Was it worth it?

Just before our departure from the cottage, it looked like the wind was filling in a bit from the southwest.  I loaded up the boat and took out the Techno and my 7&9m sails.

The wind was reading 11-15 knots, and I got planing a few times.15 knots is 28 km/h, and I topped out at 37 km/h or 132% of the max wind speed.  I think that will become a new goal, trying to get to a higher ratio of max board speed vs. max windspeed.

I only sailed for a half hour, did 9.1 km and then headed in. From the moment I stopped sailing, it takes me just under 20 minutes to de-rig and get back to my family.  So 20 minutes set up, plane for just 15 of 30 minutes, then 20 minutes to return. After a week back in the city now, I think it was worth it.

I think it was worth it even if I only planed half the time.

A perfect Georgian Bay day

I rigged up the 7.0 for a change and it was the perfect sail for the 15-20 knot winds. This was the typical prevailing south west wind that makes the pine trees in Georgian bay look like the iconic "Group of Seven" paintings.

Stormy Weather - Varley - McMichael

I was lucky enough to be joined by another windsurfer (yeah Brad you are getting really good - look out Hatteras!) and we got to play cat and mouse chasing each other. I also got to drop by and visit with another cottager whose place I sail by regularly, but since he is American he is not there very often.

I think I'm ready for a faster board. I'm guessing my Techno is now 5 years old and deck is feeling a bit spongy. It is a great all round board but I'm wondering what a newer slalom board would be like. I have my eye on a Fanatic Ray 122 that would nicely fit into the board bag I have as it is the same width as the Techno.

The wind slowly dropped a bit before I could do a full 50 km and certainly my up and down wind ability was lacking later in the session as the wind died. In the first part of my track where I'm way south on the long reaches I could pretty much go wherever I wanted - I covered more territory than I ever have in a single session.  Max speed was 48 km/h with the stock Techno 48cm fin.

I was thinking about some blog comments I've read recently (Fish). First, I'm 48 years old so 2 hours is about all I can sail these days. During one waterstart my leg cramped up real bad but was fine a minute later. I do remember sailing for six hours once when I was much younger!

My second thought was now that my kids are older I don't feel bad leaving for a session - they are fine back at the cottage if they don't want to come out to the bay. Later in the weekend when we were planning our departure one of my sons even said "Dad, let's leave later in the day tomorrow so if it is windy you can go for a sail!"

48.5 km and 48 km/h top speed

Video from the 50 km/h session...

Scott and OJ sent me this video they took of my on that great Aug 4th north wind day...



Carl - North winds - August 4 2013 - 50 km/h from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.

50 km/h + 50km

I generally don't like north winds. Here in Canada they are generally cold and gusty.  In the summer they aren't really cold, just not as warm as southwest winds.  But I've almost given up sailing when the wind is from the north because you can't really sail a short board when the wind sputters.  But Aug 4th was a fantastic north wind day for me.

That's 31 mph or 27 knots

I headed out not expecting much, but I managed to hit a personal best speed on the GPS. 50.3 km/h was the top speed.  I played with the unit the day before and realised there was a max speed screen option. Suddenly I kept looking at it to see if I could go faster in the gusts.  I don't think I've gone over 50 km/h in a long time.  But the north wind means there aren't big waves. And this was with the 148 Techno, the stock fin and my 9.0.

There was one gust that backwinded me at speed, and one that catupulted me after I spun out.  But I also had a lot of fun blasting around. Polarized lenses make a big difference for my confidence among the shoals of the 30,000 islands.  You can see on the track that I actually steered through some narrow gaps in the islands.

Then I went downwind to visit friends and convinced their visiting son to get out on his windsurfer for the first time in 2 years.  I'm not the only north wind snob apparently!  Once back upwind I realized that I wanted to sail at least 50 km to put in a good 2 hour effort.  Man was I sore the next morning - advil to the rescue.

Max speed on the GPS was 50.3 km/h 

My 50km track. A true north wind.
I underestimated my downwind / upwind angles and ability!

Weird weather

Well I got my first day of high speed windsurfing this summer.  Yes, on August 3rd.  It felt great to get in the straps and go fast, even if it was on the 148l Techno with a 9.0m sail.

I sailed for around 50 minutes, before the wind got fluky in the northeast corner of Georgian Bay due to the approaching thunderstorms.  The attached video shows the weather systems heading from the northwest, but the wind was coming from the west south west.  Max speed 43 km/h.

The weather is threatening my lovely support team!
My daughter is hiding in the board bag!

My sailing tracks, wind is WSW

Not much resolution from my blackberry camera.
Thanks Jen for the photo!