Cabrillo Beach, San Pedro California.
Fantastic windsurf beach. We had daily winds 20 - 25 mph.
Freestylers were out on 4.8m-5.3m daily.
Everytime I go to So Cal I hear the local windsurfers moan about not having any wind.
Yet I can go there and sail sub 6m for 6 days straight during the summer.
We had rented a house for our team guys to stay at, 15 minute walk from the beach.
US Nationals started a little rough.
The committee had a hard time setting the marks in the wind, but after that everything went smoothly.
Formula / Kona racing first thing in the morning.
As the wind built in the afternoon the freestyle and slalom races would run.
I had some new kit to formula race with.
I hadn't tuned it prior to the event which was a big mistake.
After making it to the start line my clam cleats slipped off and made for a very difficult journey back to the beach.
Decided to pull out of the formula event to save energy for the slalom.
Slalom started with a lot of wind - 25mph to 30mph.
I Rigged up my 7.8m and Isonic.
Too much sail and board so I was tail walking and drifting on my reaches.
Finished 2 and then 3 on the first two heats then on the 3rd heat I broke my mast around the first mark.
My slalom quiver is 7m, 7.8m, and 8.6m - so removing the 7.8m left a big gap in my quiver.
7.8m ended up being the sail size needed for the 3 days of racing.
After having problems with gear I decided to just relax and have fun for the remainder of the event.
Which meant getting some time on my freestyle kit and the Starboard Gemini tandem board.
The last day I sailed 7.0m under powered through the remaining slalom heats.
We ran about 7 heats which were really good to get experience.
The race didn't go as expected but each race is a deposit into the training bank, which I can hopefully make a large withdrawl from later on.
Big thanks to A-1 Imports http://www.a1groceriesanddeli.com/ , San Pedro for making the best sandwiches ever.
They fed Phil Soltysiak and I daily.
After the event, Phil Soltysiak and I met up with a photographer and went to Newport Harbor.
Some newly acquired friends invited us to windsurf in the harbor off their small boat. (60 foot - 3 bedrooms)
Chased the light wind around the harbor with Mark the photographer standing on the nose of the Gemini.
Now back to the daily grind here in SLC.
Looks windy Friday - who wants to tandem?
