WINDSURFING SKILL LEVELS: The Patton/Close System
Is there any sort of logical progression in windsurfing
skills? After the thrill of the rapid learning curve tapers off,
how do you measure success? Does being able to waterstart make you
intermediate? How *can* you know at whether you're an intermediate
or an advanced windsurfer? Is the duck jibe an intermediate or
advanced skill?
Most people obviously know when they're getting better, but so
far, U.S. windsurfers have lacked a scale for describing skill
levels. In Europe, on the other hand, there seems to be a commonly
understood ranking system already in place. Germany's _Surf
Magazin_ sometimes uses numbers such as 3, 4, or 5 to rate the
difficulty of a site.
Some of the windsurfing how-to's that came out in the 1980's
such as Windsurfing with Ken Winner (1980) and Frank Fox's Zen
and the Art of Windsurfing (1985) imply three levels, usually
Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. But they don't agree about
how to rank the various skills. For example, some list the
waterstart as an intermediate maneuver, others as an advanced
trick. Windsurfing has developed so rapidly that not so long ago
the waterstart was advanced. Using a harness was probably advanced
for a while, too.
A simple three-part breakdown really is not very helpful. A
much better solution is the system developed by Niki Patton and
Charles Close in their Boardsailing Guide to The Coastal United
States (East Patchogue, NY: Hog Cove Promotions, 1988, rev. 1990).
Here is a transcription of it:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Patton-Close System
LEVEL MANEUVERS WATER WIND
(Levels 1-4: Practice in onshore winds)
ONE Unable to uphaul consistently flatwater >12 mph
TWO consistent uphauling
able to sail in a straight line chop
THREE aware of wind directions chop >14 mph
begin tacking
FOUR return to point of launch chop >18 mph
begin jibing
(Level 5 sailors begin jibing cross-shore winds.)
FIVE beachstarting chop >25 mph
begin waterstarting
using 10' board and shorter
(Level 6 sailors begin sailing in offshore winds.)
SIX waterstarting all conditions(x) chop >35 mph
footsteering
30% executed jibes(y)
SEVEN familiar with tidal sailing, 4 ft.wave 40 mph
rips and currents faces
shorebreak launching
50% executed jibes
jumping(z)
EIGHT banking jibes off waves 4-8 ft. waves
NINE 70% executed jibes mast high waves
TEN all those sailors who make our jaws drop open and our eyes
glassy as we watch them survive double mast high waves and
above in 45 mph winds....
(x) = "all conditions" means very light air to 35 mph.
(y) = Consistent jibes aren't a factor until you get to
large waves, but you have to start somewhere....
(z) = Many sailors lean how to "chop-hop" long before they
hit wave conditions. However, since jumping becomes a
virtual necessity at Level 8, we have included its
beginning here.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Patton and Close developed their ranking system to enable
sailors to know whether their skills are adequate for the
conditions they will encounter in a new windsurfing spot. Each
site described in the Boardsailing Guide receives a ranking
according to the scale. The Patton/Close Scale ranks windsurfing
skills on a scale of ONE to TEN. (See chart.) The Canadian Hole
on the Outer Banks ranks a 1+, but the ocean side of the Hole ("Ego
Beach") is a 7+. Oregon Inlet, with its tides and currents, is an
8+.
Patton and Close base skill level on the interaction between
boardsailing maneuvers, water conditions, and wind speed, and
importantly, wind direction (on-shore, cross-shore, and off-shore).
These three factors gradually increase in difficulty or severity.
Maneuvers start with uphauling and build to wavesailing. Wind
speed moves from under 12 miles per hour to over 40 mph. Water
conditions begin with flatwater and move to mast high waves.
Level ONE on the Patton/Close scale is very narrow: surely few
people remain there longer than a couple of sessions. Some quick
learners might move from ONE to THREE in a single afternoon. If
you're beachstarting and beginning to waterstart even in chop and
are going out in winds up to 25 mph, then you're a FIVE. To get to
SIX you have to be waterstarting in all conditions and going out in
stronger winds.
There's a big difference between levels SIX and SEVEN since
level SEVEN requires ocean conditions. By the time you have
reached level SEVEN, you have to be comfortable in most conditions.
You only get there by exposing yourself to shorebreak, tidal
sailing, rips and currents, and honest-to-god jumping (not just
chop-hopping). The wide gap between SIX and SEVEN probably
conforms to the nature of the sport.
Level TEN is reserved for the top windsurfing professionals,
team-riders and hot-shots who "make our jaws drop open and our eyes
glassy as we watch them survive double mast high waves and above in
45 mph winds."
