second day of the sandy point speed fornight 2009 with it averaging over 50+ knots non stop all day with some gusts over 60+ !!!!!........i have never ever seen some of the top speeders waiting for the lulls,the wind was just so constant.thanks daffy for letting me borrow the wind gauge i think it took some of the 50 plus knot cob webs out. 
Strongest I've sailed standing up, is about 35 to 40kts on dead flat water, have been in 45 to 50kts but just got smashed
Probably around 45+ knots westerly on Lake Illawarra back in the mid 90s. The wind was so strong it was blowing huge dust clouds over the escarpment. I was on a Bombora 260 and a 3.7m sail. We sailed over on the westerly side at Primbee so it was an onshore wind. The only thing that made it manageable was the weed that acted as a reef and smoothed out the water.
A 260 board sounds pretty tame nowdays but back then it was radical speedboard.
Botany Bay, Kurnell: 128 km/hr... at least that's the speed at which Bom's Kurnell wind meter died.
Open water ocean: Marseille, 55 knts 3.5 sail + 80 liter board
Closed water: Etang de Leucate, 65+ knts plus, 2.9 sail + 80 liter board ... we actually saw a 20 foot container roll across the road that day... to be honest the hardest thing about sailing in that much wind was getting the board back to the car.
on a River: Columbia River Gorge, 50+ knts at Dougs Beach, 3.5 + 80 liter board, I thought I did really well until some nut case did a 10 meter high double forward...
hm... Izaak, reading your post I am getting itchy feet... perhaps I should get another 5m race sail and one of those ultra sweet JP speed boards as well as a GPS unit...
Sam, wanna hock me up with some gear?
40 knots thereabouts with a 75 litre board and a 4.2 way over powered and it wasn't fun so much as a test of character.
Select to expand quotestehsegler said...
Botany Bay, Kurnell: 128 km/hr... at least that's the speed at which Bom's Kurnell wind meter died.
Open water ocean: Marseille, 55 knts 3.5 sail + 80 liter board
Marseille rules:
I was sailing with my mistral one design (7.4 sail and 3.72 raceboard) in 15 knots when a storm came and the wind pick up between 60 and 65 knots during 15mn. In that time, there was some swiss guys recording the wind to decide where to organize the america's cup so the wind speed is quite relevant.
BTW, I just took off immediatly and had to stay in the water holding my board and hoping she doesn't fly away 
that same day at sandy point
was finding sand in places you wouldn't expect to find sand,,,, many days later 
1998 at Inverloch recorded gusts to 65kts. Spotty was the only one to sail it well. Same day the Sydney to Hobart fleet got smashed. Second by not much Speedfortnight 09 and Speedweek 04 both epic days. 09 was much more consistant wind ,04 had more sth which made it a little easier to get going. Need another day like that now
Probably 40kts odd with some gusts to 60kt.3.3m sail & totally out of control lucky it was a Westerlie so it was gusty enough to get control in the lulls.When the bullets hit just luff the sail like mad..I only weighed 61kgs..
yep 
the lumps are very few and far between.
i will be spending as lot of time on my bike this summer..... at work
remember around 4 years ago in a westerly front on swan river, blowing 25/35 with gusts to 45/50.
2 of our very best sailors got caught out in 45knot gust and both bailed out and waited for 5 mins till passed over.
this october a south west gusty front came in. max on seabreeze said 32 knots.the only time i sheeted in was in lulls on 5m. did not see anyone sail fully sheeted in when gusts hit.
more than 25 knots most start sheeting out or sail upwind.
above 30knots only seen a select few go for it.
a really soft fin like a techtronics can help you stay on a reach, without going upwind all the time in gusts.carbon fins are not so good in these conditions.
down south caught out a front blowing winds gusts excessive of 110 kph ripping of house roofs.
held onto boat moaring and detached sail to watch it do cartwheels out to sea
most recently (new years eve 2007) in gusts up to 40kts at scotts point margate using a 4.0 with old 8'6" glass windaction bump n jump and 30 cm dagger shaped fin,went for a steep ramp came down verticaly nose first still hooked in and snapped 2 bones in my hand in 3 places, not sure if sound travells faster than pain, but I'm sure i heard the snap before i felt the pain.
before that, pallarenda beach townsville 1998 the airport registerd gusts up to 56kts (as you can see the whites of pilots eyes when they land) I'm guessing it must have been much the same on the water. using a cornish wave board and 4.6m aerotech which had less shape in it than an ironing board. getting air time of the chop wasn't optional, more survival than sailing
cheers
went for a steep ramp came down verticaly nose first still hooked in and snapped 2 bones in my hand in 3 places, not sure if sound travells faster than pain, but I'm sure i heard the snap before i felt the pain.
Ugh..hope it was the left hand..assuming your right handed..not that that would ease the pain..
hi bargearse,yep thats the day, went to kirwan for dinner at inlaws that night and had to stay, still had trouble getting back to west end in the morning.
a name with your mugshot might jolt my memory as its fading with age, been in redcliffe nearly 10 yrs now, used to sail with greg,dean,val,mick,ian and a few others that i can't retrieve from the archives. used to head to alva on strong se blows sometimes.
hi there sboardcrazy unfortunately was right hand and 6 months later still hadn't mended properly
