Got back from my first Baja trip on Sunday night. I say first because I will definitely be going back!! It’s a pretty incredible place and is really like nothing I’ve ever done before. As the owner Kevin Trejo would say, “you just don’t know until you go”. It was an awesome experience from the very beginning taking a little plane in and landing in the middle of nowhere in the desert surrounded by mountains and waves.
The first day we arrived (Saturday) around 4ish and pretty much got out on the water right after doing the quick tour around. Solosports has an amazing set up that really couldn’t be any better. They have awesome Goya and Ezzy sails rigged hanging up ready to go (boom just required). Then tons of Goya, Quatro, RRD and some Starboard boards to choose from. There’s a lot of gear and I never had a problem finding the combo I wanted.
Sunday was when the official Matt Pritchard and Kevin McGillivray camp began. Every day class started at 10:00am and usually ran at least two hours. Class was typically a combination of instruction of technique on the simulator and video analysis. Matt and Kev would video tape our wave sailing all afternoon for video analysis the next day. Watching video of yourself can be quite painful to see and you learn very quickly what your doing wrong this way. For the most part it was not pretty, but it definitely helped changing bad habits. It really helped having Matt and Kevin identify what you were doing wrong and how to fix the problem. At the end of the day Matt and Kev would come out with us and sail into the evening and man, can these guys rip! They really kill it out there. I was so impressed with the overall quality of instruction these two offer. They definitely offer the best instruction out there!
After a couple of days I really got my routine dialed in. Usually the day would start around 6-7 am, followed by a quick little breakfast, then a mountain bike session. The mountain biking is awesome! Top of line mountain bikes and so many trails with incredible views. After mountain biking I’d have second breakfast and then get ready for class at 10am. Usually around noon I’d get out for a 2 hour session, then have lunch. After lunch I’d get out again at some point in the afternoon. Meals were really done well and were always awesome. Evenings were awesome enjoying meals and Baja Fogs with the crew.
For the most part the conditions are very predictable at Punta San Carlos. Days usually start off warm and calm with no wind. The wind would usually pick up late morning and remain constant throughout the afternoon and sometimes building around 530ish. It was side off wind every day which is perfect conditions for learning to wave sail. After spending two weeks in Baja, I’ve definitely made some major improvements, but wavesailing is something that takes years to dial in and perfect like everything else in windsurfing. I now know what it is I’ve been doing wrong and what I have to continue to work on to get to the level I want to be at in the waves.
The second week I was there all the pro’s and amateurs showed up for the American Windsurfing Tour Event. Wow! Was it ever cool to see some of my biggest idols walk up to camp and just rip it apart out there. They are so good and it’s just incredible to see the stuff these guys do on the water. They really make everything flow on the wave, making it look so easy. The speed and how vertical they can get on the wave is amazing. Man, I’d love to be able to ride like these guys! It was really cool sailing with these guys and seeing them up close in action on the water.
I took a lot of pictures and video so I will try and post a vid shortly.
nfwindsurfer 