1 categories

Melville, WA

Fanatic Falcom 85/113, evo iv 6.4, falcon 30/vector rockit 38

5 categories

Melville, 6.4m E5, Mistral SL112, CL29S. Choppy WNW which swung to W during the afternoon. Got there after work and it was windy! Got a stack of 40s and a 41.6 on the dial in a big squall. Woohoo PB for the 112. Then the dressing on a festering sore on my foot started to come off so I thought I'd better pack it in... but the wind was coming back so I went home in my wetsuit, fixed my foot and went back down to Melville for round 2. Was well worth it. Sailed till dark and got a stack more 40s before hitting a crazy bullet for a bearaway towards kiterland for 42.3 on the dial in some nasty chop dodging freestylers. Almost ended in tears when I sailed into another big gust at the end and came close to a catapault (I'd accelerated back up to 39.6kts) when the sail pulled harder than I expected. I was saved by a chop which got me fully airborne and lessened the drag... very close call. Wicked day! Love sailing the 112 in winter.

3 categories

Melville Beach, WA, AU

Vector Volt g10 34cm, Patrik 92, Reflex 3 6.2

Used the 90% carbon mast which rigs sweet and sails just as sweet.

tried the 27 vector speed for a short time but wind was average. beared away to kite beach and held its on through chop quite well when powered. impressive fin.

got tired and smashed by the nastiest wind i have seen in a long time late in the afternoon. Gusty and nuclear! Not what the doctor prescribed on the shoulder . held up ok considering :)

Sailed around with Slowboat and Stringer for a while! looks like Stringer has got some speedsailing blood in his body.

Oh and forgot to mention Claude sailing early on with broken finger in a cast that kept slipping off when he gybed hahaha! machine!

Need to work on my speedsailing tactics

1 categories

Melville ,gusty on off stuff struggled to get settled today need to eat more pies me thinks.

good to see claude back on the water.

iso87 e4 6.4 f1 32

1 categories

Melville Beach, WA, AU

It's been quite a few years since Huey kicked my ass.
But today he not only kicked my ass... He dragged me into his rape dungeon and...... Well let's just say my sail was very unpleasant!
Usually I have my kids on a Wednesday (Wednesdays are always windy Imo!) but due to other circumstances I managed to score an afternoon off.
Rolled up to Melville after work to see a good 20 to 25
So I grabbed the 5.8 Evo 5 and the Mistral 55 mxr 24.
Hit the water and punched out towards majestics, gybed
And had a reasonable run back to the Carpark.
Then the squall subsided  so I slogged back and  plugged in the 82 wide 137 litre Mistral and headed back out.
BAD IDEA!
I had only travelled  100 meters or so when I realised the
18 knot switch off had actually switched back to 20kn again..... Another 100 meters and the wind was now gusting 30 knots +!!
At this point I was stilI yet to hook in and decided gybing in 30 knots in 2-3' waves presented a high probability of crashing.
So to cut along story short I sailed to nedlands and back without ever getting hooked in the harness. Sailing across 4' plus  waves( in the middle) fully sheeted out - rig  feathered, and Back foot on the leeward rail bouncing over the backs of the Swan River rollers.
When I got to a point mid river up wind of majestics i decided a rest was required.
Eventually I got back to shore and collapsed!
In over 30 years  I don't reckon I have ever been so out of control!
Huey 1 Snides 0

Melville Beach, great to get out on the water again after a lengthy break and catch up with the crew, ankle still a bit tender and gave it a good test today.

RRD 90, R4 7.0, 32 EX Vector.