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Well I am pretty happy to have the hardest leg of the tour over with. Nearly two months away from home and now finally on my way back home. 15 years living out of my bag and what a ride it has been!
I have mixed feelings about my result. I was happy to pick it up in the last couple days and I really feel like I improved and learned a few things to get going faster in that light wind stuff. The only thing that bothers me is that I didn't find my speed a bit earlier and I blew a couple high wind races by not being on the right size stuff. Chalk it up to expirience and learn from it. I was happy to get my gear tuned up and going well.
For the last two days we had no wind and that is always stressful. We were on the edge and the race crew did a great job by sticking to the minimus and waiting for proper conditions. But this is really hard for the compteitors. We are on hold all day with 15 minute announcements, with your carrer in the hands of the wind.. This is our lively hood and every place counts, every point, every penny, everything! Maybe I put too much pressure on it but I guess my desire to win is unsatisfied when I dont. I know I can do it, I just need to put it together.. Congrats to Antoine, Finian, and Bjorn, they did a good job and worked hard for it.
I managed to move into 3rd overall for the year for the racing which was good for me after starting in 8th this year and slowly ticking away at getting up on the podium for the end of the year!
Now I am off for a couple weeks. We have some new Gaastra Sails to test back at home and other than that, time to get ready to fight for the Sylt Crown.
Well today was move it or loose it day and I really wanted to put the pressure on myself and come up with some good results. In my book I have been doing not very well and it was time to step it up. Today we started off with great wind and had a couple windy races. It was solid 18 to 20 knots on my Gaastra 7.6 with my 42cm Deboichet SL4 fin on my 111 Isonic. For some reason today I just had it. I had more speed, better starts and was in the grove. I really didn't change much, I did raise my boom up about 3cm and maybe that was it. For me it made the board a little lighter on the water and not so sticky. In this flat water I think you need a bit more lift than you do control so that might have helped a bit. The other thing that really helped was a boat favored starting line. You might say, "Kevin wants a boat favored start" well, It was nice cause there wasn't 8 guys all down at the pin. Today the line was even. People were starting at the boat and coming first to the mark, and guys were starting at the pin and coming to the mark in first. It was much much better, cause it make it for a less all or nothing start. I often wonder if when it is super pin favored and everyone is fighting for the pin to go for the boat? I just do a lot better with clean wind.
It is also nice to see Dunkerbeck miss a final here and there. Not that I want him to miss a final, but that guy is so solid and so fast, that it makes me feel a bit better when I see him have a bad day. It just goes to show how dang tough it is. Same with Micah, and other super fast guys. It is rough here in Turkey with that flat water.
In the first elimination, I got a good start and came to the mark in third. I got to watch Finian and Albeau battle it out and almost go down in one gybe which could have left the door open for me. I sailed a good race and finished third. The next round, I did very good on the same equipment, 7.6/ 42/ 111 and finished in 2nd. Not too bad for me. I moved up a couple in the rankings but still not where I want to be. Tomorrow is another key day and I need to keep the focus.
My trainer sent me a nice quote..
KEEP YOUR MIND IN THE HERE AND NOW "The same way we build biceps through training is how the mind responds to doses of stress and targeted directions. You want to train the mind to be very focused and present-centered, so you are very much in the moment. You can stimulate the ability to pay attention and restrict distraction in what you're doing. It is very challenging. You can lose concentration for any number of reasons." Jim Loehr
Well had not that great of day. It is really tough here, flat water, nobody really falls in just get a good start and a good first gybe and you are through. Get a ok start and it is a real battle. I made it to the looser final both times and then just would choke it on the start. I am pissed off and ready to go hard tomorrow. Look for a big push by the Pritch tomorrow.
I love this shot below... Just in front of Micah Antoine and Bjorn!! This is one for the wall!
Well today was a much better day for me. It wasn't easy that is for sure but I made it to all three finals and that is a feat in itself. I can tell you that here, the second round is tough to get through. I got really lucky a couple of times and I was stoked to make it through. Everyone is so fast it is rediculous.
In my first heat I went on the 8.4 with the 133, using the SL 6 48. By the time it got to my heat it was pretty darn windy and I was lucky to get through that one. Alberto Megenati is just flying sometimes. He takes his Isonic 133 so fast it is amazing. The next heat I went with 7.6 and my Sl4 42cm fin with the 111. It seemed to be working great. I backed off my downhaul from yesterday about 1cm and that really seemed to help. Gave the sail more power and more low end as well as seemed to help out my top end as well. So I made it to the final and had the best start ever.. I wish I could get more of those!! I was coming in hot wth Finian from the top and had a good gybe and came out in first. Then Micah was right on my heals for the second inside mark and just layed his sail down on me and we were both lucky to not go in the water, but it allowed Antoine to get a perfect gybe and come out in first. That guy is really amazing. He is so fast, I dont know how to get faster than him.
In the next round, I was still on the same combo, the 7.6, 42, and 111 . For the final I went down to my 6.7 cause it was starting to pick up but just wasn't enough.
For the last round I went with my 6.7 and my 111 with the 38 SL4 and just as we went out for the final the wind dropped and I was on too small of stuff. I got killed off the start and that was it. I made the wrong choice and came out 7th in the final.
All in all it was a much better day for me. I was really happy to get in the game again and make it into the finals. It is tough that is for sure to get in there but I know I can do it. I want to do better.. I am doing my best!! More racing to come tomorrow.
Well again this is not the way you want to start off your competition. I did the best I could do but I just wasn't fast enough coming in. I would go fast on the way out and then slow on the way in and then good in the gibes but just didn't have the speed today. I was with my 7.6 and 111 with the 38 SL 4. Then i went to my 6.7 and was back on speed. The water is so flat here that you can hold a really big sail. I think that might have been my problem. It wasn't that I couldn't hold the sail, it was just that it was going slow and I could go much faster with the smaller sail. I guess lesson learned for tomorrow. I did the best I could do it just wasn't good enough. I will try again tomorrow.
