I'm not very good at working out wind strengths.
Can anyone tell me, who was down at Pinnaroo on Sunday what they thought it was blowing on average.
I was there from 1.00pm onwards and my guess would be 16 knots.
Does that sound right?
What strength would the wind be when the sand starts lifting off the beach?
Is buying a hand held wind meter uncool?
cheers
check under 'graphs - WA - Metro. gives 15 min updates i think. there isnt one specifically for pinnas but its usually about 30 - 35 % less than ocean reef? for an average around city beach to pinnas its about half way between what ocean reef and swanbourne are reading. lifting sand, at a guess from me would be 22 - 25. possibly slightly less????
Ocean reef is smack on for pineroo. In the southerly winds pineroo could be a touch stronger. I was on my 12 and at times struggled (no power for jumps) so it was between 15 and 18 I guess. I wouldn't waste money on a wind meter but if I had one I would use it.
Hi Lorgra,
Forget cool. A wind meter can help train you to read the wind more accurately. Sand doesn't start blowing until about 22 knots. It starts blowing around visibly at 25 knots and starts to sting your ankles and calves.
At 30 knots the sand stings your legs pretty bad and gets in your eyes if you bend down.
Use this for a guide
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale
You can also download a wind meter App for I-phone which kinda works OK.
DM
When I started I had a wind meter. The thing is certain places have more 'dense' wind than others, more filled in if you like. Also be aware of gusts. Especially if it has been a cloudy day, there will be uneven heating of the land and you can get patchy winds. Worse on estuaries and if there is north or east in the wind.
While I'm not prone to questioning darren as he knows better than anyone (so listen to him first), where I kite, the sand starts to move at about 18 knots-20 knots. When it starts to really move 23-27 plus, when it really stings and and howls 28 plus. This depends on sand type though. Fine sand say down walpole, albany way will move a lot quicker than say the perth beaches.
Also look at the water downwind of where you are kiting. Whitecaps hint at 15 knots plus, but be aware that when there is swell, some of the whitecaps are swell driven as well.
I always go on the end of the conservative and have never had a major accident in 11 years. Saftey first. But other mad hatters would disagree. I'd rather sit in the slot and have some sense of control. Boring but safe. Although that being said went out with my bro in 35 knot winds at the end of winter (remember that day boys), and lasted 10 minutes, realising I had bit off more than I could chew. This is always a thing to keep in mind to. Don't be a hero, know your limits.
Then again the sport needs the crazy bastards to push the limits, I'm content to watch from the sidelines.
if you look at the seabreeze help button and then find the beaufort scale under wind then you will understand better.
More time on the water = more experience reading conditions. If in doubt ask people for wind strength.
As a noob your no supposed to be a weather forcaster. Reading the wind strength with come with time and big days on the water.
Best bet is to see what everyone else on the beach says it is, then substract 5 knots. People ALWAYS overstate the strength.
Somewhere like Perth where kiting conditions are usually the same, the appearance of water and the lifting sand are good guides. Not so good where conditions are more diverse. Cloudy days don't look as windy, as the white caps don't show as much. Swell size makes a difference. The angle you're looking at the water.
Wind guages aren't without their issues too. The normal place people stand to use them is on top of the dunes. There is always an acceleration zone at this point, so it over reads. Stand down on the beach and it'll be 5 knots less (onshore wind, rather than cross shore).
If it is 12 knots or less, the wind shear (different speeds at different heights) makes them unreliable too. But we don't kite in this so it doesn't really matter
here is my guide for Perth beaches
some white caps developing = 
sand lifting and hitting ankles = 
sand lifting and hitting above knees = 
sand lifting and hitting face = 
depends on beach, wedge is fine sand, margs is coarse sand so adjust accordingly
want to get techical read this
userpages.umbc.edu/~tokay/chapter9new.html
I ditched the wind meter years ago in favour of my facethometer. my facethometer is good to 35knots. after that i can't tell... but by then i'm on my smallest kite.
but really you only need to able to tell the approximate wind speed to know what kite to put up.
sub 16 landboard time 15m
13-20 white caps but still mild 13m
18-28 oh yeah the sweet zone 10m
28 + storm. big winds and big grins 6m
If you bend down it stings more than your eyes?
If a kiter says its 25 knts ask a windsurfer and he will say its only 20 knts, so you take the average and thats what it will be.
Hi all,
Thanks for all your feed back.
I am considering a meter mainly for the lighter conditions.
I can usually tell when the wind strengthens that it's time to change kites (if only I had a smaller one).
It's the lighter conditions that get me. I have a Core Riot 9m to learn on and found it fine Sat arvo from 1pm for a couple of hours. The sand was just lifting off the beach in the gusts so I reckon around 20 knots.
It picked up after that so I packed up and saved the energy for Sunday which was lighter and a little harder to get out of the water and stay up. Light air kiting is hard (if only I had a slightly larger kite for those conditions).
Went down after work today and it was around 25 knots (sand constantly lifting off the beach) so I didn't bother. Most people hand 7m some with 9m.
To the guy we helped out of the water after he smashed up his ankle doing loop, hope your feeling well and haven't done much damage. Hope to see you out there soon.
And to Todd from AKS for getting my board for me after I couldn't relaunch in the dead zone north of Pinnaroo on Sunday, thank you!!!!
cheers
Every time when i was learning made a point of checking seabreeze when i got home to see what the wind speed was when i was out, when you guess right more than wrong, your on the way.
I think your right i got more caught out by light wind at first, wind meter wont hurt, good luck
