wavesailing vid

Put together a video of some ok conditions we've been getting over the last couple of weeks. Check it out.



Off to WA soon, so hopefully get some good action over there and end up with a better video!

boardseeker.com

The article from Sandy Point is now online at boardseeker - http://www.boardseekermag.com/features/windsurfing-events/sandy-point-melbourne-cup.html

Some pics from the session just before the event started.

Sick (for one hour)

Went to Woolamai yesterday instead of Gunnamatta like the other week in the hope of scoring some better banks and cleaner wind. Forecast was really good was I was looking forward to it all week! When we arrived the tide was dead low, blowing about 20 knots cross off with these logo high hollow peaks hitting a shallow bank and racing down the line. It looked sick!

The first hour it was consistently bigger and better than this.


You could drop into glassy, hollow sections rip a few turns and an aerial before kicking out into the channel.

However the awesome conditions ended up being short lived as the tide came in and the swell dropped - just in time with the cameras arriving at the beach!!

As the afternoon went on it deteriorated to this.


Was a fun session nonetheless.




Only a few weeks until we head off to WA so it is good to be getting some decent sailing to prepare! Can't wait to get over there and score some solid stuff.

Cat Bay onshore jump session

Yesterday we had a fun jumping session at Phillip Island. The forecast wasn't great with very border line swell predicted, so most decided it wasn't worth the 1.5+ hour drive and just stayed on the bay battling rain and fluky winds.

Although the swell was small and the wind very cross on it ended up being pretty fun when the sun came out and the wind cranked upwards of 25 knots until early evening.

Jono cheese roll.


Backie


Pushy


Backside riding

Gunnamatta

Yesterday we had all the elements combine to sail Gunnamatta which doesn't happen all that often. Warm, sunny and a solid SE seabreeze pattern.

The tide was ridiculously low so all of the banks where totally out of the water - I have never seen it like that before. This meant that there was a lot of water moving around and there was no cleanly defined rips and banks so it was pretty tricky sailing especially with the swirly, gusting wind. Still was fun, wish we had conditions like that more regularly.




This section was brutal if you got caught out!




Jono testing out SHQ's demo Icon 5.0

SHQ Sandy Point Cup Weekend Video!

The event video from SHQ's Sandy Point Melbourne Cup event is online - check it out here. Make sure you watch in HD.

Competitions

We have had two competitions in the past couple of weeks - the first was Round 2 of the Victorian Wavesailing Series, held at Point Impossible, Torquay.

Possos is one of my least favourite spots to sail, seeing it is so fickle. On a good day it is super fun, just scoring that good day is very hard - I've had it twice. Ever.
On a small swell the wave is very shifty and sometimes doesn't even break as the tide gets high. The forecast was calling for a swell building to 4-6ft during the day, unfortunately it was less than half that size. Small possos, with a very gusty wind doesn't do it for me. I hate competing in small waves - especially on starboard tack!
Needless to say the comp didn't go great for me, getting knocked out in the semis.
Once the comp was over the conditions actually improved for an hour with some bigger sets starting to appear...

As big as they were getting during the competition.


Jono on a solid one at the end of the day.


The latest comp was the SHQ Sandy Point Melbourne Cup weekend, where amongst other events we had the VWS Round 3 at Waratah Bay. The conditions were shocking, horrible, terrible, crap etc. We probably wouldn't have run a wavesailing round if it wasn't part of an already fixed event. Small wind slop, light and gusty cross to cross on winds and again, starboard tack - this combination is my competition nightmare!! I was on my biggest gear, drifting downwind for the majority of the heats. A few lucky gusts here and there were enough to get me to the final, but still... When your competitors are on 5.7s and 100L waveboards you don't have much chance on a 68! It was a bit disappointing seeing the rest of the event was awesome. We had some good conditions just before the event started, a shame that they didn't turn up when we needed them.

Forward during the heats.



Before the event started, 25 knots cross off and some fun waves - arrrgghh





Man it would be nice to always have decent waves like this for comps...

Toys

Finally all the new toys have arrived at SHQ. Wind has been super dodgy for the last couple of weeks but the surf has been solid. Had one day maxed on the 3.6 Fly2 - the changes to the luff curve are pretty noticeable and now the leech stays very stable and doesn't flutter even in 45 knot gusts. Hopefully get something soon to try out the rest of the gear.

