Watching couple of pro videos and they refer to knowing the wind direction within 10degs during a turn or trick for consistency. Realised I'm not where near that accuracy. Especially at beaches where wind direction changed further from the beach and no visual reference as just open ocean. How accurate are you and any tips.
All I know is is if I cover my ears with a hood in winter my ability to get wind strength and direction right disappears. Otherwise I think I'm pretty good, probably comes from spending a lot of time as a kid sailing boats in light winds.
Look at the waves. Then you can generally feel it with your sail, both strength and direction. On-water experience matters.
Yeah, look at the water surface, particularly the small ripples caused by the wind. That should be super accurate although relative to the board/course you sail. Note the effect of apparent wind, so it might not be the same direction as the true wind.
Dingy sailing from the age of 7 in light airs and fair winds put me in good stead to 'see' the wind pretty well, but windsurfing in 20knots on gusty lake Narrabeen forget it! Blasting along on a downwind run and then suddenly on the same heading your going up wind! The cleaner the 'fetch' the better the chance of picking the direction and the gusts or lulls. Budgewoi for instance even though it's a lake, and off the land as a variable westerly you can see the wind well. Cross off in waves is another matter! Local knowledge is essential. Remember some of those pro videos do talk themselves up, a 20 min video and never seem to show a mishap, a dumb fall etc, only ever a spectacular wipeout!
