Today I sailed the local dam in Armidale
BOM shows the windspeed at the nearby Airport to be 20knot avg, gusting to 30.
Sailing an old epoxy 9'6" ~120L board with cambered 7.5m old Sailworks Synchro
Was stoked about the wind, got a couple of good blasts in before I started hitting huge holes. The wind went from howling bullets (guessing the BOMs ~30knot), to glassy holes of only sub-10 knot swimmingness (its cold out here too)!
Not to mention the wind was blowing NW, but swinging to SW and even S occassionally. I was getting flogged, between the gusts, swings and freezing water.
The wind would only hold one of these facets for approx 1min. I'd go from screaming along in say a S bearing (my one good run) to stopped dead but being able to point N bearing within 20 secs and then that'd change 1 min later
I've sailed alot (dinghys) so I can read the wind, but it was way too dynamic out there
Should I get a bigger board to keep stability and movement thru holes, or smaller sail or what?
Another question, fin placement (US box), how does moving it fore or aft affect turning etc?
Sorry for the whinge, but I've just got to the sailing decently stage (even in local coast river gustyness) but cant handle the inland dam situation yet
The answer to your problem is a step-tail longboard. They are the most fun in this situation. RRD Longrider, Kona One, or Tabou Windstyler.
The reason is they are fast enough in the gusts but stable and glide OK in the lulls. They go upwind well too.
I agree with the boards that were suggested above, but it sounds like you was stuck off-shore winds, mate. There must have been part of the dam, downwind from you, that was more stable.
I am stuck inland too, so choosing the right shore for take-off is triply important. Even a large body like the Great Lakes is often hopeless, i.e. summer offshore winds in Toronto.
All the best, and move to the coast!
Thanks for the fin placement tips, thewindmap
So forward fin = more turning = good (hate getting stuck mid-tack/turn)
Pierrec - my dam is a little smaller then the great lakes, bout 100m by 300m tops, just local unused water supply (so huge tree and hill effect on wind)
Nobody - yeah should probably have brought my old raceboard/longboard out here hey, i'm just trying to live the short board life inland atm!
Is it Dumaresq Dam? I sailed there once around 17 years ago on a similar board to what you have. It was around May and yes it was windy from the west but the wind was hopeless. Incredibly gusty and basically not much fun to sail. Everytime I fell in it almost killed me.
I only did it once. I sailed there a few times in summer on a windsurfer board and it was much more fun. Sailing in nice warm weather with a light breeze was great.
If I was you, whenever the forceast is for westerly winds and you can get away, you should head down to South West Rocks and go sailing there. Its not too bad there on a westerly. Because you have come from Armidale the weather will not seem too cold either. Its nice camping at the Gaol park though its not well protected from westerly winds.
Edit: The other thing about westies at SW Rocks is the wind is reasonably consistent. It comes down the Macleay river valley and the nearest mountains are quite a long way away. As long as you don't sail past the point its quite safe too.
Mobydisc - spot on, Dumaresq Dam it was. Glad to see that it wasn't just me then. Such a pain, the wind was good to go, but the landscape was turning the tap on and off every 30-odd seconds.
Yeah, agreed with the falling in kills bit, I had forearm pump from about 3 runs (300m) because fell in and muscles seized! Yeah I should probably go back to the coast (real home) for the weekends
PCSimpson - yeah, seems like Armidale only gets decent breeze from the west too, guessing by the time the system circles around, it's spiralling in on Armi from the West
If I recall correctly, I don't think Dumaresq Dam works in a westerly. There is a big hill with trees on it on the west side. The Dam would work on a southerly.
I reckon Malpas Dam might be okay on a westerly, depending on how much water is in it. Otherwise there probably are a few dams on properties around the place that will be better than Dumaresq. The problem with Malpas is its up near Guyra so its even colder than Armidale! Time to go scouting around and using Google Earth to find decent waterways up there.
You really need a bigger board up there for winter as you want to minimise falling in.
I've got Lake Zot (UNE lake) sussed out for Westerlies now I think
Malpas is a bit of a mission into the cold, but may have to do it
Yeah thinking do need something bigger, damn old raceboard weights a tonne (18kg) and sucks up the fuel
Chucked the fin forward almost to the end of the US box, now it'll either be great or too turny
Can't wait to be on the coast. All those on the ocean for Winter charge it for me, i'll be trying to get a sail in during freezing conditions! Maybe need a dirtsurfer to keep from hypothermia out here
Haha, I remember Zot, its the same name as my Bombora Zot which is hanging up in my old man's shed. Fast board but not good to gybe. Zot would be better in a westerly as there are no big hills or trees in the way but the runs are probably quite short.
Looking at Google Earth, there is a dam around Dangarsleigh that might be good for windsurfing. I never went there, despite living in Armidale for about 15 years. Looks like Sumarez creek is damned.
Getting used to the short runs, as been sailing narrow (100m) river and lakes now, it's good to get the tacks/gybes worked out but a pain to pinch to windward when you wanna blast.
Zot doesn't even look too weedy. As long as I dodgy the ducks and the nearby hockey players, it might be a good spot. The strong Westerly the other day was gusty but so much more consistent then Dumaresq. Shame can't sail two days in a row, the immunity can't tolerate that kind of destruction of my temperatature regulation system.
Might have to suss Dangarsleigh an Sumarez out, there's one apparently near Uralla, is it one of those? Went looking for Puddledock Dam on weekend, no access unless I wanna get prosecuted for having a sail.
