsurfers compared to sailboats? On a 2 lap course, the best Formula guys will either lap or close to lap a J-Boat on an upwind-downwind course. Formula is unbelievably fast upwind, and of course, lights out downwind. But this is only if they are planning well….marginally powered on Formula will not cut it. The longboards with a big sail are capable of beating the J’s, but they have to be well sailed. Longboards with 7.5 or 8.5 are slower than the J’s and most higher performance sailboats. The longboards are generally faster straight downwind, but not as fast upwind. Surprisingly, the pointing angles are identical for longboard, and the hybrids point high too, just going a lot slower. We have not had a Laser out yet, but we have had a Force 5 (same thing, pretty much), and a hybrid can beat them by having a lot more speed downwind….upwind is pretty close.

No cats out yet, but we are working on getting some cats out there to mix it up with. This may be the only race series in America where you have such a diverse mix of sailing vessels all on the line at once, so make sure you come down and check it out. All boats are welcome, all boards, all kites and the facilities are fantastic. And the best part, is plenty of parking, a nice launch, and a great dinner afterwards overlooking Biscayne Bay! You can’t beat it. First start at 6:30 sharp—be there at 5:30 to give yourself time to get out there and rig. Every Wed. all summer….go to shakealegmiami.org for more info or call Waterplay Miami at 305 860 0888.

        sailors  -------------------------------------------   results

  1. jim de silva---------------------------------------1-----1
  2. fernando martinez-------------------------------dnf----dnf
  3. sergio kabul--------------------------------------dnf-----dnf
  4. angel Gonzales-----------------------------------dnf----dnf
  5. brian barr------------------------------------------dnf----dnf
  6. eduardo owen------------------------------------dnf----dnf
  7. carlos garcia---------------------------------------dnf---dnf
  8. juan gonzales---------------------------------------dnf---dnf
  9. jorge camejo--------------------------------------dnf---dnf
  10. alex morales---------------------------------------dnf---dnf

 

Weekend of April 29-30

Titanic juice! That described the last weekend in April in Miami. With 30 mph on Saturday and 20 on Sunday, everyone was out who ever windsurfed in the history of the world. 100+ sailors were in the water Saturday for the big blow, with sails ranging from 4.2 to 5.5 or so. Carlos Garcia (whose daughter you can see is very excited about windsurfing) may have had the biggest sail at the beach….a North Natural 6.0. Come on Carlos, is that what you raced against Dunkerbeck with?? Get a Warp or something….but anyway, it was a great weekend, and it was good to see everyone out.

Race Clinic!

This Sunday, March 26, there will be a free race clinic, next to Ovidio at Sailboards Miami, starting at 12:00.  You need your own gear (any gear is OK) but if you do not have any, we might be able to help you out.  We will cover the basics, a little talking, a lot of sailing, and everyone is invited.  If you are READY TO SAIL at 12, that would be helpful.  Call Jim at 305 860 0888 (Waterplay) for details.  Members of the Miami Pro Am Supreme Council will be assisting you with the clinic.  Tune up NOW for the next event on April 1 and 2, and sailors attending the clinic will get a discount for the upcoming race!  FYI, all of the Bic Techno Racers will be there wondering how they are going to switch over to Formula and RS-X...don't worry, you will see the transformation if you show up.