Pelican Point, WA, AU

Put the knitting needle away for a quick blast at Peli, bit choppy but not too bad, good to see Ricey and Vince out there as well as Neil, just caight up with Greg as I was about to leave I'm sure he'll put in a stonking Nauti and expect to see some good speeds from the boys who ventured down south. Was good to be back on the race sail the little KAR got some grunt in it.

Manta 59 KAR 5.5

Melville Beach, WA, AU

Pretty much out of control with a 15 year old 5.4 wave sail so I packed up and watched Woody and Windxtasy. My geriatric sail rigged really nicely on the RDM mas and carbon boom, but with non-existent twist. Maybe should have shoo'd the family of rats out of the 5.0 and tried that.

I made it over the bank with a Delta 18 but was too scared to try at speed, despite the tempting smooth. The seagulls walking around picking up worms was very disconcerting.

JP SuperSport 100, Delta XT 18, NPP Search 5.4.

Pelican Point, WA, AU

Arrived about noon, moderate wind and very low tide. Rigged 6.0Koncept with 105Rocket and a 19cm delta that I have just modifed.

Had a few runs and the delta managed to clear the flat water shallows, but the wind picked up significantly.

Rigged 5.0Koncept, 80L RRD, 20 weed fin special. They worked well and enabled me to keep sailing the flat shallows, where hardly anyone else was, except later when the kiters came out to play.

All in all a very good day: I have not managed a 30+ for ages, and to get it at Melville was a bonus.

Great to see Boz risking a run in the shallows with a larger fin and scoring 36kts; probably would have been faster had he not been scouring a shallow groove in the sand.

Good to see Vincent out playing on his wave board.

2 categories

Pelican Point, WA, AU

Whoooohoooooo. What a day! Not such a good top speed  I had to flatten out the 5.8 ( you were right Boz it was too big) so it killed the top end and just felt wrong.

But what a blast! Toured around the river with a grin for hours. It's days like these that make you feel alive.

Melville Beach, WA, AU

What a top day for wind. Shame I wasnt able to make the most of it. No excuses. Just sailed like Crap. Still enjoyed it though! Every day sailing is a good day. Well done to Geoff who I am told will post today. Good to see Rob, Ben, Anita and Chris making the most of the conditions. Manta 61 Vapor 6.4 wp 27

Nice blast at Melville with a few Pinnaroos

CA SP47; Ram 5.4; Choco weed 22

2 categories

Pelican Point, WA, AU

Farrrk that was windy 

Overdone on the M112 + 7.0 TR9 + 33 Tribal WS combo, but I foolishly left the 6.6 at home thinking "Nah it won't get to 25K+ today".  Well it did and then some, with gusts over 30K.

I knew the tide was super low, so I went for an exploratory cruise and tested the depth out on the point, shallow but do-able was the conclusion.  Yeh nah 

After a hell fast run that got me a 39K on the screen and a 36.7K 10-sec I was pumped for more, so I had another crack.  Unfortunately I went a little too deep, grounded the fin, and had a massive stack at 36K.  Somersaulted twice and came to rest in shin deep water.  Quick check, I can still feel my fingers and toes...all good 

The kit wasn't so lucky.  Snapped a mast, the tendon ripped right out of the mast base, blew a panel in my sail and snapped a harness line, which no doubt saved my boom.  Snides was standing in the shallows filming a sailor on a Wally, and he came over to lend a hand and helped me haul the mangled mess into the beach.  Very lucky not to injure myself, it could've been a lot worse.

So a disappointing end to my sesh, after less than an hour on the water.

Still I managed a PB peak speed for Peli, and another fast mile.  I was crazy lit on the mile and even after rounding up to approach the chop at a more manageable angle I was still averaging over 32K.  The last 300m killed it when my speed dropped below 30.

The alpha track was too shallow this week, so I was sailing further out in deeper, and choppier, water, so no chance of repeating last week's feat of a 25K+ alpha.

Melville Beach, WA, AU 54Manta, 4.9K, 18 Kestrel

Strong and gusty wind, very low tide but not very flat, not enough fitness, and not enough courage to send it over the shallows. 

Not only have I forgotten how to gybe but I have also forgotten how to tune my gear to go fast.

At the end of the session I decided to raise the boom to unstick the board and what a difference!

All in all a challenging and scary session but the first time I have managed over 30 knots at Melville, so I finally have that monkey off my back.

3 categories

Liptons, WA, AU.


Great 'after work' session with Craig, Stropp, Yoyo, Tomski and Hardie. Wiiiindy. Got down about 4 and Craig had already been out for a few hours. Saw Stropp had rigged the 6.0 and Dave the 5.7, so knew it was windy. Out came the 5.7/SP47 combo. Thought I'd go for an hour, but turns out with the low tide and the weed that the run was just too short. Lit across the middle and going in to Point Grey, but just too many gybes for it to be a quick one. Will be good to give this spot the beans on a better tide and really get over the end of Pt Grey for a longer leg.

2 hours of sailing and a few yeeeehars later, time to call it day. Nice to catch up with all the guys afterwards, and to see Elmo, who had driven up from Novara.
Time to hydrate and get something to eat. Another awesome session!

SP47, Ram 5.7, UFO Weedy 22

Majestic Point, WA, AU

Launched from foilville to get the better wind compared to melville. Went for an hour which was exciting in the rolling chop. Was holding on for dear life at times so surprised with the PB. I guess that means the new board is working. 

Went for a quick speed sesh at pt walter to test the board on flat water. Low tide made it impossible to get near the spit. Will have to come back when the tide is higher. 

Good to see many of the team out enjoying the 30 knots winds. 

5m overdrive,  72 jp slalom, 25 tribal ws

4 categories

Peel Inlet, WA, AU

Was on my lonesome for a while but glad to see some friendly faces arrive.

Decided on the Delta 20 fin as a safer option on my own. Quite shallow in places which the delta is good for.

Tried my guts out to get the Silver Bullet 57 rocking along, switched over to a Vector 23 weed speed which was quicker, though a tad small for this board

any bigger i would have likely had a few stacks.

2 days in a row over 100ks, im spent!

Windtech Silver Bullet 57, Reflex 6 6.2, Delta 20, Vertor ws 23

1 categories

Melville Beach, WA, AU

What a great day on the little bit of water left in the river. Good day to find out where the shallow areas are. The tide eventually came in enough to run over the sandbar at Melville not long before sunset when the water looks like liquid silk with some nice gusts coming accross the sandbar. The odd weed-berg is growing at the back of teh sandbar. Had a decent run behind the ferry to get my best river NM but could have done with a bit more wind at the time. 

Good to see a lot of Pinnas out enjoying the sun and wind.