The wind started around 2pm, light and It was around 12-18 knots. I was on a 7.8m so planing about 80% of the time.

Raz,

I'm a bit suspicious of that Syd harbour graph and I reckon it over-reads a few knots in NE. I've been at Balmoral and was checking the live readings last summer & it's not as windy as the readings say. Balmoral usually is better for NE than Manly for example as the NE has a slight funneling effect there.

I think the harbour graph is on one of the towers off Bradley's Head and when the wind is NNE (often later in the arvo) then it could be accurate.

Good spots to launch would be Rose Bay or Bradley's Head (although parking is metered & busy on w'ends).

I have sailed from Balmoral to Camp Cove in a good NE and Balmoral is a good f/w spot but the parking on w'ends makes it a pain.

To find out exactly what everyone did yesterday on Botany, have a look
at the GPS Team Challenge page.
Lots of reports there.

gpsteamchallenge.com.au/sailor_session/show?date=2011-09-04&team=5

Brett Morris said...

Kyeemagh was perfect, flat water and 15-18knots. Car parking and avoiding BBQ's at the south end was the biggest issue!

That's why we should take over the northern car park for windsurfers, before the others discover it!

BenKirk said...

tomp said...

Raz,

I'm a bit suspicious of that Syd harbour graph and I reckon it over-reads a few knots in NE. I've been at Balmoral and was checking the live readings last summer & it's not as windy as the readings say. Balmoral usually is better for NE than Manly for example as the NE has a slight funneling effect there.

I think the harbour graph is on one of the towers off Bradley's Head and when the wind is NNE (often later in the arvo) then it could be accurate.

Good spots to launch would be Rose Bay or Bradley's Head (although parking is metered & busy on w'ends).

I have sailed from Balmoral to Camp Cove in a good NE and Balmoral is a good f/w spot but the parking on w'ends makes it a pain.

tomp,

When on the jetcat heading home after another missed NE'r, I can asure you that the wind is much stronger in the harbour than at Balmoral or Manly. All I can assume is that the wind funnels all the way down from Manly to Rose Bay and accelerates.

Cheers

It seems to be the case that slightly inland water ways can get a stronger version of the Noreaster than the beach side. I've heard people say that Botany Bay can be stronger than Wanda. The west side of Lake Illawarra is often windier than Bellambi. Famously windy Gerroa could be thought of as an "inland lake" from the perspective of a Noreaster.

I always thought that Kyeemagh was windier in a NE because the wind accelerates across the airport runways?

When you sail across from kurnel to the runway there is always a noticible drop when you get in the shadow of the port itself (channel thru center of the bay) then it picks up again once you get in behind the runway.

The green area is wher the wind is usualty stronger and the red is where the wind tends to have bigger holes in it.

tomp said...
I'm a bit suspicious of that Syd harbour graph and I reckon it over-reads a few knots in NE.

I think that it is getting the local wind OK although probably not on the water, up the hill a bit. I know that the NE funnels down there (see map)
www.seabreeze.com.au/maps/nsw.asp
This makes the information relevant to yachties but not much use for windsurfing.
You would need to jump in off the rocks somewhere along Chowder Bay Road to get out there.

The yachties often put their race courses out there so it can get crowded.

sick_em_rex said...

You don't think maybe it just 'feels' stronger behind the runway cause the water is flatter? I'm not at all saying I disagree, I'm just hypothesising....

I have also sailed over to Kurnell a couple of times. I have found that the swell/chop is much larger in the centre, and this combines with the lightest wind, so it is generally not as good for sailing in the middle. When you get closer to Kurnell, the wind picks up and chop drops off (though not like in the runway corner!!). The first time I did it with a large sail, I thought the wind was picking up and was starting to get overpowered over at Kurnell, and was wondering if I would make it back, but on the way back it eased off again in the middle, and I was fine. If making the run across, you are better off with gear with good wind range to avoid slogging in the middle. The wind seems to drop off badly a few hundred metres past the end of the runway when going Kyeemak->Kurnell. A big shadow there, and then picks up a little a few hundred metres later.

The roughness of the water will also be having an effect. There's a thing called "roughness length" which I gather is pretty hard to determine, but it goes in the logarithmic profile equation (I also gather it's more of an approximation than an equation). The rougher the surface the more the logarithmic profile is stretched vertically. Inland waters with less fetch and chop allow the wind aloft to get down closer to the surface. Once you're clear of other obstacles of course.

Waiting4wind said...

I just rig a sail size bigger than the forecast suggests, that usualy solves the problem and makes it exciting in the gusts.

That sounds like what I have been doing for a long time

Ian K said...
I've heard people say that Botany Bay can be stronger than Wanda.

I think that's often the case. Quite a few times I've had a marginal sail at Wanda but seen it much more solid at Kyeemagh on the way home - and have had the occasional quick second session to confirm it.. Kyeemagh doesn't have waves though!