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Can you ride "Down the line" Upwind?

 
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outcast



Joined: 04 May 2004
Posts: 2724

PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:06 am    Post subject: Can you ride "Down the line" Upwind? Reply with quote

I'm going to have a very interesting option in the next few days with a groundswell, and have never been presented with this choice before....Would be sailing with a 45 degree side off, but pushing upwind ...not DTL

(ie if the wind was 45 in the other direction, it would be surreal classic)

So dropping down the face would be a total luff but I might be able to ride across the face very sheeted, only to drop/luff again

Am I making any sense?


Last edited by outcast on Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:41 am; edited 1 time in total
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dllee



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

PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Your skill is the determining factor, and which direction you're heading while riding a wave.
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rswabsin



Joined: 14 May 2000
Posts: 444
Location: New Jersey

PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 11:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So if I understand you correctly - you'll be riding a east/northeast groundswell (from roughly an east facing beach), the wave is breaking left (from riders view pt.) and the wind is side off shore out of the southwest. So you'll ride going backside but may get backwinded as you head down the line. If the wind is light enough near shore and the board has a lot of float - it may just work.

I like to read this one surfer/windsurfers blog from Maui who would sail a SUP with small sail in light offshore wind/wave conditions. Anyway, he would describe a similar wave ride, going up wind in offshore conditions, where he would step around the front of the sail (essentially tacking on the wave face) and ride front side until kicking out the end of the wave. Please post photos of the event if it happens!
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dllee



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

PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 11:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Riding a wave left at PSC means you are heading directly upwind for a moment before you straighten out a bit for comfort.
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philodog



Joined: 28 Apr 2000
Posts: 209

PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 11:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, sounds like going left at San Carlos so you'll be riding upwind, heel side. Not the funnest way to waveride but totally doable. Get some video!
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nw30



Joined: 21 Dec 2008
Posts: 6485
Location: The eye of the universe, Cen. Cal. coast

PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 3:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very doable, but instead of holding the sail out in front of you, it's more off to the side, towards the beach, with the clew almost behind your back. Fun off the lip, looking down at the pit in front of the wave, also the easiest way to get a nose ride, with one foot out in front of the mast.
There was a great pic of Dean Karnazes, riding backside at Arroyo Laguna in the very late 80's, before he became an ultra marathon runner. He was on the nose, holding his sail with his back hand only, down by the bottom of the mast, the top of it pointing towards the beach, almost horizonal, while he was flying down the line. I wish I could find it, it's in one of the old mags, probably from Glenn Dubock somewhere. Anyway it's a great illustration of what can be done backside. I'll just leave you with this pic of Dean instead, it's not a result from riding backside.



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Wind-NC.com



Joined: 30 May 2007
Posts: 980
Location: Formerly Cape Hatteras, now Burlington, VT!

PostPosted: Wed Sep 12, 2018 7:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I understand your setup correctly-

Expect one-hit-wonders on closeout sections if you're sailing in the "normal" direction for the wind. Perfect for trying big aerials. Fun!

Or, if you want to try to sail "backwards" I'd suggest using a bigger board and small sail combo. Something that you can schlog super easy. You'll need to be inside of the wave, pumping out toward it to try to get the timing perfect. The idea is to have a bit of board speed going toward the wave, then turn down the line just as you get under the lip and up on the face, so that you can drop back in to the wave. It's tricky but doable! At that point you're purely surfing and using the board/wave for speed generation. This is basically how I try to sail in straight offshore conditions. Fun! (but maybe not the smartest thing to do).

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outcast



Joined: 04 May 2004
Posts: 2724

PostPosted: Wed Sep 12, 2018 7:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alright, guess i should have been more specific, it's not backside riding like PSC,,,..but more like Andy's straight offshore thing....and in thinking about how to best describe the setup i am looking at, I realized I HAVE done this before...

The world famous "Weird Wave" or what I know as the Portugese wave at Kanaha....known to take out many unwary visitors....

I used to sail Uppers all the time, and on big days, you can pick up a wave that morphs into the Weird wave, and then while riding frontside, be pitched almost straight into the wind....I mastered that thing...and i remember having to sheet way in, and lean way out to control it...it was a blast but would last only a short distance....if you went down wind, you could huck over it, but top turns were scary tail only affairs !

I am looking at frontside riding for some distance on this incoming swell, but almost straight upwind, so i dunno if the riding will be fun, or a bit of a stall..
Yes Andy bigger board.. small sail for sure, the problem with this wave is that "inside" is a rock garden, and the swell predicted to be sizable, getting in will have to be creative

All the input has me very stoked to try, but may just surf it....No pictures allowed at the spot...If forecast holds Fridays the day
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outcast



Joined: 04 May 2004
Posts: 2724

PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

report:
Waves wwere good
Direction could have been sailed, but it was just a tad too light
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manuel



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 1158

PostPosted: Thu Sep 20, 2018 9:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Got lost a bit on the first posts.

We can ride:
- backside
- frontside
- onshore
- sideshore
- offshore
- left wave
- right wave

We may ride with the peak ahead of us or behind us depending on timing, placement, etc.

Were you worried it'd be too much offshore?

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