Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2004 5:54 PM
Subject: A Great Day Windskiing

It has blown the past two days. On Friday it blew 30 - 40 mph and closed all the roads.
On Saturday I went out with Matthew and Aaron, Jeff Lacy and his two kids. out west
of town. With no coat on or gloves.

It was a great day using a 7.0 while the kids all played around on a 3.4 and 4.5.
Jay (Jeffs boy who is ten) started to really get the hang of it. Jeff thought
it was a good way to learn windsurfing (does that sound familar?).

I spend 3 hours giving his daughter and my two kids rides, flying across
the spud fields making 2 mile reaches. They really loved that. Jeff had a
digital camera so I will be sending pictures.

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Sent: Sunday, February 29, 2004 1:05 AM
Subject: Jibing

Wind blew 20-40 today so I went out west of town with Jeff Lacy.
We ran into Kevin Oneil and a friend out there using kites and skiis.

Anyway I finally starting pulling off jibes on the new ski. Jeff Lacy
even got two of them on video tap. Take care and I will talk to you later.
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Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2002 3:05 PM
Subject: Jibing

THREE-FOUR TO FOUR-O

Now most windsurfers would naturally assume that Day One of the 2003 Windski Tour De Idaho was spent on 3.4 to 4.0 sails. While that is true it could also be an accurate account of the three to four foot snow depth at Island Park roughly an hour north of Idaho Falls , Idaho where the Tour De Idaho crew spent its first day on Feb 22nd. Three-four to four-o could have also referred to the wind speed that first morning, 30-40 mile an hour winds and heavy snow fall accounted for near whiteout conditions that prompted the test crew to huddle and call a time out on the sailing until visibility increased just a bit. Clive and myself had each brought along GPS units but their intended purpose was to record top end speeds, not to try and use them to find our way back to the vehicle.

I should start back at the beginning. Clive Armitage invited me to join this Windski fest for the last several years but I was unable to make the trip. This year everything fell into place. Clarence Roman, the other principal participant in the development of the Windski, had a friend, Bill During, driving up from Denver and he was looking for a traveling partner. Bill and I met several days before the trip and ironed out all the trip particulars and directions. The trip up through Wyoming into Idaho was a great chance to meet someone new and travel through some very spectacular scenery. The 10-hour trip passed rather quickly and arriving in Idaho on Friday evening we finally got to meet up with the infamous duo of Clive and Roman. Let me say right here and now that any rumors you may have heard about these two are most likely true. We excitedly unpacked the 2003 Windski and assembled the risers and decks and skegs. The new ski features an extra wide front that is very reminiscent of the new shaped downhill skis. The red ski with white graphics is in my opinion the best-looking Windski to date.

As I previously related Saturday morning featured a full-scale ground blizzard with near whiteout conditions. We took the wisest option and hibernated inside the Hungry Bear Market until the conditions cleared a bit. While the wind stayed up the visibility finally increased enough to take off on a few tentative trips out into this high mountain meadow. Clarence was the initial test pilot and after a quick out and back pronounced the ski a great improvement over the previous model. Clive was the next test pilot and it was immediately obvious that he has spent quite a bit of time on the ski, he made it look effortless. Well, I was next and I must admit I had a few butterflies but the ski took off like a rocket powered by a 4.0 sail and was extremely maneuverable. This was no easy task as I am a 200++ pound sailor. The rest of the afternoon was spent taking turns on two Windskis fully powered up on 3.4 and 4.0 sails. I had several runs wound up on a 3.4 sail and felt in total control the whole time. The 2003 Windski is a real kick in the ass and a great tool to turn windsurfing into a year round passion.

Mike