Got back and Maui have been delivering. Got off the plane and went straight to the water. We have been testing out the new Vapors with Ross and they are having some good results. Starting to really tune them up and get them going faster and faster. Yesterday we had some great wavesailing too! Been fun and busy all the time. We were also taking some photos of the new gear so I have had little time for writing.. I will try and get more on it!!
Also did you guys check out my new banners.. I think they are pretty cool..
Man, I am just fueding with American Airlines right now.. I am even thinking of switching to United.. I have been using AA for 13 years. flown over 3 million miles with them... first was the baggage on this trip going, now when I changed my ticket to go to LA and Salt Lake back from Germany, they wanted to charge me $1000 bucks for the change fee.. I was like are you kidding me.. I could handle a $100 change fee, maybe even a $250 change fee, but they wanted $250 for the Change and 800 for the change of pricing or something crazy like that. It was unbelieveable. I wasn't too happy. So I ended up having to get a new ticket, i went with using my miles to get it, but I had to stay in LA for two days, otherwise teh cots would be so high. Once I got my pissed off ness out, I ended up having a great time here in LA. I got to go riding on this sick track perfectly watered and was super super fun. I had a great day!! I also went and cruised at Venice beach and took some shots. Boy Venice bech is crazy.. lots of people.. lots of people!! Anyhow, sitting in LAX now getting on the flight.. Getting back to Maui!!!Whoohooo!!
Been doing some relaxing in Utah. Actually been in the gym training and so sore right now that I needed to take a break and go take some shots. It is pretty beautiful here. It is my first time in Utah and it is really nice. The small town of Park City is super cool. I am going to try and get some shots of the city!
Well since the world tour finished up, I have been on Holiday. One week of pure fun, hanging out in California. I got to hang out with my brother and my grandparents a bit and we just tore up the dirtbike tracks. We went looking for some wind but didn't find any just perfect Southern Califonia fall weather. Sunny, clear, not a breath of wind, except for today when we were leaving. Too much fun!!
Woke up at 630 to get down to the skippers meeting. It was finally windy for some wavesailing again!! Started off on 5.0 then 5.3 then 5.7 then almost 6.2 and then they cancelled it. I managed to get through my early heat and that was good. I was against Peter Volwater and he is always really good in these challenging onshore port tack conditions. The next heat had to wait for 8 hours to do. I went against Klaas Voget and advanced to go against Victor Fernandez. I sailed the next heat against Victor then they ended up canceling the heat against Klaas and I after I had already sailed the semi final saying that they missed a wave ride on one of the judges sheets. I was already pretty tired from going racing in the middle of the day then doing a full heat against Victor then needed to resail the heat against Klass. All seemed pretty sketchy to me to have at least 40 minutes to figure out a way to resail the heat.. anyhow.. onwards and upwards. I was pretty pissed off to say the least but what can you do.. It sure helps to have about 50 germans looking over the scoresheets all at once pushing to have something be wrong with the scores. Klaas was sailing good that is for sure. Victor ended up wining the waves here in Sylt, and Kauli ended up wining the world title for the year!
Well the conditions here in Sylt are not getting any less testing. Yesterday we had a nice big gust of wind and we got out there and then it completely died. I had to get brought in by the boat then broke my battens in the shorebreak. Not too much fun. Not super happy about that. Anyhow.. onward and upward. Just keep waiting for some good conditions. We will see.. I am hopeing for some more winds and more racing..
Well we finally got another race down. It took all day though. Waited around as usual and then around 330 a major storm came in. It was pretty cool to watch the storm come across the North Sea, we were all just waiting for it to hit. Made for some beautiful shots. I went out on a 8.2 and after the first heat came in to get my 7.6 and then after the next round had to come right back in for my 6.7 so the wind was ragging there for a bit. It was nice to finally do get rolling, to bad it wasnt earlier and we could have gotten a few more under our belts.
Man it is really tough conditions here in Sylt. Waiting in your wet suit all day long for no racing.. Takes its toll on it you. I want some more races cause I need to get going on the upward direction. IT is raining gusty and chilly..
Sylt is a tough place for racing. You sit around all day just waiting and waiting to maybe go out on the water. Yesterday and today were crazy days that the wind was so light and gusty and for me it was just bit of bad luck. Oh well. It was a bit disheartening to see Bjorn get fifth place in the second round and have everybody finish without canceling the heat and then after he went up to the judges and put in his two cents, they cancelled the his heat. I was pretty shocked with that decision because I can tell you that there were some pretty doggy races that did not get called off. I guess that is the kind of pull you get when you win 12 World titles in a row. I have to say that I would have wanted them to call it off it was me, but they should have called it off when he went from first to fifth on the last mark. You got to love the racing! Well the forcast looks great for tomorrow so hopefully we can pull off some quick races. We will see.
Just got into Sylt.. What a beautiful day it was. Played some beach volleyball, went on a bike ride for a stroll.. Beautiful weather. Dont know what the forcast is but it sure was amazing today.
I just updated some used boards in the shop if you guys want to have a look. I am trying to get them sold and out of under my house. Check them out and see what you think. Email me for more details if you like. I can wheel and deal on these boards, buy one get half off another. If you need a board send me a note and I will see what I got.
