Thursday, November 22, 2012

A light wind day after work with light wind but during the gusts was plenty fun.

Some gust happy planing - pretty good scoot

Sailing below my future house (I can wish)

Cheers!


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

After Work Speed Sail

After work it was forecast to blow 15 to 20 knots, so we planned to head out and sail somewhere.

Lake connewarre near Ocean Grove ended up being the destination and so I rigged up in the blowing sand, wondering it I was rigging too big (5.0). SMS came from Red who earlier in the day was fully powered up running a 6.4, and the forecast said now was supposed to be stronger, so with only a 6.5 and a 5.0, I went for smaller, hoping it was a correct choice.

The gusts were difficult as they were all over the place,so  the 5.0 was well under control if the board was not, but it was fun, though in the lulls it was far from being enough to stay planning, so I was slogging between gusts. The gusts were twitchy at times, making it difficult to feel comfortable loading up the harness.

GPS said average[2]:  38.394km/h  20.731knots

I like the Koncept sail, even though it is old, it seems to be pretty good. I need a shorter mast to get this sail down on the water line. The chop was at times testy an pushed me airborne more than once which is a feat considering the lake is only just beyond fin deep or about 3 feet deep.


Saturday, November 17, 2012

Windsurfing in OZ

Well, After 30 some year delay I finally can check off that I have windsurfed in OZ.

Many years ago, the windsurfer World Championships were held in Perth, maybe 1984 to be more precise, give or take a year or two. Yesterday on Gumtree.com I saw a hire board used during that event that ironically turned out to be a wind less event, and a washout. I am glad I did not go to sit on the beach, but at the same time, I wish I had gone because I was a really good course racer, at the top of my game, and I needed the worlds to test my skills to motivate me to keep training.

Anyway, the wind here is better than in the US, most days, but does have slow days like today where I go to the beach with just a surfboard and try to stand up and real surf without a sail.

Friday we went to Geelong to do some business, and on the way home we stopped at Point Henry for an after work sail.
Light breeze up on a plane

Anyway - the sailing is helping me feel more fit and more like I used to. A few times I have had some awesome rides that start to make it all worth it.

Cheers

Philip US 287