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Bio - Eric L. Mihelbergel is an intermediate/advanced windsurfer, kiteboarder, and foiler living in the Great Lakes Region of New York State who enjoys sharing about windsports and fitness.
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How I Learned To Ride Frontside In "Difficult" Onshore Conditions
By Eric Mihelbergel (Written April 2018)
One of my most favorite parts of windsurfing is frontside wave riding. But when you live in Buffalo, NY, on the smallest of the Great Lakes, the conditions are less optimal than down-the-line Hookipa. In Buffalo, we get mostly onshore or side-on mushy conditions. The wave faces are small, and they mush over quickly. They do not stand tall for very long, if at all. They close-out fast, are close together, and move fast with all the wind behind them. So you don't have a lot of time to setup for frontside riding. A few years back I didn't even think it would be possible for me to learn to ride frontside in Buffalo. I'm not that good of a windsurfer, and I have never ridden frontside anywhere let alone in "difficult" onshore conditions. However, I have learned to do it. It didn't take that long to learn, it is EXTREMELY fun, and really not that "difficult" with a couple key tips. Here are the key points that have allowed me to ride frontside in mushy onshore conditions:
1. Learn proper BACKSIDE wave riding first - When I say backside wave riding, I do NOT mean casually cutting up and down a wave or swell on your heels and toes. No. What I mean is PROPER backside top and bottom turns. Especially TOP TURNS. Learn to get backside SMACK on your top turns. What does this mean? As you complete your backside bottom turn and start heading up the wave, aim your board for the steepest part of the breaking wave right where the white water meets the curl. As you start to head up the wave (and into the wind) transfer pressure from your heels to your toes as the board points directly up to the sky at 90 degrees. Slide your backhand further down the boom, sheet in, and the wave will SMACK your entire kit back down the wave as you SLAM onto your toe-side. It is an AMAZING feeling when you hit a proper backside top turn. The power of the wave literally throws you and your entire kit back down the wave. I learned to do this by watching Jem Hall's video called Winner to WaveSailor. Watch this video, or other backside tutorials, to see how this is done in more detail. I like Jem's video because most of his video footage is on the same tack as the beach I sail in Bufflalo.
2. Use your backside top turn to drop into frontside - When I started learning to ride frontside I constantly found myself way out in front of the wave struggling to make a frontside bottom turn. I could barely hold on to the sail in the powered-up, twisted, clew-first position. The board would not turn back up the wave for me, and I got yanked out the front door every time before I ever even got into the frontside riding position. But, in Jem Hall's video he suggested using your backside top turn to drop into frontside right from the TOP of the wave. THIS CHANGED EVERYTHING FOR ME!!! I strongly suggest doing this. In step 1 above you learned to do a radical backside top turn. Since you can now do a radical backside top turn (at the spot where the breaking white water meets the curl) it will be easy for you to do a less radical backside top turn ANYWHERE on the wave. When the wave starts to push you back down the wave just sheet in to get the power out of the sail, get on your toes, and drop into frontside. Not only did this one little thing make the impossible possible, but it almost made it easy. Time your backside top turn so that you start dropping into frontside from the VERY TOP of the wave. Sometimes you will miss the wave and end up going out the back of the wave because you waited a little too long, but that's ok. You want to learn to be at the absolute top of the wave so that you have more time to get into frontside position before you get too far out in front of the wave. If you miss a couple waves because they go under you, don't worry, it's just part of learning.
1. Learn proper BACKSIDE wave riding first - When I say backside wave riding, I do NOT mean casually cutting up and down a wave or swell on your heels and toes. No. What I mean is PROPER backside top and bottom turns. Especially TOP TURNS. Learn to get backside SMACK on your top turns. What does this mean? As you complete your backside bottom turn and start heading up the wave, aim your board for the steepest part of the breaking wave right where the white water meets the curl. As you start to head up the wave (and into the wind) transfer pressure from your heels to your toes as the board points directly up to the sky at 90 degrees. Slide your backhand further down the boom, sheet in, and the wave will SMACK your entire kit back down the wave as you SLAM onto your toe-side. It is an AMAZING feeling when you hit a proper backside top turn. The power of the wave literally throws you and your entire kit back down the wave. I learned to do this by watching Jem Hall's video called Winner to WaveSailor. Watch this video, or other backside tutorials, to see how this is done in more detail. I like Jem's video because most of his video footage is on the same tack as the beach I sail in Bufflalo.