Flynns Reef

Scored a session at the incredibly fickle Flynns Reef yesterday. You need a combination of tides, wind direction and a big swell all at the same time. It probably only happens three or four times a year. It was the first time I sailed it - pretty fun wave.
It is really sucky, similar to Gnaraloo but gets a bit more wind affected and is only short. The shorebreak is absolutely brutal as well!
Wind was good for a 4.5 for a couple of hours then it dropped, as did the swell. The pics are from late in the day when conditions were declining.



Zac

Victory!!

On the weekend we had the Round 1 of the Victorian Wavesailing Series. The forecast was calling for 20-30 knots cross shore and about half mast high waves at my favourite local spot - Right Point. Typically the contests we have are in fairly average conditions so I was frothing at the opportunity to compete in decent down the line waves.

Due to the tides we had to get in early so a 9am briefing was called. I wanted to sneak in a warm up sail before the comp started so was up at 6am. Checking the wind observations it wasn't really what we hoped for - it was fairly onshore. At least there was wind and the swell was up. I just hoped that it would swing back cross shore as forecast so we could really let loose.

Unfortunately it wasn't to be, the competition kicked off in a gusty 15-25 knots, cross onshore with half mast high waves and 5 surfers clogging the lineup. The expression session did not go well - I hate sailing in cross on conditions especially if the wind is light. It took me until the final few minutes of the heat to get a single decent wave which was enough to scrape through into the next round.

Semis



The surfers obviously got fed up with not getting any waves and left us in peace as we got down to the business end of the competition. The wind went a bit more cross shore and I was able to pull a few aerials and got the one jump required. Through to the finals! I was then up against 2010 Champ Hock and Joel Ryan to battle it out for the top three positions. The wind went back onshore and became patchy, I knew it would be tough as Hock had been sailing well in the onshore conditions.


On the first run out I wanted to get my jump out of the way so pulled a very clean forward only to turn around and see that the judges hadn't actually put the flag up!! Not a good start. I caught a couple of decent waves for the deteriorating conditions but still couldn't find a jump no matter how hard I tried. In the dieing minutes of the heat I knew I was in trouble so dropped a hand on a sick chop hop, hoping the judges actually noticed and would score it (clearly very low). Then I got a small ramp and rotated around another forward only to see that the flag was down and the heat over! Amazingly that chop hop got me over the line combined with my decent wave scores so I took the win by one point over Hock!!

Finals




Wasn't the sick conditions I was hoping for but still stoked to have such a good result so early in the season. Thanks to everyone that helped out - see you at the next one!

Jon was getting some good jumps but was unlucky to get through after helping another sailor with a broken mast into shore.

K4 Fins

Happy to announce that I am now riding for K4 fins. www.k4fins.com


My general consensus on them is that the flex gives you a much looser yet controlled feel on the wave, especially through critical turns. They are also very forgiving in choppy conditions and when you are late hitting the lip allowing you to make turns you probably wouldn't have normally with G10 fins.




Written up a more in depth review of the fins here.
Review http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Review/Flexy-fins-K4-fins-review/


SHQ Boardsports in Melbourne will be stocking them so contact them to order a set - www.shq.com.au

The drought has broken!

Finally!!! Some waves and wind in the same place at the same time.
Not epic - definitely fun and more is on the way.
Was a cross shore 25 knots at Waratah Bay with the odd logo high set wave.
Thanks to Lachie for the pics.





Jon -

Winter Summary + Vic Wave Series

This photo pretty much sums up winter - flippin the world off in frustration.
A whole winter of close to zero wavesailing conditions when we usually get our best wind and swells... It's been really really bad.

At least there has been some wind over the past few days, was nice to get planing powered up for once. Today went to Phillip Island but unfortunately the predicted 3-4ft swell didn't arrive and it was about 1ft. Still better than nothing I guess... It seems as though Spring should be off to a good start in the upcoming days, looks like we will actually get something proper.

Some pics from today trying out the 6cm and 13cm K4 combo - works pretty well in tiny waves.



Anyway the Victorian Wavesailing Series has officially started going from September through to March. Hopefully we will get some better wind this year and get a few decent events in the bag - check it out.
http://www.vicwavesailing.org/
http://www.facebook.com/VicWaveSeries