I had been tracking the wind for almost a week and fingers were firmly crossed that this morning would be super windy. At midnight it was probably 30+ knots, we went for a drive around the island and there seemed to be quite a bit of debris flying about, all seemed to be in place, a solid night of wind to build up the sea and a high tide at day break. As my alarm went at 6am it was clear that it wasn't as windy but still blowing a bit, after driving round the island I decided to take the Sumo 105 and 5.3 Fire for a cruise. With the tide so high the wall was almost covered and being as there were no waves outside I thought that it was a perfect opportunity to try out the speed course. Since thinking about this in August there really hasn't been much in the way of wind. I worked my way up wind a little and got into place, it seemed somehow calm; the water was completely flat, like a bath tub. As I sheeted in I couldn't quite believe the feeling of smooth acceleration, a few feet from the jagged rocks which protect the course from the open sea where about 6-15 inches above the surface of the water so the wind was perfect.
With the curve of the wall the course gets progressively broader. It was a new sensation for me, flatter than Weymouth, flatter than Molokai; similar to the Ray but flatter. It is much warmer than most fast places too! The only problem I had as I tracked down the course was my equipment; I was using a 105 freeride board and a wave sail slightly under powered! After a few runs I had successfully confirmed that the course has serious potential to produce SPEED. While the conditions will not come about too often if they come together with the right gear then I see 40 as very possible.
More to follow...
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