Have just moved to Sydney's Northern Beaches and am looking for the best places to sail. I'm not confident on the open water yet, but have seen a few comments on Pittwater being a good place to sail, especially in a southerly.
Can anyone give me some pointers on the best places to rig / launch from, and what works around there in different wind directions.
Thanks
What kind of board do you ride mxh? Are you reaching back and forth or making ground upwind and downwind?
I'm on a 130ltr 'freeride' board - I'm OK going up and downwind, but tend to be more 'out and back' - with a 50/50 success rate of gybes at each end.
Cool.
Southerly's - Best from Sand Point (Iluka Rd) Palm beach. The bit of beach you want is on the south side of sand point and faces southwest, there's a little laneway that leads to a boatramp with grass alongside. Try Taylor's Point too (Next to the Public wharf), it sometimes squirts through the bit of water between Taylor's and Scotland Island. (There's a bit of dead water to slog through first but it's not far...)
SouthEasterly's - Sand Point.
Easterly's - Pretty yuk in Pittwater.
Northeasterly's - From Pittwater side of Palm Beach (Governor Phillip Park) or slightly further south near the golf club. Late in the afternoon the NE wind tends to be more northerly and is often better from Taylor's Point in Clareville (near the Public Wharf)
Northerly's - Taylor's point.
NW, W, SW - Generally pretty yuk and gusty but try Palm Beach.
All of these options give you room to work upwind from your start point either for the variety and fun, or to give yourself a little buffer to be sure to get back to where you started. The exception being sailing from Palm Beach in a NE wind, there's not really anywhere to go upwind but there's a great long stretch of beach alongside the golf course that you can walk back up if needed.
For working on those gybes Palm Beach in a NE wind is also great as it offers smooth water close to the beach which makes things a lot easier.
If my place descriptions are not altogether clear I can probably put some dots on a map and post that if you like.
See you on the water!
ps if you send me a PM I'll come and join you if I can. I always sail out of perhaps one of the worst spots (Avalon Sailing Club) and sail to wherever the wind is best.
taylors point is good in North east, its a little lumpy but the water does get smoother across the other side.
Sand point for a southerly, very lumpy. Best to track upwind a bit above where career bay meets the guts of pittwater.
I would suggest at least an intermediate level of skill going to the above places as they do get traffic and can be tricky to get back home to.
Palm beach lighthouse end for NW & golf course end for SW.
Excellent info - cheers guys.
Saltyheaven - will let you know when I'm next venturing out (on holiday next week so won't be for a few weeks). I prefer to sail when there's others about - especially at somewhere new.
Taking a break from sailing at moment due to injury but was wondering how the wind compares in Pittwater compared to Botany. The drive to Botany is becoming unbearable.
