I was out on Saturday and had one of the worst sails ever. The BOM site listed the average speed at around 15 knots and gusting to over twice that 32-33 knots. Not only that, the average speed was changing all the time as well.
I had a 4.2 m sail and a 90 l board working on the theory that you have a sail for the gusts and a board for the lulls but it was just too extreme.
I rigged the sail with a fair amount of downhaul, not extreme but more than I usually do and at one stage I used as much outhaul as I could but that just made the sail feel weird. I thought maybe a slightly larger sail but with all the down-haul I can muster????
Does anyone have any hints to make these conditions more manageable?
Sometimes when sailing in gusty winds, ie one minute 25+ knots and the next second 5 knots, I use a bigger board and smaller sail. This allows me to stay afloat when the wind completely dies and not overpowered in the gusts. I don't like sinking every time the wind drops away. Sometimes I'm able to plane through the lulls too.
You just described 90% of sailing I do south of Adelaide.
Like JSN folk said Floaty board medium sized sail is usually the go - my 5.0 is always the "not sure what to put up sail" - at some stage during the sail it will be perfect.
Scones and tea sounds like a good idea ikw777!
We get similar conditions here in Melbourne on our northerlies, or at least we did this year. I find a slightly floatier boards helps also but I think one of the worst things you could probably do is flatten of a small sail too much as it just makes them twitchy. Leave a bit of shape in and they feel heaps better IMO.
I hate slogging in the lulls!
looking forward to the flat conditions of Canton for winter so I dont have to worry about bashing the chop unless I want to!
Medium sized board, one which will float you, but not a light wind board, and a small sail with plenty of shape in it.
Thanks to everyone for the advice. Looks like I was doing just about all I could of. Maybe a case of TTFU.
I reckon the other option is to trade off a slightly larger sail against a smaller fin. It's tempting to keep a large fin in to keep you planing through lulls, but the bigger board will help with this.
A smaller fin means that you don't have as much drag when a howling gust comes through - when can lead to severe catapulting!
Few weeks ago I sailed off GP with a 6.6 and a 37cm fin - completely overpowered in the guts and I was about to change down a size after catching a rail a couple of times and going over the front. Put a 32cm fin in and the feeling of being dragged forward disappeared and was accelerating nicely. A little more downhaul and I was sweet for another hour.
