"Fantastic Stories of High Speed Sailing Adventure"
Volume 7 No. 9 October 1996
(C) Chris Voith 1996
Photo_to_come-Ripping_down_to_Aqualand
Scott Spreen leads the pack down to the "R: mark near Aqualand marina in the first ever Commodore's Case out and Back Race. Thanks to Generalissimo Fragakis for the brews (and to Scott for sharing his first place prize).

Member Profile- Jackie Greaner Marks

by our Editors
Most of the following conversation did take place, and again, the answers are real. We did not use actors and the names have been left alone to indict the guilty. Jackie Greaner Marks is typical of many club members. She enjoys sailing when the wind permits with husband Ed Marks, isn't "January" hardcore and enjoys the club for the people as much as anything. She also says my salsa is "pretty" good.

ABC:Now about this profile. Are you from either Conyers or the Adirondacks?
Jackie: No, Miami. (Is our editor one of the few Atlanta natives?)
ABC: So tell us about one of your most memorable sessions.
J: I hadn't been windsurfing long when I was at the Bitter End in the Virgin Islands. I met some more experienced windsurfers, who talked me into sailing from island to island. Great. Power of sailing,It was a picture perfect day, nice breeze, sunshine.I could really feel the power of the sail. The best part was the feeling of accomplishment Some one told me, and I agree, that most women quit because that they can't deal with the frustration. But that day I felt that I had overcome the initial hurdle.
ABC: Now to the other end of the spectrum. How about a forgettable session?
J: I went back one time to where I learned to sail and I was doing great. But when my first instructor showed up on the beach, I took a big spill, got all messed up and it took me a while to get back.
ABC: Where do we find you when you're not sailing from island to island?
J: Anything that has to do with outdoors and exercise. I work out everyday, run, lift weights, bike, ski, go hiking.
ABC: Glenn had some great technological breakthroughs for us last month. What are you working on with those guys at Mistral?
J: A fall off preventer. Who wants to get wet? It'll bankrupt the wetsuit industry.
ABC: So is Robbie Naish reading your book for jibing tips?
J: No. I'm tight with his mom (ed. note: Jackie claims to actually have met her at Lake Garda, Italy). When Robbie has problems, we talk. (another ed. note: Jackie is a psychologist by profession.)
ABC: The opposite sex digs you while you windsurf because....
J: Fewer of me,women, than them.
ABC: What do you say when strangers ask you why your surfboard has straps on it?
J: They're carrying handles for weak women.
ABC: What will your enemies give you for a White Elephant Gift at the Christmas Party?
J: Anything with lots of fat/ calories. (ed. note: This reminds us of Brer Rabbit and the briar patch.)
ABC: Thanks for your time, Jackie. See you on the water.

Mark meets Fran - a love story

by Mark Eberhart
I was anticipating that Wednesday, Sept 4th, was going to be a wild Fran day on Tybee Island, but it was a letdown. I wanted to stay over Wednesday night as well to sail Fran on Thursday, because I knew it would be epic. However, I didn't leave house keys outside and my neighbor couldn't resupply my cats' food. I was kinda worried about them, because I hadn't planned on staying so long, and didn't leave that much food. So, reluctantly, we left Wed. night about 10:00 pm. Earlier that day, I did manage to sail at the Pier. The surfers were everywhere because the waves were huge at high tide. Barb and I played in the surf a little in the morning and were getting slammed. She got pretty scared by the big waves. Later, I body surfed on top of the Presto for a awhile, but kept pearling the nose while making the drop.
By afternoon the wind picked up a little and I tried taking the Ezzy 6.6 out on the Presto. I didn't have enough wind and the shorepound kept wiping me out and pushing me back. Some surfers came up to comment on my lack of success, having witnessed me getting worked repeatedly.
Then I launched down the beach a little at what seemed to be a smaller break (Not!) and got a little puff that got me just far enough out to be in danger. Then the wind died off again. This stalled me out in the impact zone and I got knocked down by a couple of small waves. After some desperate but failed waterstart attempts, the BIG set came in an caught me out of position with the mast pointing in toward the shore and the board in front of me. This giant wave loomed over me and swooped me up with the rig. I was hanging on to the board to keep it from wailing my body and thus could not position the rig (not that I had time to or anything). So up we go - into the maw and then after a strange moment of suspension, everthing came crashing down with surprising violence. I felt the mast tip plant itself into the bottom and after feeling that pole vaulting sensation, I heard the very loud and distinct sound of a mast being snapped. Another wave crashed onto me, driving the sail into the bottom again, and breaking off another piece of the mast. I finally got the hell out of there before something worse happened, and dragged the carnage up onto the beach. Ah, what humiliation. At least, to my surprise, it was the TOP portion of my mast, of which I have a spare. That was a relief. But the nasty rips in the luft sleeve were hurtful.
By that time, Barbara had come down the beach, after watching me get munched thought the binoculars. We chilled out a bit and later that afternoon I rerigged the Ezzy for another attempt. By this time the tide was out a little, and I had found a more gentle launch. While I was dragging my gear down to the water, I got waved over by a news crew from Jacksonville FL who wanted to interview me. I told Barb that with all the media around and me being the only sailor there, I was bound to be filmed or interviewed. And sure enough, both happened! I finally got out through the break, but the wind mas minimal. The crowd on the pier spent alot of time gawking at me floundering around in the break trying to waterstart with too little wind. I finally up-hauled and managed to sail out beyond the pier where both the wind and waves picked up somewhat.
I tell you, the ocean was wild and beautiful that day. The weather was awesome and the water was so emerald green! Hugh swells were rolling in with juicy peaks just waiting for loopers. I got high enough to have the reentry feel like landing on your butt in the sand! Ouch! Brought back memories of doing preacher seat dives off the diving board as a kid. I could only imagine the fun I would have had with 15 more mph of wind.
I sailed by the pier several times and Barbara took some photos from the end of the pier. Those will be interesting because of the high vantage point. Also the light was just beautiful at that time.
Too bad I could not stay for Thursdays wind. I saw on the Tybee weather buoy data that it was about 27 knots. The onshore wind is bad for wave sailing because the wind definetly gets disrupted by the water surface. The big swells would block the wind completely!!! Side off would have been heavenly.
I finally got tired of slogging around and called it a day. As we were packing the car, we got approached by some of the news crew that was lurking about. We ended up talking to one guy, George Smith of NBC- Albany GA, the whole time we packed. One dude asked me if I was going out so he could film. It was dark by this time and I told him that even though my nickname was After Dark Mark, that no, I was NOT going out, that I had just come in. Can you believe that he thought I would sail in those waves at night!!!????? Geezzz.
I learned some important lessons this day:
  1. Don't use your slalom masts in big surf. (Duh)
  2. Pick your launches carefully. Be patient and survey the breaks.
  3. Don't attempt to get out through big shorepound in 10 mph wind. I have learned that in super rough water, I need at least 20 mph to power though the heavy white water.
  4. Always wear my PFD in low wind sailing. It saved my butt fighting the sail and waterstarting in those big swells with low wind.
  5. Use the biggest fin you have unless the wind is honking!
  6. The wind is blocked by the swells with on-shore winds. Not good!
  7. Buy a surfboard
Hope you enjoyed this tale. Take care all ­ Mark

