The Peconic Puffin
A blog about a group of windsurfers and other water sports enthusiasts, and their friends. Established 1993.
Category: Rigorous Rigger
-
In the words of an OG Puffin named Dave in 1993, “don’t do that, do that!” More specifically, use a downhaul tool of some kind when attaching or releasing your downhaul, lest your hand be injured, as happened recently to The Art of Windsurfing. At the request of the editors, Artie is here to tell…
-
This is so cool. As discussed in a forum thread on iWindsurf, this easy to tie windsurfing downhaul knot allows you to use your mast foot (or whatever else is handy) as a downhaul handle, and when you are done, the knot just disappears…no untieing necessary. Here are two videos showing different ways to…
-
Ted Bretter has been telling me for months about an old Windsport article that did a thorough job of explaining how to derig at sea. He told me that it once got him out of quite a jam. “You’ve got to find a copy,” Ted’s been saying. Now after the Wolf’s misadventures on the Peconic…
-
Decision tree for the employment of WD-40 and duct tape in a waterside environment. Adapted after theft from Lord Tillerman's Proper Course.
-
After my recent shark experience I thought it was a particularly good time to inspect my unis. I’ve always been pretty good about eyeballing them and giving them a bend to see if any cracks or rot are visible, but a post in the Live to Sail blog was taking uni inspection to the next…
-
In a previous post I went on about how spending $2 more on downhaul line makes a ridiculous difference in how easy any sail will rig and tune. No less than the ghost of Chuck Berry (posting as JB Goode in an iWindsurf forum) recently echoed the call: "I can't believe how much easier it…
-
What do I mean when I say I’m overpowered? If I’m windsurfing on smaller gear in high winds, I probably mean that there’s so much power in the sail that I can’t manage it. I lack the skill to stop the universe from exploding when I’m sailing a 4.0 in 35 knots. Better men (and…
-
What windsurfing equipment can you get for $3? There used to be only one answer: a downhaul line (though I hope you’re going for the better stuff) but the Peconic Puffin has discovered another item worthy of your gear bag: the drinking glass cleaner (sometimes sold as a fluted glass cleaner or bottle washer.) It’s…
-
Cutting line…downhauls, harness lines, whatever…can of course be done with razor blades, finishing the ends with a match or a cigarette lighter, thought the results are often less than great. As someone who likes tools, and who religously replaces and tweaks lines, I went in search of the perfect line cutting tool a few years…
-
Cut your downhaul costs in half (or more than cover the costs of upgrading to Spectra)! You already may do this and find this stupendously obvious, but most people I mention this to had never thought of it before, including a pro windsurfer whose jaw dropped when I explained it: You can get twice the…