The forecasting sites were divergent for today's weather predictions. I was keeping an eye on the wind reports and headed over once the airport meter read 17mph.
I kept all the gear I used yesterday in the truck and didn't have a choice on what to setup -
Which in hindsight would have lead to a complicated decision - the wind was good when I drove up. The Eagle 1090 and SW2 5.2 were perfect. But by the time I was headed out, the wind started nuking. Not having a choice, I just went with the flow.
The wind got really strong - like HPS700 and SW2 3.6 strong. There were 3 Quest boats running around when I launched and by the time I was making runs to get upwind, all three of them had capsized and were getting pushed downwind.
I had expected the wind to ease a bit, but for 30 minutes it didn't. The wind also shifted - it was steady from the East, but then started swinging more Southerly. I actually stayed inside the reef line so I could more easily control the wing/foil.
I was also testing the Project Cedrus mast - I took off the anti-ventilation fence and wanted to see if I needed to lower it further on the mast. I was pretty cautious initially - I didn't feel like testing the new impact vest (and harness that La got me for Christmas). After a few minutes without any issues, I started to push the gear - and no issues popped up. There was definitely short period chop - that would normally initiate the ventilation. And I purposely pinched hard to go upwind at a high angle - no ventilation!
About halfway through the short session, the wind did notch down to 5m strength. I made a run for Firsts. You can see in the chart below the lines I had to take to get to the break. The waves weren't breaking where they normally do - so this was local wind swell. I rode a few, but the wind kept dropping - I figured I should cut my losses and head in.
Looks like I was out at the peak of the wind event - rare line up of timing and weather conditions!
Jim, the other Tim (Armstrong wing guy in the big truck), the older Japanese guy learning, and Harris all showed up as I was packing up.
This was the last of the forecasted wind for the next several days. There is a storm that is supposed to hit next Monday - that may bring some wind with it.
I'm glad I was able to ride this transient event! Crazy to go from 3.6 wind to barely able to stay up with a 5.2 and the 1090 - but you only grow from challenges!
W:2/F:1/S:0
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