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Holding on or not
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rexi



Joined: 17 Nov 2009
Posts: 155

PostPosted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 4:31 pm    Post subject: Holding on or not Reply with quote

So i´ve been browsing since my last post on a "good season" but can´t find anything with the search system on the forum. Maybe i´m doing something wrong don´t know.

Anyway, last sunday i was heading out and about to get over a wave Similar size as i posted in last thread, don´t know what size to call that, head high or bigger i guess. Well timing sucked and when about to get over the wave i went flying backwards and had a good washing. I hung on to my gear by the boom and getting the wave basically over the sail so under it I at least started but soon i was up and breathing again. Then aimed for the tip of the mast and faced that agains the coming waves and hung on to that while taking a few on the head. Then things got calmer and I waterstarted and got out again.

Well after this i,m thinking a bit. Obviously it´s best to hang on to kit if possible. But like my scenario when you basically get dropped backwards while heading out is it best to hang on or does that increase the kit of breaking, for example by driving the mast down to the bottom? Well i´m not sure if anyone gets what i´m trying to ask but do you guys have any scenarios where you would just drop kit and bail out?

Just to make things easy and not be reffering to a pic in another thread i´ll just post the pic from last sunday again in this thread so you guys know about the wave size i´m talking about.



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dllee



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 5328
Location: East Bay

PostPosted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Solid 6' wave, just after it breaks, is tough to punch thru the whitewater, which is bouncing around higher than your head. Shoulder high wave, or 4', is easy.
You should have tried to avoid the situation. Chicken jibe on the wave before that set wave, use you timing and smarts to head out at the end of a set, not at the end of a lull.
As for holding on or not, if given that situation, you do what you need to do to get the mast pointed out to sea, then get to the tip of the mast ASAP and become the anchor just like you did.
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rexi



Joined: 17 Nov 2009
Posts: 155

PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the advice, very helpful.

I realize that this situation could have easily been avoided with better understanding of the waves and timing. I at least was the only one that day getting into trouble :/ but things went better after that during my sessions and timing was better, so I hope i´m slowly gaining experience.

This world of wavesailing is just so thrilling, fun and different from any other windsurfing sessions. Lots of new stuff to learn and I will without a doubt seek advice again from experienced riders like you.
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jingebritsen



Joined: 21 Aug 2002
Posts: 3371

PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

count the battens that are under the peak. that seems to be the easiest way for me to measure wave sizes. in 1999, the NWS asked everyone to start to measure waves from the bottom of the trough to the next peak, oncoming. the surf culture has resisted this. guess the wave reporters don't want to be labelled ask kooks for being over enthusiastic.

i just call it like i see it. if folks can't get there in time to partake, there's nothing i can do about it. other than not report?

hold on to the back foot strap when conditions are truly gnarly. sometimes, when i know it's breaking deeper on the outside, i'll hold the tail of the boom and the back strap for a the ride to one of those in between zones....

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outcast



Joined: 04 May 2004
Posts: 2724

PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I gave up on holding the tip if in the rinse cycle....i think it's pretty easy to break a mast that way even if you sink it/duck dive it......i do what jingbritsen does, and hold the rear strap and boom......but that carries some risk to you in terms of sissoring....
if you hold the rear strap, at least you know where the fin is!
Really big...sometimes just a hug to the boom.....really really big ride it and let her go just before impact.....
seems like having the sail neutral in the water best to avoid breakage, so grabbing near the boom head good....I seem to break shit so maybe not the best person to answer

....def always stay on the outside of the sail,board....don't take a fin up the butt, and never-ever (well almost never ever) let go if you are still standing vertical! The more you hang on, the more you will make over....Bailing out is a self-fulfilling move ....if you get knocked off, it will be at the lip, and then at least you can jump to the back of the wave

That pic looks like a fun day, and there is always a cost Smile

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dllee



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 5328
Location: East Bay

PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

However you hold it, the key is to NEVER allow the sail to get tossed shoreward of the board. That is the mastbreaker.
I've held on in big Revelations, easy 15' surfer measurement. I've held on at Sunset when RickyGregg was out on his 12' yellow gun. It's never fun, you end up using your overlapped arms, face, legs, feet, and body to maintain the death grip, but don't let go, because as soon as you do, the next wave will flip the rig shorewards of the board, the following wave will drive the board towards the rig, the rig sinks, and instant broken mast.
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amarie



Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 233
Location: Corpus Christi, TX

PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree--hold on. Personally, at least with the type of wave we get here and the type of gear I ride, I'm much more comfortable holding the tip of the mast than any other location. Even on the biggest day I've ever ridden, which was mast-high, I'd go for the tip. I wear gloves, not for this reason, but as a bonus they make gripping easier, and my sail tip has a strap, so that adds to the traction.

I'll grab the back footstrap only as an emergency measure if that's the only thing I can get a handle on before the next wave hits. Holding the back strap, I've been tumbled hard enough that I get pushed onto the gear, and a powerful wave exerts more force on my gear than I can control, so there's definitely a chance that the fin and my face could meet. So this is just me, but I stay away from the fin til I'm ready to waterstart. Also I am not a fan of holding near the boom because I've had a lot of force build up that way too, levering my forearm harder than I'm comfortable with. Again, just my personal preference, but not worth breaking my arm over. Luckily we don't have coral or rocks here, but we do get a strong current at times. Losing grip on gear can result in swimming a ways. My longest swim has been 20 minutes. Luckily I've always caught the gear before anything reached the beach and got broken. Smile
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dllee



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 5328
Location: East Bay

PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Straps can be a good idea, but it's necessary to be able to dump the rig when it get's hairy. Mostly, bigger surf is longer period, and you get pushed in 100' with each wave, so maybe 3-5 deathlocks at the max.
A much worse situation is 5'-7' shorepound, where the water sucks back out into the impact zone, and the surf there is hollow, and sucking up stuff off the bottom. Couple that with relatively short period groundswells, and you could go thru the rise cycle repeatedly for over half an hour with your gear, and possibly in sub 55 degree waters.
A good deathgrip uses every part of your exterior body, as any less, you get to see your mast break, your sail tear, your fin get snapped on shore, and you get to repair the little dings all around the deck of your board.. Very Happy Very Happy
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tweeky



Joined: 19 Sep 2004
Posts: 256

PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No advice here... just props for getting out there in those conditions! It takes some real character to commit to going out in waves like that!
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mchaco1



Joined: 08 Sep 2010
Posts: 645

PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

zirtaeb wrote:

A much worse situation is 5'-7' shorepound, where the water sucks back out into the impact zone, and the surf there is hollow, and sucking up stuff off the bottom. Couple that with relatively short period groundswells, and you could go thru the rise cycle repeatedly for over half an hour with your gear, and possibly in sub 55 degree waters.
A good deathgrip uses every part of your exterior body, as any less, you get to see your mast break, your sail tear, your fin get snapped on shore, and you get to repair the little dings all around the deck of your board.. Very Happy Very Happy

Hey that sounds like my first trip to the oregon coast, right after I touched a fish with my foot... Laughing
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