randii wrote:
Windfinder.com thinks it is going to blow OK tomorrow... but Friday and Saturday look much better. I was thinking I'd call in a personal day at work for Tuesday, but now I'm thinking Friday would be better for my workload. :p
Friday was an amazing wind and wave day... I had a blast! With an average of 16-18mph winds and gusts to 25, it was traveler-to-the-side blasts and mostly mono-rig fun. With wind from the NW, launching from Brown's Ravine meant the waves had the whole width of the lake to build, so we were four-foot slammin'! I've not seen timing more important in whether a tack succeeds or fails -- I got slapped/stopped a few times when I didn't time my carve.
My normal and alternate crews got stuck at work, so I recruited a fella who had trailered his Laser to the water but forgot a key piece of equipment. I'm glad I did, the wind was awesome, but the waves were probably such that I should have stayed ashore instead of single-handing. Honestly, once I got away from shore, the wind *was* too much until I poured on the downhaul and outhaul, and could harness forward movement, instead of just dumping wind with the sheet.
My crew wasn't really familiar with Hobies -- he committed only to providing ballast, and following specific directions. I was out on the wings except for when I was crossing to tack. More experienced crew would probably have allowed better control and a more balanced set of sails, but Richard was game, and had a blast!
I managed to surf a couple of waves while angling back in on a downwind reach, but stopped messing with it after I plowed into a wave. It felt like I'd hit a wall, and I wasn't entirely certain the bows wouldn't just stay dug in while the sail kept driving... gotta love the volume up front in an H18, we would have been swimming for sure on an H16!
Folsom Lake doesn't get a lot of wind often, but it sure is fun when it does!
Randii
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