2. Use your backside top turn to drop into frontside - When I started learning to ride frontside I constantly found myself way out in front of the wave struggling to make a frontside bottom turn. I could barely hold on to the sail in the powered-up, twisted, clew-first position. The board would not turn back up the wave for me, and I got yanked out the front door every time before I ever even got into the frontside riding position. But, in Jem Hall's video he suggested using your backside top turn to drop into frontside right from the TOP of the wave. THIS CHANGED EVERYTHING FOR ME!!! I strongly suggest doing this. In step 1 above you learned to do a radical backside top turn. Since you can now do a radical backside top turn (at the spot where the breaking white water meets the curl) it will be easy for you to do a less radical backside top turn ANYWHERE on the wave. When the wave starts to push you back down the wave just sheet in to get the power out of the sail, get on your toes, and drop into frontside. Not only did this one little thing make the impossible possible, but it almost made it easy. Time your backside top turn so that you start dropping into frontside from the VERY TOP of the wave. Sometimes you will miss the wave and end up going out the back of the wave because you waited a little too long, but that's ok. You want to learn to be at the absolute top of the wave so that you have more time to get into frontside position before you get too far out in front of the wave. If you miss a couple waves because they go under you, don't worry, it's just part of learning.
3. Stay on the wave - Now that you are actually riding the wave frontside, stay on the wave in the frontside position. As you get more advanced you will be able to bottom turn out in front of the wave then come back up and lip slide on your frontside top turn. But for learning purposes, I suggest staying frontside on the wave as long as you can while doing little carves up and down the waves. These waves close-out quickly in our onshore conditions here on the Great Lakes, so enjoy being frontside as long as the wave lasts. You can get more radical later, but you will progress more quickly by staying frontside as long as possible for the first few sessions. After a few sessions of success with frontside riding then you can try more radical bottom turns out in front of the wave.
4. Control the sail - To keep sail control simple, just remember to move your hands apart when going toe-side and move your hands closer together when going heel-side. This allows you to control the clew when toe-side (frontside), and it allows you to get maximum power when heel-side (backside). There is more to learn when it comes to sail control, but this basic principle will get you started.
There is more to tell, more to do, and much more to learn, but these are the most important points from my own limited experience. It really is NOT as "difficult" as we have been led to believe. I hope this helps. Have fun!
This is a facebook post I wrote expressing the stoke of riding frontside:
Just when you think this sport has delivered to you the ultimate experience, it breaks through into yet another level of ultimate.
Today there was an additional set of waves breaking further out, behind the typical set in the usual impact zone, probably due to the consistent 40mph winds all day just across the way in Canada. Once I located the break after a few reaches, I stopped in the right spot and treaded water for about five minutes waiting for a set....and BAMMM!!!! There it was!!!
I water started, got backside, hit the lip backside just as the wave broke on the upwind side, and....................DROP..............right into frontside!!!!!!!!! It looked like about a 10 foot drop, which is about right because the waves were breaking about 6 foot and my eyes are about 4 foot above my feet on bent knees....so it "looked" like 10 feet.
This is my first experience with a proper drop this big and steep. Somehow my instincts naturally made me rake the sail back, I dropped in, never having had this legit steep experience before, sheeted out on the bottom turn, right up into the top turn, brief frontside lip slide, back down, back up....and then stalled and took the next 3 breaking waves on the head hard.
Got one more wave the same way. SO STOKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This sport just keeps getting better. I owe so much of this stoke to all our wind friends over the years. Thank you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So fun!
4. Control the sail - To keep sail control simple, just remember to move your hands apart when going toe-side and move your hands closer together when going heel-side. This allows you to control the clew when toe-side (frontside), and it allows you to get maximum power when heel-side (backside). There is more to learn when it comes to sail control, but this basic principle will get you started.
There is more to tell, more to do, and much more to learn, but these are the most important points from my own limited experience. It really is NOT as "difficult" as we have been led to believe. I hope this helps. Have fun!
This is a facebook post I wrote expressing the stoke of riding frontside:
Just when you think this sport has delivered to you the ultimate experience, it breaks through into yet another level of ultimate.
Today there was an additional set of waves breaking further out, behind the typical set in the usual impact zone, probably due to the consistent 40mph winds all day just across the way in Canada. Once I located the break after a few reaches, I stopped in the right spot and treaded water for about five minutes waiting for a set....and BAMMM!!!! There it was!!!
I water started, got backside, hit the lip backside just as the wave broke on the upwind side, and....................DROP..............right into frontside!!!!!!!!! It looked like about a 10 foot drop, which is about right because the waves were breaking about 6 foot and my eyes are about 4 foot above my feet on bent knees....so it "looked" like 10 feet.
This is my first experience with a proper drop this big and steep. Somehow my instincts naturally made me rake the sail back, I dropped in, never having had this legit steep experience before, sheeted out on the bottom turn, right up into the top turn, brief frontside lip slide, back down, back up....and then stalled and took the next 3 breaking waves on the head hard.
Got one more wave the same way. SO STOKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This sport just keeps getting better. I owe so much of this stoke to all our wind friends over the years. Thank you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So fun!
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