What you currently see is the exception caused by "storms" and not regular thermal wind patterns.

You are probably better off bringing your bigger gear. The wind is quite gusty and you should aim to be over rather than underpowered.

To put this into context, I weigh just below 80kg and do bump and jump around Botany: My 111 fsw together with 7.0 and 6.0 sails see most use. My 84 which I use with a 5.0 and 4.5 do not see the water as often as I would like to and before i got the smaller board I was even using my 111 with the 5.0 which was fine. Yes, I've been once in a situation where I would have liked a 4.0 but don't count on those coming up regularly.

Only option to rent gear in the area is from is Justin Lord from windsurf religion. Just google him and write him a mail.

Where in Norway do you sail?

Windsurfnsnow have lots of gear to hire and demo. 9971 0999

Given you have a Goya Quad i'd say you are into wave sailing... despite what people say my experience is that if you sail year around you can expect anything from 5.7 to 4.0 weather. Not sure what your weight is but there are plenty of days with 40+ knts. The big problem is that those days don't regularly seem to line up with weekends. So if your work schedule is flexible you should be able to catch some really windy days / good swell.

Most commonly used sail sizes are 5.7 to 4.7... you will need a floaty board for those light days with good waves.

As someone suggested the shop to go to is Windsurf and Snow. They have some rental gear as well as a ton of used gear and previous season gear at reduced prices. The Seabreeze buy and sell is also a good source for the odd bargain.For wave sailing spots along the Sydney coast look at this guide: nswwavesailing.org/spot-guide/

The events are also a good way to meet other windsurfers that are into waves... or just have a beer with.

A lot of the slalom guys sailing Botany Bay don't have sails smaller than 5.4... but I have a feeling they just don't go sailing when the wind hits 25 knts. +This summer should be pretty good for NEer seabreeze if the El Nino forecast comes good.
Flights to Western Australia can be cheap if you book well in advance and Fiji / Hawaii / Indonesia / New Caledonia aren't too expensive either.

As Whyner suggests Gerroa 2 hours South is a pretty special place. When you have a NE seabreeze with Southerly swell it's probably one of the funnest places on the planet to wave sail.... especially since you don't have to deal with sharp coral reef.

Thanks a lot for all the replies!

It seems I was lucky - first time checking Sydney conditions, and there's a storm coming, so got me a bit over-excited. I also read the spot guide, which sounded promising for wave-sailing.

The story is that my wife will be working in Sydney, but I'll mostly work remote towards Oslo. This means that I'll have a year of my life when I can go to wherever there is wind, as long as there is daylight, and I plan to make the most of this. Gerroa sounds fantastic, and I don't mind a two hour drive if I can sail with a 5.3 or 4.7 and not be completely by myself, or drown under a mast high breaking wave. Here in Oslo 4.7 weather is reserved for a few special days a year (although this summer has been fantastic, meaning 5-6 days from June to September).

How often will a 4.7 and 5.4 work for me if I can go whenever I want to Gerroa for the NE, or to Wanda or similar for stormy days? I weigh 75kg, so the Goya 84l is a float and ride for my usage, but given the crazy wildlife, I guess I will prefer to be overpowered rather than swimming around waiting for a gust.

I would very much like to get more wave experience. In Oslo I don't get waves at all, so I usually drive about an hour to get some ocean bumps of 1-2 meters, but no nice shorebreak. I'm definitely not an experienced wave sailor, the Goya Quad was purchased this summer, and has been used for b&j, but I'm hoping to change that. Are lessons available? I've never taken lessons before, but going to completely new conditions it might be worthwhile in order to get a better start of the windy season.

My alternative is to bring my 120l Gecko and 6.6+8.2 sail, but I only use this to get time on water, practice gybes and tacks, etc. I'd rather drive a few hours and get proper conditions. If it's possible to rent from Windsurfsnow for some Botany Bay sessions on larger gear (fsw with 6-7m sails, I'm usually not rigged for speed any way), this might just work for me, complementing my wave setup.

it's a quick a dirty import from an excell spreadsheet I used to have, now I have a form to upload the session data, and I just ftp the photos. I started it a few weeks ago, it needs a lot more work. Will do the 'most used' soon, but already if you click on the board / sail / location links in the session you can see how many times they have been used...

See you soon then !

N1GEL said..

powersloshin said..
here are 250 gps sessions, over about 3 years, most in Sydney:

martignoni.id.au/sessions.php

you can filter by sail or board etc. once you select a session you can see the stats including wind range for the day. Click on that sail or board and you will see how many times I've used it. The web application is not finished, I want to add more info on the equipment and links from the numbers back to the sessions, some photos are missing etc. but you will get the idea. Only difference is that you will be wave sailing, which requires different locations, skills and equipment....
If there are any missing stats you would like to see let me know and I will do it.
October is a great time to come over, you and your wife will love it.

love ya work mate!!

Have to agree, that is a cracker! To a computer illiterate like me, what you have done is pure genius!

I'm the same weight and 4.7 and 5.3 will be used in most conditions in Sydney. If your hitting gerroa or windang you'll be getting more use of 4.2-4.7. Gerroa is a great fun place to improve you wavesailing with little consequences. Have fun.

This is what still blows me away about Botany Bay. That's a sea breeze.



It's a lot less gusty if you go further south, off the bottom of the runway. Smoother too because the chop turns into small swell and you can easy ride the flat bits in between. I've sailed up and back and up and back again all afternoon testing this out and it's definitely better further south, unless you are specifically doing the speed run.

BTW nice data presentation.

For flat water bay blasting on Botany Bay, you need at least two boards if you want to sail regularly. Then maybe a range of sails from 4.7 to 7.5.

1. You're favourite sinker.
2. You're safe board for when the conditions are marginal.

For me, at 68kg, this means a JP 78 FSW, and Tabou 105 Rocket. My most used sails are 5.3, 5.9, 6.6. You could get use out of a 4.2 or 4.7 on the good days.

Summer is semi-regular sea-breezes. Often 15-20 knots, and 18-25+ on the good days, and sometimes topping 30.

Southerly winds come along on a regular basis, and they can blow 18-25+ knots for a couple of days at a time, and occasionally much, much more. I've sailed 50 knot southerlies on Botany Bay a few times.

Plenty of 2nd hand gear available, either from the BUY and SELL of this website, or some of the stores. Mailing from WA is no problem.

There are a lot of marginal days in Sydney where it doesn't quite build up to an ideal amount of wind, so if you want to maximise your time on the water, you will get a lot of use from a couple of larger sails and the 'safe' board, as mentioned above. You can buy these pretty cheap 2nd hand in AUS.