AJEaster said...........PLEASE............
Guys and Girls,
I cant make it down to speed week as I will be in Samoa, but I am very keen to get down there and experience sailing on flat water.
Myself and 3 other sailors from our GPS team (Mid North Coast Marauders (of NSW)) will be heading down in November for two weeks to hopefully hang and chew the fat with the locals, get some speed on flat water and some wavesailing perhaps. I have a few questions regarding sailing in the area down there, sorry there are a lot of questions, I trawled this site but couldnt find all the info I needed.
* At that time of year (November) is the wind mostly seabreeze or frontal (and typical directions)?
* What are the better spots to sail at that time of year given the prevailing wind direction (for GPS (and waves)?
* Given the above, and wanting to max our speeds in the short time we will be there, what would be the best tide times to plan our trip around (eg: high tide mid arvo for seabreeze etc). Run in or runout better? Or does tide not matter much?
* Can we expect good wind or is spring/summer a bit slack?
* Will I need weed fins, special fins for shallow water or are regular slalom fins ok?
* Will we need a 4x4 to get to any of these spots?
* In November is it that cold I will need boots and gloves or is just a steamer/springy fine?
* Anything else I should consider?
* Any other spots we should keep on the radar for wavesailing or speed that are better suited to different winds?
Thanks a million in advance. If you see some NSW plates down there in Nov, with a clewless crew sailing/rigging in the wrong spot, slap us round the head and point us in the right direction. Cheers, Adam
*The very best speed winds are always frontal, WSW. November is sometimes a bit hit and miss with good fronts. Some years it is outstanding, some they just don't turn up.
By November, we are usually starting to get some good Easterlies (20-30+ knots) which usually get kicked up by thermal, sea-breeze effect. Easterlies are very tide dependent. You need low tide for a speed run. Warning! Watch out for dangerous shallow weed covered sandbars right in the speed course which sprung up last year. They are quite abrupt and like little table top underwater mounts! Mark them with sticks or something.
* Tides are critical for Easterlies (you need a couple of hours each side of low). Tides not so critical for WSW speed, but the bank can disappear at high tide (very shallow, rough and choppy) and on a big incoming flood tide you can get 'woopdedoos'. Best is usually on the falling tide when chop is at it's least.
*Best speed spots: Easterly speed bank on Easterlies. Main speed bank on WSW.
Possible NM and 1 hour on NW in the Yanakie channel. High tide I hour on Easterlies possible if the tide is high enough to run the shallows, and also on North Westerlies on quite high tides, left of the entry road. Possible really gusty 'sort-of' speed on Nor Westerlies right in front of the parking area. Possible speed run on westerlies at slack low tide near the entrance 'Sandy Pt B'
* September/October usually bring the most energetic fronts (30 knots+), but you can get really good ones anytime from August to Feburary. We sometimes get 'Honking Easterlies' as early as October/November but they are almost guaranteed in January every week. We have had dud years though.
Generally, Spring/Summer is our best season.
*Wave sailing: Waratah Bay is a large half moon shaped bay so it can handle a range of wind directions from West to North, North West from The Gap (where the Waratah township road hits the coast) around to Ned Neils Lookout and off the SLSC, to the ocean side of the speed spit on a NNW-Northerly.
Easterlies are cross off at the SLSC/Ned Neils but can be weak in the inside of the break with the sand dune wind shadow.The same wind is crosshore at The Gap which is sheltered from the swell but can be good if the swell is bigger.
Many of the keen guys carry their gear across the speed spit (through knee deep soft wet sand!!) and sail in super clean cross offshore when the swell is small to medium.
*Normal wave fins are perfect!
*For speed we are using more raked fins now as we are getting more and more thin ribbon weed which can hamper you sometimes, but on many days it is not critical.
*For slalom, upright fins are generally fine but a few of us are using raked fins for 'One Hours' because one strand of weed caught on the fin can really kill your speed, and backing up to loose it finishes you altogether.
*No need for a 4x4 at all.
*What is 'that cold'?
You will definitely need a steamer. 3/4 in winter and 2/3 from about November. Booties are optional but I wear thick ones in winter and 'tropical reef shoes' on summer. If you don't have a valuable head and use a helmet to protect it, you will benefit from a neoprene hat on those cold frontal days. It's the wind chill that gets you. In easterlies it us much milder but even in summer most use a 2/3mm steamer. Water temp should be up to around 15 degrees by November.
*Sail sizes from 8.5m down to 4.4m should cover most eventualities
although if you get one of those 50-60 knots days you will be looking for a small hanky and a big bucket of guts!
. In reality, I hardly bother sailing with anything larger than a 6.6m. My most used sail is a 5m Koncept, closely followed by the 5.8m and 4.4m. I used the 4m Koncept at least 4 times last couple of years!
* Bring a surfboard, preferably a longboard for those lovely offshore days with clean waves in the bay. There are also some good surf spots around the western end of the bay that work in Westerlies/North Westerlies and even South Westerlies, but you will be speed sailing in the latter!
On the Easterly days the surf is often great in the mornings before the wind really kicks in.
*There are some fun sailing spots with a dedicated local crew around Inverloch. Potential NM spots on just the right wind (very fickle) and proven potential for 40+ knots peaks on Easterlies if Sandy is not doing it. If you are completely nuts you can join Kato for a sail out into Bass Straight over the horizon and back on monster swells just for the fun of it!
*Don't forget the Go Kart track at Stony Creek!
, and if you see me around on a light wind day I'll bring down the tandem Gemini for you to have a play on!
Hope this helps, Andrew
"The older I get, the better I was"
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