WA
1159 posts
Without a doubt windsurfing has got to be the most optomistic sport in the world. How many times have you gotten down the beach to great the weather-mans predicted 20-25knot south wester and waited, waited and waited...a couple of times even been positively definite that the wind would come in. Still the wind hovers around the 10knots, a few white horses appear on the horizon. But still not enough to break out the gear and rig up.
As a result I have three boards (95ltrs - 168ltrs) and sails from 5 - 7.8 to cover as much wind range as possible and hence maximise water time. But still I dont get to sail as much as I like.
My day at work starts religously with logging onto the net and checking out at least five weather sites to get a daily prediction and to look at the wind for the next few days after. I have become so desperate and sure some days that the wind was coming in that I have thrown a sickie just so I didnt miss that 1hour window of oportunity for when the cold front was going to hit.
Surely our sport has got to be the only one that relies on one major aspect... the wind. Maybe I live in the biggest wind black hole in the state. A state that is world reknown for the best windsurfing conditions in the world.
Still I will persist and with that my passion grows.
Golf anyone??
WA
15111 posts
Hey, why not move to WA between November and February and get a job where you can finish by 3pm. I don't think too many of the guys there tend to have many sails bigger than 7m!
WA
33 posts
I think he does live in Perth.
This season has been pretty bad, with the forecast always either never happening or it happens for a brief moment then dies.
He did say he lived in the state reknown for the best wind, and i think Perth gets that acknowledgement out of all the states in Australia.
WA
1159 posts
Yep I do live in WA. South of Mandurah and there in lies the problem. Maybe its just been an ordinary season, but I still stand by initial quote that windsurfing is a highly optomistic sport.
So many times we pack the car, change dates and make time in the hope of fantastic sailing conditions. Any yet so many times the wind doesnt live up to its expectations and we wait around in the hope that the wind may pick up. I know I've spent many an afternoon waiting for the wind to rise to the occassion and predicted forecasts and I am usually waiting with other windsurfing mates also in hope. At least a good chat and hanging out at the beach beats going home doing jobs or going to work!
WA
12894 posts
The problem with our seabreeze is it can be so local, if you wait at home for it to come in, (even living only 1km from the beach) you can miss out badly. If you go to the beach and wait, you can waste the whole arvo!
QLD
14999 posts
that is the reason i bought a formula board. sick of going to the beach and struggling to get going. they really are worth the money and a blast to sail in open ocean.
NSW
4521 posts
Take up surfing - it is the ideal compliment to sailboarding.
Surfing is best when there is not wind, sailing is best when there is wind !!!
VIC
1509 posts
Nope, sailboarding is by no means the saddest or most optimistic sport. I think paragliding comes a hell of a lot closer. Friends used to be into it flying in north east Victoria around Bright. Talk about a narrow window. Wind direction was critical. Had to be almost bang-on "on-shore" as we would say for a launch site to work, otherwise they'd get no lift on takeoff. They'd drive miles to different sites depending on direction.
Then there's wind strength. Not sure precisely but it had to be something between 10kts and 18kts, and anything over that was blown out.
Then there's stuff like type of cloud and sun strength. Not sunny enough and no updraft. Too much sun like in summer and the updrafts are too violent to fly in.
Sure, once they got the right conditions it must have been a hoot, but there was a lot of standing around waiting for the weather to happen. And each time I'd go to watch my mates fly, I'd be thinking Jeez this is fickle sport- I'm so glad I sail, not fly. And any gung-ho pilot who couldn't resist the urge to fly and would launch in less than ideal conditions was seriously putting themselves in a life-threatening situation. At least if we get desperate, the worst that is likely to happen is a long shlog home, or a paddle.
One friend took me up in a tandem canopy, and yes, it was fun, but nowhere near the blast I get out of most sailing sessions.
So I think it's a much better addiction to have, with much more frequent hits, and a hit can come from any wind direction and strength (above 17kts thanks).
WA
717 posts
AAAAAGGGGHHHHH the dreaded 20 -- 25 knot S SW prediction. I work next to the beach ( Freo ) and live 2 K's away and don't even bother to pack the car when the BOM predict 20 -- 25 . My theory is that when they copped a lot of flak over the debarcle with the Sydney to Hobart race 5 or 6 years ago they introduced a " bob each way bet " that errs well into the high side. I can't even remember ever having a Dutchies sail on those days...........
WA
103 posts
I hear ya shi thouse!!! sat down the beach on tuesday with a forcast of southerly 20 30kts..........got bugger all, wasnt even south!!
Time to move north I think.....
WA
152 posts
I sail on the river and it is even worse there. Went sailing Tues avo though and got approx 2-hours of sailing of which 1-hour was reasonable (6.5/10). I was on a 130ltr 7.5m combination.
WA
1159 posts
I lived in Karratha (about 1600kms north of Perth) for 7 years and that was certainly a challenging wind location. A lot of the time the wind would be howling and from the right direction, you would pack the van and drive to the location only to be meet by a 6 metre tide and hence no water. Very frustrating.
ACT
372 posts
Canberra is a challenging place to sail!! On a dirty lake you get about 2 hours every few weeks of gusty NW. The longest run is about 200m, and you have to pick your gusts so you dont get left 200m out with no wind. It has to be the most unreliable wind in the world, except that you can bet it will pick up after you've packed you gear.
156 posts
Nah mate windsurfing isn't frustrating. now kitesurfing.. now that IS frustrating. Windsurfing in storms ROCKS... better than any form of kitesurfing.
WA
361 posts
I'm with you BLOWN AWAY!
The season in Bunbury has been really bloody ordinary! I can recall about five good days, where I have had prior committments. I am so looking forward to the 25-35K squalls that come with the winter fronts - have geared up with 5.7m being my biggest sail these days, though at 95kg, I dunno if the 3.7m will get wet...
156 posts
Yeah squalls mean different things in windsurfing. When i windsurfed i used to love them. Even if the wind was only 15 knots normally.. a squall would push it over 30 and i'd get a few minutes or so of pure pleasure. Kiting wasn't around back then (not over here anyway) but i know these days it's the opposite with the strings... we usually dump our kites in squalls if they are the big black ones.
Windsurfing will never die. If kiters started windsurfing in the ugly days then they wouldn't be getting as intimate with inanimate objects on land (ie cars, houses, trees, power poles, picket fences, buildings etc). So many kiters have the "windsurfing is cancelled" frame of mind. Not this one. Only reason i've stopped windsurfing is because i don't have the room or the money to do both sports and Auckland's winds are mostly 15-20 knots and hence more suited to kiting.
