Been a while since I've posted; but I've enjoyed plenty of regatta's & solo sails in between; and a bit of knee surgery.
Had another nice outing on Sunday 14 April approx 14:30 to 16:30 on the RB with 9.5m2
Approx path and time - and yes I need to get myself a GPS logger.

Saturday 27 April, 0945 to 1300 Raceboard with 9.5m2 approx track

Scotland Is knots

Scotland Is wind direction

It felt pretty good most of the time. A bit hairy downwind steering amongst and over the lumpy bits. Fluffed at least 2 gybes inside Pittwater. Was extra hairy running down the SEast swells on the downwind approach to the north side of the Lion; leaning back in the back straps to avoid burying the nose in the bottom of the troughs.Lost at least 10 minutes flopping around in the Lee of the island; falling & uphauling 3 times; took the opportunity to downhaul the luff and outhaul the clew in preparation for a fight back upwind.
A really good workout for next Sunday's Peter Loft marathon from BYRA - I hope many other sailboarders will be amongst the action.

On the upwind track past Palm beach I dropped into Sand Point to visit Palm Beach SC and discussion with Commodore Richard Lacey to confirm my membership ambition. And yes, they're keen for sailboarders to boost their falling membership! Normal annual fee is approx 300 for the cat sailors. Sailboarders will probably be about half that - $ tbc. Membership includes parking permit. There may be room within the PBSC 2019-2020 program for hosting a Raceboard event early December 2019.

So of course i'm keen for other Raceboarders, Windsurfer LT's, and perhaps even Formula & foilers, will be interested to join PBSC and enjoy the clean waters of Pittwater.

AUS126 said..
Hi Steve, Have you got any more details on the Peter Loft Marathon? What time is the start and can we enter on the day?

Noon start. Can complete entry and pay $20 on the day before 11am. Or go to their www site as per the below and do it all online:
https://byra.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Peter-Loft-NOR-2019V1.5.pdf

BoM Meteye current forecast suggests SW avg 15kt (10-20kt range) which would make for a really good race.

Sydney, North Shore / Northern Beaches sailboarders:
Palm Beach Sailing Club, based at Sand Pt (at what was in the 90's the home of the original Stormriders club, is encouraging sailboarders to join PBSC with a very reasonable membership fee.
www.pbsc.org.au/Membership.aspx
The main objective is to have upwind-downwind racing on Windsurfer LT's and other competitive classes eg Raceboards, Formula, D11 etc

Hope to enjoy racing with you very soon!

Jethro, I believe the AWA insurance does meet that requirement - but it would be good if the AWA could provide some sort of document to confirm each members cover.

I'm going for a practice sail today on the RB with 8.5 sail approx 1300 to 1600. Beautiful weather North to Noreast 10 to 20kt!
I'm hoping others will join in. Might make it to the Lion.

Correction to approx sailed course (two more tacks were required)
and yes who wants to sell me a 'surplus to requirements' GT31 ??

laceysurf said..
Hi All Pittwater Longboards - Palm beach Sailing Club are starting racing this Saturday 31st August 1230pm . get there before 12 as we can discuss courses x 4
Rig at sand point we have a parking overflow area for those without northern beaches permits and having difficulty parking. Insurance = Palm Beach Sailing Club has completed their Windsurfing association Affiliation paperwork so that provided you are a member of Windsurfing NSW you will have public liability Insurance ( 20million Indemnity). We will be having a BBQ after the race and all are welcome to Come along!
Cheers Richard

Day 1 - Saturday 31 August at Palm Beach Sailing Club
If your a member of another sailing/sailboarding club & have the appropriate insurance, please join us to inaugurate a new season of sailboarding/windsurfing at PBSC - the original home of the 'Stormriders' club - from Sand Point, Pittwater.

Marathon at PBSC today. Sailed to Sand Pt with the RB & 9.5m2. Managed to put a vertical split in the main mylar panel when preparing for the beach start - but fortunately repaired with gaffer tape from one of the Hobie16 fleet. Start at approx 13;30 and managed to stay with the Hobie16's for only the first km; but despite 2 falls (when gusts died too quickly) I wasn't falling too far behind. At the finish south of SandPt I was approx 12min behind the first Hobie16.
Three Windsurfer LT's also completed a lap to Scotland Is & return

AUS126 said..
Good forecast for Saturday Steve. What time do you start at Palmy?

I think it's 13:30 But assume 13:00 to be sure.

Well I got in a couple of hours training sail on the LT before the States next weekend in an Easterly that was trying REAL hard be become a Nor'easter but ultimately failed. I saw AyreForce leave Salt Pan up ahead of me, but him with his fly-weight and 9.5 race sail meant there was no way I was going to catch him with my 5.7.

Anyway it was an interesting day. I'd stuck telltales all over the sail to try and figure out how the sail works but because I was in bucket mode looking for power they really didn't tell me much. Hopefully out again tomorrow in a proper Nor'easter.

See Y'all at the States next weekend...

Had a fairly reasonable result at the 'Windsurfer LT' NSW Championship regatta, run out of the Balmoral Sailing Club Sat 14th & Sun 15th.
Sailed notably fast & high upwind in the light to medium wind strengths on the Saturday, and the morning races on Sunday, but kept losing places downwind.
Really bombed out on Sunday arvo as the wind freshened to 15 gusting 18 to 20kt. Didn't adjust the rig appropriately to the conditions, which with fresh wind against tidal current (plus sizeable power cruiser wash) became very lumpy. Struggled upwind fighting the rig, and suffered a few falls in both races.
The graph does not look as tough as the conditions encountered. Maybe there was a funnelling effect down between Dobroyd Hd /Grotto Pt /Middle Hd (and for the outgoing current as well) - but then that's from the perspective of one of the lightest in the fleet.

The Total Fleet results (as copied below), ie the over the line results, are not the 'Official Division Results' as utilised by the class to determine the division places.
However they do serve to show how well particular Medium Weights & Heavy Weights performed in the lighter conditions; and also the same for the top Light Weight in the tough conditions on Sunday afternoon.

Jethro you'd have enjoyed the last 3 races on Sunday in progressively stronger breeze; you could have put those SHW kilos to good effect.

I'm still on holidays this week. Anyone up for an LT session? Maybe meet in the big pond sometime tomorrow?

I'm heading out now, but will probably come in when the 5.5's get towed back, to partake of a quiet beverage or two. Looks like a light Nor'Wester at the moment, not real exciting...

While Ayreforce is coming back from Raceboard duties, I'm keeping a longboard presence on Pittwater

After a fairly light sail on Saturday, I went out from Newport today in what you could only describe a perfect conditions for the LT. It was a southerly at maybe 12 knots and slowly built to maybe 15k. I was mostly planning downwind and fully in the harness upwind to start and as the breeze increased I felt progressively more powered up. A perfect way to get more comfortable with sailing over-powered. I was using my normal light wind setting so maybe I could have flattened the gear out but, as I said, it was good practice to sail like that.

I sailed down to the southern police mooring off BYRA then ran square from it down to near Church Point, then using that point as my bottom mark I sailed half a dozen upwind downwind laps between there and the police mooring.

Anyway, after such a good session I'm keen for a sail tomorrow evening after work and looking forward to when the Friday LT twilights start up again.