2 categories

Safety Bay, WA, AU

Had to take the morning shift as i forgot about other plans this arvo. Should be some good numbers if it picks up as forecast.

Still had some good wind this morning though

M112, Reflex8 7.0, Tribal ws 29

Melville Beach, WA, AU. What an awesome day! Been so long since decent wind that I was literally grinning all afternoon. The sandbar over Melville was really flat when the tide was higher and I caught a few double up gusts bearing off into the bay and layed into some sweet high speed turns. Was maxed out on the 6.6 and would not have survived Liptons. A 5.8 is next on the buy list.

Futura 97 / Koncept 6.6 / Tribal 27

Melville Beach, WA, AU

I was all set to make the drive down to Liptons and stopped in a Melville to see what it was like, It looked OK most were out on big stuff so decided to hang around and see what happened, I was also not too keen on the drive home from Liptons.

Got my best speeds with the 7.0 OD and the PAT 120 with a Tribal 29 WS, it all just worked.

The wind picked up but so did the traffic, I changed down to the 6.2 and tried the M91 but could not get more than 32's so switched back tp the 120 and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.

Nice to meet Ben and Jase finally and had a chat with Tim and Jeff.

Jase was smashing out some good Uturns and will have some good distance as he just did noy stop

PAT 120; 7.0 OD Tribal WS 29 then M91

Quick bash at PW. Good to share some laps with Cannonball. 

M91, Ram 6.3 (thanks Jake it is awesome!), tribal speed weed 26

Melville Beach, WA, AU

What a great day on the water. Full house in the carpark and the wind turned up to play quite nicely. Windsurf fitness improving slowly but when you can only manage three gybes and require a break, you know there's plenty more water time required. Rigged the 7m, it's third use since new thinking the wind will fill in later which it did but also became quite gusty. The sail felt like it needed more tuning or stretching - not sure.  Nice to meet Jase, whose gybes are looking sweet. Also good to catch up with Andrew and ken later on. As usual a good crew out at the local.

Iso107 & 87, NP E5 7.0m, Tribal Wspd 29 & 27

Safety Bay, WA, AU

SB session cut short in order to avoid the local guru. Was fully lit on the 5.5 in the 30 knot gusts and holding on tight in the swell of warnbro. Was some good training but probably more enjoyable if I had joined the crew at Liptons. 

5.5 tr7, 97 Futura, 25 tribal ws.  

4 categories

Long day. Need to grab dinner, will post details a bit later on. XFire 98 / KAR 6.3 / Tribal 29 for the hour (inc Mile), then CA SP47 (way too small), KAR6.3, MXR UFO Weedy 22 for the rest. A good day's sailing. 

4 categories

Peel Inlet, WA, AU

Superb day at Liptons, rigged the KAR6.3 for the first session, nicley powered up but Liptons was kind of blocked due to the weed island, headed to Pt Grey and another weed island making the speed runs short but a lot of fun. Snake and Anita arrived and it was time for me to change down just to try something differant used the KAR 5.5. First run out to Pt Grey and peak of 39.3 considering the 6.3 was only peaking at 37's looked as this was the way to go but the wind did drop off a bit after the first runs. Another break at the shore line and Jake and myself decided might as well go for the Alpha's late in the day, turned out okay for both Jake and myself Small crew out from the MOB and CST with yound Stroppo coming down late in the day, still great fun top day.

MANTA 61, KAR6.3, KAR 5.5, Vector WS 25

2 categories

Melville Beach, WA, AU

Great to have a solid sea breeze and the time to enjoy it. I considered heading to Liptons but hesitated for too long so I stuck with Smelville. I figured it was better to spend that time on the water than in the car. 

It looked a little light when I arrived and I considered rigging a 7.8m but I'm glad I went with the 7M. Pretty happy to see a 35 on the display when using a 7M. Spent most of the afternoon at Wally World. Godd to see Chris Porter there setting the pace. I had planned a ride home behind the rotto ferry but for some reason the ferry didn't accelerate. Plenty of Pinna's at Melville enjoying the conditions.

ReflexII 7M, iSonic 94, Leading edge weed 32

Melville Beach, WA, AU

Had to squeeze an hour in before the Wildcats game.

30 knots and 20 alpha continue to elude me. My third sail for the season, my arms have turned to spaghetti.

Magic Ride 104, NCX 6.5, Vitesse 28 pointer.

Coodanup, WA, AU

Well the weedy goodnes has tuned into 'my goodness, how weedy'. The weed for the first 50m or so was like that old fashoned fibre carpet underlay. Walking in to the shore I had a big mat of it moving with the board, even the Delta fin did not slip over it.

No go with the intended hour but glad to get over 30kn and a reasonable nm, however, never felt comfortable, rather felt like getting old!

RRD 80l, 5.4 Koncept (which I find is a pain to rig, but nice to sail), 17 Delta.

Peel Inlet, WA, AU

54 Manta, 19 cm BP Kestral, 4.9 Koncept. consistent 24 knots.

It was weird to sail in warmth and sunshine and drive home into a thunderstorm wth heavy rain and brilliant lightning.

I was a bit disappointed with my speeds but considering it was only the second time I had used that board, the first time I had used that fin, and my first session with over 15 knots of wind for MONTHS and my first session with a cammed sail for months, I guess I should be reasonably happy. Plenty of room for improvement (although that speed is less than 0.2 of a knot slower than my best speed for the year so maybe the board and fin are OK).

I felt very uncomfortable on the board at first, but after a few tuning changes it felt good. Definitely the most fun I have had crossing the Liptons channel. The board and fin felt rock solid and with practive I should be able to get some good gybes happening. The Kestral fin ploughed through the thick weed with only a small deceleration.

Peel Inlet, WA, AU

X-Fire 90, 6.2 Overdrive.

First one in a while :-)