Here is a blast from the past when 25 knots was considered speed windy. Woodman point held speed events and $4000 was the first prize. Not bad in 1986 dollars.

Did anyone else get all excited before they opened the thread?

At registration, competitors were issued with sail numbers and two cans of Swan Premium . Those were the days!

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jamesf said..
At registration, competitors were issued with sail numbers and two cans of Swan Premium . Those were the days!

They just dont do comps like they used to.

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jamesf said..
At registration, competitors were issued with sail numbers and two cans of Swan Premium . Those were the days!

Surviving after drinking 2 cans of Swan is the biggest prize!

So what is the top speed that had been done at Woodies in recent years? I am sure lao shi can put his finger on the session in a heartbeat...

Do we know how did they measured the speed back then?

It was obviously over some distance rather then our ordinary peak speed.

What exactly distance ?

if they reach and sustain speeds over 100 - 500 meters it looks much difficult that peak speed over second or two.

It's written in the article Macro

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Windxtasy said..
So what is the top speed that had been done at Woodies in recent years? I am sure lao shi can put his finger on the session in a heartbeat...

I have managed a solitary sneaky 40 peak;

gpsteamchallenge.com.au/sailor_session/show?date=2012-01-02&team=10

No doubt Slowboat has gone MUCH faster...

Would of been interesting the night time speed sessions if they had the wind for them!

Would love to see the comp of old resurrected!

I use to see them in the old Freesail mags and thought how awesome it would be to go in them!

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seanhogan said..
It's written in the article Macro

I did try to read article few times and still can not find the answer.
Over what distance was the average speed calculated ??

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Macroscien said..

seanhogan said..
It's written in the article Macro

I did try to read article few times and still can not find the answer.
Over what distance was the average speed calculated ??

Page 34, columns 2 and top of column 3

It does not specify the distance.

yeah, sorry Macro I was only refering to the calculation mode

It was 500m.
Ahh for the days when I was twice as strong and 15kg lighter!

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25 said..
It was 500m.
Ahh for the days when I was twice as strong and 15kg lighter!

Respect .
Now we know that 500 m is not this same as our 2 sec.
Competitor needed to withstand / sustain that speed over more then 30 seconds.

Now if you look back at our charts that 500 meters we could compare to our nautical mile, to be fair due to improved gear we have.

Great topic. Love a bit of nostalgia.

At 45knots that's about 21 seconds of sustained sailing. Happens at SP and LG in sprinklings when the conditions are near perfect. (sadly not by me!) Probably also happens when your nickname's SLOWBOAT.

Although, over 500m my best is just shy of 45knots at SP in not quite ideal conditions.

Ahh Peter you made that Neil Pryde RAF Speed look sweet. Look how much power it had up high too! No twist at all. Board trim looks bang on too.

PS. I'll trade you the 15kg anyday so long as I can have it as muscle.

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Macroscien said..

Now we know that 500 m is not this same as our 2 sec.
Competitor needed to withstand / sustain that speed over more then 30 seconds.

Now if you look back at our charts that 500 meters we could compare to our nautical mile, to be fair due to improved gear we have.

You do know that we already do compare GPS speed, to 500m or nautical mile? ... its that whole "division" thing that people are going on about in the GPS-team-challenge.

Distance measurements are an artifact of the measurement technology.
If you can measure your velocity in real time, why use a derivative (Math) technique to calculate it?

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mathew said...


You do know that...

I only wanted to compare our nowadays results to those 20 years ago.
I wonder if somebody did try 20 years old gear to achieve similar or better results in the same place that guys been sailing / racing then.
If better skills , improved knowledge and technique alone could guarantee success ? If we could magically , using time machine send our Slowboat 20 years back to race in this competition... will he wins ?

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Macroscien said..

mathew said...


You do know that...

I only wanted to compare our nowadays results to those 20 years ago.
I wonder if somebody did try 20 years old gear to achieve similar or better results in the same place that guys been sailing / racing then.
If better skills , improved knowledge and technique alone could guarantee success ? If we could magically , using time machine send our Slowboat 20 years back to race in this competition... will he wins ?

Don't know about using 20 year old gear in the same place, but I sure would give a finger or two to sail Sandy Point 25 years ago on today's gear! It was perfectly smooth and laminar wind from start to finish.