It is cranking here.. super windy! Hopefully it continues for the next week. We are just getting ready to start racing tomorrow. Should be fun. This place is pretty fun for flatwater sailing. Super flat and feels like you are really flying!! More to come tomorrow.
Well I got the opportunity to got to Istanbul and what a great expirience! Going through the old town, checking it out, a great tourist guide, my camera and some fun times. We had a busy day. Walking, eating, drinking, having fun, taking photos, taking it all in. Anyhow, have a look and enjoy! I wasn't super happy with the photos because the place is beatiful and not sure if I could replicate the beauty.
I got all of bags Whohoo... but then today there was no wind.. ufff.. oh well.. I guess I am happy that at least I had my bags. I got everything de-sanded from the Fuerte sand, wetsanded the bottum of my 111 and my 133, got all the fins ready to go test them and in general ready to go. Now it looks like there is going to be no wind for the next couple days. So tomorrow I am going to go to Istanbul to check it out there and hopefully see something really nice. I will take my camera with me in case I can get some good shots for you guys!
Hope everyone out there is enjoying their summer.. or winter depending on where you live..
Well when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.. no gear yet.. figure time to go get some photos.. I think i got some postcard material here on some of them.. what you guys think.. Can I quit my day job yet?? ha ha I dont think i am John Carter material yet.. but watch out I am coming for you!
Well I am in Turkey but still no bags. This is frustrating because I want to get out on the water and get tuned up and ready for the event. We have been calling Turkish Air and finally they came up with the fact that they said I didn't pay. OF COURSE I paid, the only think i didnt do is pay again at Turkish airlines which i did give them all the bag tags and told them about my bags.. So now they are trying to figure it out. I hope they do soon. They want me to go to the airport which is an hour each way just to speak them about if I paid or not. did i say I LOVE TRAVELING with all this stuff. I just want to get out there and windsurf.. This is what I am good at!
Traveling.. traveling with 14 bags, 12 of them windsurfing bags, one person traveling.. hauling, carrying, stressing.. So I started out 6am in Fuerteventura.. It was kinda fun to go to load all the gear and see thousands of people still partying in the Carpa, which is the party tent that is in Fuerte, and it was a Friday night so it was packed. I was like wow.. that looks crazy! I went the entire Canaries tour without going out once.. I don't think I was out past 12:30 the entire time. So after seeing everyone party it up and me being too lazy to even go out one night even after I didn't have to compete I was like man I must be getting old or something. Or smarter.. well i doubt the last one but you never know. SO loaded all the bags, took the truck to the airport, went to check in and of course no room for all your bags on this plane. I was stressing out a bit but I lucky for me the manager at Air Berlin was very nice and checked in all my bags in on standby and said that they could go if the pilot said it was ok.. So I wasn't totally out in the clear but it could have been much much worse. So as I am getting on the plane I see them loading all the bags and I was like yes!! that is great.. SO i take a plane up to Dusseldorf 4 hours in the complete wrong direction, and then to Istanbul.. I managed to get upgraded to Business Class which made me smile.. I guess that smile at the check in really paid off!! Good to know you still have it!
Got to Istanbul and that is a pretty major airport, if you dont know where you are going and what you are doing you could get pretty lost. So I had a hour and a half layover, which is kinda short for Istanbul cause you have to go through customs, passport control, then hike across to the domestic terminal, go through security and find your plane. Just when I thought I was safe and ready to get on the plane to Izmir, there were two planes and I must have been tired because I was waiting for the wrong plain and almost missed mine. Anyhow made it to Izmir, only to find out ... guess what.. NO BAGS... So I am waiting for my bags for two hours, almost missed my driver that we had organized.. I ended up meeting up with him, and called Banu, the very nice lady who is helping me out here, organizing everything for me.. she is awesome.. She told the truck driver to get me a taxi to Alacati and call her when I got there and she would help me out with a place to stay for the evening. Well it was 4 a.m by the time i arrived and the driver took me to a nice hotel and I was like, it is late, I talked to front desk in Turkish, and I said Banu, he said yes, and showed me to a room. I was like WOW that was easy. Turns out it was the wrong hotel and I wasn't supposed to stay there at all. The people were so nice though and said all you have to pay is for the breakfast. Sorry about the misunderstanding.. I was like WOW.. now that is lucky! So I hope my luck continues with finding my bags so I can get out on the water and start testing my gear for the upcoming event! Maybe I will win the thing with all this good luck coming my way!
Well these are the best photos I could take. I guess when you are tired of the sand, you are tired of the sand... not my best shots but at least got out there. Now I am on my way to Turkey. Should be fun.
I have just figured out how to put up some YouTube videos on the site. Now I can do some serious linking. Cool. Just what I was after. I couldn't figure it out before but now.. I got it. Check out this Travis Pastrana vid with the X Games just starting... Pretty dang sick!
Well today is my last day in Fuerteventura and I still have a couple sails left that I would like to sell if you know of anyone down here that might be interested. I have some 09 Manic's 3.7, 4.2, 4.5 and 4.7. Other than that not too much to report. The wind has been bad here for the freestyle, I havent had any wind for training yet, but leaving for Turkey soon to go over there and start getting on the big stuff. I have a Starboard 133 that I will be selling in Turkey if you know anyone who wants it. I also have it here too just to let you know.
You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it. It's called perseverance. - Lee Iacocca
Well I keep saying to myself that Antoine only started winning when he was one year older than I am now.. SO i guess I have some time to stiill come back and win a couple of these. Nothing is out of the question. Train, focus, Presevere!
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