August

Props to the Peconic Puffin for the link to the video.
Charles Krauthammer is an Idiot.

One thing our "boarding" community has been good at is keeping conversation civil. We tend to avoid topics that inflame passions - politics being one of them. There are better venues for those discussions. Judging from the comments on more general news sites, many people are incapable of objectively discussing issues of the day.

That being said, Charles Krauthammer is an idiot. I understand that he has a "product" he wants to sell but it reminds me of the Monty Python pet shop (parrot) skit: It's not dead, it's resting.. If it were comedy, it would be brilliant. Masquerading as political commentary it's painful. The Puffin also draws our attention to the fitting memorial to Jim Drake at the end of the clip.

Charles Krauthammer: Windsurfing is about as "hoighty-toighty" as dressage.

Charles Krauthammer on Hoighty Toighty Windsurfing
Click here or the image to view the video

Farrah Hall slept in her board bag and with the homeless in her Olympic windsurfing campaign. Ben Barger lived in a tent. The dressage horse, Rafalca, lived "under a vaulted, tile ceiling in a terrazzo-floored stable with brass fittings."

Slums of Hamilton Farm
Hamilton Farm, the drug and crime ridden project, from which emerged Rafalca, America's hope for an Olympic medal in dressage.

Slums of Hamilton Farm

Rafalca, the horse, had a tough childhood growing up in the projects of Cabrini Green in Chicago. No, that's Jimmy (JJ) Walker on the right.

Here's another contribution to the discussion of Olympic sport from the same "news" network:

Gabby Douglas, Unpatriotic American, or, The Devil Wore Prada Pink.

An Olympic Recognition That Matters

I missed this but Bob Willis, our men's RS:X representative gained another recognition: one of Seventeen Magazine's Hottest Olympic Guys.

"Bob's been sailing and windsurfing since he was eight. Bob, if you're reading this—count us in for dates at sea!"

17's Olympic pick
As a family-friendly web site, we blurred out the objectionable content.

Who said nobody pays attention to Olympic windsurfing?

Weather

August is not a noted windsurfing month here yet hope springs eternal. We grasp at any suggestion that there might be a breeze strong enough to let us skip across the water even for a moment. We'll admit it, we'd drive an hour if we thought we could get at least a couple of planing runs in.

While many of us know that summer forecasts of wind primarily are predicting gusts accompanying pop-up thunderstorms, we still treat every summer forecast of 15mph with the reverence due a strong winter cold front.

Yet lately, we can't help but to think that computers aren't running the forecasts but someone, something else. On Thursday, wind is predicted for Saturday. By Friday morning, the 8-17 mph forecast is down to 6. Friday afternoon, it's 10-20. Saturday morning, the forecast fades but Sunday looks good. It blows briefly Saturday afternoon and Sunday turns out to be a dud.

Turning on a local weather broadcast, our suspicions deepen:

The forecast is squirrely

Winds tomorrow will be calm. No, blustery... light and variable ... breezy... no, I think, calm.

Perhaps our suspicions are misplaced. Apparently, there's a new demographic in the windsurfing world which the forecaster is addressing. We recently spotted this pic on a European windsurfing web site:

Make That Two Demographics

Bears are getting in the act, too.

Windsurfing is Cancelled - and It's Okay.

Recently, NYC had to deal with a raw but chlorinated sewage spill upstream. There was worry that it might affect the New York Triathlon but officials declared the Hudson likely clean enough.

windsurfing is cancelled

"Health officials cautioned recreational swimmers, boaters, kayakers and windsurfers to avoid direct contact with the river around Manhattan, where the 2.4-mile (4-km) swim portion of the race is due to take place on Saturday."

I don't think windsurfers minded being told that windsurfing was "cancelled" until water conditions improved. I do think that kiters might find it alarming that they weren't included in the "stay out of the water until the poo goes away" warning.

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Sick puppy

Too funny... and THANK YOU for sparing us from the plaid!
Odd how wrong they ALL got it (kiting photo of Kerry).

