Went to Rye on Sunday with 20 kts Northerlies forecast - looked good on the drive down there. Set up by Lunchtime and the wind was running at 10 kts for the rest of the day. Did it hit 20 kts in the morning? Is this normal for Rye ? Only the second time I have sailed there. Any info will help to make future decisions.

Hi Old Salty,

As much as I love Rye it is very rare to get very strong Northerly winds in late spring / summer... I found if they do come in, it will be very early and then drop off to that teasing level of about 10 knts.

Great place in winter and early spring to sail on any North direction, even westerly is good, but in summer you may get frustrated driving down to find only 10-15 knts while Green Point is 25+ knots...

Thanks for the heads up Rick. Will not do that again until Winter comes around

Was thinking the same.... I've been dissapointed a few times after driving all the way to Rye. Would have gone more locally had I not heard beach road was closed Sunday due to a marathon.

I think the same - as soon as the bay temp is near or above the ocean temp, forget about great days Rye. The ocean breeze effect just kills the northerlies unless there is really something unusual going on. (i.e, check out http://www.earthsci.unimelb.edu.au/~awatkins/temps.html before you go.)

Having said that... I went to Rye on Sunday! (idiot idiot idiot). Ok, maybe not that big an idiot as i took the surfboard so i could get a surf if it was windless - but forgot my legrope (and shoreham looked perfect!)!! Ended up sitting round at Rye drinking coffee and swearing at the wind gods till we grew a brain and drove up to Bon Beach and got a late sail in up there. Then my mast went through the top of the luff pocket just to round off a "perfect" day!

Ay Kurumba!

Hi Windjunky - thanks for the technical explanation. Was looking North and could not work out why the wind was not matching the forecast and A.M. wind observations

For me Rye is to flukey to make the drive, dont get me wrong I have had some great sails their over the years but u need a degree in weather forcasting to know when its going to work. But I can understand people wanting to sail their as it is a great place to learn to waterstart.

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Jman said...

For me Rye is to flukey to make the drive, dont get me wrong I have had some great sails their over the years but u need a degree in weather forcasting to know when its going to work. But I can understand people wanting to sail their as it is a great place to learn to waterstart.

The embarrassing thing is... i do have a degree in meteorology!!

Its not just a great place to learn to waterstart but also speed/distance run (see Spotty's >250km in one day down there earlier this year; Wilsons Prom to Stanley (Tassie) is only 207!)) and there are some great bay waves on the outer sandbar. Plus the water is slightly warmer in winter than the rest of the bay...

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windjunky said...

The embarrassing thing is... i do have a degree in meteorology!!

Its not just a great place to learn to waterstart but also speed/distance run (see Spotty's >250km in one day down there earlier this year; Wilsons Prom to Stanley (Tassie) is only 207!)) and there are some great bay waves on the outer sandbar. Plus the water is slightly warmer in winter than the rest of the bay...

I think that I was there the day Spotty was on his run, it was great to watch him... I don't know how he did it, with a big sail, must have been really overpowered at times...

lots of great reasons to take the risk and drive down to rye, but for me the best part would be the quick and easy water starts to get you out of the cold water in the middle of winter