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THE RETURN OF…AFFAIRS OF THE HART!

Drumroll please…Just when you thought the wind had settled, the tides had turned, and your monthly fix of ‘Affairs of the Hart’ had gone forever; guess what? Due to popular demand…Peter Hart is back!

Like a rogue gust on an otherwise predictable forecast, ‘Affairs of the Hart’ returns to shake up the scene and enlighten us once more. Peter Hart; our favourite wordsmith and wind whisperer is here to cut through the chop, challenge convention, and remind us why we fell in love with windsurfing in the first place.

So, tighten those foot straps, hold onto your booms, and prepare for another unforgettable ride.

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DON’T BE UNCOACHABLE!

Harty’s experience on the golf course proves that progress may be just a tip away.

“Just try rolling your right hand in a bit so the ‘V’ between your thumb and forefinger points at your back shoulder – that should stop you closing the club head too soon and help cure your hook.” Suggested the earnest young golf instructor as I prepared to spank yet another ball to nowhere in particular on the driving range.
“Thanks Craig, I’ll try that.” I said with as much positivity as I could muster, even though my internal ranting monologue went something like:
“That is the problem with bloody golf – and you are part of the problem Craig – you take  a very simple task – to hit a ball with a stick –  and make it as complex as possible in the hope of selling more lessons at £50 a pop.”
Getting lessons was not my normal approach. Half the fun of sport, I’ve always believed,  has been in working it out for myself. But a friend who had just been given the all clear from cancer, wanted to get active and social again after a series of debilitating rounds of chemo, and booked 6 of us for a series of group lessons. We had all played a bit of golf and could use some help –  and besides it was an excuse to get together and have a beer
Anyway with my grip unnecessarily, so I thought, tweaked, I prepared to swing…

The Maui Golf Posse

 

In Maui around the turn of the millennium, I was a member of an enthusiastic golfing group made up from mostly itinerant pro windsurfers. With no windsurfing allowed before 11 am, and with a round at dawn on the public course at Pukalani costing only $15, it was a fun and convenient morning alternative.

Our pool of players included such early luminaries as Ant and Nik Baker, Scotts Fenton and McKercher, Jason Polakow, Richie Foster and our esteemed photographer John Carter (JC).

In terms of appeal, windsurfing and golf appear to lie at opposite ends of the sporting spectrum. One is embraced by free-spirited thrill seekers with a yearning to cast aside the shackles of sedentary urban life, invite danger and pit their wits against the elements. The other attracts those with criminal fashion sense; and a love of ridiculously complex rules and mind-numbing over-analysis.

And yet … they are both sports which invite total obsession; where total mastery remains frustratingly out of reach, and where the devil lies so often in the slightest details.

Our games were memorable for the mutual piss-taking and golf cart racing but, as you might expect given the background of the players, were also highly competitive. In truth we were all pretty crap but on occasion innate hand to eye skill combined with a burning desire to win, produced the odd (very odd) moment of brilliance.
However, what was clear was that we all had bugs in our basic technique, which meant consistency would forever elude us. My bug was bigger than most, which manifested itself as a catastrophic hook. (J.C. reminded me of the day that I sprayed 6 balls onto balconies and through the windows of the million-dollar condos across the road). But we were way too proud to seek professional help.

Back to the range …

Under the watchful eye of Craig I swung as I had always done, more in hope than expectation, and …never had I hit a ball so straight and clean. It was surely a fluke. So, I hit another with the same result. My hook had gone – or at least had taken a short holiday. Craig explained that given the way I’d been holding the club, it was pretty much impossible not to hook.

Windy Habits

That’s the same, dear readers, with our sport. Feeling fit, using your fav combo in perfect conditions, can combine to give you moments or even sessions of supreme competence. But it only takes one rotten habit – a defensive instinct perhaps – to prevent you repeating that same performance in lesser conditions and moving to next level.
Richard presented himself on a course after a lengthy break. His wish-list read: “ I’m completely self-taught and have probably been sailing longer than you. But I’ve always been the slowest to plane at my spot; have never planed out of a gybe and somehow always turn up into wind.”
At the end of the first session, I pointed out that he sailed with his front foot across the centreline at right angles to it. The angle of your foot determines the angle of your hips. With across the centreline, you tend to turn into the sail and over sheet – which makes the board head up – and it’s not in the right place to drive the nose off the wind.

He did as instructed. And, and no he didn’t, Hollywood ending style, immediately nail a flaka. But he immediately looked … better –  his head, hips and shoulders all opened up to the direction of travel. Many other improvements flowed from that one adjustment.

We were both delighted – me due to my cured hook and Richard with his remoulded stance – and at the same time bitter and angry … that we’d wasted years of our lives ploughing the wrong furrow.
They say with satire, people never see themselves as the target. When it comes to improving technique in any sport, it’s one thing, knowing about the common mistakes, and the right way to do something. It’s quite another to see those mistakes in ourselves and actually do something about it. It takes a dispassionate, well informed third party to point out your misgivings, be it bad breath, a dodgy golf grip or defensive windsurfing stance.

This article is not actually sponsored by the International Windsurfing Coach’s Association – but it might as well be.

Peter Hart 11 March 2025

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“Peter Hart has just posted dates and details of his fabulously exotic autumn/winter clinics.”

27 Oct – 6 Nov ’25 Jeri Brazil, waves and general skills
The dreamiest and easiest spot to challenge waves for the first time.

23 Nov – 3 Dec ’25 Mauritius gen skills and waves
Paradise for all levels of windsurfer.

Lots of details on www.peter-hart.com

2025 MASTERCLASS TOUR

25 March – 2 April Tobago gen skills 2 places
4-8 May Kerry waves and gen skills FULL
11-15 May Kerry waves and gen skills FULL
13-20 June Rhodes gen skills FULL
20-27 June Rhodes gen skills FULL
9-13 Sept Donegal waves and gen skills FULL
15-19 Sept Donegal waves and gen skills FULL
21-25 Sept Donegal waves and gen skills FULL
27 Oct – 6 Nov Jeri Brazil waves and gen skills 5 places
23 Nov – 3 Dec Mauritius waves and gen skills NEW!
www.peter-hart.com

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