Next time you Queenslanders are down at the Pit for a speed session and start compaining about the cold, spare a thought for these blokes..
Canadian KA Distributor Markus Koloska just sent me this. It,s himself and his mate out for a sail on a pleasant Vancouver sunny winters day.

Here,s what he had to say...

Hey, I bet things are a little warmer in your world.

Here are a couple of pix of myself and my KA team buddy sailing 2005 3.7 Kaos and 5.3 Kult sails (awaiting the 09 quiver ;) ) on one of our spots in Victoria on Vancouver Island, Canada. The 3.7 day was minus 3C and gusting to a chilly outflow NE40 knots and the associated windchill. Minor slippery spots on the boom and leetch, otherwise no probs and an awesome day.

However, when it dropped to minus 5C I had spray/ocean water freezing on the sail at only 20-22 knots (go figure) and it turned the sail into an unwieldly piece of plywood and I could barely waterstart, had to dip the sail to thaw and get going again. Ergo: pack things in at around minus 4 regardless of wind speeds :)

<<...>> <<...>> <<...>> <<...>> <<...>>
On that last day one of my eyelids froze shut too, another sign it's maybe time to come in, haha. Markus


I guess that white stuff on the ground and hills isn't sand !

You'd want to have your gybes dialled! Makes Tassie in winter seem tropical.

looks hell windy though, i'd prob join them for a sail..

1. Those guys had huge balls.

2. They should move ...anywhere.

just by looking at their pic my eardrums are starting to hurt but i wouldn't care much if i had the right equipment

Looks like hypothermia central. Gotta give creed to those guys tho, I'll happily keep my 15 to 25 kn wind with 25 degrees water temp


Oh, and Mr Love. Would love to try the Pit one day. Which two weeks of the year do you call Summer

pierrec45 said...

Worst is that Vancouver is BY VERY FAR the warmest place in Canada... It's basically hot compared to the rest.

Doesn't Nova Scotia get the Gulf Stream/North Atlantic Drift?

I'm surprised that they can sail bare faced in minus 4. The wind chill must be pretty bad.

evlPanda said...

1. Those guys had huge balls.

2. They should move ...anywhere.

Them or their balls EP
In that weather they'd be like glass marbles