Wally Part 2: The New "It"
That's the last time this sailor misses a deadline because of watching cat videos on youtube.
What he should have been writing about (Photo: Keith McCulloch)
Janitor's Note: The slacker who's supposed to pen this article has been working on it for two months. We apologise that it's taken so long and promise to brutally punish the author.
When writing Wally Part 1, we really did have a purpose in mind, unlikely as it seemed at the time, beyond waxing nostalgic over the Windsurfer One Design, the Wally. Looking around the internet, we began to sense some changes afoot, good changes. While ten years ago, some were thinking that windsurfing was a been there, done that sport, we've seen that some of the best surprises were still to come.
One of the parallel developments that's happened has been the blossoming of stand up paddling (SUP). Like many of man's best inventions which grow from our frustrations, surfers tired of waiting for ideal surf decided that a paddle could expand what and when they could surf. Additionally, the new boards also meant that one could journey in flat water like a kayak but with a better view being further above the water. Some windsurfers, not quite grasping the big picture, thought that SUPs would dilute the market for board sports at the expense of windsurfing. Those of us who took the longer view weren't worried.
Man has long known that paddling is an effective means of human-powered water transport. Yet, in each incarnation of a 'paddling' craft, some wise guy tired of paddling on a windy day, figured out that there had to be a better way and stuck up some version of a shirt on a stick. Let's trip down the halls of time and see.
SUP early developmental version 0.2 (lightweight concave wooden deck version)
Wise guy on SUP (early developmental version)
Early ocean going vessel (SUPus Gigantigus Ben Hurus). My, all those hot sweaty guys!
Ocean going vessel after wise guy treatment. Note multiple use of shirts on a stick.
>Wise guy celebrating not having to paddle with young grom looking in admiration and awe.
Modern "dugout" race, a testament to man's ability to turn virtually any activity into a pointless competition.
Modern "dugouts" with wise guy mods racing circa 1986 Van Pugh Park, Lake Lanier Developmental version of shirts on a stick. It wasn't until five years later that shirtmakers figured out how to make the battens parallel through computer aided design and engineering. Afterwards, rolling a shirt, er, sail, no longer required complete disassembly.
Dugout surfer being stalked by kelp. Obligatory bikini shot which may or may not have anything to do with article in an attempt to attract readership.
Blue tarp powered dugout surfing.
Despite the availability of sails, some clowns will always find an excuse to paddle.
While the original Windsurfer was as much about putting a sail on a surfboard as anything else, that aspect took a back seat as windsurfing equipment began to be optimized for planing conditions. Of course, wave sailing is still a popular discipline within windsurfing, and, for many, the pinnacle of windsurfing but it is still identified as largely as an activity that occurs largely in planing conditions. And, some clever souls instantly understood the connection between SUPs and light air wavesailing. Yet, it has remained relatively a niche activity for most.
Just like Formula equipment transformed windsurfing for the masses in light air conditions, it looks like the same thing is beginning to happen with SUP sailing equipment. Bill Bell, of the blog Bill's OBX Beach Life is among those who are big proponents. While this article has been bouncing around in draft form (we've been collecting pics for months actually), he posted the following on his blog: Light Air Wavesailing, Is it the New Thing?!. Given the wind and surf conditions along the Southeast US, it's easy to think it could be. Gentle breezes and small surf for much of the warm season make this perhaps the ideal way to enjoy our modest wind and waves.
Check out this post in a SUP forum: Topic: I've seen the LIGHT and the pics from this photo gallery
http://windsurfatlanta.org/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3709
Light wind wave sailing requires waves. Which we don't really seem to have at Lake Lanier or Galts. But one of the more fun things to do in the summer (if you can get past how lame it is), heavy boat traffic season is to go out on a day with some wind (5-10 is ok, 5-15 better) with a big board and try to wake sail. Boats stip up a lot of chop, which is mainly disorganized and totally chaotic. Except sometimes there is a pattern to it, and sometimes a single boat can make a really big wake. Esp. really big boats that are not planning but have their nose up in the air and tail sunk down (sort of like they are trying to plane.) They can stir up some pretty big waves and you can catch a sort of decent ride on some of them. Or maybe not. There are places at the lake where there are submerged hills - these stir up some rather large waves as all the boat chop piles up on top of them. The best example is at the end of the 3 sisters but there are some others. Also, I've noticed that the wake seems to pile up heading toward shore. For ex - coming into to Tidwell or VP there seems to be a sort of permanent swell, which I suspect is created because most of hte boat traffic is parallel to the shore. Sailing in to shore a lot of times feels like you are always sailing downhill.
Or maybe this is all just a halucination created by sailing out in light wind bobbing up and down pointlessly.
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.