Dealing with the jet lag..man that is hard. Twelve hours difference.
Well this check in was one of the most expensive check in's I have ever had.. Not fun getting out the checkbook for that one i can tell you. They ended up charging $450 per windsurfing set plus and excess baggage fee. I dont know what the guy was on but it was way too much. I am going to have to charge hard to get that prize money back I can tell you that.
When I left Maui yesterday the forcast looked bad... today as I check it out looks like we could have some wind and waves on Sunday. This would be great as we have not had a wave competition for 4 years or so... Hope it holds true..
Man we just had an epic week here. Figures as much because it is time for Sylt to come and that means that the surf is on it's way. We just had 5 days straight of over head high waves and nice winds. Now it is time to pack and get ready for the long trip to Sylt. Fun fun, time to break out the heavy weather gear, get in the wetsuit for a 11 days, and suck it up for the last event of the season. Should be fun!
Well here is another cool video for you guys. Hope you enjoy it because these how to video's are not that much fun to make, but Matt and I think that these tips will help out the general windsurfer and maybe you guys can go sailing more and have more fun when you are out on the water!!
I changed up the quality of the export as well so if you think it looks any better or higher quality let me know. Also if you go to our video tab you can see it a bit bigger than you can in this post.. A little nicer to watch!
Here is a pretty cool thing that Starboard is doing to try and get a real windsurfing class into the Olympics. The next Olympics will be in the UK which should be pretty windy.. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Made it out to Hana this weekend and that was really fun. The wind here shut down for two days and we decided to head to Hana.. We caught a huge 130 pound Alua which is nearly the state record.. well actually we didn't but our fisherman friends did and we got to see the big daddy come in. It was pretty exciting.
We had our first NW swell trying to kick up.. Got to sail Hookipa with a wave that actually had some power to it. Kinda fun.. Looks like the swell could hit a bit more tomorrow so could be even better.
The world wide web is pretty cool these days. It is pretty fun that from in Maui I can go on my little computer and produce this cool blog that everyone around the world can read. Well amongst the people that comment, send emails, I recieved a email from a really nice guy and we talked about biking and windsurfing and all that and he also sponsors a bike team and said that he would send me a bike outfit. Of course being the biking enthusisast that I am I was really stoked and we kept in touch and what not.. Anyhow, I got home from the summer and found one of the coolest biking outfits ever sitting on my front porch. It was there propably for a couple months just waiting for me.. I was so stoked when I got to ride in some real cool pro gear.. I feel kinda like one of "those guys" who has all the trick stuff but can't ride even close to the potential of the equipment they have.. But hey what the heck.. I enjoy it, I like having no limits due to my equipment and when Lance Armstrong comes flying past me on a BMX bike, I will still be having fun. Now that I have had time to enjoy the threads a bit, I took some time to check out a cool site that Larry has set up from one of his friends children, Live Like Mike .. if you get some time check it out.. IF you are a biker at all and want a sick Jersey for a good cause grab one of the Jerseys from there.
I always find it cool to meet people who stand behind you when you least expect it they are there. Good friends are hard to find, I have been around the world and know a lot of people, met some great people, met some lame people, but in the end you just got to live how you live and be your best. When I was checking out Mike's site ai saw a pretty cool saying from a friend of his.. "What does it mean to me to live like Mike? To not worry about things that are not worth worrying about. To love, respect, and take joy in the people close to you. To live life like it is short. And most of all, to find fun and laughter in everything you do.- Jay Henry"
So there you have it.. Live it up! Take chances, have fun, don't just dream big, DO BIG!
When I post a video and only get two comments I get bummed.. I dont know why really but I guess cause I put a bit of work into it and to not hear any feedback good or bad I figure that ohhh, the readers out there really dont care too much if I put videos up or photos or what.. Just a couple words and you'd be happy.. Anyhow.. I guess I am just puting it up there to put it up.. I just do it for me. for the fun of it.. for the love of the sport.. hope you enjoy it all.. hope you enjoy the ride...
Sorry for the lack of video stuff here at Pritchard Windsurfing. Just been backed up and getting stuff ready for the last event in Sylt. Check out the latest 2009 Gaastra Freeride stuff..Me, Matt, Ross, Braz, Arnon and Erin all ripping it up on Maui's beautiful waters.. Also check out our new items in the store. We have free shipping on some items so go have a look and get some of the latest!
We have been having some good times here on Maui. There is a nice size southswell, some fun windswell on the northshore still lingering around and it looks like we are going to have some more coming.. I am stoked. September is pullling through.
Have you guys seen the new Streamline bases. Man, they are a work of art. They are the most trusted sturdy bases in the industry and now they got some new cool colors, with the same great design. I have known Dave for years and the stuff he produces is always the bombproof rugged killer stuff. He is always pushing the limits, going down to Baja and testing it all out, just killer stuff. I was playing around with some shots of the base, I need a black background to get the right effect but still gave it a shot.. no phun intended.
Wast Talking with Tatiana and she was telling me about her France Butterfly Effect. If you are a girl and you windsurf, kitesurf, standup paddle or just want to hang out with some cool girls that rip, check it out. It is coming up soon. She puts alot of effort into it so check it out and go have some fun. Check it out here!
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