has anyone ever sailed the rip?
Queenscliffe to Sorrento/ vice versa?
Its not really that far
And if you go fast enough you could probably outrun mr whitey...
Queenscliff to Sorrento, or the real Rip, Pt Lonsdale to Pt Nepean? Been Q'cliff to Sorrento heaps of times in a powerboat and I don't think there'd be anything challenging in sailing it. Racing the ferry could be fun. Lonsdale to Nepean would be a different matter -rocks and reefs and wind shadows in a southerly.
The tidal flow can reach 7-8 knots and can be strong even as far back as Queenscliff (you should see the water rip past South Channel Fort -it's amazing) so if you're thinking of doing it, you'd want to time it for slack water.
I have surfed there but you have to go at slack water otherwise the current is unmanageable. And when the swell is up the water just boils!
Sailed out there once to Mud Island and beyond, really rough with very big standing waves. Took ages to get up enough courage to jybe and sail back. Not the place to break something.
That's pretty hardcore! Take flares, EPIRB, Chopper, support boat, St Johns Wort, mezcal and a 200 ltr board :/
Please don't do it.
I've been through the rip on a calm day in a 30ft dive boat, and it was hairy.
I wouldn't want to go anywhere near it in 20 knots of breeze in anything less than a proper ship or the pilot boat.
It'd be a great way to make the papers and give the rescue services some practice (and potentially bring some unwanted regulatory attention to the sport).
Hang on are we talking about sailing across the rip, or wave sailing at Corsair??
Brendan Naccas sailed across years ago. easy on slack water - serious water when the tide is running though. not somewhere to mess around
On the 2 occasions I went through the rip is was just like any other stretch of water, nothing abnormal. It was on 65ft yacht, and the return trip back trough was at around 5 in the morning.
Bit of an anticlimax at the time. Probably just good planning/slack water.
Just go and grab some fish and chips and watch the pilot boats going through sometime to get the other side of the coin.
damn!!
i had it all planned.
*70 litre board
*Bottle of Rum
*35+ knot northerly stormfront (with a bit of thuinder and lightning)
*Outgoing king tide
*Wilson (from the film castaway) tied to the nose
*towing a liferaft (an inflatable pool toy that relembles a seal)
I remember a few local guys who sailed there all the time- from Pt Lonsdale. They used to come into 4 winds marine a bit when Tony, Cam and Lloyd ran the show.
Not my idea of fun- if the wind ran out or a boom/UJ broke it would be a nasty place to be.
