Although I didn't have the session I had hoped for at the PiT on Saturday I was really happy with the footage I captured on my new headcam. I had a play with helmet and boom mounts and have a lot more ideas on interesting angles.(as have others)

Here is a quick low resolution edit of some of the footage. Just imagine it faster if you want to see what the locals (& Slowey) see

My boom isn't really that squeaky, I think it is the sound of my hand moving on the boom grip and conducting through the camera housing!

Great Stuff! That flat water has me drooling

nice 1 well done!

KimbaCam

Love it

With the Gopro there are 2 sound settings, switch it to "low" you can still here voices but it will cut out a lot of the other bits like wind noise

look forward to more Tim

That just looks so bloody good Tim!!!!!!!!!

If you have'nt been to Sandy thats what your missing out on, can't believe how much the batten below the boom is flexing and is the boom flexing as well ? good to see Tim had a look behind him before pulling into the bank,great vid.

Saliva spilling out of mouth!!

great footage, what type and model camera is it?

The camera is the GoPro Hero Wide, you can get it from Adventure Cams HQ in WA, Great service and you get a lens cleaning kit and DVD on windows movie maker FREE.
http://www.adventurecamshq.com.au/shop/product_info.php?cPath=50_71&products_id=57
I went for the base kit ($282)and a few other mounting kits, the boom shot is with the roll bar mount: www.adventurecamshq.com.au/shop/product_info.php?cPath=56_57&products_id=54

Thanks for the sound level tip Elmo, first time out with the camera, I kinda like the sound effects - like you are in a boat hull in heavy seas. I will try the quieter setting.
I have more footage I may post if I get the chance.

I find the camera is a great tool not only does it give you some good vid's but you can see what you the board and the sail are doing.

Look forward to the next one

Gr8 vid, so jealous

whats with everyone walking back ????

is it a one way street at SP now ??

I wondered that as well... I remember having to do this back in the mid 90s because the boards were so ridiculously narrow you could only really race them downwind...

that said, the video makes me think about buying a couple of Race sails and a small slalom board and perhaps pick up speed sailing again.

What's the best direction for sandy point?

You need a cape.

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stehsegler said...

I wondered that as well... I remember having to do this back in the mid 90s because the boards were so ridiculously narrow you could only really race them downwind...

that said, the video makes me think about buying a couple of Race sails and a small slalom board and perhaps pick up speed sailing again.

What's the best direction for sandy point?

A lot of people walk back as it can be a bit easier than sailing back into the short sharp chop on a speed board. Best direction WSW-SW

When the wind is at the ideal angle for highest speeds it is impossible to get back to the launching point in one tack on a speed board. It is also very rough in the channel. It takes a lot of energy to sail back, especially if you need to tack twice - or more. I have actually walked back faster up the end of the course than other sailors sailing over and back, only to hit the bank behind me. You only have to hit a bad wave and spin out, have a waterstart etc. and you waste a lot of energy for nothing.
So walking back part, or even all the way, is a strategy. For me this day, wearing 5kg of weight on my shoulders, it was very energy consuming trying to sail back upwind. I decided I would be in better condition for the good squalls if they came later if I walked half the bank to where I could sail back easily in one tack on flatter water.
The down side of this is you sometimes can't get as many runs and that can be a handicap in fluky conditions where more runs means more chance of hitting a good gust.
Two sailors (young blokes ) who took full advantage of the alternate strategy that day by sailing back upwind all or most of the time, Dave MacInnes and Chris Lockwood, had the fitness and skill to take advantage of it and it paid off for them with enough good runs to get a high average.
I may be wrong here, but it appeared to me that Tony Wynhoven was using a bit of both strategies and that also worked very well for him.

@Sailquick,

Just what I thought. Interestingly enough when I did competitive speed sailing back in Europe in the early 90s quite a few competitors ended up using narrow speed boards only when the conditions were 100% perfect. Otherwise a small slalom board was the go. We found that you could do more runs on a really fast slalom board and in the end get more opportunity to be on the course when the big squalls hit. 95% of the time this paid off with faster course times over a given day.

I think this is one of the reasons why Dunkerbeck was dominating the speed scene when he first started speed sailing. He would just use his small slalom board unless the conditions where perfect for a needle.

Anyway, very keen to get hold of a couple of speed sails and some small boards and make the treck down to Sandy Point when the conditions are right.

Is there a specific requirement as far as the tides are concerned? Do you need a 4WD to get to the beach?

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stehsegler said...
Do you need a 4WD to get to the beach?

No.
But sometimes you need a submarine to get offavit.

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stehsegler said...

@Sailquick,

Is there a specific requirement as far as the tides are concerned? Do you need a 4WD to get to the beach?

Yes and No.

Tide must be low enough to expose the sand bar for WSW to SW winds. It is rare that this is the case on high tide, and usually starts about 1/4 out. And when the tide starts flooding in, the chop increases a LOT, so by an hour or so after low tide it is often no good.

On Easterlies, It rarely lasts more than 1-1/2 hours either side of low tide.

The car park is hard packed sand. Just don't drive around the corner.....
And wash your car well when you leave to get the salty spray and sand off.

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stehsegler said...

@Sailquick,

Interestingly enough when I did competitive speed sailing back in Europe in the early 90s quite a few competitors ended up using narrow speed boards only when the conditions were 100% perfect. Otherwise a small slalom board was the go. We found that you could do more runs on a really fast slalom board and in the end get more opportunity to be on the course when the big squalls hit. 95% of the time this paid off with faster course times over a given day.

The modern speed boards are much more like small slalom boards in that they are nowhere near as narrow, especially in the tail, as the '80's speed boards. A lot of progress has been made and their range is very much broader.
Thank goodness!