windsurf

Opinions were mixed about the best time to sail KBay today. With low tide being from about 10am until 1pm, I opted to arrive at lunchtime for the tide on the push. As I drove into the rammed car park, most people were coming off the water and I was a little concerned I may have missed out. Not to worry, shortly afterwards the wind came back. I rigged a 5.2 and headed out. Perfect down the line sailing. Except that as the tide turned the wind went ballistic. I tried downhauling the life out of my 5.2 but it was still too much so I accepted defeat and re-rigged a 4.2 on the Ledges. Most of the waves pushing through were head to logo high but the occassional mast high monster came through. I was fortunate enough to pick one out and bottom turned back up the peeling wave to smack the lip perfectly. So much time to get in the right place on waves that big! But it's a big old steep drop back down the face... Awesome!

I have two windsurfing related resolutions for 2012, to go to Kimmeridge more often and to start sailing on Broad Bench rather than the bay in a westerly. Broad Bench the name given to the wave that breaks on the far side of the bay from the slip way and can regularly be seen at mast high and often barrelling when a decent swell is running. To get there it's a long slug upwind from the slip way that can easily take half an hour or more. It's in a military firing zone and is often off-limits, but generally not at the weekend or on bank holidays.
With my resolutions still fresh in my mind, today seemed like a good opportunity to make my first sight seeing visit over there. It probably took me six to eight reaches to get there as I didn't fancy sailing too far out too sea on each reach just in case the wind dropped or something went wrong. When I finally arrived, I shared the wave with a couple of kiters and started to get a sense for the place. It does feel quite remote and quite a long way out as the wave breaks on a headland, but as with most things I'm sure you get used to it pretty quickly. The wave on the Bench was probably about logo high at times which is enough to want to respect the area and not end up with a long swim, or worse, broken kit.
In the end I had a great session, seeing the wave develop, peak and break while also watching the kiters much deeper in the sections than me. After a few more confident bottom turns and it was time to head back for lunch. Stoked! Just a shame the holiday season is over.

Early start for the holiday season to get to Kimmeridge just after high tide. On the way over I was a little apprehensive as to whether anyone else would be sailing but I was worrying unnecessarily. By the time I arrived at 9.30am, two kites were already in the water with a couple of windsurfers heading out.
Immediately, I rigged a 5.2m and hit the water. The wind had plenty of west but it was still pretty much onshore in the bay and on days like this it's all about the jumping. I score a few good hits as the occassional head-high rollers started to break in the bay. I also took the opportunity to practice my onshore wave riding and I've definitely been over-sheeting the sail going into the top turn. I tried not putting my back hand so far down the boom but although that got the sail more open I couldn't hold on when the power kicked in! So I guess I need to be more flexible with the weight on the front rather than back foot and really commit to the turn earlier. Much to practice and tomorrow's forecast looks awesome!

This time last year six inches of snow lay on the ground so it seems a bit strange for deep low pressure, storm systems to be rattling across the country. It feels like Autumn has arrived with a vengeance and it looks likely to continue for a few days yet.

Back to today, we awoke to an eerie calm but bang on forecast the wind started to fill in late morning. Down at the beach, most were rigging 5.2s but I gambled on going smaller with a 4.7m. It turned out to be a good choice as the wind rose and rose over the next hour. The combination of cold, rain and a howling gale soon whittled those on the water down to just three. I was still out and the conditions were getting better and better with a head to logo swell starting to roll in.

Temperature wise, it wasn’t too bad. My hood was on by the end of the session but no boots or gloves just yet. My RRD Quad was ripping the conditions and I was really impressed with its jumping ability on top of riding the onshore conditions. I still need to work on my top turn though. Too many times, I depowered and fell off the back the wave. Getting vertical in these conditions is hard! One wave in particular, I cut-back tightly and nailed the top turn. Sweet! I think this worked because my bottom turn was tighter and that way I kept more speed. A wider, drawn out bottom turn may work going down the line or in a chunky wave, but on our windblown swell I need to keep more board speed.

On the bright side, it looks like there’s plenty of wind around over the next week for some more practice…

The last few attempts at dawn sessions have led to disappointment but ever the optimist I was up and at the beach rigging for first light. Turned out to be a great session with the whole beach to myself. Slightly overpowered on a 5.2 I took advantage of the many jump ramps to test out the quad in our more normal bump and jump conditions. Quite impressed. Eventually, well just after 9am, the front came through and immediately afterwards the wind switched North Westerly and dropped significantly. Time to derig and head home for breakfast.

An hour or so later, I noticed the trees beginning to sway. The North Westerly had picked up and was funnelling through the harbour. Back in the van and off to Poole Harbour. Stuck with the 5.2 quad combination and focussed on tacks and downwind 360s. Tacks went well as long as I remember to wait until the board is heading into wind before moving my feet! Downwind 360s need more work. I'm getting halfway round, front to sail but need to work on the weight distribution so the tail doesn't sink. A couple of hours later, I headed back for lunch tired and happy - although after a surf later in the day I was kicking myself for not heading over to KBay... Hopefully someone was there and can tell me it wasn't firing!