KING OF THE COLD!
KING OF THE COLD!
KING OF THE COLD!
In true Andy King fashion, his win at the Cornish Coldwater Classic was the product of years of relentless progression, a refusal to dial things down and a mindset that treated every gust as an opportunity. His victory came with a stripped-back approach that seemed to unlock some Andy King magic, as he charged ramps, hit lips and threw fearless jumps (that didn’t even count on the score sheet) and sailed with the kind of instinctive freedom that defines his style.
We talk to Andy about commitment, speed, fitness, shift work and the endless pursuit of improving his technique…proof that even after decades in the sport, his passion for windsurfing is stronger than ever.
Photos: John Carter…Click any photo to enlarge and scroll…best viewed on a big screen!
WINDSURF: Now the dust has settled after the event in Cornwall, does it feel a bit surreal that you won it?
ANDY KING: “I had a lot going on last weekend with work and both my vans were off the road waiting for repair or diagnosis, which has continued on this week so in all honesty it doesn’t feel like the dust has settled yet. It may be that this helped during the contest as I was preoccupied and didn’t overthink things. I only rigged one sail and as I drove down in a 20-year-old three door Seat Leon compact hatch back (thanks Alan) I could only fit in one board, my 94L Goya Custom Quad 8.”
WINDSURF: Throughout the day, you were not holding back on the jumps, even though they did not count…did that help you relax…or was it just because you could not help yourself?
ANDY KING: “Between the family we have a bit of a saying that if conditions allow me to land a back loop it must in scale of things be an ok session. So, I am always looking for a ramp when I get powered up to at least get a few in the bag.
On this day the wind picked up after my first heat and as the wind increase had exceeded the forecast on Friday, I had a feeling I might need to rig a 4.7m just in case. It was however a long walk back to the car though, so I figured maybe the best option was to first have a few runs on the 5.3m to access whether it had picked up much. In fact, I was absolutely fine on the 5.3m, it still loads of top end range left.
Whilst grabbing these couple of planning runs I noticed that what initially looked like a pretty weird super low tide close out peak in the upwind free sailing area of the river mouth suddenly, with enough wind to plane, presented a fun vertical take-off ramp. The key was to wait in shin depth water until I spotted a set. Then it was all about timing the launch to have time to get up to full speed in time to hit the wave just before it broke. You had to be committed and not chicken out but the reward was a nice vertical, punchy take off. My way of thinking has always been windsurf when you can for as long as you can. I hate to leave a windy beach and I won’t sit and watch other people windsurf for more than a few minutes if I could be out there myself, unless I am injured or totally exhausted.”
WINDSURF: You seem to love a good push loop…Can you gives up your tops tips on how to do a decent one and talk us through the whole rotation?
ANDY KING: “Push loops are a pretty cool feeling…they are the equivalent of a true back flip. Small ones are fun as you have to commit and rotate as quick as possible and are playing with / risking coming up short. High ones are even more fun as you can go as high as you can and just head throw and hang on. The technique is pretty much the same you can just relax more on the high push loops until the landing when you need to look after your board and ankles a bit more than you do on the lower ones.
Speed is key to most loops … when you sail faster you control the kit… the sail is lighter in the hands and ultimately rotations are easier… Slowing down through fear or hesitation can actually hinder, not only the height you get but also sail control. After speed and the resultant height, the key is commitment. A push loop doesn’t require as much precision and air awareness that you need for consistent back loops. In a push loop the rotation at 6 feet can be the same as the rotation at 30ft and the only difference is you fall further to land from 30-feet but unlike a back loop, where the landing is precise and technical a push loop landing is just like a normally floaty jump that most intermediates can do no problem.
You want a steep wave similar to what you’d try a back loop off, but you don’t want to go into wind so much. Drive into the take-off ramp with your legs to get plenty of pop. Now it is important to be patient and wait a second to get enough height before initiating the rotation. If you lean back too early you can hit your mast which will stop the rotation in it’s tracks.
You can initiate a push loop off axis over your shoulder more like a fast back loop … the retro original push loop technique but this will over rotate unless you do a well-timed push with your back hand to stop the rotation once you are back upright. The revolution of the push loop in the late 90’s was to rotate more vertical, at which point you end up laid out above your gear. In this position you’re body weight is natural pushing on your sail due to gravity and there is far less inclination to over rotate.
A few tips are: to throw your head to encourage a more vertical axis of rotation.. if you keep your eyes open you get a cool upside view of the beach too. If you tend to over rotate you can pull the front hand and with it the mast tight to your hip to put your body weight closer to being over the sail.
If you get stuck on top of your kit letting go of just the back hand will usually reinitiate the rotation and save you face planting the rig. Best to learn well powered up and on 5.0 and below. I can push loop a 6m ok off waves but the bigger the sail the harder it is.”
WINDSURF: What are your tips for an average sailor, to get planing fast off the beach, so you are ready to jump at the first possibility?
ANDY KING: “For me a it helps to have a board with 10L of positive volume compared to body weight, I am 82kg so for example my 94L Goya quad, will get planning really quickly. There’s obviously technique which helps and plenty of practice. No one likes to catapult but to get going quick you need to be getting your body weight up on the board and over the centre of the mast base not hanging back…you need to be efficient as possible in reducing drag so get the board flat and point it a little off the wind.