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Krauthammer's mistake was

Krauthammer's mistake was bringing windsurfing into the mix (and cut him a little slack, he is a paraplegic and therefore probably has never had much of reason to look into the sport). The only thing more "hoighty-toighty-er" than dressage is John Kerry himself...

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"Here's another contribution

"Here's another contribution to the discussion of Olympic sport from the same "news" network:

Gabby Douglas, Unpatriotic American, or, The Devil Wore Prada Pink."

Really William? Some nobody guest makes a a two minute appearance on a talk show, says something kind of stupid, and now Fox "news" is calling out Gabby for being unpatriotic. Whatever...

I know liberals hate Fox news, that's fine. But I don' understand all bitching and moaning about that one station. You guys have NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times (and most every major newspaper throughout the country), most all pop culture music, movies etc, on your side. Why can't the libs be happy with that Wink ???

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Adjustable Out-haul

So how does Bob Willis' adjustable out-haul work? My Chinook out-haul has T-handles on the ends of the lines coming out of the cleats on each side. Bob's lines look the like the ends are attached and go around the mast...

Bill Herderich

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Somebody actually reads this!

And my kids were convinced that only my dogs read my posts...

So much to say but I won't but a few things:

First, thanks very much for logging in and expressing your opinions. That takes time, thought and effort. I appreciate that very much. That's one of the big reasons I enjoy windsurfing in our little neighorhood - the chance to enjoy something with a bunch of people who may not be necessarily cut from the same piece of cloth (different philosophies, careers, cultures, etc.).

If I were a fan of dressage, I'd probably be just as offended by Mr. Krauthammer's remarks. Even not being a fan of dressage as Olympic sport, I felt bad for Ann Romney.

Rupert Murdoch/News Corp owns the highest rated cable "news" (oops, did it again) network and the nation's largest financial daily newspaper. I don't think he's having any problems getting his view of the world out -except maybe in England where there was that inconvenient phone-tapping issue and those awkward government inquiries.

Perhaps some people's objection to a particular network can be summed up by the words of its own London Bureau chief:

"Even we at Fox News manage to get some lefties on the air occasionally, and often let them finish their sentences before we club them to death and feed the scraps to Karl Rove and Bill O'Reilly."
- Scott Norvell. Interview in May 20, 2005 Wall Street Journal

Of course, there's media bias. We all have biases based on our culture, theology, philosophy, education and life experiences. If you and I both were to report an instance of cannabilism*, we'd probably write in negative tones. Someone from certain parts of Papua New Guinea might not. That's why I acknowledged that Mr. Krauthammer has his product he wants to sell. We all do.

Here, I want to persuade people that windsurfing is lots of fun. In my value system, getting worked in the waves and walking my gear home a quarter of a mile is not a bad thing. Others will disagree and ring for a tee time.

If, however, I stand in front of you with a broken mast section poking out my ear (my value system does not hold that in high regard) and tell you I'm having a great time, you'd be right in titling a post, "Webguy is an idiot."

* http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/13/12727213-29-alleged-papua-new-guinea-cannibals-charged-with-killing-7-over-sorcery-fees?lite

All the best,
Webguy

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webguy
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adjustable out-haul shock cord

"Not shown here is a piece of 1/8" shock cord which attaches to the tail of the 3/16" line, goes around the mast, and attaches to the tail of the 3/16" line on the other arm. The shock cord keeps the tail of the line from getting twisted around the boom arm while sailing. "

http://www.jfeehan.net/windsurfing/outhaul/outhaul.html

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Stirring it up

William -- I appreciate you stirring things up every once in a while. And yes, you have an audience (tell your kids you are important enough to have a heckler, only important people have hecklers).

We can certainly agree that windsurfing is good, and it is ignorant (not stupidity) to think that windsurfing is some elite, rich-guy sport. Windsurfing will always be a fringe sport in the US though. I don't expect people to understand it.

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