The San Francisco Bay Area has always had wind and waves. Yes there is the Gorge (perfection) and Maui's Maliko run among others but San Francisco was high on the list of wind/windsurfing destinations 25 years ago. We are now discovering a plethora of downwinding runs that include safe and warm bay runs like Coyote Point to 3rd Avenue. Inland fresh water mini Gorge conditions at Sherman Island. And booming open Ocean runs along the Santa Cruz coast in long period double overhead bombs.
Two Bay Area residents David Bloch and Andy Forquer organized a great event last weekend inviting Kyle Pemberton and Nick Weighall to speak about their downwind journeys.
Kyle has been leading the charge here in Northern California building lightweight, vacuum bagged boards for himself, and ~ 30 others on his property while charting over 150 miles of unique downwind territory. Nick has been downwinding for years on SUPs and other craft and has the record for California over 50+ miles. Nick and Kyle did a crossing of Monterrey Bay from Davenport, Ca to Monterey last fall unassisted 73 km.
Here is a recording of the event. 1 hour 15 minutes long similar to a podcast. Enjoy!