A full sail rigged to keep a decent bit of profile / camber generates power quicker and is more efficient in standard wind conditions. A flatter sail or a sail rigged badly will not help early planning. I believe that too much pumping of the sail will deform the sail and disrupt pressure / lift generation so to me I am working more on fluctuating sheeting load / fluttering my back hand rather than body pumps get in the harness early and be confident and we’ll practiced in finding the straps first shot. The whole time you are giving a lot of the rig to the wind whilst a little broad to the wind teetering on a catapult… this is where you can generate the most power to get the quickest acceleration but be prepared / practised in managing a catapult as it can happen occasionally to the best of them.
Once in the straps you can push on the fins with a fluttering pressure to speed up the board lifting onto the plane. Finally, just because you are planning you are not at jumping speed … You want to keep trimming, making subtle adjustments to squeeze out every knot of board speed. The more comfortable you are at sailing fast on your wave kit the better a wave sailor you will be. Bigger jumps, better control on bigger waves, better gybes and more time in tacks.”
WINDSURF: How do you stay fit to windsurf so much…do you go the gym / run etc.
ANDY KING: “I try to go to the gym a fair amount when it isn’t windy. If it is a windy spell, I drop the gym for as long as the wind lasts prioritising everything to maximize time on the water. I also like to get out on my mountain bike and in lighter winds I do foil when I can. Finally, I walk the dogs and play a bit of five aside football. In truth, I think stamina in windsurfing comes from mindset and technique. Let the wind do the work by carrying a bit more sail, have a little bit more volume so you spend less time off the plane and you drop less transitions. Use the harness effectively and really learn to sit into the lines to reduce the demand on your muscles. I don’t like stopping during sessions. Good conditions can change so quickly so if it is good I don’t stop I just get into a rhythm.”
WINDSURF: How do you manage to fit in windsurfing around your work, does that mean you sometimes go windsurfing straight after a night shift?
“Shift work has positives when it comes to water sports. Day shifts are the worst in winter as they are a write off but there are only two of them each set the rest of the shifts i.e. lates or nights at least allow an opportunity to windsurf before or after work. It takes a bit of rest / sleep management but it means I don’t miss out on too many sessions. I quite often windsurf after a night shift…a few crashes and wetsuit flushes always keep me awake!”
WINDSURF: What motivates you to keep windsurfing so much?
ANDY KING: “I still want to progress my level, so I try to push myself but more often than not conditions limit what I can and can’t do but just doing what I can do well in the given conditions is all I need to keep the windsurfing buzz alive. To me there is challenge in every move I do, whether it is a heli tack, a push loop or a double attempt .. each and every move can always be done better, so there are endless opportunities in each session trying to do as much as you can as close to as well you can.
I remember watching Robby Naish sailing in Ireland one year and he was putting 100% effort into each and every thing he did on the water. Like the camera was on him non stop, which of course at times it was. I realised that by not doing a half arsed lazy gybe or rushing something, you are not lowering your standard and not creating bad habits. You also need to keep working on your moves even when you can land them. I see so many people for example who can forward loop but then stop perfecting the move. In my opinion there are very few riders who can pull off that perfect planning forward every time because windsurfing has so many variables, but there is something much more the average forward looper can work on to get closer and closer to getting the move really and truly mastered and the same applies for every other move as the progression ladder has steps within each step.”
WINDSURF: What do you love about windsurfing?
ANDY KING: “The freedom, the speed, the airtime. There is no combustion engine or electric motor, very little noise and a constantly changing canvas on which to express whatever you feel like. That can be drifting about in the summer on a 180L long board or battling 50knt storms when normal people are sheltering away. Windsurfing is a vehicle on which to escape the restrictions of normal life, but what makes it more special is you can’t have it every day and you can’t have it all unless you commit time and energy. It is a side journey alongside working life, a habit that is hard to shake. Other water sports try to claim they offer more now, but we all know dangling from a kite or wobbling around on a foil, whilst dressed like robot cop are just pretenders to the throne and anyone who says different will have never windsurfed properly or were shit and will be equally shit at kiting or foiling once they look to push past wiggling down two foot wind chop.”
WINDSURF: You are well know for your jumping, even waves are pumping…do you also enjoy riding waves and aim to improve your level in that department?
ANDY KING: “I do, believe it or not, really like wave riding. I just perversely love jumping and still enjoy trying to go for the big moves even when they don’t count in the competition. We get plenty of wave riding conditions down here and I live here all year round, so I’m doing a lot of it…it just doesn’t get seen because we don’t have cameras on us. I sail with the local guys and they absolutely rip, Ian Black, Andrew Fawcett, Ian Ross, Mark Meardon, Timo Mullen and Steve Thorp…so the level is always high. Sometimes at events I probably struggle to show my wave riding because I get distracted or lose motivation in softer conditions, but when the waves have a bit more power like during the competition, I can really get into it.”
WINDSURF: Who would you like to thank for supporting your windsurf career over the years?
ANDY KING: “I obviously ride for Goya and I’ve been supported by them for years, so I’m really grateful they’ve stuck with me. They could probably have got rid of me a long time ago, but they’ve always been supportive. Their equipment is just plug and play for me…it’s almost like being on autopilot.
I’m sure there’s loads of great gear out there, but for me this just works, and without them I wouldn’t have achieved what I did today. I’m eternally grateful to Goya, the whole team Bubble (Andy Chambers), and everyone in the UK and internationally who’s supported me. I would also like to thank Flymount…they give me accessories as a key training tool for progression and have supported me for years. I’m just glad I finally got a result that does their support justice. K4 fins supported me for years helping my wave riding improve. My wife Liz needs thanking the most for letting me windsurf so much and solo parenting in my frequent absence”
The post KING OF THE COLD! appeared first on Windsurf Magazine Online.