Out with Old and In With New

• Out with Old and In with the New 1
• Out with Old and In with the New 2
• And the New has Started!
• Tide Times
• More Kit for Sale
• And a Good Freeride Board for Sale Too!
• The Usual Plug

Out With the Old and In With the New 1

This title works on so many levels. Firstly it's what everyone says at this time of year, or least it is after they've had at least 6 pints and are between the good will to all men stage and the Shipman with a dose of whiskey stage.

And then of course, it's what's been happening this year as Paddy's Ducklings have graduated from being keen but wobbly to planing and even carve gybing. So the old men can clearly see the new generation pushing through, which is just great for the sport. Mind you, the old men still have a few shots in their lockers so we're not going to lie down and take up knitting yet. As the chief old man has said, 'You're a long time dead'...

And the third way this title works is that I've just got a new camera. Many of you have been caught in moments of indiscretion, sometimes even while windsurfing, thanks to a 12x optical stabilised zoom. Well time, unlike Paddy's gybes, brings huge improvements and I'm now resplendent with a 36x stabilised optical zoom. So now no matter how far out your crash that gybe, expect to see it on these pages.

And the other big change has been in communications. When I started this e-newsletter, back when the old queen was on the throne and Andy was really 29, it was the only way to keep a band of windsurfers together. While it has evolved, technology has rocketed and it's great to see the ease with which we can now call a session by a quick Facebook posting in most cases direct to people's mobiles. This also allows quick and dirty posting of photographs along with the how it was story immediately afterwards. All great stuff which I use a lot myself of course.

That does sort of leave me wondering about the future of this newsletter. I'm really pleased to get so many good comments about what I write - plus a lot of enquiries about why there's usually a big gap between issues. The truth is, that apart from me just being busy, the original purpose of this newsletter has moved on. It's moved to being more of humorous rant and general character assassination (well OK, it always was about humiliation). This material is harder to gather, especially as our windsurfing is less concentrated in one location (Newtownards) and people windsurf in smaller groups. So it tends to either have to wait until some craic has built up or be written around a major event like the Donegal course.

So as we enter a new year, I'm interested in any feedback or ideas people may have. I'm happy to write stuff as long as people enjoy it, but feel that maybe we need some new thinking or ideas. So if you have any comments, including on how to extend the number of people wanting to read this, just reply to this e-mail.

And now I'm off to do some serious drinking to see in the new year..... Well, some things just never change.

Out With the Old and In With the New 2

Right - enough of this end of the year soul searching I hear you cry. What about the windsurfing?

Well, there has been loads of it. All that hard work generating CO2 and chopping down the rain forests is really paying off. It's been positively tropical this Autumn and there's been some wind. The East Coast Wave Sailing NI group have been calling a lot of trips to Kearney, Millisle and that well known east coast spot - Tyrella. I joined them for a few blasts at Kearney where there were some good waves but also some very high tides and shore dumps. On one occasion Ming and I joined late and got a couple of hours on the waves in what became frighteningly dark conditions. The amount of debris in the water was also scary, and I'm not just talking about fallen sailors - I had a high speed tangle with a branch but Ming just missed a sunken tree.

And Christmas was celebrated by dignitaries like Wookie and Andy on the water 4 days in a row including Christmas Day and Boxing Day. What a cracking Christmas while also being a great way to avoid the relatives too.

And a special mention must go to Mr Titanium, Chris Ming Loughridge who went out one day recently when even global warming had given up. 4 degrees and no other sailor daft enough to even consider it, he went out on his 9.4m and sailed all afternoon. The only reason he didn't go blue was because he didn't fall in.

I must also say that he and I have been running a little competition on our Wednesday afternoon LTD sessions to see who can stay out in the darkest. With lights out around 4pm in December it is fairly frightening just how much after this it is still possible to sail if you're mad enough - and we are. Sailing in the dark is 'interesting', when you can't see you have to feel - it's a bit like letting the Force guide you. I'm clearly not cut out for Starwars as I managed to lose 90% of a fin in the dark when I hit the shallows. And your troubles are not oven once you get back to the rigging area - you've still got to derig in the dark. But here Ming has the answer in the form of one of those miner's helmets. What the passing car must think seeing this ghostly figure in the dark with his light on I don't know.

And finally, when I'm talking about things Minging, I have to mention the recent light wind Wed afternoon when we both arrived a bit late. I got straight out on my 9.4 but struggled to get going so Mr Merciless broke out his 12.5m. When I say, he broke it out, I mean this quite literally. First his boom broke, then when he put on another one (naturally he always carries at least 2 carbon massive booms) his lines broke and he had to rethread them. All the time darkness was looming - and he wasn't best pleased. From my position performing water ballet I could hear the constant and ever louder swearing along with the sound of fists on carbon. Thank goodness he finally got it all together and out on the water (and planing well of course) before either his fist or the rig was broken..... You do realise this is the man who punches his board at times when his gybes aren't good enough.

And in the last few days there's been quite a lot of activity based around the club (oh those lovely warm showers) and the car park. Andy, Wookie, Ali Todd and I had a rather frustrating session on the day when Angie was warning us that there would be structural damage. Wookie sailed well on 4m, but I got it wrong on 4m and 78 ltrs and was seriously under powered - except when I was seriously over powered. The rest on 4.5-4.7m fared better, but I'm afraid I had the walk of shame after the wind dropped a bit. A bigger board recovered the day for me until a further lull and oncoming darkness forced me to repeat the experience. Still, they do recommend a good walk after all that Christmas food.

