Hi,
I just got back from the South Island of NZ..mainly around Queenstown area....couldn't believe the solid breezes, amount of great sailing locations and not one board anywhere to be seen.....
Back in Melbourne, with airfares so cheap ( and being just about the only country where the aussie dollar stacks up ok), I am planning a return visit.
Has anyone out there sailed the south island??...if so any tips/ advice... greatly appreciated
you may have just been lucky as far as south island goes. Ive heard dismal reports from a guy I know who was living there. Taranaki is the go. Awesome sailing and consistant.
Hey Dan,
I did the North Island about 18 months ago and there's no shortage of choice locations.
I was looking more at a bit of adventure in terms of sailing the lower latitudes.
My hunch is that the Southern Alps must funnel the wind down the centre of the island and that there are several big lakes right on course....
Nothing like a few spare minutes of web trawling....www.winzurf.co.nz/windsurf/
Sorry, I thought you were talking about wavesailing, my mistake. If your after flatwater with plenty of wind I'm sure there's plenty of places to check out. You're want to take plenty of rubber though
and throw in a pair of velco gloves, nother better than pickin up a local after a big days sailing
Give Al at Groundswell in Christchurch a call he knows the south Island Lakes very well he also hires out good gear.03 38545086 or get on the NZ windsurfing forum Deepfried.com.NZ.Lake Clearwater has a very good reputation with the Christchurch sailors.
I'm from Lake Tekapo South Island living in Perth. I was over last Christmas Wanaka/ Queenstown and it was howling every day. The lakes around Wanaka/ Queenstown are not cold and you’d be fine in a 3mm. Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki are the cold ones and you’d need to be a kiwi to withstand those temperatures! I used to waterski in my 7mm diving suit. Those two lake change two degrees from winter to summer and sit around 8 degrees. Lake Hawea is a magical spot (8km from Wanaka) for windsurfing and gets some very strong winds. The west side of the lake just past the township is a great spot but being a lake you can pretty much go where you like. One thing I did notice was difference in buoyancy between salt water and fresh, need a bit extra wind! New Zealand is definitely a great spot and worth considering.
I'm from Dunedin, on the coast. The wind funnels down Otago harbour over summer producing good winds and if the tide is running out some awesome chop. On the seaward coasts you can get cross-off wave riding on the beach breaks but it's super tough on gear. Port tack mainly but when a big southerly blast hits it can go the other way in 5 minutes.
There a million beaches so you can sail almost any conditions of you go looking.
As mentioned the lakes can get good. The world speed record was set at Glenorgy (around from Queenstown) once back in the 90's. 40knots blowing over flat water.
The lakes get windy due to the thermal action of the surronding land heating up and causing a funnelling effect.
I am from Dunedin also, now living in Melbourne.
I used to sail in Dunedin Harbour which can be lots of fun. I grew up sailing P class dinghys there and crewing in my Dad's Javelin 14 footer. We used to sail our P classes on Lake Wanaka in the summer and I can attest to the howling winds that can funnel down the valleys. I also did a summer up at Mt Maunganui, near Tauranga and had some great windsurfing there. Lake Taupo can also be fun.
When I lived in Christchurch we used to sail mainly on the estuary - it was the early 80s and before short boards and wave jumping - although we did try one time at Christchurch's Brighton beach on our big ole regatta boards with a UJ which just poked into a hole in the board (no locking) and my mate lost his whole rig!!
