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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935
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 Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 1:42 pm Post subject: |
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| 30knotwind wrote: | | If I did it, I'd do it on a more moderate but solid forecast when the wind is not expected to die in the afternoon |
Reminds me of the perfect, cloudless, thermally boosted, solid/steady 4.2, summer day I dropped below the buoy east of Arlington around 1 PM, KNOWING the wind would hold for another 8 hours.
Yeah, right! It shut off so suddenly, right at mid-jump, that I had to climb down my uphaul to get down to the water, then pull my gear down to me. I swam for an hour and walked for another hour. That would have been not even 1% of the distance to Alderdale/3-Mile, and had I launched from Arlington, there would have BEEN no walkback ... just cliffs.
I gotta admire John's pluck and skill, but I think he needs a new hobby. 
We never did figure out what killed the wind, as there were no tells in the forecasts, the sky, or the usual maps. |
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biffmalibu
Joined: 30 May 2008
Posts: 556
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| Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 10:16 am Post subject: |
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| 30knotwind wrote: | | John did a downwinder on Saturday from Arlington. He arrived at 3mile just as the last of us were limping off the water in dying wind and fading light on 4.2s. He sailed a 4.7, which must have been quite a handful most of the way. He said it was not fun. If I did it, I'd do it on a more moderate but solid forecast when the wind is not expected to die in the afternoon, which it didn't, so maybe he had a little luck, IMO. |
What was not fun about it? Did he miscalculate wind strength and overrig too much? Did he destroy his aging knees with a stiff carbon fiber potato chip instead of a proper and comfortable polyester board? (I'm joking.)
I am hoping for something in the 3s, with head to mast-high swells. I have a good friend who did it 15 years ago on 3.2 with a friend. He said it was "best ever". I think the key to not being becalmed is to not hesitate; when the wind comes up solid, go. No B.S.ing or posing on the beach. Ignore the naysayers. |
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