Later in the week the Bin Laden clan appeared along with Richard Bowman. With only 20 mph forecast and showing I went out on my new slalom kit on 7.5m but was soon blown in as the winds rose. 6-6.5m was the new call and we all had a good sail and Mr Wookie joined us.

You can see how the pecking order goes in the Bin Laden family. Oul Robbie had first choice of kit (6.5m) and first choice of wetsuit. Poor young Thomas (I've been to Maui don't you know) Wright was stuck with an unmanageable 7m and what looked like a summer wetsuit - well judging by the amount of bare flesh showing. It was 7 degrees at the time. To be fair Thomas lasted about an hour and put in some of his trademark immaculate gybes but he did look very blue when he came in.

Robbie also sailed well, if somewhat smugly warm in his winter wetsuit. But then the wind just kept rising. Richard and I went out and nearly got into trouble as 6+m rapidly became near unsailable. It was all we could do just to hold onto our kit and tail walk back in. One slip and the by now way too big kit would have been spinning off to Pig Island.

And the New has Started!

Two days into 2012 already people have been sailing. Who says windsurfers are wimps - well, apart from kite surfers of course.

New Year's Day was forecast to be a solid 20 mph, but it never happened. Wise people monitored the flying club site and saw 10-12 knots and dodgy. 3 people were out including Richard Honeyford who wallowed about on 8m and on and off. It was at least warm.

But Tuesday 2nd saw the men of steel out - or least the men who no longer worried about procreating more like. I arrived at the club about 11 and it was 3 degrees and not a sinner around. But it was windy in a 14-22 mph sort of way and the sun was out. I steeled myself and rigged 7.5 on my 122 Firerace and ventured out. Now a Spartan semi dry suit is a wonderful thing and between that and a set of Ming's surgical gloves it was actually not too bad. I've often wondered exactly what a dentist like Ming uses surgical gloves for, but never dared to ask. I'd always thought that since you are seated on a dentist's chair the whole time, the equivalent of a full body cavity search was unlikely. But I guess Ming's patients, being private and paying through the nose (or possibly some other orifice)  for the privilege get special service? A couple of fillings, teeth polished and a colonic irrigation perhaps? My advice is to choose your dentist very carefully.

Anyway, no matter what they'd been previously used for, the gloves worked. And then Mr Wookie appeared, also on 7.5, the sun shone and the temperature went up to a racy 5 degrees!

I have to tell all of you who sat at home on this bank holiday thinking it was too cold that you missed a great day. Nicely powered up in a good SW wind we had a blast. We raced up and down the lough in effect tacking our way right across until we were at the other side. I'd also admit that the down wind rush back home was highly scary as the wind had risen to around 6m weather and our slalom boards were becoming quite a handful. But, possibly helped by the thought of the temperature of the water, our gybes and tacks were great!

You may think that on a cold day it would be short and sharp, but actually we were out for around 3 hours. Mind you, I now feel like I spent the day at Wookie's gym....

And one other brave soul ventured out. Isaac is new and spends a lot of his time in Dublin. He went out for a brief sail on his 4m and somehow planed! He came in looking rather blue as he wasn't wearing a good winter suit and had no gloves. He'll learn - if he lives.

So there you have it. 2012 is off to a great start if you're a real man. And as for the wimps - well you know who you are....

More Kit for Sale

So here's a young man looking for offers. He's particularly like to get some regarding this kit he had for sale. This has been in my in-tray for a while waiting for me to get round to doing another newsletter, so he may already have flogged it. But if not, get in touch with him.

Alan,

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

And a Good Freeride Board for Sale Too!

Well I help some of you offload your old kit, so now it's my turn. New boards are an awful price these days, but after a lot of nagging from Mr Wookie, I finally got around to buying a new RRD Firerace so I can get a bit more speed on the water. The result is that my trusty RRD Z-Ride 120 ltr is now open to offers.

Frankly it's an ideal progression board for any improver, is quite fast and gybes really well - unless your surname is Lyner of course.

It's generally in very good condition except for one rip which has been repaired but not cosmetically. As best I can work out the board is 2006 and comes with a 40cm fin.

Best offer secures it. Just reply to this e-mail to get me.

Tide Time

Now Mark Adams is a man who knows a thing or two about technology - and also how to address his betters. He writtes :

So now you know. Thanks to Mark you need never be stuck in the wrong place at the wrong tide again. Just be careful not to get your I-pad wet....

The Usual Plug

You're receiving this because you registered on the www.mylyst.com / www.windsurfcraic.co.uk site, you can stop at any time, just follow the links.

You can also register your mates, just fill in their e-mail address and the system will e-mail them and check if they're happy to receive my meanderings. Why not share the pain with them?

And we're always looking for reports, ideally with photographs, so if you want to share the craic with or dish the dirt on your mates - just drop us a line!

These newsletters are about the people who windsurf - anywhere in Ireland. But a lot of the action takes place at Newtownards Sailing Club - probably the largest windsurfing club in Ireland. For lessons, great beginner kit, to join or just to sail there as a guest and try it out, see the website at www.newtownardssailingclub.co.uk