This Month's Meeting

The October meeting will be Tuesday the 8th, 7:30 p.m. at the old location on Roswell Rd., now called Power's Court restaurant (formerly McKensie's and Wild Wing Cafe before that).

C A L E N D A R
Oct. 19-20 18th Atlanta Fall Sailboard Classic. Flowery Branch,GA
Oct. 26-Nov. 3 House on Hatteras Week. Rodanthe,NC
Oct. 31-Nov 3 IMCO Nationals. Savannah, GA
November Islamorada ProAm Da Keys, Conch Republic
December 14Christmas party The Old Tower- PDK Airport
February 21-23. Midwinters. Merritt Island, FL.

Welcome to our newest members:

We now have 74 individual or family memberships.

IMCO Fleet One - One Design News

Chris Voith Reporting
Now that the Olympics are behind us it seems natural that One Desing racing might see a decline in interest. I was encouraged to see that the Nationals in St Pete are being promoted as a "One Design Championship". The catch is, there is a second One Design from Mistral. It seems oxymoronic to me.
Actually, it seems just plain moronic. The Superlight II is bigger, heavier and will be raced with a 6.6 sail. This looks like a giant step backward in design, as well as in marketing. Why try to split the interest in One Design racing with a new board? Fleet One really wants to know.

Notes from the Generalissimo

Glenn Tanner was kind enough at our last meeting to propose that we indeed change the title of our club head to commodore. I have since reflected upon the matter and think that... well, the thought of showing up at our October regatta with a blazer and white slacks just doesn't light my fire. I have further pondered the point and have decided that Generalissimo fits the bill. Martial law and rows of medals on my wetsuit (attached with velcro, of course). So from now on, I am "Generalissimo Commodore Hallowed Leader". I'm thinking of getting a Humvee for a windsurfing truck. No more problems with parking at Van Pugh.
Now to the real stuff: The gods of weather once again blessed us. Despite predictions of a deluge, the rain held off for our September Learn to Windsurf and Shortboard Clinic. We had almost 4 hours of gentle breeze before the rain finally came in. My grateful thanks to all who rearranged family and business obligations to come and help out. We didn't actually have the wind ceremony but the good vibes paid off as the next day heralded the first day of fall and the first cold front . For all of you who had fun on Sunday, you owe us one. We postponed the Commodore's Case till Sunday when the wind came in. Scott Spreen won a slalom race to Aqualand and back from Van Pugh. Of course, Scott, as proprietor of 29 Package, winning a case of beer is like Bill Gates winning the Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes. The good sport that he is, he shared his bounty generously.
Pete Wolfinger emailed us the following: "The USCG is supposed to approve inflatable PFD's (at least those manufactured by Stearns) on September 24th. What this should mean to windsurfers in PFD States is that they will be able to wear non-restrictive belt/pouch type PFDs, or the SOSpenders types, which will only need to be inflated if they lose their rigs (these things should only provide minimal interference when sprinting downwind for your rig). What it means to other States (like us) is that we as the windsurfing community should be promoting the use of these non-restrictive devices, and trying to get dealers to sell them at cost or minimal markup. I am passing the latter information on to USWA, other clubs and the Georgia DNR. Let me know if you have questions or comments, and tell the club I said hello."
Pete as many of you recall, was one of the most adamant anti-PFD law windsurfers on the planet. Note it was the law he was against, not PFDs. Now that there is a legal and acceptable alternative, we all owe it to ourselves to closely examine this alternative. Tim Carter and Mark Eberhart have both mentioned circumstances when alittle float would REALLY be handy.

Annual membership in the Atlanta Boardsailing Club is still only $20 ($30 for a family). Send payment to the address below.

Atlanta Boardsailing Club
P.O. Box 28376
Atlanta, GA 30358
For a membership form