Trousers said...

tonight myself and two other desperados were chasing a late easterly on the lake. it was marginal and we were only planing occasionally.

in the dying rays of sundown the easterly started to kick.

so we sailed on for probably another half hour in very low light conditions. we could see each other and the shore, but the water was quite dark. you sailed almost completely by feel, not knowing when gusts were coming or how flat water was going into a gybe.

admittedly a touch dangerous, but very zen

You'll have to get some of Kato's headlights.

NotWal said...



You'll have to get some of Kato's headlights.

Or some glowsticks:



(image taken last weekend )

I agree about the zen thing, you can't see the gusts approaching, and you can only see the wave/chop when it's a couple of metres away... Great fun!

Funny thing, I can do forward, backward and double loops in the dark, but no one can see it.

pierrec45 said...

Ian K said...

Never realised how unimportant vision is in the sailing equation.

You can ascertain how important vision is by trying to sail with eyes closed for a while...

Another scientist! What's going on? There's 3 levels of darkness. Canberra at 20 to 9, eyes closed and a dark and stormy moonless night on Lord Howe Island - that's dark -
(not sailing, trying to find our way home from the pub)

The sun sets in Canberra at 8:01, you could see enough for orientation. I'll try your experiment Pierre, how long do you think I'll last?

Ian K said...
... I'll try your experiment Pierre, how long do you think I'll last?

a few seconds

I sailed in an easterly in Canberra back in the day till about 930 pm. I was up in the middle of the lake opposite the high court etc for a lot of it and there is so much light up there it's not an issue. Sailing back down though....sketchy as hell. Rouge chop...hilarity did not ensue, you basically have no idea what you're going to hit.

> blindfolded

I often tried for the fun of it. Very few seconds, and I was lucky.
As soon as there are lights or beacons, however faint, you're OK.

Balance is an amazing sense...

Wet Willy said...

there was no reason not to have done it longer...next time, next time....

Yeah, few seconds OK, it's just that the board takes a slant and you (I, anyways) quickly become outta whack. On the plane is a few more seconds than in lighter winds, you're right. Board keeps more on a straight line then.

All fun stuff to try...

On a similar topic, I've been practicing to sail with the head upside down for years now. First on old boards (see clip for the "old" part) in lighter winds, and also on the 105L. On the old plank, can do safely for up to a minute in 10-12 knots, including a bit of steering.

On the plane at 15-18knts is much trickier, I'm up to about 10-20 seconds, and spills are violent. It seems I'll never get it now. I'm just not bendy enough, the booms are too high in stronger winds to lean out, and the friggin' board keeps going upwind. Ah well, will keep trying...