What can i say about todays session.. Man o man.. where was my 3.3m2 when i needed it!
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As this could be an kinda extreme day i took for this occasion from work a day off. My intention first was to go towards a another spot The Zandmotor, but in the early morning the wind out there was minimal and quite offshore. At wijk the wind was at the time allready a 5-6 beaufort. These winterdays are very short. Around 4.30pm its allready dark. So last minute i decided to drive towards Wijk.
Once i arrived, the wind was quite minimal, slightly offshore and nice waves were coming in.
A few people were on the water aslike PWA sailor Lampie, Martin ten Hoeve. The guys out there werent planing on the way out, only waveriding the way back.
First i took some pictures before i rigged my sails.
at the time...minimal winds... but within a few hours rising upto 50knots!
Because the wind was going to increase in the afternoon i rigged up my P7 Sado 2G 5.0m2.
So i could start full power straight away and tied up my P7 SALT 4.0m2 to a pole at the beach for whenever the wind was going to kick in. The very first lap i did with 5.0m2.
i got almost blown off the water.. pfff. HAd to get my 4.0 allready..So changed the 5.0sado 2g for a 4.0m2 Salt.
Several laps out there and again i was to much overpowerd. In the later afternoon i got blown of the water.
As it was getting dark so quickly.. i kept sailing the 4.0m2 out of control.
Hardly able to do any decent jumps or waverides. Just been struggling to have some control on the water. In the topturn i wasnt able to hold onto my boom.
If the wind was allready strong when i started, i would of rigged my 4.0 AND 3.3m2. that would of give me so much more control. Next time more luck with rigging the right sails.
I had today 3 layers of wetsuits on my body, a Quiksilver neoprene longsleeve body2mm + over that my 3x2mm Sola shorty, and over that my O'neill Psychofreak 4.5x3.5mm. Combined with my thickest XCEL 5mm Infiniti Drylock Bamboo Boots, Billabong airlite 3mm cap + inside my wetsuit i stuck a drink caprison (so i dont have to walk back to the parking)and a pair Camarogloves (for when i loose my gear and have to swim back)
Forecast : The black hole!
local windspeeds at the local speedspot, same time @speedspot strand Horst.. out there the wind was a lot less today.
here below, actual data from the spot IJmuiden, which is next to Wijk aan zee.. gaining windspeeds upto 28,9 m/s which is 56 knots.
Ive had it for today.. on my way back.. getting sandblasted!
In the dark on the parkinglot, my windmeter gave right away a gusts of 40 knots.
What a day.. could of worked out so much better with a 3.3m2. then i would of been able to do some serieous higher jumps and more controlled waverides. Now i was just surviving with a 4.0m2.
Another downside of today was at the parking, the front of my car was placed in the wind as i normally do. When i drove away from the parkinglot i stopped the car for a second to get a drink which was placed in the back of my car. Just that one second i forgot that there was 10 beaufort blowing outside my car and my door got rammed open. HARD. Some steel part broke in half + a dent in my door. Beside that I wasnt able to close my door anymore. 20 minutes later struggling in the dark to get my door closed again. Next week it has to go to the garage :-S.
