USA 4 Windsurfing Campaign – 2015 by the numbers

by USA 4 Windsurfing Campaign on 23 Dec 2015 2015 was an another unbelievable year on the water with 164 sessions logged in three different counties, averaging one session every 2.2 days. This year for the first time, I kited more than I windsurfed with 104 kiting sessions and 60 windsurfing. It was my third full year of kiting and almost 30th year of windsurfing.

I spent the majority of the year learning how to ride the kite foil board with 67 sessions logged. It's the first year in almost 25 years, that I didn't buy any new windsurfing equipment; however, kiteboards, foils and more kites were added to the quiver. My love for both sports still runs deep but I really got the foil bug this year.

The most sessions come when the thermals turn on. This year, they dialed up in March and kept strong till October where I averaged almost 17 sessions a month.

I spent an equal amount of time in 2015 racing windsurfers as I did kite boards with 26 racing days on the water in three different local series, The StFYC Thursday Night Kite boarding series; The St.FYC Friday Night Slalom Series and the Crissy Field Slalom Series. The best results came with the inaugural Friday Night Slalom Series with a first place overall and second place in the Crissy Field Slalom Series. Notwithstanding, the most difficult and hard work came in the Thursday Night Kite boarding Series where I went from not even being able to foil, to learning how to get around the course, to finally ending up second in the B fleet. This season, the number of DNF's surely outweighed the bullets but I wouldn't have done it any other way. I missed a few races but got plenty of time on the water this season.

I made the most progress in the events that I struggled most with. In the Kite Foil Gold Cup in San Francisco, I was way over my head but put myself into conditions I would have otherwise backed away from. There's something about competition, that brings out the best in oneself if you keep trying and don't give up. The progress wasn't instantaneous like I would have liked it to be but rather a slow learning curve.

Mastering a new discipline has been way harder than I ever imagined. After 12 months on the foil, I can now foil in most conditions and even make most of my non foiling gybes. Its a long way from the first few foiling sessions where making it back to the beach was considered a big success. Even with that said, I've got long way to go before I become competitive in the kite foil fleet. I've yet to even attempt a tack on the foil board or even make one on the directional board but those are challenges to overcome in 2016. Before I even venture into the foil kites, I want to be able to master the foiling tack and gybe. Needless to say, its going to a long road ahead...But there lies the fun!

Here's a look at the season's data put into some graphic visualizations. For the record, I kept track of my sessions via twitter logging in what gear I used and complying the data at the end of the season. This allows me to see how much I use a particular board or kite and where my time were spent.

The biggest surprise came with how much I still used the XL slalom set up of the ML 89 and 10m avanti rig, almost 20 times over the course of the year for high wind course racing, light wind slalom racing and swell riding under the Golden Gate. Its the most versatile of anything in my quiver with a range of 10-24k. The kite foil board was the most used board in the six board quiver with 67 sessions logged for the season. The most used kite was the 10m Ozone Edge nearly doubling any other kite in my quiver with 45 sessions recorded. The most fun I had all season was with a custom surfboard I picked up in July, It made kiting in the voodoo chop so much more exciting. When conditions where gnarly and blowing stink on the city front, I grabbed the small surfboard with the seven or eight metre kite and just ripped it, sending it as hard as I could. That same set up worked great on the coast as well on the few times I sailed Stinson Beach, getting more comfortable in a new set of conditions.

This years biggest accomplishment was pulling off two slalom series and introducing a ton more people into slalom racing. Its a great feeling bringing new people into the sport and I couldn't have done it without the help of Soheil Zahedi and Jean Rathle, both who were instrumental in making the Crissy Field Slalom Series happen. Another big thanks goes to the St.FYC where I did the majority of my racing this year. They are by far the best at what they do year after year. Finally, a huge thanks to Mike Zajicek for repairing a broken slalom board not once but twice this season and getting me a more stable foil which made huge strides in my foiling development.