Something we can all agree on? Starboard + swell ride = ROW

[isobars]

[biffmalibu]

I just threw in "starboard" to try and make it a no-brainer. I would rather throw out the rule book and just keep surfing as having ROW.

It was amazing how big the swells got with such moderate wind (22ish at Swell) yesterday. It was lots of fun!

[mik377]

Its good to know the rules but in crowded/real world conditions you can throw that chart out the window. Common sense and current conditions trump interpretation of the rules. When you have 99 people ripping across the river in the same direction and one guy going against the flow of traffic I would say that he is the one causing a hazard, even if he is technically in the right according to the rules (and thats a big maybe).
Why not just sail up or down of the crowd where there's free swell to be had.

[isobars]

There's a reason it's free: it's not as good as the crowded swell.

Mike \m/

[Mulekick84]

My bros and I sail so close together in the swells, it scares people on the beach. Real sailors can miss each other by inches and not disrupt the flow of their turns.

I've rarely encountered the problems described here (and only in flatwater, event site, rowena conditions) and find it hard to believe there could be so much discussion about it.

If someone gets in your way once, let it slide. The second time, pull a Tony Barbieri on that azz!

[isobars]

If I didn't refuse to sail in crowds, people would be in the way of my maneuvering every few seconds. Let's see ... in a good day of sailing ... every 10 seconds = 6 per minute X 60 minutes per hour X 10 hours on a geeat day = up to 3600 times a day people impede my fun at a place like the Hatchery on a windy summer day. In reality, I may want to go straight now and then, and find some clear swell when the lemmings go ashore to re-rig, and fall way too often, and finding 10 hours of really good wind in one day is rare, so let's drop that 3,600 to a mere thousand times a day somebody causes me abort or alter a maneuver if the only wind is confined to crowded spot ... i.e., if I'm sailing in the Gorge in the summer.

NOW do you unnerstan why we gripe about it?

Mike \m/

[biffmalibu]

Mulekick, Isobars, meet you up near Cheap or Swell City for a nice ride down to the Zone of Narcissism. When we reach the Zone, watch out for the "force field" of 1000 windsurfer going in boring straight lines across the wind. When we reach the rock, head immediately back upwind to repeat. Forget about the fat jacked-up Hatch swells with nobody riding them. Let them go to waste for the sake of safety.

Let's have some fun swell rides upwind together!

[pabloson]

I've heard from a couple of people this summer who think the swell rider has ROW. It must be a hold-over from surfing, but it just doesn't make sense in windsurfing. I mean, can you imagine being on starboard swell on a busy day at the Hatch and expecting everybody to veer out of your way so that you can have a swell. I mean, fantasizing is one thing, but....

Admittedly I am one of those ramp seeking missiles on port. However, I do frequently bear off to give somebody the swell if I am feeling generous and love it when others do the same for me.

I do scratch my head that everybody seems to like to crowd together at a few choice spots. I mean, sure the swell may be better, but is it worth the aggravation and how much freedom do you really get to do your thing?


I drove by Doug's last Sunday(?) and it was way over-parked with lots of overflow down to Rugs and even the Culvert. I continued onward to Avery and had a stellar 3.7 session with about 6 other sailors. No worries about ROW. Avery, Rowena, Mosier. All great spots. Much more relaxing. Doug's, Rug's, Hatch, Cheap, all great in the spring and fall.

Well, I guess it's all about getting de-sensitized.

Let's see some pix folks! Where's the stoke?

[biffmalibu]

This one rolled through Doug's a couple years ago. It must've been 30' high. OK, maybe 15'. NOBODY ON IT!

[pabloson]

More Swell from a 60 mph day at Rufus