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| Member Details | Session Description |
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| Owner:
axxis Member Member#: 171 Location: Registered: 12-03-2003 Diary Entries: 18 |
9th August 2003 Windsurfing: Vetch's Beach, Durban Wind Direction: NE Wind Stength: 30+ knots Surf / Sea State: 1.5m swell Air Temperature: 23 Sea Temperature: 20 Weather: Clear Max Speed: Distance Covered: Wow. One of the strongest E winds I've witnessed at Vetch's and the sea bigger than I've seen it there in a long time. When I arrived it was averaging around 18knots but not sure whether this was picking up or dropping. Definitely sailable strength but if it was busy dropping off I'd rather not have been caught in those waves with no sail-power. No-one else out as well which made me concerned. So stopped in at thirsty's to watch the end of a much better Springbok performance against the all-blacks. Maybe there is hope after all. RWC will tell. Got back to the truck and it seemed to be picking up so I thought I'd rig and give it a bash. Took my time and rigged carefully with a fair bit of downhaul. Another fellow arrived and started rigging which made me feel better about going out. Shorebreak was quite nasty but manged to get through it alright. Wind was picking up all the time and it was obviously going to be a hectic session. Learned a valuable big-wind-wave-session lesson rather too late: If possible, get in the straps before hooking the harness. In that kind of wind you don't need to worry too much about stalling the board since the wind is strong enough to pull you out of it. Took a nasty catapult when I hooked the harness and hadn't got decently strapped. Hit the sail hook first and trashed a panel. Was going to give up but ended up performing a rather miraculous duct-tape repair which, amazingly, held up for most of the session. The second session (post-repair) was great. Others had arrived (Mark, Justin, Andy) and were having a great sail. Wind was still strong if not stronger but I was ready for it this time. Plenty of downhaul and a cautious launch saw me safely beyond the shorebreak and ready to play. Tiring, thrilling session followed. Awesome to be out with the likes of Mark & Justin who made it look so easy. Had some lovely wave rides, cut backs off the lip, a few decent gybes and some *huge* air. Swallowed a lot of water but in general had an awesome time. What a sport. Does anything compare to this ? Can't give the session lots of stars because of the broken kit but it still has me hooked. |
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