Received: from hpisod9.cup.hp.com by opus.hpl.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.8/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA11992; Tue, 10 Jan 1995 14:54:39 -0800 Return-Path: <matt@hpisod9.cup.hp.com-DeleteThis> Received: from localhost by hpisod9.cup.hp.com with SMTP (15.11/15.5+IOS 3.20+cup+OMrelay) id AA14227; Tue, 10 Jan 95 14:50:24 pst Message-Id: <9501102250.AA14227@hpisod9.cup.hp.com-DeleteThis> To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis, "Wipelick" <Larson_Dean@mm.ssd.lmsc.lockheed.com-DeleteThis>, "Dirtbag" <nettlesb@aol.com-DeleteThis>, jeremy_schofield@sid.hp.com-DeleteThis Subject: The windiest day I ever sailed Date: Tue, 10 Jan 95 14:50:22 -0800 From: Leon Snerdgrass <matt@hpisod9.cup.hp.com-DeleteThis>
... was yesterday. Yup, even windier than the day I sailed in
Hurricane Iniki in Maui. After hearing the buoy reports, I decided to
pack my 2.9 and 3.3 and head to Pillar Pt. Got to Pillar Pt around 1:30
and watched two people get blown off the water on 3.3s and 3.5s. The
guy on the 3.5 couldn't even get out. At 1PM, NWS was reporting winds
of 53 MPH at Pillar Pt with gusts to 61 MPH.
It didn't look *that* windy, so I rigged my 3.3 Surf Slalom as flat as I
could and put in some tube battens. As I struggled to carry my board
(8'0" Bonzer) and sail upwind to the launch, I started to realize that
maybe it was *that* windy. After struggling for 5 minutes to get out
through the onshore wind and chop, I finally managed to make it beyond
the pier. Once out there, it was immediately apparent that I was way,
way overpowered. Most of the time, I couldn't sheet in and several of
the gusts picked me and my board up off the water and then slammed me
down.
Jibing was "interesting". The only way I could even try to jibe was to
wait for a lull, lay down the sail and oversheet as much as possible.
Even then I only managed to survive a small percentage of my jibes.
Completing a jibe in those winds was a small miracle.
As someone else said "Jumping was easy - not jumping was harder."
Forget what you've heard about Pillar Pt being a flat water site. At
those windspeeds there was no flat water to be found. The chop was
close together and about 2 - 3' feet high. The wind direction made port
tack good for jumps. All you needed to do was point your board a little
upwind and it would pick you right off the water and hold you up there
for several seconds. After getting slammed into the water after one
jump, I decided not to "try" to jump any more.
After about 1/2 hour, it started raining. Interestingly, the rain caused
the water to flatten out some even though the wind persisted. Without eye
protection, it was difficult to see and the rain drops were sandblasting
my face.
I managed to survive about an hour out there before it really started
getting windy. After getting slammed and catapulted 3 or 4 times within
a 100 yard span, I decided to come in. Others had given up long ago and
I didn't much feel like sailing alone any longer. If I had used a
smaller sail and board, it would have been a lot more fun. As it was, it
was more survival sailing than fun.
-matt
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Dec 10 2001 - 02:28:50 PST