The Patton and Close scale emphasizes "navigational skills"
rather than tricks. So freestyle and aerials (beyond jumping) get
no separate mention. Even *speed*, by itself, won't move you up
the scale, although ability to survive and sail in 40 mph winds
does. This ranking system stresses the basic skills of the sport
and rewards the sailor who can handle a wide range of conditions.
Since jibing, though glorious, is fairly difficult to master
Patton/Close measures skill level in terms of the percentage of
jibes *successfully executed*. Since most of my shortboard jibes
are "saved" rather than executed, it's encouraging to see that even
at a level NINE you can still botch 30 percent of your jibes.
The Patton/Close Scale offers a realistic, logically sequenced
set of goals for improving performance. If you study this scale
you'll learn that you should be beachstarting before you're
waterstarting. By focussing attention on the progressive nature of
challenges, the scale builds in a safety factor as well.
This scale makes clear what has to be accomplished to reach
the highest levels. Factors of aptitude, age, economics, and
available free time--sadly--impose limits on how good we can
ultimately get. Even geography plays a role. Just to move from
level FIVE to SIX requires access to stronger winds than many
inland sailing sites regularly get.
Patten and Close are not the first to delineate a ranking
system. The Vela Windsurfing Centers used some less complex scales
to describe their windsurfing sites. The scale used in 1988 was
"navigational" and practical. It went as follows:
1. Beginner: Cannot sail comfortably in over 8 knots, still
learning the basics.
2. Low Intermediate: Can sail long boards in up to 12-15
knots, can tack and light wind jibe, beginning to use
harness.
3. Intermediate: Full control in up to 18 knots, using (or
ready for) transition board, using harness, mastered
beachstarts and beginning to do waterstarts, trying
carved jibes.
4. Adv Intermediate: Full control in up to 25 knots and
comfortable in chop on short board. Can waterstart and
use harness in any conditions, completing some planing
short board jibes.
5. Advanced: Full control up to 30 knots, making 90%
jibes, and comfortable in heavy chop and swell.
6. Wave sailor: Has enough experience sailing in waves to
get in and out through shore break competently.
The 1991 revised scale breaks windsurfing skills down into five
categories instead of six:
Beginner skills: Basic sailing, rope tack and jibe, tack
and jibe, safety, and equipment survey.
Low intermediate skills: Beachstart, waterstart, using a
harness, getting on a plane, getting in the footstraps.
High intermediate skills: Sailing fast when powered,
sailing fast upwind, carve jibe.
Advanced skills: Step jibe, short board tacking, tail
sink jibe, jumping, sailing fast when underpowered.
Wave sailing skills: tail sink jibe, jumping, sailing
fast when underpowered, clew first waterstart, short
board tacking, safety.
The later scale seems to try to fill out some of the skimpy
definitions of the 1988 version. But in doing so, they resort to
basing skill levels on specific types of jibe. This seems a less
sound approach: some sailors may find the tail sink jibe easier
than the carve jibe. "Equipment survey" and "safety" are not
really skills. The waterstart went from Intermediate in 1988 to
Low Intermediate in 1991. How fast the sport advances!
I like the 1988 Vela scale better because it emphasizes the
basics, linking wind speed and water conditions to skill level.
The scale specifically mentions use of a harness. Getting hooked
in is often seen as one of the hurdles entitling one to a higher
ranking. I would like to see the Patton/Close Scale include both
harness and footstraps, although their use of "footsteering"
implies use of footstraps.
Both Vela scales are improvements over the three-part
breakdown. But they don't let you express your skill level in a
number, so appealing in a sport that attracts so many technophiles.
Patton and Close also use an informal five-part system similar to
the 1991 Vela system: Beginners, Intermediates, Advanced Flatwater
Sailors, Beginning Wavesailors, and Advanced Wavesailors. All
three systems recognize the Otherness of wave sailing. The highest
levels on the Patton/Close Scale call for an increase in wave size,
but no increase in wind speed.
All the scales have problems. If you are very heavy or very
light no scale may work for you. Things tend to bunch up in the
middle, probably because most windsurfers are intermediates. None
of rankings are much help here. Patton/Close level FIVE is a wide
category. Level FIVE sailors looking to distinguish themselves
from the competition will have to think seriously about speed,
racing strategy, beginning jumps, and freestyle skills to
distinguish themselves from other FIVEs.
The Patton/Close Scale is clearly the best-delineated ranking
system that has come along. So now when someone asks me how long
I've been windsurfing, I re-direct the question and reply
confidently "I'm a 5+ on the Patton/Close Scale." That's an
objective and honest answer (well, fairly honest). Then I get to
tell them about the Patton/Close Scale. This helps deflect
attention from the obvious fact that I'm not burning the water
ahead of the pack.
John Rutledge
Durham, North Carolina