Ok, today I hobbled on down (well I drove actually but hobbled once I got there) to a new potential speedspot at Maianbar in the Royal National park South of Sydney. It is basically the western end of Port Hacking and there is quite a nice long sand spit there. I had sailed this spot back in the 80's in a Nor Easter but I was there today to scope out its possibility of a flat water spot in a westerly. From what I can see it certainly has the right ingredients. The run would start at the Northern tip of the spit and with a bit of luck the wind would then accelerate as it passed over the spit as it is curved quite nicely. Rough estimate of run length would be 400m odd but I think the end of the run would end up gusty as you disappear beind some land masses which may block out the wind. Definately only a 2 sec peak proposition rather than a 500m or NM spot. There is a shallow channel running the length of the spit on its western side but it was too shallow to sail in at low tide (only 30cm deep at deepest spot) and to be honest it wouldn't be much chop anyway from what I can tell as it would most likely suffer from wind chop. I guess it would be a lottery sailing this spot in a westerley as we all know westerlies in Sydney are gusty buggers at the best of times so it would need to be a dedicated and patient sailor who goes there to try and get what it has to offer. As far as a nor easter goes it is a doozie also. Not flat at all, bump and jump. But when I drove past Kyeemagh/Botany bay on my way there, it was 8-10 knots at best. Half an hour later once at Port Hacking it was easily 15 knots. Essentially the wind had had more opportunity to gather momentum as to get to where I was it had come across a good few km's of water.
By the way, best place to launch is a spot called Bonnievale which is actually accessed through Bundeena rather than Maianbar. There is great grass to rig up on, plenty of parking and even a campground if you so wish to make a weekend of it. And lets face it, when it takes a good hour and half to get to (from my place anyway) you may as well go for a weekend.
There is a skatepark about 500m away for anyone with kids so it is certainly somewhere you could go with the family and still score brownie points for there being other things to do while Dad is off windsurfing.
Considering the only other westerly spot in Sydney was Foreshore drive which is now a no go zone it may be a decnt spot to try. I know Narrabeen Lake can also be sailed in a westerly but this spot could possibly be our closest relative to Sandy Point considering it's physical appearance.
The pics above show a view firstly looking North up the spit and then the second pic is looking South. As you can see the water would be nice and flat on the lee side so it certainly has all the right ingredients to be a winner.
Great work Andrew.
Will be keen to have a lash if ya reckon its worth the trek.
Sweet!!
Yeah definately keen for a trek down there again Larko. Just gotta wait for a decent weekend westerly I guess.
count me in too 
good road for a bike, i might run into some trouble if i strap a formula board on the back 
Sam and I have been eyeing off that spot for a few years now, but have never been organised enough to make the long drive down when a westerly has hit.
A couple of years ago Sam, Remi and I launched from Lillypilly and tried the sandbar which runs perpindicular to that one, which runs inland, but the wind direction wasnt quite right. I think Sam may have got a run or two on Mainbar as well, but the angle was a little tight.
I'm pretty sure Wayne and Nathan have given it a shot, as they live a lot closer in the Shire.
Looks sweet Rexy. Bring on the westerlies.
Did the depth of the water look OK. Boats seem moored pretty close to shore so hopefully the depth is consistent.
Sam.
Been sailing here for a couple of years now, usually spend the weekend camping as bonnie vale is an excellent spot. NE are best but Ive been out in everything else and still managed to have a great time. Good spot for the family,BBQ's large grassy area to rig on etc, Maybe we should organise a weekend sailing session here?? I think you have to pay $11 a day parking per a motor.
I found it to be around 2-3 meters,
Yeah as Lee said Sam, plenty deep. Looks like it dropped away quite quick a la SP. I noticed some dark spots at the Northern end of the run a few metres out into the water but I couldn't tell if they were rocks or seaweed. Either way it looked plenty deep to sail over and I was there at low tide anyway. I meant to say also that about 20 minutes after I left that filthy big storm blew in which I think was a westerly front or at least SW. I wish I'd hung around now to see the state of the water. Although, there was a shed load of lightning around too....
Looks great Rex. It does look a little shallow on the western side of the bank. Bring on the winter westerlys..
Just had a look on Google Earth and it looks like it could be a goer. Patience would be the key with a fickle Westerly, but given that you would be hugging the bank you wouldn't have to worry about being stuck out in the middle of some bay dogging in zero wind. Hence a good oportunity to be on small board for the big gusts.
Count me in for sure!
All we have to do now is sit back and wait for a westerly.
Which one of the symbol's on the left is the sarcastic don't get decent westerlies any more symbol?? This is the best I could find
.
Did we ever get decent Westerlies Sam? Maybe we did hence why they don't have the 'don't get any decent westerly emoticons' 
Try 
[}:)]
And maybe for the one or two that were fun.
I think that about covers westerlies in Sydney over the years!!!
looks alrite to me! is it infiltrated with enemy 'types' (politically correctness) of a weekend? or is it a hidden wonder i wonder?
Last decent westerly I remember was when the Narrabeen speed record was set........
geez Chris, I've never known you to contribute so much on Seabreeze to a particular subject.....and NOW we know why...you just HAD to get that in didn't you!!!
Would you like to tell all the punters out there just who holds the Pond speed record????
Geez Chris, you pipe up at the strangest of times
Ill spill the beans, Mr Ting holds the record of 37.7 knots at Lake Dangerous.
If I remember correctly it was on a Nitro 5.5 and a *board Sonic.
I wonder how long it will last???
And I'll bet it was using a Foretrex so that only equates to about 32 knots in the real world
Nito 2 6.2 m
OLD Custom Hybrid freeride board
It was so long ago, GT-11 didn't exist
and hey, anytime you're faster then Sam P, you try not to forget it......
Been sailing Bundeena this arfternoon, loved it. Not quite as windy as Botnay and its a bit of a hike but it was all worth it.
Sunday could be the westerly we've been waiting for provided you didn't happen to have a 3 week old.
Might have to commence negotiations very carefully this evening.
Put him in the laundry and but some newspaper down, this should give you 4 - 5 hours.
"Put him in the laundry and but some newspaper down, this should give you 4 - 5 hours. Says Aus4"
That also should give the missus time to mow the lawn and do the edges
Sam, you cant go, I need to borrow some smaller sails
aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhh, or a 12 year old's birthday on Saturday from 2 till 7 or AFL on Sunday morning till 11.00
Might have to do a sunday lunchtime jaunt.
Where are people keen to go to?
