Pre 72 Hour Notice

ricki · #1 01-15-2008, 01:35 PM

"Hi all once again,

It is only Tuesday but looking at the extended forecast Sunday is looking very windy at this point, NNE 20-25. Just what we have been patiently waiting for! It still is a ways out but at this point it is looking good so consider this a pre 72 hr notice.
One thing we do have to be sure of is that we have some kind of East in the wind and not straight North otherwise when arriving in Ft. Lauderdale the wind will be offshore ad no one will be able to make it in to the beach due to the wind shadow of the buildings. If the wind is NNE it will be straight side shore here, this will make the overall riding distance longer due to you having to tack back and forth. The main thing to think about if this is the case is that to be aware of doing long tacks. If you ride out a long way from the shore before you tack and then have any kind of a problem that is unfixable, you are a long way out and the wind is blowing you parallel to the beach and not back in, please take this very seriously, I write this with experience and I can tell you it was one hell of of swim with a flat leading edge.

Keep your eyes on the forecast and e-mails. Cheers Neil"

kent · #2 01-15-2008, 02:55 PM

Neil,

I am hoping that the 350 lb. mako sharks migrating through the deep water in search of 400 lb. swordfish will encourage people to ride in a bit closer. There is really not much to worry about as I have caught many, many swordfish and have never caught a mako... As with anything else however, I'm sure that Mr. Mako will show up only at the most unexpected times...

and remember... if you and your friend are swimming your kites back to the beach after eating it on a long tack offshore and Mr. Mako does show up... you don't have to out swim a mako to survive...you just have to out swim your buddy!

See you offshore.

Kent

ricki · #3 01-15-2008, 03:33 PM

I say run it Saturday night and forget about the sharks. The wind might get us instead. The neat thing about these long range forecasts is the time of arrival is a crap shoot. These winds might come through on Sunday during the day instead. Hopefully, SOME good useable wind will come through this weekend.

SATURDAY NIGHT
NORTH WINDS AROUND 20 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO AROUND
40 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET NEAR SHORE AND UP TO 7 TO 9 FEET IN THE
GULF STREAM. INTRACOASTAL WATERS A MODERATE CHOP. SLIGHT CHANCE OF
SHOWERS.

SUNDAY
NORTH WINDS AROUND 20 KNOTS. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET NEAR SHORE
AND UP TO 9 TO 11 FEET IN THE GULF STREAM. INTRACOASTAL WATERS A
MODERATE CHOP. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

stacey · #4 01-16-2008, 09:39 AM

Has anyone looked at the forecast for Monday? I checked windguru all the way Jupiter to Delray to Ft. Lauderdale, and it looks awesome ... a bit stronger though than Sunday ... with much more East in it. It starts out with some NE in it, then goes East. Would be a lot easier than Sunday's direction, which has a lot more north. Plus, Mondays MLK Jr Day, which most people have off.

kent · #5 01-16-2008, 04:49 PM

Stacey,

Geez, I want to work for you guys. We are working on Monday!!! The conditions are looking good for the JUP race, but I still haven't heard anything on the Naples run. Stacey, I personally would be hoping for a dead down wind run given that many people really have never done this before. This is an acquired skill that take some time to get the hang of. I trust that you will do very well once again. Will you finally be using a directional? I saw you practicing with one a while back. I am hoping that a few more people hop on these boards so that we can finally start doing some shorter course races. These boards work very well in winds as low as 9-10 mph. Additionally, it is much easier to run events given that wind direction isn't as important. Once we get a few people to do some round trip racing I think that it will blow up in Florida and elsewhere.

Kent

eclipsedave · #6 01-16-2008, 05:35 PM

If you have the race on monday there will be no wind it looks like the focast is already changing to nne on sunday http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=67686 I live in jupiter and wind guru is usally accurate with their forcast. Ikite the direction is off and it reads 4-5 mph higher than it usally is which can make a big difference

stacey · #7 01-16-2008, 05:38 PM

Hahaha. You and Shannon could share an office. That would be fun. For me.

A dead downwind race is going to take a lot longer, and I'm betting there will be fallout at the Delray Checkpoint when people realize that. I disagree ... I think the way it was last year would be a lot easier for people who've never done it before, and even people who have. Can't remember if you did the Tampa Race ... probably ... but the first half was a sidewinder, and then the coast changed to a deaddownwinder. Most (normal

maybe not you) people thought the first part was easy, but thought the second half was grueling.

I'll do it either way ... but funny you should mention it, which board to use is now my biggest issue. I finally got my board from Jeff Kafka, and I LOVE it. I've been doing ENE sidewinders on it, and it's awesome and I was all set to use that. However, I did a dead downwinder last Friday and it did not go well AT ALL, and now I'm thinking I'd be better on a twintip. (The guy going downwind with me on a twintip smoked me.) I can jibe ok on straight tacks when not under pressure, but there's no way I'm going to be jibing on this race. I'd love to hear your thoughts on why a directional would be better for this direction.

(I've also been practicing going directly upwind, and am REALLY looking forward to the course racing seminars you mentioned in another post ... I'm know I'm not getting the max out of my board that I could, so I hope you give a speech about that

)

stacey · #8 01-16-2008, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eclipsedave

If you have the race on monday there will be no wind it looks like the focast is already changing to nne on sunday http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=67686 I live in jupiter and wind guru is usally accurate with their forcast. Ikite the direction is off and it reads 4-5 mph higher than it usally is which can make a big difference

Wow, I just looked at it ... you're right ... it's really dropped off since I looked at it this morning. This morning it was the windier of the two days.

OK, everyone, forget what I said.

(ILiesurf you mean? I don't even bother looking there.)

admin · #9 01-16-2008, 06:07 PM

It is looking better for Sunday, hope it holds and even better builds a bit. NE is pretty good, ENE to E would be better for us cruisers. Hey Kent, you talking about roundwinders? Been pushing those for years with few takers. They take more than your typical downwinder and are fun if not a bit time consuming beating up wind at times. When's your first one? No end of possible venues here. I did an easy one from Boca to Hillsboro Inlet a while back. Why not make it Delray to Hillsboro and back?

kent · #10 01-17-2008, 11:03 AM

I personally would like to do a race from either Hobie beach or Matheson around Soldier key and back. The other race that would be cool woud be a race from Crandon around Fowey Rocks light house and back. We could any of these courses with 2-3 boats for support. I'm sure that with my boat, a Kite House boat, and Ty's Kite Hatteras boat that we would be covered. Maybe we should shoot for late Feb.

The truth is however that if riders don't get some specialized boards, they won't have much fun or be in the ball game. We can run the event as long as that lulls don't fall below 10 knots. If you see me on the water on my course board, as for a spin. I'd be happy to let you try it.

Kent