Melville Beach, WA, AU 4.0 Koncept, M47, 24 Elmo weedy. 25+ knots, close chop.

That is probably the scariest 3.5 km I have ever done, and the scariest 27 knots - that was across the wind in close chop on a speed board. Couldn't really hike out because my butt kept hitting the chop. No flat water anywhere. The dilemma being how to slow down? Hard to sheet in enough to go upwind, didn't want to keep going and risk a catapult, falling in backwards while holding onto the boom wrenches my shoulder, letting go risks injury to the board... An inelegant tail slide dismount was the answer.

Survival sailing. A good workout despite the small distance.

Surprisingly a good team turnout today. Ricey, Lezz, our new team member Lunny (Good to put a name to the face) and JJ who decided the conditions looked horrible and that he would try Safety Bay. It's currently 30 - 42 knots down there. Nothing safe about that!

1 categories

Melville Beach, WA, AU

First Post.....Not the flashest of figures but that was a bit of a survival challenge. Rather wild and horrible conditions.

Nice to meet Anita and Ricey, and JJ went in search of the perfect storm apparently

Quattro FSW85, Firefly 4.9.

Melville Beach, WA, AU

Hoped I might get a few runs in before the wind started honking; but no!

Short couple of runs mainly very overpowered on my smallest sail, a 5.0 Koncept with Xfire 80 and CL 26 weedy.

Stood around to see if wind would drop and succeeded in getting very cold, chatting to JJ and new member Craig, watched Anita change to a 4.0 and go flying (well she did have her fin in the water), and saying goodbye to Grant who didn't like the conditions any more than I did.

Aah well; I didn't break anything (me or equipment) and loved the protection against the wind and rain given by the back door of my new Overlander SUV.

The story is, after much looking I got rid of the old Ford car and bought the Mitsubishi Overlander. Why? Because the front seat folds completely flat, the rear seat has a 60/40 split so I could take out the 60% for the boards and still carry one passenger, it is quite roomy for a medium SUV, has good fuel economy and excellant safety rating (much better than most vans). I can get two boards, 4 sails, 2 booms and 3 masts inside without blocking the view from any window. Third board goes on the roof rack, but I can secure it inside if necessary, although it does obscure the rear vision a fair bit. I can recommend  this vehicle for anyone with a medium size quiver.

Melville - Futura 101, 5.3 S1.  Completely out of control and out of my depth

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Safety Bay, WA

Manic afternoon at SB, solid 30 knots with massive gusts, pretty overpowered on my 5.5m. Wind as strong as I've seen it down there.

The wind didn't move around to the SW as hoped for - though it was waist deep with waves breaking right across the run so it probably didn't matter.

Surviving the mega chop of the new boat channel, after slingshotting in the 50m of flat water off the point was an ordeal. The little fin was faultless.

Had more than a few crashes trying to slow down with waves coming across the sand bank, but great fun regardless

Mistral 47, GPS 5.5m, CL SpeedWeed 22

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Point Walter, WA, AU

Quick hour at Pt Walter after work.

Went to Melville initially, noone out, but Matty was packing up after some wild runs and it looked pretty ugly, so decided to give Wallyworld a crack.  A couple of freestylers out there, but no GPS crew.

Suited up and rigged my smallest combo, IS97 + 6.6 TR7 + 34 carbon canefire.

Sailed from 4 to 5ish.  Some brutal squalls, easily 35K, that I mostly sat out, but some sailable stuff too, around 25-30K.  The bar was underwater and it was choppy on the run, but I managed a few good squirts.  The direction was quite square, so hard to go fast without having to bear off into the moguls.

All in all a pretty fun sesh, and probably a better option than Meville. 

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Melville Beach, WA, AU 125rocket, 28led, 5m north. It would be better on wave board in 35kt wind, but not expecting to use it on the river it stayed home.. Rain and cold kicked me out fast. Good to see new member Lunny when Anita pointed to the sail. I couldn't put face to sail later. There will be better storms.