Lucky Friday the 13th

The wind was a very unusual southeast blow. That direction is super rare and checking my blog I've only had one other session planing in a SE wind.

But that wind was strong and so after a long drive we arrived and I quickly headed out to the Launch Pad at 6:30 pm. It was already a dark and stormy evening and the wind felt offshore and gusty. I figured I'd have 10-15 minutes until rain hit and the wind died.

The stormy view upwind to the southeast

What to rig when it is 15 gusting to 29 knots?

After slogging upwind and out of the harbour for the first 15 minutes, I finally got out to the wind and then sailed for a full hour! It turned out to be a lucky Friday the 13th.

26 km GPS trail

I windsurfed 26 km with conditions ranging from massive gusts to barely planing. Overall I was planing 56% of the time as it kept getting windier despite a few rain squalls. The 5.6 Idol was the right call and the Skate 108 was pretty comfortable. But the cross chop made things a bit tricky, keeping my tricks to a minimum. I only did a few duck jibes, and one upwind 360. I did do a bit of wave riding as the swells were jacking up a bit in a few areas.

26 km of distance after a slog at the start

The water was 15c and the air 17c and I was toasty warm in my 3/2 wetsuit. When the lights on the helipad and windfarm were all fully on I figured it was time to go in. Tomorrow looks to be good as well!

The boat ride back in the twilight