The forecast is looking pretty good for this weekend so there should be a pretty good turnout at Low Head. Saturday looks pretty northwesterly and Sunday will probably be a little more from the west.

Peter Nitshke will be at Lagoon on Saturday with a range of his Manta sailboards to demo, he should also have some Lorch boards in the van.

I am still editing the video footage from last week at Lagoon, but should have it ready to post next week. Meanwhile here are a couple of photos, the first is Tim H getting on a windsurfer for the first time in 17 years, the skills never go away but they do get a little rusty. The second photo is an old one but I don't have any good new photos from this summer at East Beach.

Are any southerners going up to either Low Head or racing at Port Dalrymple (apart from Dave & Steve). I'm keen to go up if there's wind, wouldn't mind a sail at Low Head.

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Kazza said...

Are any southerners going up to either Low Head or racing at Port Dalrymple (apart from Dave & Steve). I'm keen to go up if there's wind, wouldn't mind a sail at Low Head.

Definitely worth the 2hr drive this weekend, the forecast is great and the beer is so much better in the north.

Looking at that forecast I will certainly be there.. have to put in 2 days I think woohoo!

I can't make it up but looks like you're going to have a good turnout
Great to see some action in the north, well done Al, you guys are really ramping it up
Have fun at the Port races

Where's the lagoon?

I'll be there

I'd love a sail at Low Head, but the forecast for Sat looks very average!

Lagoons Beach is at the mouth of the Tamar river on the eastern side.
Great spot to sail on anything westerly.

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buzzy said...

I'd love a sail at Low Head, but the forecast for Sat looks very average!

I was thinking Sunday if I've got the energy, so busy at work I'm totally stuffed!!

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buzzy said...

I'd love a sail at Low Head, but the forecast for Sat looks very average!

Sorry! Saturdays forcast for the North does look pretty good.

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Jezstrt said...

Where's the lagoon?

When I say "Lagoon" I am referring to Lagoon Beach which faces out towards the river at Low Head, as Bearhoover has described.

The actual lagoon is an area of dense tea trees on the other side of the road, in the winter there can be a little more water in there and it could be useful for recreating scenes from "Man VS Wild". It probably has very little windsurfing potential and would also (despite the very protected and smooth water) be of little use to kiteboarders.

Cool, i think its called 'Lagoon Bay' on google maps!?!

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Jezstrt said...

Cool, i think its called 'Lagoon Bay' on google maps!?!

I can see how this could cause confusion, I have already emailed the Google corporation and asked them to correct their map.

cast looks good for some westerlies tomorrow (sat), bell buoys should be good for a jump

low head is going off, 25-29 knots

see you all there

Well that was a great day, probably at the top end of my ability, came in at around 25-30 for most of the day. 5 knots less and it would have been perfect (for me) Good turnout, met some new people, learnt some new things. Looking forward to my next session there.

Some pictures from the weekend.

Looks like you guys got plenty of wind wich is more than us poor ba$%$# down here . We spent most of the weekend looking for wind and very lettle sailing.

The westerlies were pretty reliable all weekend. I missed most of the best conditions on Saturday due to work, arriving quite late in the day to find that most of the windsurfers were feeling pretty hammered by the punishing conditions. The wind started to die by the time I could get on the water.

Sunday started with light conditions so we spent the morning teaching the kids to sail at Pilot Station Beach. The wind was a little stronger than ideal (quite gusty and up to 10 kts at times) Still the six children who participated all had a great time. We had two rigs, a 1m sail on a 122l Kode and a 2m on a Rio.The stand out for me was seeing Theo, who is 5 years old, cruising downwind with absolute confidence, a real proud dad moment.

In the afternoon the wind kicked in and the big kids, myself included, enjoyed some nice 20kt+ conditions at Lagoon Beach. Highlights included seeing Adam cranking his Zot at absolute top speed (retro is the new cool), Ben confidently planing around on the Rio (after spending more time on the water than anyone else on Saturday he was back for another big session on Sunday).

The wind cranked again on Monday, having no regard those of us that have to work. Having watched the obs all day I fully expected conditions to ease off at the end of the day. Fortunately it was still windy at 8pm so with dinner still settling I drove down to East Beach and rigged up a 5.3. Conditions were very gusty but there was a little 2 foot swell to provide a few wave rides. I tried to stay out longer than the surfers but I think they were waiting for the lull that can happen at night fall.

Hi Al good to see you are getting some company out on the water.
You know it's strange, I hear all about having to work when the wind is up but two times now I've been in Launceston and dropped into the shop for a chat only to be told you weren't there because you were sailing. Funny that.

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Iceman said...

Hi Al good to see you are getting some company out on the water.
You know it's strange, I hear all about having to work when the wind is up but two times now I've been in Launceston and dropped into the shop for a chat only to be told you weren't there because you were sailing. Funny that.

Sounds very very unlikely...I am always at work, six days a week, eight and a half hours a day.....except very occasionally if its really, really windy and planets are all lined up and the moon is blue.