Owner:
MartinF
Member
Worst Wipeout Award 2003
Member#: 72 Location: Registered: 28-10-2002 Diary Entries: 184
Mood: needing time out
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26th June 2003
Windsurfing: El Paso, Sotavento, Fuerteventura Wind Direction: N (Cross-off) Wind Stength: F5-7 Surf / Sea State: Mostly flat. Few peeling waves Air Temperature: 25C Sea Temperature: 20C Weather: Sunshine Max Speed: Distance Covered:
What a difference from last Tuesday! Arrived @ around 14:30. Initially
rigged the 5.5m Naish, but by the time I got out, the wind had picked up &
it was way too much sail. I tried downhauling it to death which resulted in
a broken downhaul rope! Obviously the gods meant me to change down to a
smaller sail.
Rigged up the 4.7m which was just about perfect. Unfortunately, I had to
rig it on my 400cm mast with 30cm of extension - I *really* didn't want to
take 3 masts with me & this one takes my 4.2m, too - which made the shape a
little strange, but it worked fine just the same.
Was underpowered near the beach and again, a long way outside (actually,
not really a long way out to sea because of the way the sand bars lie).
I'd also forgotten the crash and burn conditions further out, where the
SW-bound swell (sometimes ~ 1.5m), meets with the wind blown chop at right
angles. Hmmm, made for some interesting gybe wipe-outs.
When the tide's fairly low here, there's a series of nice but small waves
coming in along the sand bars - these give great jumps going out (but have
to be careful as there's only a few inches of water in some places!), and
some nice little down-the-line rides coming back in.
One time, I managed a serious crash & burn landing rather too vertically,
nose first, in about 15 inches of water. Fortunately, there was no
permanent damage to self or kit!
I guess there must have been about 60 sailors out today, ranging from
complete beginners (some of whom kept the rescue boat busy) to some very,
very, good sailors indeed, but it did make it a little bit crowded.
Although the wind is a little stronger and more consistent a little further
out, you're always cognisant of the fact that it's blowing almost dead
offshore here. Consequently, there's a lot of bunching closer in with
occasional mishaps!
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